1/48 Italeri SR-71

by Colin Whitehouse

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It seems incredible that despite the advances over the last few decades in terms of engines, aerodynamics and materials, no manned aeroplane has broken the world air speed record set by this amazing plane back in 28 July 1976. The SR-71 set a speed of 2193.167mph which has not yet been beaten. Last year I built the Meteor Mk4 which set the world speed record in 1945 and again in 1946. Compared to the Blackbird it shows the huge difference aviation over 30 years, a time equal to how long the Blackbird has since held the record. The markings were hard to find as I believed this unique aeroplane would be in the Smithsonian or similar institution but it is infact in Warner Robins air museum in Georgia. The museum web site does say the plane first flew in 1965 and retired in 1990  etc but not that it holds the record, which I find very strange.

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The kit was built pretty much from the box. Canopies were set down to preserve the lines of the plane and this meant the kit detail was sufficient. A lot of surface detail was sanded off and replaced with shading. The nose probe was made detachable and the upper fins were not glued on in order to improve transportability. After I pinned down which serial took the record, I modified the kit decals to get 958. Two planes were prepared for record runs and each had the white cross to assist with measuring from the ground. I painted the lower surfaces white and masked the cross before spraying the black. Insides of the engines were done in white as per the Duxford example.  Tyres were done with aluminium as was most of the rest of the undercarriage legs and wheel wells.

Interestingly I found the FS number for the colour is actually dark blue, but I painted minblack anywayIt was very hard to photograph as it is so smooth no matter how many coats of matt it has it still has a sheen in the pictures.

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I did notice on a recent visit to Duxford in the UK that the nose actually has quite a bulge on the chine just infront of the windscreen. I'm not sure if this is on all planes or if this is part of the detachable / interchangeable nose system.

Colin

Photos and text © by Colin W