1/72 Dragon P-61Finished

[Duke Maddog]

I haven't got words.....

[Fermis]

Thanks all!
This kit had been bugging...begging???...me for well over a year. Nice to have it done!!!

I just noticed there aren’t any gun barrels on the dome piece. I’m assuming only the nightfighter versions did?

This was a new one on me.
It's actually a fuel tank. It should be in two pieces...a circular tank, with a fairing at the rear.
Had I found this out sooner (before it was installed), I would have scribed the line between tank and fairing. I kinda just "cheated" it with shading during the painting process.

[BlackSheep214]

Fermis - this is the kit I did in my youth years:



As you can see, there is a gun turrent on top.

[tempestjohnny]

In late production A models the turret was removed, made an extra tank, or made to fire forward only. There was a buffeting problem while rotating that wasn't fixed until the B model came out

[BlackSheep214]

I looked in scalemates website and saw different kit versions - gun turrents, domed, no dome, etc... An interesting aircraft indeed.

[Stikpusher]

I just noticed there aren’t any gun barrels on the dome piece. I’m assuming only the nightfighter versions did?

All operational P-61s were night fighters. They did have secondary night interdiction capability and use. And there was a photo recon version of the design, but that was the F-15 Reporter, IIRC. All that aside, early in the Widow’s service life, the top turret was found to cause buffeting in flight during use, so it was removed during the A model production. Later those problems were solved and it was re instated during the B model series. Some A’s had a plate over the turret base for a flat top appearance.

[Fermis]

Fermis - this is the kit I did in my youth years:



As you can see, there is a gun turrent on top.

I have done... ...4 of those, over the course of my modeling career. Only one remains, and sits proudly on my shelf! This one goes back a good 7-8 years.

Noseart is from the spares box.



I did a complete rescribe. I also did a rivet job...one by one, with a needle.



Painting pretty much wiped out the rivets, unfortunately. It was painted with Wally the Walmart Wonder (cheapo, Testors a/b), before he got buried in the back yard.

[Stikpusher]

But that kit is “unbuildable”... at least that is the reputation it seems to have nowadays...

Got any black “Black Widows” there Fermis?

[Fermis]

But that kit is “unbuildable”... at least that is the reputation it seems to have nowadays...

Got any black “Black Widows” there Fermis?

Everything is buildable!!! Some just fight a lot harder than others! That one took a lot of extra work.

All previous Widows were black. The first was way back before I used paint. 2nd was done on my first return to building...rattlecan paint job. 3rd was also a rattlecan job and actually sat on my shelf until I built the one above. I robbed the old build of one of the cowlings, so I could do both sides the same. I sent the other side to another builder some years ago. So...no...no black Black Widows.

[BlackSheep214]

Found this on Youtube last night - Dogfights: Nightfighters. Go around the 18:30 minute mark and it talks about the P-61 Black Widow's role during WW2 Germany. I never knew it was used in Europe as a nightfighter. I've always thought they were used more vs. the Japanese.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3RoJZ-tH1Q