The Convair B-58 Hustler was the first operational
supersonic jet bomber capable of Mach 2 flight. The aircraft was designed by
Convair engineer Robert H. Widmer and developed for the United States Air Force
for service in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the 1960s.It used a
delta wing, which was also employed by Convair fighters such as the F-102, with
four J79 engines in pods under the wing. It carried a nuclear weapon and fuel in
a large pod under the fuselage rather than in an internal bomb bay.Replacing the B-47 medium bomber, it was originally intended to fly at high altitudes and supersonic speeds to avoid Soviet fighters. The introduction of highly accurate Soviet surface-to-air missiles forced the B-58 into a low-level penetration role that severely limited its range and strategic value, and it was never employed to deliver conventional bombs. This led to a brief operational career between 1960 and 1969 as it was succeeded by the smaller, swing-wing FB-111A. The current B-1B Lancer deleted the Mach 2 capability of the original design but is a long range bomber.
This is a Testor 1/72nd scale kit bought from eBay. An old kit but still quite good and workable. Unfortunately the decals were toast from age and disintergated upon touching water. Probably spent more time patching each decals than building the whole kit.
Kit primed in Alclad black gloss primer, finished with various shades of Alclad metallic finishes.
The construction was straight forward apart from pesky seam lines over the length of the fuselage and wing roots which tested my patience. When I finished this kit I swore I'd never built anything like this again.
Italeri have just re-issued this kit with a super decal set. Yes, I couldn't resist and bought another one.
