When I started back into modeling a while back, one of the goals I set for myself was to build airplanes that I had flown, worked on or were significant to me. The B-52 is the airplane that got me started in aviation, the first airplane I ever got to see up close. My home town of El Paso, Texas was the site of Biggs AFB, home of the 95th Bomb Wing, so the sight and sound of the big bombers thundering over my head was a frequent one when I was a kid.

This is the Minicraft B-52D / F kit in 1/144 scale, which is being backdated to a B model to represent an airplane named "City of El Paso" that was stationed at Biggs AFB. As usual, I didn't think to take pictures, probably because assembly of most of the airframe only took a few hours, after which all the fun started. Fit was not bad, but not great either, so there were lots of seams to deal with, especially on the engines and pylons. Vallejo acrylic putty and Mr. Surfacer took care of those, but it was a long process, made even more tedious because of the NMF over white scheme. I just painted the model a few days ago, my usual Model Master (aluminum and flat white) doing that job. Decals were custom printed for me by my good friend Cliff, that chore is next. I'll try to do a little better keeping up with this as I go...

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Great entry and great progress so far, my friend @jetmex!

On the home stretch now. Decals are applied and sealed. I had a brilliant idea to try to cut the walkway decals apart and apply them one stripe at a time. I'll never do that again! The wing decals are about six inches long and trying to get them on and straight about drove me to the looney bin. Fortunately, I had an extra set. They went down just fine, but did take extra time to get lined up properly. The nose art and serial numbers were printed by my good friend Cliff, who is an absolute whiz at that sort of thing. All that's left is the landing gear, and I'll be calling this one done.

2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Superb decal job, my friend @jetmex!

Done!

Cold War Warrior - Boeing B-52, Bomber Command Group Build

She looks great on the headlines, Jaime @jetmex
Well done.