SR-71 Blackbird 1/48 - 1/72 Which kits are descent and available?

[Guest]

I'm pretty much just doing German WWII tanks and tank destroyers after recently getting back to modelling but I used to have a poster of the SR-71 Blackbird in my bedroom as a kid. It's a masterpiece of engineering for sure and I've now realised I can build one as a kit!
I thought there was going to be plethora of SR-71 available on the market but I couldn't be more wrong...

In 1/48 you can find the odd old Testors kit on eBay, but I'm looking at a minimum of $200+ delivered, often much much more, and that's if our not so pleasant customs people open the package and add their "fees" on top. These kits are 20+ years old so decals etc might be less than great and chances are the kits have been stored badly with bent sprues etc...?

In 1/72 there are kits available to buy but they all seem to be re-boxed old kits with minor changes to decals, and with inconsistent quality - like the Italeri where the nose cone has recessed panels and the rest of the body raised according to a review I saw on youtube, and another has got other unwanted "features"...

Which kit is the best if you don't want to go smaller than 1/72?
I don't mind paying £50 (shipped) for a well made and detailed scale model, but I don't want to buy an old kit that's wonky and horrible like the first Tamiya Panther Aufs.A I bought a couple of months ago because that was terrible.

I can buy the Tamiya no.145 kit from my supplier for £30-ish but the review and build I saw wasn't overly impressive... There must be better ones out there or isn't the SR-71 interesting anymore?

It's perhaps not the most exciting kit to build since it's more or less just one big wing, but it's a beautiful masterpiece of engineering that I'd love to have in front of me once again, but this time not on a poster.

Many thanks in advance,
Jens

[Guest]

Just saying, the current SR 71 Kits are not great. If you are looking for a good introduction into aircraft modelling, Grab the Eduard 1/48 Spitfire Mk Ixc Profipack. You'll never look back
Cheers

[Bigfoot57]

There is a 1/48 Italeri model of it I have one but still haven't built it so can't say what the quality is like I think I paid about £30 of ebay a couple of years ago but the kit is widely available wonderland models do it and so do a couple of model shops in the Swindon area where I have seen a couple in each shop again no idea on the price as I already have one I didn't bother to inquire
Further to my inital text above I have just looked up on ebay there are no 1/48 Italeri only 1/72 the 1/48 that are there are £99 & £150 respectively so they have shot up in price in the last 2 years

[Guest]

Just saying, the current SR 71 Kits are not great. If you are looking for a good introduction into aircraft modelling, Grab the Eduard 1/48 Spitfire Mk Ixc Profipack. You'll never look back
Cheers

Thank you John for the tip!

My modelling store has got a fairly good stock of Eduard models so I shall have a look at them for sure!

It's a pity there seems to be little interest for the SR-71 but the cold war era is perhaps not as exciting as the WWII stuff?
I for one love the engineering marvels of any bigger conflict (if you can find anything positive about war that is), and Skunk Works planes are the most mystical and secretively ones I can think of.
The whole history about the SR-71, the amazing engineering and how they made dodgy deals with the Russians through fake companies in order to source the titanium needed, is just one of the things that's so bonkers about the whole cold war thing, apart from the almost unreal achievements they made with the SR-71 - that still stands today. (officially anyway since we don't know what they've been tinkering with for the last 20+ years... )

I've met one of the few guys who's actually had a radar lock on a SR-71 at F4 in Frösön, Sweden. They knew roughly what time they were flying over the north of Sweden but a few of them decided that they were going to lock on to one of their flights - and succeeded (after many attempts) - and a few months later they received a plaque from US (anonymously-ish) congratulating them for actually pulling it off!
That plaque was hanging on the wall for everybody to view inside one of the buildings, until they were closed down in 2005.
This is where I grew up and it's also partly why I became interested in the SR-71 Blackbird.

It's also worth noticing that more than once has the SR-71 been locked - and even once photographed in air - by a JA37 Viggen, but the photo session occurred when they had some technical issue with the SR-71 and they had to drop down to a lower altitude, but still

Cheers!

[Guest]

There is a 1/48 Italeri model of it I have one but still haven't built it so can't say what the quality is like I think I paid about £30 of ebay a couple of years ago but the kit is widely available wonderland models do it and so do a couple of model shops in the Swindon area where I have seen a couple in each shop again no idea on the price as I already have one I didn't bother to inquire
Further to my inital text above I have just looked up on ebay there are no 1/48 Italeri only 1/72 the 1/48 that are there are £99 & £150 respectively so they have shot up in price in the last 2 years

The only descent 1/48 kit I've seen is the Testors one, the rest are 1/72 and smaller - but then from several makers. All are quite old though.
When building tanks and other armoured vehicles you can find virtually anything - even the really obscure and non-existing ones so I thought there surely must be a good SR-71 kit out there...

Cheers Colin and thanks for your help!

[yak face]

Hi jens , i think the italeri 1/48 is a rebox of the testors kit , as for 1/72 ive read that the best kit accuracy wise is the old revell/ monogram one . I know that academy , hasegawa and italeri do one thats a bit more of a modern tooling but the old Revell is considered the most accurate shape. I actually made the revell one as a kid but its that long ago i cant remember and at that time didnt care how it built or what the detail was like! Like yourself ive always loved the blackbird and might have to get one again sometime. Cheers tony

[stillp]

They're stealth kits, you can't find them.

Pete

[Guest]

They're stealth kits, you can't find them.

Pete

Aha, that explains it!

[colin m]

Great question Jens. I've been thinking about one of these myself, like Tony, I built one as a kid years ago (and don't remember much about it) but recently started thinking about the Blackbird again.
I read a story about a couple of aircraft asking ground control for speed checks (I think it involved a fighter pilot showing off) Then an unknown third aircraft asked for a check as well. When control returned the speed of the third aircraft, the fighter pilot shut up !

[Guest]

Just to follow up, I bought the Italeri No.145 "SR-71 Blackbird with Drone" kit as it was the only one I could get hold of. 1/72 scale and not bigger, but that was what's available.
The kit is wonky in areas and the front section seems to be of different tooling than the rear section, and the detailing is a story in itself.
There are loads of aftermarket parts which surely looks fantastic but I'm sticking to what's in the box.
Decals I might skip full stop because they look somewhat "crisp".

I hope someone decides to manufacture the SR-71 again because so many WWII planes are getting the love from all the big ones, why can't the most impressive air plane in the world (for its time) get the same?

[Guest]

Just to follow up, I bought the Italeri No.145 "SR-71 Blackbird with Drone" kit as it was the only one I could get hold of. 1/72 scale and not bigger, but that was what's available.
The kit is wonky in areas and the front section seems to be of different tooling than the rear section, and the detailing is a story in itself.
There are loads of aftermarket parts which surely looks fantastic but I'm sticking to what's in the box.
Decals I might skip full stop because they look somewhat "crisp".

I hope someone decides to manufacture the SR-71 again because so many WWII planes are getting the love from all the big ones, why can't the most impressive air plane in the world (for its time) get the same?

Im pretty sure academy do an sr 71, by the way.

[Guest]

Im pretty sure academy do an sr 71, by the way.

Yes, but it's out of stock and of "worse quality" according to some... But quality or not, if it's no longer made or in stock it's unobtanium sadly, unless you buy an overpriced 2:nd hand model.
I really searched high and low on eBay before I decided to get the Italeri one just to get something.

The fit was horrible but when assembled but puttied together it looks pretty good from a distance

It seems everybody made their tooling around 1984-85-ish and perhaps even rushed to release their kits. Since then all they've done is rebox versions with perhaps some added parts, decals or just new box art.

Hasegawa - Nr. 02217 - 1:72 made in 1984 is still being sold in some places with decals from 2016 but none of my trusted sources had it when I bought my Italeri version.
Perhaps better, or worse, I can't remember what I read about it. I was really searching for a 1/48 kit so I didn't look to thoroughly at 1/72, that I admit.

Not knowing much about air plane models certainly didn't help here, but I learned some doing this!

Thanks for your reply!