Academy B-1B Lancer 1/144

For this year's build,

Looks to be a straight forward build. Kit is a new tool released in 2019 and has nine sprues, five dark grey, two black, one white and one clear (masks are included for the cockpit). It has a simple flight deck but there isn't much glass to see into the interior. The gear can be built lowered or raised, bombay open or closed, with an extra fuel tank and two types of bombs to fill it. A Sniper XR pod and pylon is also included. The wing are positionable, and there are two types of wing fairings provided, one that allows the wing to moved but leaves a gap in the fairing when they are swept forward and another that keeps the wing in the forward swept position. Markings are provided for one aircraft from 34 BS Ellesworth AFB and two from 9 BS Dyess AFB with a variety of colour schemes, as long as its overall Gunship Grey.

The four white cans are 3D printed from Shapeways. They are a bit deeper and have more exterior detail than the kit nozzles.

Time to man the model bench and let the fun begin.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[RichB]

And we're done.

B-1B Lancer "Black Widow"
34th Bomb Squadron "Thunderbirds", 28th Bomb Wing
Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota

Thanks all for looking in.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[moon puppy]

Mighty fine finish Rich!

 

[Big10]

Excellent Bone. How was the kit overall? Really dig those exhaust nozzles

 

[RichB]

Excellent Bone. How was the kit overall? Really dig those exhaust nozzles

Was a very good build, almost snaps together. Only a couple of places needed a light touch of filler. You need to follow the assembly order when installing the landing gear and bomb load or they can make things miserable. Although it is'nt mentioned in the instructions, I added some weight in the nose cone and around the nose wheel well to guarantee the nose stays down.

The 3D printed nozzles have much better detail than the kit parts. They are a direct replacement for the kit parts and slip right into the engine pods.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[paddy]

Looks great, a rare beast in England but they do show up every now and then, this one at a sea side air show a couple of years ago

 

[moon puppy]

Looks great, a rare beast in England but they do show up every now and then, this one at a sea side air show a couple of years ago

View attachment 148566View attachment 148567

Years ago something rumbled over our house in the early evening. Something I've never felt. I ran out side to see what it was and all I could see, through the trees, were those 4 ABs lit up. I couldn't see anything else but considering the pattern and the vibration I felt, it had to be a B1 with the burners lit up.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Yeah, I remember we were driving past the approach to Hurlburt Field runway as a Bone passed directly over our car at about 100 feet. What a rush!