Bede BD-5 & BD-J

[Scale-Master]

Something fun and simple between Lola sub-projects...  A pair of 1/72 scale BD-5s.  These things are tiny.

The BD-J is on the left, the BD-5B is on the right.  I used Warbird Decals seat belts in them.

[Scale-Master]

I thought I might have been able to mask off the cockpit like I usually do with other 1/72 planes when I started, but it turns out the easier way was to ditch that work and I'll hand paint and re-decal the harnesses after shooting the white.  (Good thing the Warbird sheet provides a lot of belts.)  I was able to hold them by the interior with tweezers for painting too.

I used Tamiya Fine White primer to check my bodywork and provide an even base, and then shot some decanted TS-26 Pure White for the color. 

[Scale-Master]

I painted some wood grain onto the prop.

[Scale-Master]

I repainted the interiors and replaced the seatbelts.  The prop version gets red stabilizers.

[cobraman]

Those are cool little planes.

[Scale-Master]

Turns out the red color called out in the instructions is way too dark to match the red on the decals.  So I added some yellow to the red and repainted the stabilizers.

The decals for the BD-J fit pretty well, but solvent is a big help especially for the fuselage ones as they are a little on the thick side.  The excess clear should be trimmed away, (counter what I would suggest for modern decals).

[Bugatti Fan]

There was a guy who did the shows here in the UK that had a little BD5 in 1/72nd that he used to park on the wing of his Airfix Vulcan Bomber model.

[Aaronw]

These are stunningly small planes. A local air museum has a BD5 on display, and it looks like a large scale remote control aircraft. Hard to believe they can fly with a person at the controls. Those must be tiny in 1/72, like maybe a 3" wingspan?

[Scale-Master]

These have 2.75 and 3.5 inch wing spans.

All the decals are on them…

[porschercr]

They look great.

[Scale-Master]

Thanks Trevor!

 

I used Warbird (Scale-Master) Decals white stripes for the meeting edges of the canopies, the rest of the frames were hand painted with Tamiya white.  The canopies don't fit too bad, (or all that great) and there is a slight difference between the jet and prop versions so it's advisable to keep track of which plane they go on during assembly.
The pitot tube is a steel straight pit cut and filed down to size.  While the ½ gram in the nose was enough to keep the nose wheel on the ground, the pin doesn't hurt especially with the prop on the rear.

 

[cobraman]

Those are cool little planes and you did a real nice job with them.

[robertw]

Remember that plane, I used to see them from time to time at airshows, I understand they were difficult to fly. I also remember that kit that came with both the jet and prop versions, even for 1/72 they were very tiny models. You're doing a nice job of them but both my eyes and my fingers aren't good enough anymore to work on anything this tiny.