SR-71 Blackbird

[Nacho Z]

I have always loved this plane and while in the USAF, stationed in England, I had the opportunity to see one at an air show. It did several low altitude fly bys. WOW!! So I picked up this kit and thought I would give it a shot. I know it would not fare too well at an IPMS show but she looks great sitting in my hobby room. I did not take a lot of in progress pictures so I will just post the finished model.

Here is a picture of the kit I used for this build.

Here are two pictures to show how big the model is. It is 1:48 1:72 scale.

And one final picture of what I think is one of the most gorgeous planes to ever grace our skies.

Edited September 18, 2013 by Nacho Z

[PappyD340]

Very NICE John!

[Ira]

Looks Great John!

Very Clean Build...

[the goon]

Lookin' good

Mark

[Kennyboy]

That is one super clean build!

What did you think of it as one of the stars in Transformers 2?

[Cato]

Very nice build but it's 1:72 scale-read box.

[W-Machine]

Very well-done. The Blackbird, at 50 years old, still looks like it came from another planet. If I were President, it would be Air Force One.

[cobraman]

Nicely done.

[Pete J.]

Very nice representation of a SR. This thing looks like it is going mach 3 on the ground. Just one piece of info if you do another one, and since it is one of your favorite birds, I suspect you will. Most people think the aircraft is black because of the name. It isn't. It is a very dark charcoal gray. A lot of the color is a result of the paint formulation to accommodate some really difficult parameters. The exterior had to stand up to really high temperatures in flight and it also had radar absorption characteristics. It is a very similar color to the B-2.

Since someone mentioned the Transformers I though I would throw a photo I took of that bird at Udvar-Hazey. This was years before it became a Decepticon.

[Nacho Z]

Very nice build but it's 1:72 scale-read box.

Cato, you are correct! Not sure where I got 1:48 from . Good catch.

Thanks to everyone for the replies!

Pete - I appreciate the info. I was aware of the color but I took the easy way out and went with the paint I had. I think the red of the decals is too red also. I have also seen pictures that show the nacelles being a different shade or sheen from the fuselage, but I did them all the same.

Edited September 18, 2013 by Nacho Z

[Pete J.]

I hope you don't take this a nitpicking. I just enjoy discussing a subject like this. Like most planes that are actually flown, not museum pieces, there are a lot of different shades and sheens. Some comes from wear and tear, some from different materials underneath, and some from different coatings(ie paints). On this bird there are such extreme temperature variation at cruse speed you could run a ton of different colors and be right. I think the red variation is probably more a scale issue. The "no step" lines look very wide to my eye. The lines and lettering, if done in scale would be so small that they might not show at all, or would be too small to print. Still a very nice build.

[krazyglu]

That looks fantastic, this has always been one of my favorite looking planes, good info in here as well.

[Cato]

I hope you don't take this a nitpicking. I just enjoy discussing a subject like this. Like most planes that are actually flown, not museum pieces, there are a lot of different shades and sheens. Some comes from wear and tear, some from different materials underneath, and some from different coatings(ie paints).

I enjoy the discussion and new disclosures too Pete.

I always thought the finish was raw titanium which fuel leaked through (at the seams) and heated to -what 3000F? Never thought the finish was lo-vis paint...

[Ace-Garageguy]

I always thought the finish was raw titanium which fuel leaked through (at the seams) and heated to -what 3000F? Never thought the finish was lo-vis paint...

The story is that she was finished in a paint containing minute iron balls that dissipated electromagnetic energy (as in radar) and also magically radiated more heat than bare titanium, heat that was generated by skin friction at Mach3+. I'd really like to see the engineering documentation on that paint....

As far as the fuel leaking, you're absolutely correct. At the time she was flying, there was no fuel tank bladder or liner that was capable of withstanding the extreme temperatures during operation. The tank seams were sealed with a high-temp silicone, but it didn't work perfectly or last forever. The fuel, though very viscous, would leak out of the unlined tanks when the aircraft was cold, until heat generated by skin friction with air (around 600deg.F), at speed, caused enough expansion of the panels to close up the gaps a bit.

Absolutely a breathtaking airplane, far ahead of its time and spectacular in every aspect.

Beautiful model you have there, sir.

[Nacho Z]

I hope you don't take this a nitpicking. I just enjoy discussing a subject like this. Like most planes that are actually flown, not museum pieces, there are a lot of different shades and sheens. Some comes from wear and tear, some from different materials underneath, and some from different coatings(ie paints). On this bird there are such extreme temperature variation at cruse speed you could run a ton of different colors and be right. I think the red variation is probably more a scale issue. The "no step" lines look very wide to my eye. The lines and lettering, if done in scale would be so small that they might not show at all, or would be too small to print. Still a very nice build.

No problem Pete, I did not take it that way at all. I have a book on the SR-71 and did some internet searches. I knew of a few things that I did not do correctly. Like I said, I know this model would not do well at an IPMS show and I would not even enter it in the "Misc." category at car model show. It was just a fun, quick build of a beautiful aircraft.

I'm glad to see this much discussion about this great bird. Shows what the Good 'Ol U.S.A can do! My wife and I just made it to the USAF Museum in Dayton back in April. Got to see the SR-71 there. What a great place. If you get a chance to visit....DO IT!!! You will not be disappointed!

[Cato]

The story is that she was finished in a paint containing minute iron balls that dissipated electromagnetic energy (as in radar) and also magically radiated more heat than bare titanium, heat that was generated by skin friction at Mach3+. I'd really like to see the engineering documentation on that paint....

The fuel, though very viscous, would leak out of the unlined tanks when the aircraft was cold, until heat generated by skin friction with air (around 600deg.F), at speed, caused enough expansion of the panels to close up the gaps a bit.

Sounds counter-intuitive that a Ti skin should be covered with little iron balls. I'd never read that.

Thanks for the temp correction-600F ain't 3000 but it's still plenty hot for yer bath water...

[Pete J.]

I knew I had just read something about this stuff. There is an article on Stealth in the current issue of Smithsonian Air & Space magazine. The paint was called iron ball paint which is a bit of a misnomer unless you are a physicist. The paint contained molecules of carbonyl iron ferrite(what ever the heck that is) which when hit by microwave energy oscillate and convert the energy to heat rather than reflecting the energy back to the radar station. Roughly what your kitchen microwave does.

The early YF-12As did have a lot of raw titanium on them. Here is another little know piece of info. The project that created the Black Bird was named "Ox Cart". Another interesting bit was that the SRs did not refuel off of a conventional KC-135A. They had their own birds which were KC-135Qs. The difference was that the A models could burn all their internal fuel. The Q's had the center wing tank sealed off that was only accessed by the refueling boom. The 135 couldn't burn the fuel that the SR used and you didn't want to accidently try to switch fuel in flight. The Qs also had a spotlight in the tail to illuminate the SR for night refueling. A black jet at night is a little hard to see.

Edited September 19, 2013 by Pete J.

[Agent G]

Nice model. I think it is just fine.

These magnificient beasts flew from Kadena AFB on Okinawa. They took off mostly at night reportedly to arrive over the target at optimum light conditions. We Marines at Camp Butler always knew when a take off was about to happen. The AF base went dark, and suddenly the image of a dark shadow rose into the air. It was followed by two of the largest blue flames ever seen by man. Then the roar hit you.

Spectacular stuff man.

G

[slusher]

A great looking build...