[Soo.... What did you just get???]

Thanks to @Martinnfb look what arrived today!  I was trying to clear out closet space by getting rid of the 1/48 B-29 but he talked me into taking this off his hands.  What a guy!!    Cheers, Martin!

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

Thanks John!!

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

Was getting ready to install the "Clear" parts when I found they are not so clear.  I've never seen anything like this before.  I washed the windscreen in dish soap, and windex but that did not improve the clarity.  I have the NOVUS polishing kit to try next.  

The fit may be a challenge as well but since I still have that piece across the top, that may be spreading the sides out.

And another anomaly in the instructions.  The stabilizers and tail pieces are Parts E1-E6 as shown below.  Pretty standard.  Them MC decided to reuse E1, E2 and E3 to identify the left, right and tail pieces.

They do that a lot so it is something to watch for.

Stay tuned!

[HK 1/32 B-25J Strafer next]

Wow.  Nice looking so far!!  Super work.

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

Making progress on the wing after getting the engine nacelles together and figuring out which of the engine pylons go with which nacelles.  According to the instructions, there are two different configurations.  For the life of me, I can't tell the difference with the exception of the join between the nacelles and the pylons is slightly different between the inner and out engines.

Back to my oft-repeated refrain... a lack of location capability is a liability here.  Believe it or not, this is the only pin to join the pylon to the wing;

The big challenge is then making sure the engines are facing in the right direction.  Here is my first attempt at a mock-up:

Right now using the fuselage/wing join line as the guide.  Also, as you can see, playing with attaching the Italeri pylon and the Hound Dog missile to the wing.  Might work!  I did some sanding to try and match the wing profile - and if it works, I'll use some screws from inside the wing to secure the missile pylon to the wing.  Have to see about sliding it forward to level out the missile.

Hoping to get this into paint in the next two weeks.

This is the intended scheme...

 

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

it did!  I didn't even know to look for it.  When I ordered some new Cleaner, it came with it.  Yay!

[Soo.... What did you just purge???]

5 hours ago, Winnie said:

If you were in Canada I'd say yes to the 52... But it'll be pricy to ship!

That it would be!  I could cut it in half.   

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

On 11/30/2025 at 1:04 PM, Landlubber Mike said:

Hey Chris, hope you had a nice Thanksgiving.  Great work on the kit - very cool subject.

I've been staying away from Vallejo primers, mostly because I work a lot with PE and I find it doesn't adhere as well.  That being said, I do use their Gloss Black as a base for their Metal Colors line (usually, after first priming with Mr. Surfacer for a solid base coat and to look for imperfections) and sometimes use their other primers for areas where I don't need a perfect base coat, like cockpit interiors, etc.  

When I use Vallejo, I do thin it - usually only a drop or a few drops per their instructions - using their thinner.  50/50 seems like quite a bit.  When the bottles get chunky I pitch them.  For the airbrush, I had similar problems with mine spitting when I first started.  I do two things - at the end of a session, I'll run some lacquer thinner through the airbrush like you do.  I also use one of these nozzle cleaners as a physical means of removing any gunk.  I find that no matter how well you think you clean the airbrush, Vallejo tends to leave a very small amount of residue that builds up over time.  

 

Forgive me if you know all this, I just thought that I would pass along what works for me.

Mike, Thanks and you too!

No!! Incredibly helpful and the 'gunky' comment rings a bell.  I think I'm dealing with very old paint. I have so much I hate to pitch it all.  I will likely start mixing in a glass jar to check on the consistency and might have to use one of those battery-powered spin mixers to really mix it up.   

I sprayed some MRP this morning and it sprayed beautifully, as you would expect.  Where did you get that handy little tool you show above?  I'm going to have to get one... 

UPDATE:  I found the tool!  It is coming as part of a cleaning package.  Cheers!

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

Had a bit of a break for the Thanksgiving holiday but slowly making progress.  Having a lot of trouble with my Vallejo paints clogging up the nozzles on both my Grex and my Iwata.  Maybe the paint is old??  I'm thinning about 50/50 and have even started using a few drops of retarder.  I don't get very far before the airbrush starts spitting and then forget getting any paint out of it.  I pulled both nozzles and soaked them in lacquer thinner.  Used a small brush and got gunk out of both.  What I didn't try but will next is spraying MRP acrylic lacquer and see what that does.  But I only have Vallejo primers... 

Anyway

I keep running into annoying fit issues, this time in the bomb bay.  There are two pieces that extend the length of the bay, but both pieces are a few mm too long and interfere with where the bomb bay bulkheads fit into the grooves in the fuselage halves:

It is an incredibly easy fix - simply snip off a bit on the ends, but reminds me of the Special Hobby P-39 fit issues. Should not happen.

Anyway, here is the bomb bay dry fitted.  I have some touch-up to do on some of the bombs.  Ham-fisted the painting...

Got the engine cowlings together and they take a bit of filler.  But I think that is coming along pretty well.  The left side shows the pre-sanding filler, the right side post sanding.

[HK 1/32 B-25J Strafer next]

Nice work, John!  Love the cockpit - and your seat pads. Well done!

[New Kotare announcement - 1/48 Halifax]

Did anyone join Project Halifax?

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

9 hours ago, FullArmor said:

This kit looks very challenging in the wrong way.😕

It is challenging, but not so bad so I hope I'm not over doing the complaints.  The Kitty Hawk P-39 had me ripping out the entire nose armament after it was built as there was no way to close up the fuselage with it in there.  And literally NONE of the wing panels would fit, closed.  So that is my baseline comparison.  I think better instructions would help with the cockpit alignment and that might reduce some of that sanding I had to do.  But it is not shake and bake so maybe that is a good thing?  Have to do research and use the brain?

5 hours ago, DocRob said:

Nice (extra) work, Chris. I´m sure, you will pull through with the big thing. Weird, how you exchanged the super bad Italeri kit for a bad modelcollect one. It seems there is some need for a really good kit.

Cheers Rob

Thanks, Rob.  Yeah, the fit issues are something, but the lack of detailed instructions is too.  I guess MC went back to the old days where they basically point to where something should be attached and leave it up to you to figure it out.  I'll know how bad things are when I get back to the nose section and see how the seams are from last night's session.  And then the center fuselage section which is very long itself.  I may go through have a bottle of Tamiya Thin just on that...

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

I'm still a bit unsure about not displaying the landing gear, but for now, made progress on the bomb bay.  Why the Italeri shows nothing here is beyond me, but at least this kit has the complete bomb set up.  Again, not the same bombs shown on the box.

First step was to get the bombs onto the racks.  Easy, right?  There is nothing to show where the bombs should be attached to the racks.  And the bombs themselves rest against the side rails - there is not even a pad for them to be attached to the rail. I kind of guessed where the bombs would be relative to the rack.   I used medium CA and hope none of these come loose because if they do, OMG what a PITA that will be to reattach!

Here are the racks installed in the tray.  There was nothing in the instructions to remind you that three of the racks need the bombs to be pointed in the other direction. (the row at the side of the rack towards the bottom of the picture).  

and with the bulkheads attached.  This assembly fits perfectly into the main fuselage.  However, the curve of the fuselage means that next to nothing other than the bombs will be seen.  Hence, and you can't see it, but the light weathering I did in the bomb bay is moot.

Here is the nose part showing just how much can be seen through the front windscreen - just wait till I add the clear parts!!  I did, subsequently, glue these halves together.  Major seam work ahead but I did get the parts to mostly align...

[What is on your bench right now ? Share a picture :)]

Stay away from those 16 oz curls....  

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

1 hour ago, BlrwestSiR said:

That's a fair bit of progress. I only have a couple smaller Modelcollect armour kits and the fit is similar to what you're experiencing. Likewise with the incomplete instructions. 

The build reviews online say basically the same thing.  However, this is worse than I expected.  Not as bad as Kitty Hawk's P-39 bad, however.    The lack of locating pins along that very long fuselage is problematic.

[GWH Hawk 81-A 2 Flying Tigers]

Dave,

Can't wait to watch this build!  This is one aircraft I have not built many of.  I have a personalized signed bio of Tex Hill on my shelf.  I'd have to build his aircraft, number 48!  

Chris

[Soo.... What did you just purge???]

Unless someone wants it, the Italieri B-52G is likely to join this list...  I also have some older built models I think I need to part with.  Just one of those things.

 

[ICM Hs 123 A-1]

Nice work, Dave!  Fun to 'binge follow' the build and see your progress all at once.  Great job on fixing the issues, looks terrific.

 

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

Did a quick test-fit and am very happy to say that the fit of the landing gear doors is very good.  Tight even.

That being said I can see the potential for two issues:

1.  For the entire center fuselage section there are only two locating pins, both on the same end (just top and bottom).  Alignment will need to be done very carefully.

2.  The join of the nose section to the center section may show a pretty significant fuselage line, but a larger issue may be that the two cylindrical pieces may be of different sizes.  I think the nose section is smaller than the fuselage section.  Will cross that bridge when I get there.

But being able to close up the wheel wells is really good news as the plane will be hung from the ceiling with the bomb bay doors open.

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

The assembly continues, with some major fit issues.  I'm sure some of the issues I created, and some by the lack of clear assembly instructions.  So double whammy.

This is how the cockpit is supposed to fit into the nose of the fuselage.

There is ONE locator pin in the nose, which if you are going to have ONE, that is place you want it.

I used the IP tub to determine where the cockpit should be located.  Pushing the tub forward split the nose pieces.  Uh oh...

This gives you an idea of the challenge ahead...

Here is where I created part of the problem not pushing the floor up onto the bulkhead, but doing so created other fit problems...

 

The other area to determine the proper fit is the entry door:

After clipping off the corners of the cockpit floor, here are the areas I had to sand down to get a decent fit. Same on both sides

After some judicious sanding, and lots of test fitting, am able to close up the fuselage without a whole lot of pressure.

Making progress, but this is not a shake and bake kit by any means.  It is not horribly fitting as I think a lot of these fit problems could be fixed with better instructions.  Just a shame nearly ALL of this can't be seen once the fuselage halves are closed up.  Working on the bomb bay in parallel but also realized that I'm not sure how well the landing gear doors fit into their openings.  Stay tuned!

[Well, THIS is embarrassing!]

On 11/10/2025 at 5:34 AM, dodgem37 said:

Better than a toothpick.

Sincerely, Mark

Mark,  What is that and where did you get it?  Looks like something I need!

[CAR THREAD ( ..wheeee) :)]

You need that up there!!

 

[CAR THREAD ( ..wheeee) :)]

Thanks Martin,  It is sooo smooth and, well, grown up.    Pretty comfy...

[CAR THREAD ( ..wheeee) :)]

Got tired of shifting (kinda) but mostly just the boy-racer thing with the WRX so traded it in.  Got this 2021 A4 with only 24k miles on it.  $10k + the WRX.  Here's the thing, it is nearly half a second quicker 0-60 and has about the same top-end as the Subie.  SOO much more comfortable and has all the modern car features (Apple Carplay and Android Auto) including excellent lane control and adaptive cruise control.

On the highway and even around town I get in the mid-30s MPG.  It is what Audi call a Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle with a 12V electric system to assist the engine at starting, low speeds and cruising.  From last winter...

[1/72 Modelcollect B-52G Early, Linebacker II]

Pulled together the cockpit and again, the fit is interesting.  Not a lot of locating help.  But seems to be working out.  Cleaned up some of the detail in the cockpit.

The cockpit tub looks pretty good

and the tub concept fits much better than the Italeri cockpit, which has more detail at the rear of the cockpit. These are supposedly the same size.  Also the Italeri kit does not show the second level of the cockpit at all.  NONE of that detail will be seen, but cool to know it is there!

These guys didn't' have a lot of headroom!  I'd have spent more time on this but...

Some of the pour gates are really big, but all are on back surfaces (so far anyway).  I did finally find some pictures of this area.  Would have been cool to detail.

Working on the bomb bay we again get to strange misses on the part of the instructions:  it doesn't show the assembly of the bomb racks!  Part A6 is shown completed, but nowhere in the instructions is how to put it together.  

It will not be hard to figure out, however.

Base coat is completed on the bombs.  Will do a top coat of darker green, then some color bands.  The plane will be suspended from the ceiling so will be paying some special attention here 

That's it for now!  Thanks for hanging in with me.  Keeps me motivated to keep working on this beast.