In 1/72 scale the following aftermarket items;

1.) To convert an SR-71A into an SR-71B?

2.) To convert an SR-71 or YF-12 into the A-12?

Thanks for any help that can be provided.

HAT1701D

I think the Italeri SR-71 has parts to make the A-12 or B version in the box? Same with the 1/48 kit.

Thank you for that info.....

I'll look into it.

HAT1701D

What scale are we talking? Italeri make/made both 1/48 and 1/72 kits. I have the Testors boxings in 1/48 one is an SR-71 the othe a YF-12.

Max Bryant

I think a couple of those kits from Testors/Italerie were disconinued about 10 years ago and if that's the case then you'll have to find what you want on ebay or some other second hand web site.

Thanks guys......

I'm talking 1/72. I currently have the YF-12 and SR-71 in 1/72 scale......

I found a web page with pretty good information from one guy ( and pics ) of his conversion of an SR-71 to an A-12 for refference....Toby Nelson is his name. Nice build too......

http://hsfeatures.com/features04/a12blackbirdtb_1.htm

Looks like I'll be hitting ebay and such kits.

HAT1701D

In the December 2003 issue of Fine Scale Modeler, then senior editor Paul Boyer wrote an article on kitbashing a SR-71A and YF-12A to make an A-12 in 1/72. He used the Italeri kits for this plane bash. If you have access to FSM's online archive, it might be there.

The only SR-71B model I ever saw was in the 1/48 SR-71 kit where you had the option of building the A or B models. Sorry that I can't be any help to you in that.

That's fine...I'm trying to get my "ducks in a row" so to speak right now.

I'm wanting to do something, getting the itch to build another decent, large project. I'm thinking a lineage tribute to the Blackbird and it's variants and Kelly Johnson. Ofcourse...to do it right, I would have to add in both the A-12B Titanium Goose and the SR-71C...BUT that would be getting plain anal.....I would like to atleast have the A-12, YF-12, SR-71 ( done in the M-21/D-21 pairing ) and an SR-71B...perhaps an SR-71 minus the D-21 as well.

But at this point...it's all about lining up materials.

HAT1701D

I have 3 books on the Blackbirds and the SR-71 never carried the D-21, just the modified A-12 aka the M-21. All those kits that show an SR-71 with the D-21 mounted on top are WRONG!! Just in case you already did not know.

Yeah...your right Irishtrek. That's one of those things that is so fun with the 1/72 scale kits that provide the D-21...and ontop of that.......Of the two A-12s that carried the D-21...only one was actually used for the 4 seperation tests and ofcourse it was destroyed on the 4th and final attempt.
On a very interresting side note for Blackbird modelers......

http://www.habu.org/sr-71/17959.html

Tail number 959 @ Habu.org..By the way..the most wicked site for the history in pics ( and other things Blackbird ).....Notice the tailboom extension with camera/ECM equipment. It appears to have had limited articulation as well....in one photograph...it has a slight downward angle realitive to the airframe, fuselage. In the ground photo...it is DISTINCTLY angled UP...perhaps a precaution for takeoffs and landings and the noseup attitude?.......Would be a very nifty modeling challenge.

But, Habu.org shows many potential tail numbers and scheme variations...especially on the flightline photo of the A-12's at Groomlake. What a "family" picture.

HAT1701D

The tail on 959 was designed and built for the tail to move up for take offs and landings and I want to say move down for the drag chute to have clearance when deployed. I'll have to check one of the books I got on the Blackbird.

I went digging in my "storage yard"....Forgot exactly what I had in there. I knew I had the YF-12 in 1/72 and the Revel SR-71 with D-21..WHAT I came across much to my surprise though was a Hasegawa 1/72 SR-71 as well. So I've allready got some good starting point's.

I found another site that list's the best source for an "A-12" nose as Italeri's 1/72 scale SR-71 ( which also happens to come with a D-21 ). The site states that the nose and cockpit is so close in lines and contours that it should have been marketed as an A-12 instead of the SR...So, I found a website that has it and another YF-12 in stock. Being that both are Italeri kits...they would probably be the best for a basis of cut and combo...and ofcourse...the obvious one to mount the D-21 on.

Time to do some ordering.

Thanks for looking that up for me if you can Irishtrek. I have the book Lockheed Blackbirds.....I do not recall pics of that modification. I might take the Revell SR and try the boom mod OR get ambitious and try to turn it into a B model.....I only really need one A variant for this...and I remember building the Hasegawa kit when I was 13. What a jewel. I am very surprised that I forgot I had it in my stash...BUT with epilepsy...sometimes a regular day becomes Christmas. Things can get wiped from your mind.

HAT1701D

I was right the tail on 959,aka big tail, does move down for the drag chute to have clearance when landing.
there is even a photo on page 71 in the booke SR-71 Blavkbird by James Goodall published by Squadron/Signal publications copyright 1995.
The tail moves a total of 8.5 degrees all toll.