A full in box preview of this lovely new kit from Revell Germany. If you would like to contribute to the channel.. please look here.. / nigelsmodellingbench
If anyone's looking for references, I was in WH Smith's yesterday and there was a new SR71 magazine/book on the shelves with details of all the varients.
Good review, incidentally I purchased some of the MODELLERS WORLD washes and I CANT OPEN THE BOTTLES! despite several minutes of struggling! is there a dodge to it?. TIA
@@NigelsModellingBench The cap is not stuck it just keeps going round & round(?) the diagram on the lid seems to indicate that one should push down and turn but it just keeps going round and round?!
Hiya Nigel, was going to refit some Testor's parts from their very crappy YF-12A to make the NASA 06935 one with the missiles and missile bays Have to think that through, this kit in Canada ran me $180.00 plus postage.....hmmmm we'll see, but for that price I better have my best game face on. There is the usual " In Action" book available for the SR-71 but it does have some nice YF-12A shots. Love to see YOUR approach on this one. Happy Easter! Dane
Just bought the kit and it showed up today along with a Testors 1:48 YF-12A I bought off eBay. The Aircraft was definitely designed to be stealth though. There was extensive radar tests at groom lake before they finalized the design and paint coating. The only gripe I have and had with the old Testors kits was that they don’t just include parts to chose what variant you want to build. Testors in the past at least had the SR-71 B canopy and this one doesn’t. I guess that’s not my only gripe 😂! Why have detailed engines that you can’t install on the plane? It would’ve been cooler to install them and have a removable panel to view it.
You won't see those EPMs in the intakes - the shock cones will cover them 100%. Same for the molded on numbers on the outers - they will be hidden 100% by the engine covers. I am considering getting this kit - I tried, many moons ago to built the Testors/Italeri SR71A and gave up in disgust at almost every thing you got - Poor fit, badly warped molds, simplified and incorrect details etc... (I was told by a friend who had built his, that I got a "Good" one!!) And it is a major reason that I don't usually model jets. BTW the 61 code is NOT the year of manufacture. It is the year that the Construction Contract was awarded to the manufacturer by the Pentagon/USAF and, since WW2, it has rarely coincided with the year the plane was made. (Check out the full serials for any Mustang, B-24 or B-17 - they can vary between 42-xxx and 45-xxx.... and early B-17s (C/D E) can have a 38-xxx thru 41-xxx serial)
Is it a £70+ kit when you compare it to any modern Flanker kit (Tamiya F4B or the Border Model Stuka) which are similarly priced ? To my eye, the cockpit isn't good enough. What about the fine detail on the model ? I heard the US version lacks the engines and stand and is at least £10 cheaper. I wonder if the gap on the sprue is for the version with the Drone (for a future release).
its my only quibble with the big but slightly simply shaped models (rockets suffer the same deal) i think its a style of model I'm less into tho. still looks like a good kit. I just wish Revell would do some housework and draw a line under their less than convincing kits, Airfix could do that too.... as if we are honest could Tamiya....
@@NigelsModellingBench i mean cul out the older kits with known problems in engineering, flash, or tired moulds. and stop reboxing kits from the 70/80s that spoiled their reputations just to put out a large range of subjects..
11:38 While a pulse jet is a type of ram jet, not every ram jet is a pulse jet. When you fly at very high mach numbers, you don't need the valves, the shock waves do the compressing of the air and the choking of the inlet for you. So the SR-71 did have an engine that mostly operated as a ram jet at high speeds, but not a pulse jet.
Hi Nigel, I watched a review of this kit, yours is much better, don't change anything. You probably have a warehouse full of kits, it makes me feel better with my little stash (that gets my wife's scrutiny🙄). Thank you, Yves.👍
Nice review. Seriously considering this one but have heard that the undercarriage is a weak point. As for reference I picked up the Haynes owners manual for £10 from The Works. Got some great pictures to work from.
The different noses had different sensor packages on the SR-71 The A-12 was lighter, slightly smaller, could climb higher, was faster, single seat and only had a film camera. The SR-71 was heavier and slower and couldn't climb as high but in addition to the film cameras could mount different sensor packages, and had a longer unrefueled range.
If I remember correctly the skill level on Revell kits is just the number of parts, that's what I was told when I worked in Modelzone. As for their paints they're a bit thick but once thinned they're really nice for hand painting.
Great review Nigel. This is definitely on my wish list. I have heard, I don't know how true it is, that at the time the SR-71 was being built, almost all of the worlds Titanium came from the Soviet Union. I seriously doubt the military bought the Titanium directly from the source, but it's interesting how the the Soviets were part of the supply chain for the SR-71. Thanks for sharing. See you next time.
100% true, the CIA set up several fake businesses to buy the titanium from the Soviet Union in order to build a plane to spy on them. They would also have to refuel almost immediately after take off because they’d leak and burn a lot of its fuel before the skin of the aircraft could heat up enough to seal the fuel in the aircraft which was essentially just a giant flying fuel tank. There’s a lot of information out there on the SR-71 and it’s history. Very fascinating stuff.
Hi Nigel, thanks for the review, this and the Vulcan are my absolute favourite aircraft. I'm tempted to buy but I think I might hold off for now until a 1/72 version is available so it's in scale with the Airfix Vulcan.
Just a quick heads up for anyone biting the bullet and buying this. There are differences between the Revell Germany & USA kits. Make sure you do your research to avoid disappointment.
Thanks Nigel, of all the reviews that I have come across, your's is the first that mentioned anything about sink marks or ejector pins. Do you have a reference book that you might recommend? There's not much of a local selection for information. Since I'll need to order some type of reference, it would be handy to have some idea what maybe available beyond the Squadron walk-around. Could Revell be planning to do a YF-12 or trainer with that L shaped spru? Just a thought 🤔🤔🤔🤔 Again thanks for your time and effort in this review. IMHO it's the best one out there so far 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Nigel, I wouldn't worry about the injector pin marks in the intake tube assemblies. The clearances are so tight you will never see them. The little bumps in there are supposed to be there as well. It's part of the ingenious design that makes the Turbo ramjet system work so well. When the inlet spike is fully forward, the bumps further help to choke down the high speed inlet air to a manageable speed for the J58 to be able to injest.
Very cool Nigel! Try flying this bird in X-Plane 11. It will give you a whole new perspective and respect for the guys that flew them. Very hard to keep in the air and has one of the highest approach speeds ever. I like landing it at Cape Canaveral for the extra stopping room lol. The BUFF on the other hand, pretty much lifts off the ground with minimal rotation and flies like a Greyhound bus. There's a U-2 kit I want to get after this next build. Just picked up the Academy 1/44 B-52H, but I'm doing the Metal Earth T-800 exoskeleton now. It's the hardest one they make.
