Alternate History of the B-2
Advanced Technology Bomber
The Northrop Aircraft
Company’s XB-35 Flying Wing bomber made its first appearance in 1946. Plagued
with engine and gearbox problems, the design was adapted for jet power and the
eight-jet YB-49 took to the air in 1947. In the months that followed, it was
noticed that as the big plane flew about the country: it was often hard to see
in the air, and under some conditions it nearly disappeared from the radar
screens of the day. For a number of reasons, the YB-49 never went into
production. Too advanced for their day, the giant wings went a long way toward
validating Jack Northrop’s faith in the basic design. The flying wing concept
was relegated to the future.
By the 1970s, yet another
factor was coming into play: stealth technology. This promised to make an
airplane hard for an enemy to detect, and even harder to attack. The new
airplane, known as the Advanced Technology Bomber (ATB) would have to survive in
future combat scenarios. Along with its radar-deflecting shape, it would have to
have a low infrared signature in order to evade heat-seeking missiles, and to
carry a sophisticated electronic suite. It should resist detection by visual and
acoustical means as well as by enemy radar. With massed bomber attacks a thing
of the past, the ATB would have to be capable of carrying out its mission alone
and without fighter escort: one airplane, carrying out precision attacks, in the
absence of many.
The B-2 program began in 1981,
and the Air Force was granted approval in 1987 to begin procurement of 132
operational B-2 aircraft. With the military buildup of the Soviet Union, the
emphasis of B-2 development was increased to a conventional role and the number
was increased to 200 operational aircraft..
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Although the B-2’s flying
wing outline seems unusual. Several designs were drawn before deciding on the
low-observable, low-profile design. Recently declassified concept art of the
other possible B-2 design (LEFT) shows a more angular aircraft with blended body
design with the air intakes for the engines on top of the body versus a smooth
curved design with the air intakes on the bottom (RIGHT).
The first B-2 was publicly
displayed on 1 December 1988, when it was rolled out of its hangar at Air Force
Plant 42, Palmdale, CA. The aircraft was designed from the beginning to be hard
for an enemy to detect. Its smooth and rounded surfaces complimented Northrop’s
F-19A Specter. These two aircraft’s design demonstrated an advanced
approach to low-observable technology.
Its first flight was June 17,
1989. The B-2 Combined Test Force, Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air
Force Base, Calif., was responsible for flight testing the engineering,
manufacturing and development aircraft as they were produced. Three of the six
developmental aircraft delivered at Edwards continued flight testing.
Whiteman AFB, Missouri, is the
B-2's only operational base. The first aircraft was delivered in 1993. Depot
maintenance responsibility for the B-2 is performed by Air Force contractor
support and is managed at the Ogden City Air Logistics Center at Hill AFB, UT.
The Kit
Like Monogram, Revell responded
to the breakthrough success of Testors' F-19 Stealth Fighter with a "Could
Be..." Stealth model of its own. Only in this case, the plane was the
long-rumored B-2 Stealth Bomber.
Working from known flying wing
technology and the accepted requirements of Stealth designs, the engineers at
Revell developed this smooth, low-profile, tailless bat-wing design. Their
predictions were fairly on the mark; the actual B-2 turned out to be roughly the
same shape and scale as Revell's kit -- but far more angular.
Released just one year before
the actual B-2 "Spirit" was unveiled to the public, Revell's ATB
experienced poor sales. Since the actual B-2 was revealed just a year
after this kit hit store shelves, the design was proved hypothetical almost as
soon as it arrived. The Revell B-2 Advanced Technology Bomber remains a
Reagan-Era concept classic along with Testors’ an Monogram’s F-19s.
Only three model companies have
released a 1/72nd scale B-2 bomber kit. The first two kits were
purely conceptual. Model Technologies released a vacu-form kit of the ATB.
Molded in black plastic, this kit features an upper and lower one piece triangle
halves and included metal landing gear and a few injection parts. Revell was the
first to release an injection molded kit of the ATB, neither kit was remotely
close to the actual B-2A. Finally, in 1991, Testors released the actual B-2A
Spirit kit.
The
kit contains 69 parts molded in a charcoal gray plastic and a clear windscreen.
Dimensions of the kit when completed are a length of 14 7/8 inches with a
wingspan of 26 ½ inches.
Construction
I have attempted this kit three
times prior to this one. The first time was when the kit was initially released.
I was 17 years old and wanted to be the first person in the model club with a
stealth bomber! How cool would that be parked next to a Monogram B-1! Needless
to say, that never happened. Through a combination of being impatient and a lack
of skill, this one ultimately ended up in the trash heap.
The second attempt was when I
was in the Air Force. A next door neighbor had one partially built and gave it
to me because he was tired of fighting with it. I had it just about complete,
but a move to Texas sealed its fate.
In 2006, I picked one up on
eBay and this was it! I knew all the ins and outs of building this kit. This was
going to be the perfect what-if. The kit was complete, painted and
decaled. The landing gear is fragile on this kit and one of the main
landing gear struts broke. It was done.
Now it’s 2009, 21 years since
I bought my first attempt. This one also was an eBay find, I paid entirely too
much for it, but gosh darn it, I will conquer this kit and have one in my
collection! Perseverance!
At first glance, you can see
that Revell borrowed from other aircraft. The landing gear in this kit
looks like an exact copy of the Monogram B-1 kit, as well as the ALCMs.
The overall construction of
this kit is straight forward. Although, after a few build attempts, I did learn
that you have to glue the wings on the center section, top and bottom. Then once
that is done, glue the top and bottom halves together. This eliminates the step
you would get if you had followed the instructions.
The main landing gear, in my
opinion, is very fragile. If I were to do this kit again, I would scratch build
different wheel wells and put a different main landing gear arrangement on it,
something a little more robust and stable.
The kit comes with six ALCMs,
although I only put one in each weapons bay. You can’t see them anyway, so I
figured one was enough.
Painting
I
had decided that I didn’t want to do the overall flat black paint scheme that
was depicted on the box. On the most recent attempt of this model I had
painted it like an early B-2 with the overall FS36118 gunship gray with the flat
black leading edge. I had contemplated doing that again, but I had a
“been there, done that” attitude when it came to painting it again. Besides,
it looked too much like the actual B-2A.
I
found a picture on the internet of a conceptual drawing of the Advanced
Technology Bomber in an two-tone gray paint scheme. That picture fit the idea of
what I was going for with this model with its multiple shades of gray.
The
paint scheme is as follows:
Top
is a mix of FS36320 Dark Ghost Gray and FS35237 Medium Gray
Bottom:
FS36270 Neutral Gray
Leading
Edge/Trailing Edge is FS36375 Light Ghost Gray
The
ALCMs are painted overall Ford Wimbledon White, it’s more of an off-white than
a bright white, like the landing gear struts, bays, doors, etc…
Decals
All of the decals came from the
spares box and place in what would be called “their accepted positions.”.
The majority of the markings came from a spare 1/48 Italeri F-22 sheet.
The tail numbers and some stencils came from the Italeri B-2A sheet. The Marvin
the Martian art on the nose gear door is from a TwoBobs 1/32 F-16 Fighting
Fulcrums sheet.
Diorama
I wanted to do a aircraft prep
diorama with this model. When it comes to modern USAF ground crew the
Hasegawa kit is the best out there.
The Modern USAF Ground Crew Set
comes with a Chevrolet crew vehicle, two fire bottles, a maintenance stand, and
two tool boxes. The kit comes with six pilots, three seated and three upright,
two security police, and eight maintainers. The detail in this kit is really
good.
I decided to use the crew
vehicle, two walking pilots and one Security Police officer in the diorama.
The crew vehicle construction is very easy and does not require any filler. I
painted the interior Model Master gloss gull gray and the exterior Tamiya TS-15
blue out of the rattle can. I decaled the vehicle with decals out of the
spares box. I recalled my time in the Air Force and put a truck number on
the side and a SAC shield.
The crew was painted in the
usual green flight suit and black boots. The security police was painted in
green fatigues, blue beret, black boots etc…
Conclusion
This was another one of those
just for fun projects. I have always liked the look of this kit and wanted one
in my collection. I kind of wish that Revell would release this kit with updated
hypothetical marking, maybe marketing it as the “2018: Next Generation
Bomber” I know some will shy away from this as not being anything accurate and
why waste my time, but I had fun with it. It is nice to get away from the norm
and do your own thing.
Steve Eggers
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