Kit: No. HC1251
Scale: 1/144
Manufacturer: Hobbycraft Canada, 140 Applewood Crescent, Concord, ON L4K 4E2, Canada, 905-738-6556.
Price: $19.98
Comments: Injection molded, 75 parts, decals.
Pros: Good accuracy, good detail for the scale, excellent fit, ingenious landing gear arrangement, attractive model.
Cons: Instructions ambiguous on paint scheme and don’t show stenciling, blue of SAC sash too light.

The world’s first swept-wing jet bomber took to the skies for the first time on Dec. 17, 1947, the result of a design competition initiated in November 1944. This flight marked the beginning of a new era for Strategic Air Command (SAC), which now had a thoroughly modern aircraft capable of accurately delivering nuclear stores anywhere in the world, and the performance to ensure the return of their crews. Boeing’s B-47 Stratojet continued that firm’s dominance of the bomber market in the U.S., and set the standards that later aircraft would need to meet. The B-47 was produced in three main versions, with many variations and modifications during service. B-47’s finally left SAC’s inventory at the end of 1965.

For such an important – and let’s face it, good-looking – aircraft, there are few B-47 kits, so this one is especially welcome. Despite its small size (91/2″ span), Hobbycraft’s 1/144 scale kit features finely engraved panel lines, beautifully detailed landing gear and cockpit, and near-perfect fit. Decal options for three aircraft are provided; while there doesn’t appear to be much variety in the markings options, you’ll want to consult your references to detect the many subtle variations in paint schemes used on the B-47.

Construction began with the cockpit. After fitting the gear bays, I closed up the fuselage. Due to the unique bicycle landing gear arrangement, no nose weight is needed. The wing is nearly perfect. The upper surface of both wings is molded in one piece, setting the anhedral and eliminating tricky seams. After attaching the lower wing halves, the entire wing is glued to the fuselage. Just a touch of filler was needed to smooth the front seam. The stabilizers were next, fitting perfectly. Engine pods and pylons also fit with no fuss.

To ease cleanup and painting, I left off and separately painted the landing gear, nose radome, engine exhausts, canopy, drop tanks, and their pylons. The airframe was sanded and rubbed to a high sheen in preparation for the natural metal scheme. I used Testor flat white for the undersurfaces – it’s easier to apply than gloss white, and I was planning on overspraying with clear gloss anyway. I chose decal option No. 2, which is shown in the instructions’ side view as carrying the “full” white scheme. Photos in Bert Kinzey’s B-47 Stratojet in Detail & Scale confirm this, but the underside view in the instructions shows a “partial white” scheme. Check your references.

Before spraying natural metal, I painted the flat black anti-glare panel. All painted areas were then masked off and Testor Buffing Aluminum Metallizer was applied. Since the B-47s I have seen in photos were almost always shiny, I gave a light polish to the Metallizer overall. I then masked off a few panels with Post-It notes and polished the remainder to a high gloss. The kit was then sealed with a gloss coat in preparation for decals.

The decals went down well, but one of my wing walkways curled under itself. Cutting them into sections might help. Instead of trying to produce the wing vortex generators in plastic, Hobbycraft cleverly has them printed as decals; in this scale, they look fine. My only complaint about the decals is that the blue SAC sash on the nose is too light. Since I applied the nose radome after decaling, the sash ended up underneath the radome. The instructions don’t show you the placement of the stencil decals, even though they are on the decal sheet.

The canopy and all the remaining parts fit well. The main landing gear struts are molded in two parts, with the strut holding a separate cross-axle. This allows the modeler some adjustment room to level the gear. The outriggers are designed to be trimmed to fit. That worked fine, even though it appeared I was going to have to trim most of the struts away. This may have been due to adjusting the axle so that the wheels rode too high, allowing the plane to sit too low.

Thanks to Hobbycraft’s efforts and about 25 hours on my part, I have an attractive model of one of the prettiest bombers ever. Keep ’em coming, Hobbycraft!

– Chuck Davis