1/144 Revell B-52G Stratofortress

Gallery Article by Tony Granata on July 22 2010

 

Here's a kit I haven't seen built very often.  I wasn't even aware that Revell had released a 1/144 B-52G, so when I saw this kit on ebay I snatched it right up.  I had built Revell's B-52H kit a few years ago in overall FS36118, so I was looking forward to adding this kit next to it on the shelf.  The kit is pretty much the same thing as Revell's H, but it has the correct engines and tailguns for the G-model.  It's molded in that hideous green plastic which I didn't much care for.  It also comes with a nice set of twelve AGM-54 Harpoon missiles.  Markings are provided for two different planes, one from the 97th Bomb Wing at Eaker AFB, AR and one from the 416th Bomb Wing at Griffiss AFB, NY.  I chose the Griffiss markings since they were a bit more flashy.  It should be noted that the only B-52G's equipped to carry Harpoons were based at Loring AFB, ME and Castle AFB, CA, so the markings aren't really accurate for the weapons loadout, but I didn't care. 

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Construction was fairly straightforward.  I had the usual problems of getting the fuselage halves to go together nicely.  I chose to pay close attention to the wing-fuselage seams only on the top.  For the bottom, I simply used the putty and fingernail polish on the Q-Tip method to fill the seam.  The seam is still visible, but it's no longer the canyon it once was.  Masking was also a bit of a challenge since you have to install the landing gear struts before cementing the fuselage halves together.  For painting, I first sprayed the entire aircraft with Model Master FS36081 Euro 1 Gray from a rattle can, which seemed a bit lighter than what I've experienced before, but I could live with it.  After letting it sit for a few days, I then brush painted the FS34086 Green Drab camo on the top and the FS36118 Gunship Gray camo on the bottom using Model Master Acryls.  This is a technique I just recently discovered.  MM Acryls brush on real nice over an enamel base coat and any visible brush strokes disappear after you apply the final spraying of Testors Dullcote.  The kit decals went on nicely.  At first they have that milky, rubbery appearance that we've all grown accustomed to with early Revell and Monogram decals, but they looked very clean and nice after drying for a few hours.  Lastly, I attached the Harpoon missiles.  I fretted a few hours about how detailed I wanted to get with these, but in the end I decided to just paint the tips tan and paint one black stripe on each missile.  I didn't have the patience to get any more detailed than that.  I just knew I didn't want them to be plain white.  For weathering, I just brushed on some charcoal here and there over some major panel lines and behind the engine exhausts.

Be careful with the kit's instructions, because their paint guide is completely wrong.  Revell recommends you use FS35237 and FS34201 for the camo pattern.  They also show no camo pattern on the bottom of the aircraft, which is incorrect.  My only guess is that Revell probably used as their main reference an aerial photo of a B-52G baking in the hot Arizona sun, in which case the correct colors have probably faded enough to look like Revell's recommended colors.  For my primary reference, I used Wolfpak Decals sheet 72-013.  I had no intention of using the decals, but the paint guide provided was excellent and gave a very nice four-view of the B-52G's strategic camouflage pattern.  

Overall, a very nice kit that was fun to build.  And it also looks great sitting on the shelf next to my B-52H!  Cheers from the great Pacific Northwest!

Tony Granata

Photos and text © by Tony Granata