Description
This is my 1/72 scale Italeri B-57B. Having seen an actual photo of this airplane in an issue of Scale Aircraft Modelling, I decided to build it in those markings.
I elected to open two fuselage hatches on the left side and added various parts from the scrap box to give the inside of the hatches the busy look. Intake covers were made from thin sheet plastic and painted red.
Reference photos showed the little speed brake "fingers" sticking up out of the wings, top and bottom. Evidently they came out when the speed brakes were deployed. Square plastic stock was added to fill that need.
The flaps came as separate pieces in the kit, as did the fuselage speed brakes, so all in all, with the exception of the open hatches, speed brake "fingers" and intake covers, I built it pretty much out of the box.
The canopy was vacuformed and I added the windshield wiper using black plastic stretched sprue.
Very thin black paint was air brushed to give the indication of cartridge start smudging on the inner wings and fuselage sides, as per reference photos I had. I used a base coat of Floquil Old Silver and added the numerous panels, using Alclad II. When the NM finish was complete, the entire model was lightly over coated with a very thin mix of Floquil Old Silver once again to blend and reduce the differences between the rather stark individual panels. All in all, a fun project with a minimum amount of "add-on's."
The decals come from various sources with the "KY AIR GUARD" being assembled together from white sheet decal, red striping and individual black lettering for the wing tanks. Black decal striping was used to edge the yellow nose.
A full build article will appear in an future issue of AeroSpace Modeler Magazine.
