Geli SR-71 Blackbird

[BigGiraffe]

Hello,

It is nice to see that Geli kits are being produced again. I've made their DC-9 (quite an amazing model, retractable landing gear and operating air stairs), and their Viscount. The SR-71 is an awesome airplane and I decided to order the Geli kit. The company is reworking the various kits, from what I've read, and there are signs of that on this kit, such as the design being so crisp. Now it might have always been that way since I've never seen the Geli SR-71 in person. And I always thought the DC-9 and Viscount are excellent kits. Anyway, the SR-71 looks excellent, also. As with the original kits, the printing is done with paint instead of regular ink. The colors are very pleasing; even bare metal areas shine like bare metal.

The directions for the SR-71 are in German. Usually the assembly of the card models can be figured out from the sketches and prior experience, as I did on their DC-9, but nowadays we can also type the sentences into an online translator for extra help.

While cutting parts, I noticed the card stock and cardboard stock are both of very high quality material. They do not contain any wood chips or roughness that I've noticed on some kits, and I have not broken a tip off my hobby knife yet. (That, in itself, is amazing).

[BigGiraffe]

The first section was pretty straight-forward in its assembly. What is odd is the fuselage cross-section, particularly on the upper side, with the deep curves that require you to keep pressure applied until the glue sets.

If the landing gear are to be installed, it helps to pre-cut part of the bulkhead Part 3 and the skin's wheelwell lines that are perpendicular to the seam. Really I would have liked to cut those "doors" off completely while the part was flat, but then you can't pull evenly when you glue the long seam (unless someone has a trick for that). I will not cut the wheelwell cutout loose from the bulkhead and skin until I've attached the next-forward fuselage section. My thinking is that the middle portion of this bulkhead helps to pull the next skin section into shape until the glue dries. Also, before attaching the bulkheads, I cut finger holes in them to help with installation. (For Part 3, that hole will also help with pressing the nose landing gear well into place.)

Kurt

[Rubenandres77]

This will be great to see. Nice to see an original new Geli kit being cut and assembled.Thanks for sharing with us. I'll be following your build.

[BigGiraffe]

Thanks, Ruben, it's quite a kit!

The next section aft, Parts 6 thru 10, suggests gluing on the lower skin, then the upper skin, and then the bulkhead that joins them at the aft end. I changed the sequence. Instead, I glued the aft bulkhead (Part 8) to the upper skin first. This is because the upper skin has the deepest curvatures and I felt it would be easier to fit the skin to the bulkhead while loose from the rest of the model. After this dried, I attached the upper skin to the first fuselage section. I studied their sketch and noted the first section and this section are parallel along the top and bottom lines. Also, the center of bulkhead Part 8 is equal in height to the first fuselage section (Part 5 bulkhead). Therefore, I laid the sections on a flat surface as I attached them, and let them dry that way.

For now, I've decided not to join the seams at the front edge of the wings. If the upper and lower skins are not perfectly in the right position then these seams will tilt up or down too far, and won't match the engines when they are attached. So I'll wait until the engines are ready. That is, unless the extra stiffness (from joining these seams) turns out to be necessary to support the aft as parts are added.

And that's it for this weekend...
Kurt

[MichaelS]

Wow!! Great job Mr. Giraffe. Do they have an SR there at Warner Robbins?

I have a Double signed copy of "God Is My Copilot" by Gen. Robert L. Scott. Signed once on his war bond tour in 1944 when he was seen by my Great Aunt Ida. The other signature by him in about 2000 or so there at the museum before he took off on his final mission.

MS

[BigGiraffe]

Thank you! There is still an SR-71 at the Museum of Aviation at Warner Robins. They keep it indoors in the larger hangar.
Kurt

[Rata]

1/33 SR-71? That is gonna be one BIG model Kurt. Looks good so far.

[RickPink65]

All Geli models have always been in 1/33 scale. As a matter of fact they were the first firm to use this scale for card model aircraft. They started in 1954. More than 60 years offering a very nice line of card model aircraft with good detail. Not as detailed as other brands but good enough for any average enthusiast who wants to build and collect a wonderful collection of aircraft models without spending ages building them yet offering accurate outlines and easy of assembly

[YOAVHOZMI]

good start...it looks very good.

YOAV

[mbauer]

Great start, model looks excellent! Colors in photos show the "paint" you spoke of. Looks better than ink for sure.

Mike