1:144 North American XB-70 Valkyrie

[Boomerang]

 Truly amazing Fraser. Excellent photo.

A few more circuits around the workshop.

Cheers

Gordon

[Dave T]

The XB-70 was a familiar sight for a long time in Dayton as the "gate guard" outside of the USAF museum. Wouldn't it be something to see it flying?

Nice model.

[K_mars]

Thank you for showing me a nice photo.
It doesn't seem strange to fly in space.

[Gearup]

Well the Valkyrie is completed. Made up stencil masks for the markings and they went not too bad. The windows were cut from painted 3m invisible tape. The shapes were drawn up based on photos and cut out on the silhouette cutter. It worked well because the surfaces are flat. It might be too stiff for a curved window, though.

I soldered up the support for the model from 1/4 brass tube and 1/8 brass rod. I gave it an angular look and used a triangular piece of walnut for the base. I did not want to drill the body for a support post and mounting the model via the two tail pipes worked out . The dark walnut is sort of my interpretation of the shadow this aircraft must have cast in flight.

The pictures show wing tips up for take off and landing and then deflected down for mach 3 cruise. The head-on shot shows the relationship of the two fins, lower body and canard. It also seams to be obvious where Star Trek got the layout of the Klingon battle cruisers. Even science fiction can't beat the looks of this aircraft.

I thought I knew a lot about this aircraft, but researching and building the model showed me how really far ahead this aircraft was for the '60's with the advanced systems and design.

Regards,
Fraser

[lastvautour]

Outstanding workmanship Fraser. A fantastic addition to your collection. Thank you for tutorial style build. Many will appreciate knowing how you did your Valkyrie.

Lou

[Boomerang]

An outstanding model Fraser.

It is the research of a particular model subject that makes the whole effort much more interesting.

Excellent photography too.

Cheers

Gordon