Well... disaster struck... decals look like sh1t... and for some reason my gloss coat burned out white paint on missles...
Now it's drying after some heavy corrections and this evening I will post some pictures.

Yup, I understand you Andrzej... trying to finish things on time and well major screw ups...

OK. I'm done, done and done... and I will not touch another modern aircraft for a year or more... . This build realy tired me. Fitting was a disaster, decals were even worse... I will not buy any other aircraft from Italeri.

Anyway, here is my first aircraft after about 20 years... F-15 - it should be fast enough for this campaing:






Thank you Carl for interesting campaign and opportunity to learn something new and different.
Thank you guys for opportunity to watch your builds - I've learned a lot!

Andrzej

Hello Speed Demons. This campaign has ended. But you still have time to get in your photos. I was hit by a stomach virus that still has me moving slowly (but often, if you know what I mean) I will try to get a ribbon made up sometime in the next 24 hours and get it submitted, so we can post your awards. Thanks for participating. And, most of all, thanks for your high quality builds. Now it is time to pay homage to the brave men and women of the Mighty Eighth Air Force in the campaign of the same name. See you there.

Buuuuhuuuuhuuu.... don't you like the one I've made for you 10 months ago?


Just kidding... but use it if you like it.

A.

Thanks for running the campaign Carl. Great idea and lovely builds of all these.
Some monsters still to finish the concorde and the blackbird spring to mind.

Have got "Old Crow" P51-C academy 1/72 lined up for the Mighty 8th. see you around there then.

Hi all!

I know it´s too late for the ribbon as I blew past the finish line on a too high altitude!
But I will post until it´s done anyway!

So here comes the latest update on the SR-71!

Well, it took three (Yes, 3!!!) tins of White Ensign Mitsubishi Cowl black to cover this big model!

But I got very close to that Blue-black appearance the real bird had!





Then I masked off the wheel wells and painted them straight Alclad Aluminium.



Finally I could get the gloss coat on!





Now she has to rest for a few days before the decals.

Cheers!

Stefan E

Speaking of ribbons, have they been awarded yet as I haven't got mine...

I did not receive a ribbon either. Maybe Carl is still working on it.

sorry guys.....concorde dont want to be sanded and puttied properly.........tons of putty and still no ending

I just sent in a ribbon to attach to the campaign page, so we can get them posted soon.

Hi all!

Time to get the decals on the bird!

There’s more stencils then you might believe on a Blackbird.
I have chosen to do the Number One “Habu”, article 974 from Kadena AF base, Okinawa during the Vietnam war.



974 was one of the three first Blackbirds to be deployed to Kadena, and the one that got an impressive 43-mission tally in form of small snakes (“Habus”, a small but very poisonous local snake).
Tetors have wisely chosen to depict 974 somewhere during the deployment with 15 habus painted behind the cockpit.



The name “Ichi Ban” is Japanese and means “Number One”, as in the one having the best mission record!













Then I glued the inlet spikes in place, and now she really has that sinister look of a SR-71!





With a little Micro-set and –sol, the decals settled down perfectly, even over the corrugated parts and when dry, it looks like it’s painted!





More to come soon…

I’m descending to the landing pattern for the final run!


Cheers!

Stefan E

The ribbon is not attached to the campaign page yet, So I am not able to post them yet. I will get them posted as soon as I can.

How does it work here on Aeroscale? On Armorama and HF the campaign leader uploads the ribbon and it should be visible immediately.

Keep that Blackbird coming, looks great. I built a Italieri kit a couple of years ago and had few probs

It is the same on Aeroscale. The campaign leader is responsible to upload the ribbon and award them. However, sometimes it is necessary to ask for help from one of the administrators.

If it helps Carl, just keep bothering the admins.
I had the same problem with the Airedale Navy ribbon but got there
eventually. Did it come up "not authorised" when you try to set
the campaign ribbon?

Actually, I dont know how to upload it. The administrator said there are technical difficulties. I will post them when it appears.

Hi all!

I have been working hard all week to get the Blackbird done!

Here are the wheels; I have tried to replicate the aluminium-protected rubber used in the SR-71´s wheels.
I believe I’ve come pretty close.

From what I could find the wheel hubs could be either green or red, I choose a dark green for the main wheels.
The front wheels could be either white or black, I choose a satin black for the front wheels as this gives the aircraft a more sinister look.







Front gear assembled;



Main gears assembled;



Main gears, complete with hatches and the wheels;



….and….

TOUCH DOWN!!!!

My SR-71 Blackbird is finally DONE!!!

Some more photos of the completed bird.
Sorry about the quality, but I had to take them indoors as we have had a heavy rain all day.

I will take some daylight photos when I can.












Finally the bird is resting in its new nest!



Thanks for a fun and a very well-run campaign and for giving me those few days to complete my bird!





Cheers!

Stefan E

i did this.
Upload the award to the gallery. 50x20 pixels it has to be.
Then go to the campaign pages. There should be a admin : edit link in the top left

Here you put the address of the award image

It took me a few goes to get this to work. I think it is a bit flakey sometimes it
work sometimes not.

good luck

Hi Carl,
How are our ribbons doing?

A.

Stefan, Worth the wait I think, Very impressive

Very beautiful bird Stefan! Very much worth the wait and I personally think you should still get the ribbon for it

Some scuffs on the rear tyres would make the grey look less incongruous they stick out too much for me

lets see her in daylight to really see how the black turned out. It looks to have better variation in tone
in the in-progress shots and the close ups than the full size shots.

Nice work and you don't see these too often thanks for showing us


JP

Hmmm.. I did not seem to get a ribbon...