The First B-2

History
The B-2 Spirit is actually the second aircraft to bear the designation; the first was a Curtiss interwar biplane bomber which entered service in 1929. The name Condor, though, was a Curtiss creation, the USAAC always referred to the aircraft as the B-2. Like all interwar bombers the B-2 was big, lumbering and slow. Only 12 were ever built and it was rapidly surpassed by developments in aviation technology disappearing in 1936.

The B-2s entered service with the 96th Bombardment Squadron at Langley Field in October 1929. Despite their size and lack of speed they were actually a very safe aircraft and the only one to crash (29-28) did so in December that year. Around 1930/31 the surviving bombers were transferred to the 11th Bombardment Squadron at Rockwell Field and the 96th replaced them with Keystone B-3As and B-5As. Also around this time the USAAC was going colour mad with squadrons painting their aircraft in Red Indian inspired designs. The 11th was no exception and the B-2s received a spectacular red and yellow colour scheme.

The B-2s were prominent in a cross country flight from California to Atlantic City, New Jersey (does anyone have dates for this?) before moving to March Field with their squadron. During the winter of 1931/32 they took part in food drops to cut off Navajo tribes and were also used for Medevac flights. Technology though caught up with the B-2. Despite having an autopilot the Air Corps preferred the Keystone bombers and the B-2s were withdrawn from service in 1934. Some lingered on at the Aberdeen Proving Ground but all had gone by 1936.

The Model

The B-2 is one of those big interwar bombers which always look so attractive to me. With only 12 production examples being built it was never going to get the Tamiya treatment but luckily the Polish company Ardpol did a resin model. This was expensive and nowadays is not easy to find but I was able to track down a copy for a very good price. It comes in a surprisingly small box - so small you wonder how they could fit such a big aircraft in. The parts are well molded and incredibly detailed with the usual provisos about resin, brittleness and warps. The decal sheet is detailed and well printed and one gets a nice sheet of etched brass with vacformed transparencies and a sheet of clear plastic for other glazing. The B-2 represented is an early version without later service improvements and consulting photos is necessary. One must be clear here - this is not a model for beginners or even intermediate modellers. It's a difficult build requiring a lot of planning, some scratch building and replacement of parts. Each stage has to be planned out in advance and a modular approach is best here.

Choosing the aircraft

The decal sheet is nice but a bit of a mess with regard to options. There are 3 options Aircraft #3 of 11th Bombardment Squadron in the full red and green scheme. Aircraft #8 with a red fuselage band lined white and Aircraft #3 in camouflage. Here we encounter the first confusion - two sets of threes on the decal sheet, both the same. The fuselage bands are also wrong for the 11th BS example. This aircraft had a yellow fuselage band edged white. The red/white band is actually appropriate for aircraft 1,4, and 7 the squadron leader and flight commanders aircraft though one needs to provide the upper wing chevrons oneself. I chose Aircraft #3 of the 11th Bombardment Squadron mainly because it came with externally mounted fire extinguishers on the engine nacelles (these needed to be scratch built). I was also able to find a plentiful supply of photos of the prototype.

Building the model

After straightening the parts one can begin to assemble the model. It's important to paint, decal and varnish before assembling the separate modules. The cockpit is nicely appointed but the instructions (which are typical Ardpol) do not mention that the framing is separate delicately molded resin pieces. The instrument panel provided is for the prototype XB-2 not the production machines and the control column is dual which was only carried by one aircraft - (29-30, the only B-2A). A production instrument panel can be scratch built and the control column is easy to correct. Here though one also has to take care, in the Curtiss and Keystone bombers the pilot sat on the right and one needs to cut off one arm of the column. The column itself was adjustable so the crew chief could also fly the aircraft - this was achieved by flipping it over.

Once the fuselage is together one paints the 11 BS scheme. It's time consuming and involved but not particularly difficult. Paint the red portion. Then form the spikes with olive green paint using 1 mm wide strips of masking tape. Finally the yellow piping is done with decal stripes - I used 0.4 mm yellow Xtradecal stripes here but care needs to be taken in measuring out and cutting diagonally to form the spikes. Curved decals need to be cut from thicker stripes but it can be done. Take your time and expect the process to take several days. Do not rely on the diagram in the kit - it's wrong. Use photos.

The fuselage band needs doing next and I used decals for this as well. If you do use decals they need to be cut separately as the rear fuselage tapers on both planes. One major feature of the Ardpol instructions is that they refer to parts which are not included in the kit and don't refer to parts which are included. There's a lot of gorgeous resin which has you scratching your head as to where it goes. There is no information on where the struts go - no numbering, nothing. In a three bay biplane this makes things difficult. I ended up replacing several struts, scratch building the tail struts and pinning every strut. That helps enormously. The tail should be done before the main wing - it's impossible the other way round and the undercarriage needs to be left until after the main wing is painted, attached and rigged. Rigging is 0.28 mm builders wire for the main wings and 0.2 mm Infinity rod for the tail. Chrome yellow was Sovereign Paints enamel and Olive Drab No.9/No.22 AK Paints.

Conclusion

This is a challenging build with a lot of hard work and use of modelling skills needed. The poor instructions don't help but if you can persevere you end up with a unique model of a little known interwar bomber. I had a lot of fun building it. The kit is big though and the final photo shows it next to the Choroszy Modelbud Keystone B-4A which is not a small bomber itself.

1 additional image. Click to enlarge.