B-47E Stratojet

Roland Sachsenhofer
That´s my new project after having completed the diminutive autgyro: same scale, but a little bit larger.... 🙂
First steps have me seen adapting Pavla´s cokcpit set to fit into the hull of the Hasegawa kit. It´s an impressive hunk of resin and a huge improvement to the kit parts- but that should be no wonder looking at the age of the Hasegawa Stratojet.
There was a lot of sawing and sanding to get both resin and kit parts in proper shape. During that process I nearly destroyed the lower parts of the resin- that will be no problem for me, as I will show the B-47 with closed hatches.

Sven Schönyan
I´ll be following with interest! This is also on my wishlist.

Sebastian Meyner
I'm in for sure! 👍

Oleg Smilyk
I am in! Great project!

Daniel Mysak
Interesting project, B-47 is a nice and real elegant jet. The Pavla parts look great, I can imagine the original cockpit from the kit, definitive a good investment.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you guys for your interest! Indeed Daniel, original Hasegawa and Pavla cockpit a hardly comparable 🙂

Bernd Korte
I'm very much looking forward to this!

Dave Jones
looks awesome looking forward to seing this

Holger Kranich
Wow with this chunk of resin there is no need for nose weight anymore!LOL 🙂

Glenn
That cockpit sure makes the office look a lot busier! The original looks like a old school chair and table!

Ekki
Following with great interest.

Maciej Bellos
Great subject!

Łukasz Gliński
Joining y'all folks 🙂

Derek Huggett
Will watch this with GREAT interest Roland - my Hasegawa B-47 is one of my oldest 'stash' - bought around 1974-75 but never built because of size constrictions! Build my dreams for me! 👍 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
Hello mates! Your kind interest makes me feel a little bit nervous-and quite happy 🙂
School chair and table! LoL!
Holger, I am quite confindent this one will not rest on it´s tail
🙂 I will do my best, Derek.... a beautiful circumstance about these old Hasegawa kits is the fact, that they get straight down to business: next step will see the fuselage half joined and the wings attached 🙂

Bart Goesaert
nice interior...

Christian Bruer
Ups really crowded in the first row, so I have to squeeze in to get a good place 😄

David Thor
Wow, I´m in. The cockpit looks great already.

Soeren R.
The cockpit is aweseome!

Stephan Ryll
Great cockpit cool project 🙂 don't worry I'll squeeze in with my small folding chair 😉

Christian Ristits
Wow, ein riesenvogel, bin dabei!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Hello mates, don´t worry! That bird has such dimensions and is quite long, there will be place for all of you 🙂
Time to say good by to that chunk of resin- all visible now is a neat, small strip about one and a half centimeter wide.....

Derek Huggett
Ahhh, but you and we all know all the detail is there now! 👍 (I still don't understand why many of us do all the interior detail work, and then seal it up, never to be seen again! Are we all masochists?). Any ladies out there? I have a lap free! 😄

Markus Kutsch The Plastic Bench
Top work,Roland.

Harry Eder
Looks great so far! 👍 I´m in too!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you guys! Derek, I can only confess, I can´t understand either...... for me, it´s a fun having the pictures -at last-of those painted and detailed stuff 🙂
Well, wings and tailplane have been fixed and the fuselage has got the closed bomb door fixed.
A major work was sanding- and filling- all those parts, although I have to say, that the fit is excellent! I have sanded down nearly all raised panel lines and, afterwards, rescribed those which have been lost during sanding.
Now on to the engines and the resin landing gear and tires!

Burkhard D
Watchin'😎

Derek Huggett
Love the holding trestle you are using WIP - very Wichita, Kansas!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you for this comment 🙂 These homemade holding trestles are a kind of running gag I enjoy myself. They are no models of real existing trestles, but they are reminding to something you have already seen.....
Ähm.... : what does "very Wichita, Kansas mean?

Derek Huggett
Roland - Wichita, Kansas was the location of the Boeing factory that built the initial batch of B-47s, and, I think, most of the later ones (and all the upgrades to B-47E standard) not built by Lockheed or Douglas. I felt that your homemade trestle gave a feeling of the original factory about your photo's! Clever man 👍 . Sorry for any confusion caused. 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
That´s fascinating, Derek! You did not bring confusion but interesting information!
The new pictures show all six engines built up with the resin-parts for intake and tail section. The original kit parts can be identified by their brighter color.
Some sanding was necessary of course. To illustrate the upgrade in detail, I have but the original kit parts alongside in some of the pictures.

Bryn Crandell
Looking good. Going to watching this project.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Bryn!

Martin Oostrom
Following

Dave Jones
Looking great

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you guys!
The engines nacelles will be painted with several shades of Alclad metallic. I am waiting for the ordered decal sheet to decide about the following steps of the painting. Therefore the Valiant will come to the fore.... 🙂

Derek Huggett
Roland - Now that you mention it, I was wondering about the markings you intended to use (a lot of the '47s were in a fairly straightforward natural metal/anti-flash white finish, but a few, particularly the weather WB machines, were in some quite colourful schemes). No, on the other hand, I enjoy the suspense of waiting - I will be patient until the 'big reveal'! 🙂 Keep up the good work on the Valiant (but don't fracture the wing spars, like they did the real thing!).

Roland Sachsenhofer
Hello Derek- the waiting is over for the markings which are available to me now: The "Warbird Decal" sheet has been letterbox today.
I will have to decide between the WB-47B -that is my favorite- and the pure NMF Navy B-47.
The weather service Stratojet would be a wonderful an colorful sight, but I must check if a "B" can be made of this "E". I guess, the WB-47B has been updated to E-standard, so no difference can be seen.
By the way, does anybody know, what would be the correct -or the most likely- color for the wheel bays/ inside of landing gear doors?

Dave Jones
Where did you get the decals, I fancy the 1000th B-47E markings for my Stratojet.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Dave, my source was this:
store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/wbd72007.htm
the decals look high-end, I am so eager to start working with them!

Derek Huggett
Roland - Now you have me scampering to my old, dog-eared copy of Squadron/Signal publications Aircraft No. 28 'B-47 Stratojet in action' (1976)! It informs me that 51-2115 was a WB-47B(II)-30-BW - the '47B(II)' part may be important as it indicates a 'B' model modified to 'E' standard! Only problem may be that it is an early 'E' standard before the 'solid nose' was finally introduced (photographs on page 28 of the book clearly show the small windows forward and below of the main windscreen - a small view on the world for the navigator!). Is it beyond hope you might be prepared to suggest these by paint/decal?

The publication also shows the same aircraft later in its career carrying a similar, but even more colourful scheme - that has always been my favourite (but I digress).

There are also a couple of photographs of the NMF Navy -47s - used for quite a lot of test work, one picture shows a sister ship carrying a GE TF-34 engine (making a 7-engine ship!) during engine evaluation for the S-3A Viking!

Unfortunately, virtually all the photographs in the publication are black & white, so gauging the colour of the wheel bay/inside of gear doors is a bit of a guess - NMF looks pretty safe though! If I find anything more convincing in the short-term, I will let you know.

Not certain if this helps or hinders - either way, you are still streets ahead of me (if not on a different planet!) in your modelling skills! 👍

Your humble servant. 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Derek for this encouraging information!
First I did when I read your words was looking in Squadrons "B-47 Stratojet in action" -and there it was on page 28! Thank you for this hint!
I did find a picture of a modified `B´ with the Navigators windows closed by white sunscreen- that will be my solution for how to imitate these late early modified `B`.
Look here: [img1]
and here: [img2]

It is interesting that there are some differences to the "Warbird Decals" specifications; e.g. the dorwars part of the jets should be NMF and not white, the border of the white underside swings up to the wing-roots.
If you look at the first picture you can recognize the wheel bays as being colored with interior green- that will be my choice!
Derek, this all was very much of avail- thank you!
I may reply to your closing word with a counterpart in Austrian-German: "Meine Verehrung!"

Dave Jones
Thank you for letting me know about the decals

Dave Jones
From the photo above it looks to me as if the undercarriage bay is zinc chromate.

Derek Huggett
Roland - That, I believe, is part of what 'Scalemates' is for! Only too pleased to assist a little bit.

Good idea about the sunscreen in the navigators window - too much looking outside takes their mind off their job! 🙂 And we often forget that the producers of model kits and decals are only human (like ourselves) and can make mistakes/errors too! 😠

I know that colour 'descriptions' can differ between modellers, even when referring to the same colour! One mans 'interior green' can be another mans 'zinc chromate primer', but I would be inclined to use the latter ('zinc chromate primer' - a little more yellow?), as Dave Jones suggests, which appears to be the undercarriage interior door/wheel bay colour in your photograph.

Keep up the good work 'Baumeister'! 👍

Patrick Hagelstein
Let me know if you need any outside pictures. There's an RB-47E parked in Charles B. Hall Airpark which is accesseble for visitors.

David Funke
Nice Work! I´m following...

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you all for you comments, support and encouragement! Indeed Derek, that´s what Scalemates is there for!You are perfectly right- it must be "zinc chromate"!
More pictures? That is very kind! Of course, not even for me but for all interested in that iconic plane!

Patrick Hagelstein
OK, I'll have a look at it next Sunday.

Derek Huggett
Nostalgia time! I looked out a copy of Paramount Pictures 1955 cinema release 'Strategic Air Command' (starring James Stewart and June Allyson). If you disregard the story, it is a real feast for the eyes of B-36 and B-47 fans! Okay, so the editing leaves a little to be desired (aircraft versions and markings chop & change a bit) and much of the cockpit work is on a sound-stage, but some of the flying sequences......and remember, all before CGI and generated graphics - these babies are the real thing (all in glorious VistaVision and Technicolor)! It also bears out Dave Jones 'zinc chromate primer' u/c door observation 👍 ! (And no, I didn't see the film on first release - darn young whipper-snappers!) 🙂

Dave Jones
Sounds awesome

Choppa Nutta
Nice work so far of an Interesting subject 🙂
(update your teaser😉 )

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you all very much for your interest and suggestions!
Oh yeah! In these years of the unfolding Cold War the military complex did thoroughly invest in the film business.... I still remember watching "Jet Pilot" with John Wayne 🙂
I am now off for a week on leave- afterwards I will be eager to get the B-47 further in the shapes and colors of an Weather research Stratojet!

Hanno Kleinecke
Great work on this cockpit Roland, looking forward to completion of this beautiful classic bird.

Glenn
If you like "Strategic Air Command" another great old movie is "Bombers B-52" I have a copy on dvd.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombers_B-52
Youtube Video

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you for this trailer, full of the spirit of time!
Being back on the workbench I am eager to get first paint on the surfaces of this WB-47!

Dave Jones
looking forward to it

Patrick Hagelstein
Oh darn!!! I haven't been to the museum yet and won't make it untill the weekend....

Gerald
Very nice 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you mates!
This project is quite a little bit complex..... 🙂 So I will try not to be overhasty- please take you time, Patrick!
You see the first step of painting the engine nacelles: the middle parts as the pylons- which will be reworked of course- will be painted wait. I still have to mask the foremost parts of the intakes, as these will keep its aluminum-color.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Now, after a while, there is some progress on the WB-47. I have done some first attempts in preparing a preshading and I managed to glue the outer engine nacelles. That was not easy for sure- and it is still a long way to a half-decent solution.
Nonetheless I am happy to have done a further step of assembling that kit!

Christian Ristits
Will become another stunning build - looking forward to see this jet painted!

Christian Lehmann
Was für ein Brummer. Da hast du dir ja einiges vorgenommen. 👍

Miro Herold
Good and again very good Roland. A elegant Lady on your desk. ,-)

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you guys fpr interest and comments!
The turbines will be filled and sanded again, still too many scratches left- but after that it should be go strait ahead! 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
I had to rework- to fill and sand again- the engine nacelles before gluing them under the wings. A lot of sanding and filling to do here! 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
Here are some new pictures of the perpetuated B-47 build. The True Details- wheels have been finished, the enhance the otherwise....not so detailed appearance of the Hase-Stratojet a lot for sure. 🙂
The surfaces on the pictures have been sanded again and again- and are now ready for appliance of the extensive white areas.

Christian Bruer
Very nice work so far Roland!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Christian!

Roland Sachsenhofer
These new pictures show the recent status after applying Alclad II metal paints three times. I think I will shade some of the darker colors, specially on the wings. They seem to me to be a little bit too dark. But, generally speaking, the metal surfaces are finished.
The glare shield has not been masked properly on the forward edge and will be sprayed again.
Now I am really eager to see the effect of the metallic shades with the white under surfaces!

John Thomas
Very nice work

Derek Huggett
Nice NMF Roland, you look to have managed to avoid ending up with the 'patch-work quilt' effect (i.e. over-enthusiastic panel finishing) on this big bird! 👍 I hope you are not going to try for the 'stressed metal' effect that seemed so apparent around the lower rear fuselage (just aft of the wings) on the real machines (the white finish seemed to have brought this out on photos of some of these). Or am I just waving a red rag at a bull.....? Sorry mate!😉

Gordon Sørensen
Great looking NMF, Roland. Looking forward to seeing the finished result.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Hello mates, thank you all for motivating me with such kind replies!
Derek, no real "stressed metal effect".... from my side, but I am waving vertically with my airbrush during applying Alclad and Gunzes clear gloss, causing a kind of rippled reflection on the fuselage.

By the way, does anybody know why there are different shaded metal areas on NMF surfaces? Well, I know, it may be caused by different alloys. But is that enough to cause this peculiar effect? 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
The B-47 got all the masking removed, that is what she looks like now. I have reworked plenty of the metal shaded panels, mostly got them a little bit brighter and with less contrast.

Derek Huggett
Roland - You are a demon! 🙂 I am sure if I said that all B-47 pilots had a set of furry dice in the windscreen, you manage to add those as well! Bravo!! 👍
I'm no expert, but I think that the different alloys can also have a sort of 'grain' in them (like wood) dependent on how it is manufactured/rolled/smoothed/polished and even on its thickness that affects how they appear (dark/light/bright/dull/glossy/matt) - I am certain another 'Mate' can explain it better if I am wrong (quite likely!) 🤔 Keep up the good work!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Derek! Wow, they had a set of furry dice before their noses? Didn´t know.....! 🙂
Thank you for your thoughts about NMF, that is quite illustrative. I am happy you like my humble interpretation!

bughunter
Roland, you seems to have a lot of space for such jet beauties, after the Tornado the next big one despite the small scale! The metal finish looks great👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Indeed, that´s a big piece of NMF 🙂

Christian Keller
Hammermässige Lackierung wow ..

Oliver Zwiener
Grosses Kino bis hierhin - klasse und weiter so

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you both Christian and Oliver! 🙂
Now there is new color on the B-47, or, to be correct, the surfaces are nearly finished! I will adjust the anti glare panel to be a little less shiny, but that will be all what will be done to the wings and fuselage.

The masking of the canopy is half-done, Hasegawa provides a early style canopy without a frame running along the middle of the clear part. You can see the masking of the black outlines on the white canopy color.

B. M.
That is truly impressive! Also looking forward to the completion!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you very much, Benoit! Indeed, so am I!

Bart Goesaert
Nice sheme, surely with the decals applied...

Bastian Bäuerle
Great painting!!! Sieht super aus!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you guys, roll out of the finished WB-47E will be before Christmas, I am quite confident 🙂

Derek Huggett
Beautiful! 🙂

Clifford Keesler
Awesome work Roland.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Your words make me happy, thank you both!

Miro Herold
The surfaces are absolutely great polishing. Nice view

Roland Sachsenhofer
Hello Miro! 🙂 Thank you for your motivating comment!

Björn Svedberg
That's a beautiful paintjob! 👍

Cuajete
Nice scheme and good result.

Erik Leijdens
Amazing job Roland, as always 🙂

Clifford Keesler
Excellent.

Bryn Crandell
Almost to the end. Can't wait to see finished model. The paint looks excellent. Is the orange stripe a decal or custom painted?

Roland Sachsenhofer
Hello guys, thank all for your very kind remarks! I got the orange stripes as all the remaining markings from : Warbird Decals "1000th B-47; Boeing B-47E Stratojets (6x)WB-47B 51-2115; B-47E: 105th, 301st & 380th BW red/white striped toss bombing B-47E"
Working with them was despite the somehow complex nature of the orange stripes quite easy and comfortable.

David Thor
Great finish!

B. M.
Roland, seems to be xmas one day before xmas! 😉 What a colorful and beautiful Stratojet. Outstanding job!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you guys! Oh yes- finished at last! After over half a year on the workbench I am quite happy with the result- although I know that I did not solve some of the challenges the old Hasegawa kit gave me to work with. So the black framing of the canopy is too small or the landing lights on the engine nacelles are just hand painted..... But I like the colorful and elegent lines of this machine. To honor the meteorological duties of this weather research StratoJet I have done some clouds on the backgrounds of some of the pictures 🙂

B. M.
"... I am quite happy with the result- although I know that I did not solve some of the challenges the old Hasegawa kit gave me to work with..."

You sure can be happy with the result!
If you went for more, you would probably easily add another 6 months of her staying on the workbench.... That's always a very personal choice of how much time one wants to invest in a single model.

Merry xmas to everybody.

Cuajete
Very nice scheme and good job with the metalized. Fantastic result, Roland. Congratulations!

Cuajete
And Merry Christmas! 😉

Bernd Korte
Great result! She's a real beauty!

KlausH
Excellent! Great job Roland! 👍

Maciej Bellos
She is one stunning B-47! Well done mate. A great addition to your big birds collection.

Daniel Mysak
Very well done Roland. Absolutely clean built and perfect painted. 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Briliant finish (and the clouds too), congrats 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you all for these kind comments, you make me quite proud and very happy! Happy Christmas to all of you, mates!

Christian Lehmann
Wirklich tolles finish. Freue mich schon darauf den, mal live zu sehen. Frohe Weihnachten deiner Familie und dir.

Derek Huggett
A stunningly beautiful job done Roland - to see it finished at last almost made me cry! 👍 What a dream-boat in the 'Weather' finish, thank you for sharing it with us! A very Happy Christmas to you, and a prosperous and safe New Year - how will you top this one!😉
p.s. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all 'mates' everywhere! 🙂

Soeren R.
Ein klasse Modell was du hier wieder auf die Beine gestellt hast Roland - besonders wenn man weiß wie Alt dieser Bausatz doch ist.
Hoffe auch sehr, dass man diesen irgendwann mal live sieht. 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
All of your replays make me quite happy and proud- thank you for your words!
Next exhibition I am planning to attend will be IPMS` "Go Modelling" in Vienna next spring- and, I supppose, the "EuroModel" in Ried next October. Will be a pleasure to meet you all!

Oliver Zwiener
Da kann ich nur noch sagen : This B-47E Stratojet is " state of the art " . Klasse Ding - freue mich schon auf Dein nächstes Projekt. Frohe Weihnachten und einen guten Rutsch an alle Modellbauer rund um den Globus 🙂

Eelco Gregoire
Beautiful result!

Stefan Fraundorfer
What a beauty.

Burkhard D
Looks just great, chapeau!

Ekki
Absolutely fabulous result!

Christian Lehmann
Dann bis Ried!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you all for interest and kind comments!
I am looking forward to Ried!
Ich wünsch Euch und den Euren schöne Feiertage!

Donald Dickson II
Beautifully done!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Donald!

Michael Haslinger
Great Job!!!!!

Clifford Keesler
Beautifully done, Roland.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thanks a lot, Michael and Clifford!

bughunter
Missed the final pictures - I really like the result!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you a lot, that pleases me!

Pierre-Christian Baudru
Great build !

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you Pierre-Christian!

Stephan Ryll
Great work Roland 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you for your comment!

Björn Leichsenring
Großartiges Cockpit. Hätte nie gedacht, dass so viel Platz da drin war.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Danke Björn! Ja, der Erwerb dieses Resin-Klotzes war auch von dem her informativ

Bill Gilman
How did I miss this? I just saw it on Hyperscale - wow! What an amazing job you've done with the old girl. Thank you for not weathering it, she looks beautiful nice and clean. How about a 1:72 scale figure of Jimmy Stewart kicking the tyres? 🙂

Roland Sachsenhofer
Bill, your words make me glad and quite proud, thank you!
Oh yes- I simply must see "Strategic Air Command" at last!

Tony Trembath-Drake
wow - I just got this out of the stash, and I've the resin cockpit, but the instructions are long gone, and stumbled across this amazing build. I'll be using this as my reference. I've been resisting resin, so this is my attempt, and from your pics, I think I'm ok without the instructions... I LOVE your finish, only hope mine can look 1/2 as good. I've bookmarked this series - thanks.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you very much for your words, I am happy if the pictures motivate and are useful for you. As you say, you don't really need a lot of instructions for the resin cockpit.
The model does not only look impressive during building, also finished the B-47 looks really great and impressive. You can already look forward to it!

John Thomas
Very nice work

Alex Rodionov
Nice model.

Treehugger
What happened in photo 37? The paint on the engine was sanded off.

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you for your interest and your words! And for all those liking, of course!
I was not satisfied with the result of the sanding and filling respectively, so I went back to the start. The front parts of the turbines are not from the kit but were replaced by a resin detail set - a decisive improvement. However, the integration of these different parts was a bit tricky.

Neuling
A stylish aircraft in perfect presentation. Flawless finish without weathering. I agree with Bill. 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you very much for this!

Rui S
Nice clean work 👍

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you for this also!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you for "like"- digging out this old one!

Bill Gilman
The cream always rises to the top!

Ben M
The B-47 was truly a beautiful and elegant aircraft. Your build does it justice - absolutely top notch. It looks great.

David Culp
I appreciate that out of all the possible decals you chose the most difficult one. Salute!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Your words make me quite proud - thank you for these motivating comments! Indeed, the B-47 is one of the most elegant aircraft; in fact, it's a wonder it's only offered in an outdated kit.

Christian Bruer
Excellent work and finish Roland 👍
I am alsways impressed to see that large decals in such a nice and clean way on a model. Mus have been a nightmare to add them all?!

Roland Sachsenhofer
Thank you, your appreciation means a lot to me! It's been out for a while, but I remember doing something that I still do now: the overlong decals are divided into manageable pieces and are then of course much easier to handle.