RalphSarc Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Revell 1/48 B-58 Hustler Building Thread The U.S. Air Force's first operational supersonic bomber, the B-58 made its initial flight on Nov. 11, 1956. In addition to the Hustler's delta wing shape, distinctive features included a sophisticated inertial guidance navigation and bombing system, a slender "wasp-waist" fuselage and an extensive use of heat-resistant honeycomb sandwich skin panels in the wings and fuselage. Since the thin fuselage prevented the carrying of bombs internally, a droppable, two-component pod beneath the fuselage contained a nuclear weapon -- along with extra fuel, reconnaissance equipment or other specialized gear. The B-58 crew consisted of a pilot, navigator/bombardier and defense systems operator. Convair built 116 B-58s: 30 test and pre-production aircraft and 86 for operational service. Hustlers flew in the Strategic Air Command between 1960 and 1970. Setting 19 world speed and altitude records, B-58s also won five different aviation trophies. The B-58A on display set three speed records while flying from Los Angeles to New York and back on March 5, 1962. For this effort, the crew received the Bendix and Mackay Trophies for 1962. It was flown to the museum in December 1969. Operation Bulls Eye was the B-58 community’s response to change to low level tactics. Another objective of Operation Bullseye was to turn the B-58 into a more flexible weapon system with the addition of externally carried conventional weapons. Possible use for the Hustler would have been in the war in Vietnam. The program itself was conducted in April 1967 and had the B-58 configured as a pathfinder aircraft and conventional iron bomber. The program originated out of Eglin AFB, FL and utilized Hustlers from the 305th Bomb Wing. Various weapons ranges at Eglin, Nellis, AFB, NV, and Matagorda Island. Other tests within the program replaced the Hustler’s navigator/bombardiers with F-4 Phantom Weapon Systems Officers (WSOs). The Hustlers were configured with up to 3,000 lbs of bombs and flew as many as 3,000 sorties over a 27 day period. Almost all the bomb drops were done visually without assistance from the B-58s bombing/navigation system. During testing a Hustler was damaged by it’s own bomb fragment with minor damage. It was during these test the Hustler was painted in the South East Asia Camouflage (the war in Vietnam was going on at the time). I make a note of it here because, for Hustler enthusiasts, the infamous SEA-camo Hustler is a bit like Bigfoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphSarc Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 3,2,1..... Blast Off!!! I read a lot concerning the fit of the fuselage to the wings on this old girl so I was ready with the large shop clamps, lol!!!Good Lord this thing is big but really excited to see the challenges she'll throw my way!! Step 3 was easy enough. Assembled the cockpit tub side walls and the instrument panel. The cockpit had really nice details so I'll leave the top hatch open so I can enjoy the view. I'll prime and paint it light gray and do either a thinned India Ink wash or black oil rub to highlight the instruments! Step 4 was the assembly of the seat and escape pod. Again I'll paint and detail these. The pod was painted a rescue orange so should show nice with the hatch open! No room on the bench for anything else, lol!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkranias Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 here you go again. another build.... this looks like a fun project. B58 in SEA camo, bring it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgbgtv8steve Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Hello Ralph - yes what a glorious choice of subject, particularly in the SEA scheme!! I built this behemoth back in the long ago and seem to recall I collapsed the undercarriage by overweighting the nose - beware! Good luck with such a lovely shape. I watch with interest all your builds and marvel at your prodigious output! Regards, Steve S. (yes, I'll finish a model some time soon!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphSarc Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 here you go again. another build.... this looks like a fun project. B58 in SEA camo, bring it! Thanks Rick!! I'm doing this as part of the Bomber Build on my FB group and I'm really excited about bringing this kit to like. It should be pretty striking when completed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphSarc Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Hello Ralph - yes what a glorious choice of subject, particularly in the SEA scheme!! I built this behemoth back in the long ago and seem to recall I collapsed the undercarriage by overweighting the nose - beware! Good luck with such a lovely shape. I watch with interest all your builds and marvel at your prodigious output! Regards, Steve S. (yes, I'll finish a model some time soon!) Thank you Steve for your kind comments! Being retired has its purks and unlimited bench time during the winter although I did build last summer on the deck, lol!! I was considering weighting the nose but it does indicate that on the instruction. I'm wondering of ot really needs it??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphSarc Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Have several Doctors appointments with Beth today so had the paint shop prime the cockpit parts so I can detail them later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphSarc Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Started painting and detailing the B-58 cockpit this afternoon. Used Tamiya XF-26 Deep Green for the cushions and seat back along with XF-7 Red for the headrest. I did a small amount of dry brushing with XF-16 Flat Aluminum to simulate some wear.I then used XF-10 Flat Brown for the safety harness and XF-16 again for the buckles. Used Tester Yellow and Black enamels for the pod activation handles! The B-58 Ejection Pod and cockpit is complete. Got as much instrument panel detail with black acrylic oils as I could plus your not going to see much one installed in the fuselage! Dry fit cockpit in the fuselage. I'll leave the top hatch open for interest and should show well in the SEA camouflage scheme! A side view of the cockpit tub and pod! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphSarc Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 Progress continues on the B-58! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphSarc Posted March 25, 2015 Author Share Posted March 25, 2015 Paint shop crew did some upper fuselage and wing preshading and applied Tamiya XF-1 flat black to the tail and under body fuselage. They said they'd start masking for the camouflage pattern this afternoon if they had time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazypoet Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 I'm enjoying this - keep the updates coming! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphSarc Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 I'm enjoying this - keep the updates coming! Thanks so much! I finally finished the B-58 build this weekend!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RalphSarc Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Off to the paint shop!! The paint shop crew decided that a freehand camouflage scheme would look more natural so that's what they went for!!I kinda like it!!! A few touch ups here and there once the mask was removed but all in all pretty pleased with the results! Gave the B-58 a bath in Flory Dark Dirt Wash blend and fade the paint a bit then sprayed a coat of Future. I'll do the decals this evening and then the final dull coat. This sucks!!! Thank God I save all my unused decals. Had almost all the correct fuselage insignias in my file!! I'll let the red sol dry and then dull coat the beast!!! All done. Follow this link to view the finished B-58! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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