Bowcat's Italeri SR-71 Blackbird

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers gents.

Ian, as Andy said, after painting just add some MLT to the cup (I don't even bother cleaing out the old paint) then mist over at very low pressure.

[boatman]

Very very good Bob this plane is one of my fave an you have done a splendid build an paint finish an how you say you are gonna have it climbin straight up on them glass rods great but if I ever model like that with the glass rods I would try an fit some ultra bright led's inside at the top end of the rod so that the light shines down the rods to give the effect of after burner flame but that's just me as I think it would set the model like in motion an give the effect of the power comin from those powerfull engines
chris

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Chris.

I actually did consider doing that, however the SR-71 has quite a unique afterburner signature, and I couldn't figure out how to achieve it.

[boatman]

YEA I see what you mean Bob it does look a bit tricky to get that effect but if you don't try you will never know an if it doen't look right there;s always the option of leavein the led's off but fantastic model you have built if my models come up half as good when I build them i'll be very pleased
chris

[Guest]

the SR-71 has quite a unique afterburner signature

That’s known as shock diamonds, Mach diamonds and some other names, and they’re present in many engines on afterburner, including jet fighters and spacecraft. As Wikipedia’s short explanation puts it:

The "diamonds" are actually a complex flow field made visible by abrupt changes in local density and pressure as the exhaust passes through a series of standing shock waves and expansion fans.

I thought about it for my Lightning F.6 that I put on some perspex rods to display it much like your SR-71, but I don’t really see how you could convincingly replicate this on a model. It would be so cool if you could, though

[colin m]

That is a beast, Bob. Very nice indeed.

[Mr Bowcat]

Cheers Colin.

Jakko, I had considered painting bands of Tamiya clear red, but in the end decided it would look a bit naff.

[Jack L]

Cheers Chris. :smiling3:

I actually did consider doing that, however the SR-71 has quite a unique afterburner signature, and I couldn't figure out how to achieve it.

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It would be pretty difficult, and definitely wouldn't take the weight with the way you want to display it, but I think you could create the effect by cutting the clear rod at intervals and then gluing back together (with a clear glue!) If I am right, the light from the LED would reflect off the cut surface of the rod, more than the solid section, and you would get something like this. The brightness of reflected light would tail off (no pun intended) the further down the rod it went. Would take a fair bit of trial and error.

[Guest]

I had considered painting bands of Tamiya clear red, but in the end decided it would look a bit naff.

That’s more or less what I had thought of as well, and decided against it for the same reason. I suppose that if you’re good enough, you can probably airbrush something that looks convincing from most angles, but I wouldn’t trust myself to do it

[Mr Bowcat]

It would be pretty difficult, and definitely wouldn't take the weight with the way you want to display it, but I think you could create the effect by cutting the clear rod at intervals and then gluing back together (with a clear glue!) If I am right, the light from the LED would reflect off the cut surface of the rod, more than the solid section, and you would get something like this. The brightness of reflected light would tail off (no pun intended) the further down the rod it went. Would take a fair bit of trial and error.

I had all sorts of crazy plans. One was to use acrylic rod with cut or notched fibre optic cable inside. In the end I just decided it wasn't worth it, particularly as there will only be a couple of inches of rod showing anyway.

[stillp]

If you have access to a lathe, I suppose you could find a piece of clear tube that fits into the exhaust, and a piece of white rod that would fit into the tube, then turn a series of V-shaped grooves into the rod then slide it into the tube. Easy enough if you have an engineering lathe, tricky with a woodturning lathe.
Pete

[Mr Bowcat]

A lathe is very much on my wish list, along with a mill.

[stillp]

Me too Bob, I spent many happy and profitable hours on the lathe in a previous job. I haven't room now, my garage is full of woodworking machinery as well as the car.
Pete

[boatman]

It would be pretty difficult, and definitely wouldn't take the weight with the way you want to display it, but I think you could create the effect by cutting the clear rod at intervals and then gluing back together (with a clear glue!) If I am right, the light from the LED would reflect off the cut surface of the rod, more than the solid section, and you would get something like this. The brightness of reflected light would tail off (no pun intended) the further down the rod it went. Would take a fair bit of trial and error.

HI Jack very intresting theory an some time I may have a try
chris

[Mr Bowcat]

Morning chaps.

I had decided that I wasn't happy with the decal silvering, so rather than try and hide it with weathering I bit the bullet and took a brute force approach by going over the decals with Tamiya extra thin. :surprised:

It seems to have worked quite well, the decals are definitely less shiny, and the very small amount of bleed can be corrected/hidden with weathering.