Testors’ 1/72 B-2A ‘Spirit of Missouri’
This aircraft has intrigued me since the moment I saw it at one of the Mildenhall air shows when I was a lad... I'd always wanted to build one and when I came across the Testors' kit I snapped it up.
Being very basic, I did a lot of extra work to the model to bring it up to scratch. I discarded the kit's single open bomb bay, opened up the second, and then set about scratch-building my own. References were hard to come by so some of the detail was poetic license, but you get the general idea. The wheel bays also had a lot of detail added to them. I also added some additional detail to the intakes as there was nothing present whatsoever; engine fans came from the spares box, and if memory serves me correctly they're actually from an old Monogram B-52. All the raised panel detail was sanded off the model as the real aircraft is completely smooth to preserve its stealth characteristics.
Although the colour scheme looks fairly bland, it is actually quite complex to recreate. The lighter grey RAM coating was painted on first - this was then masked off and the darker greys painted over the top (see picture 2)
The final image shows two heavies of their day - the B-17G and the B-2A. It's amazing to think their first flights were only just over 50 years apart.
Everything derogatory written about this kit is true and unfortunately it was a real pig - nothing fitted and it took an eternity to get the centre-section and outer wing joints smooth. The lower section of the model sits too deep when slotted into the upper sections, so I had to build up the entire leading and trailing edges up with plastic card and filler. The intakes also needed huge amounts of filler to get them to fit correctly into the upper centre section, and the trailing edges were a nightmare to get to a scale thickness. The entire left wing was also badly warped so this had to be straightened out in hot water before construction could even begin!
All paints were Xtracolour enamels, and I used an aftermarket decal sheet from Begemont to recreate the 'Spirit of Missouri' of the 509th Bomb Wing based at Whiteman AFB.
However, despite the battle to build it, it's a great model to have in my collection.
Tom
Doesn't sound like you got a lot of enjoyment out of this build Thomas but you sure can't tell that from the result.
Very well done.
If you enjoy banging your head against a wall repeatedly, you'll enjoy building this kit! But thanks for the compliment though!
Real modelers are masochists. 🙂
Awesome build! I concur. The kit is REAL challenge. I battled and wrestled with her myself.
Despite being a Testor's kit (which has a history of crappy fit issues), you have done an outstanding job on this one! By the way, the B-17 isn't the same scale is it? The B-2 is THAT much bigger than the 'fort..?
Both the Fortress and B-2 are indeed 1/72nd scale. B-17's span in 103' and the B-2 comes in at 172'... it's a big plane!
Great job with this one, nice build!
Patience, time and putty ! A prime example of putting all three to work. Beautiful job, Thomas. Mine will remain at the bottom of my stash...
All of your hard work really paid off Thomas. And thank's for the photo with the B-17. I have never seen one up close and the comparison
really shows her size.
Very,very nice.
California Steve
You must be a very patient man, Thomas, by the sound of things I would have probably given up when I opened the box!
Congratulations!A very neat build, looking great with all these walkways.
It is a futuristic "monster"
Cracking bomber Thomas. I have this kit in my stash and I'm dreading it! It's reputation proceeds it among the modeling community! You have done a really good job on this though. I doubt mine will look as good. I've been looking for some engines for it but I can't seem to find any resin ones.
Congratulations for this job. A great build.
Eric from France
Tom,
Looks great to me regardless of the problems you say you encountered. Very nicely done.