1/72 Testors XR-7 Thunderbolt / Aurora

 by René Zass

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It is said that the SR-71 "Blackbird" needed a replacement - capable of stealth, Mach 6 and high altitude operation

It is said that this plane was first flown in 1989.

It is called "Aurora" - according to a Pentagon budget request from 1985 (it appeared right under the budget request for the SR-71 and the U-2).

Well this and even more astounding information can be found in the internet concerning this CIA spyplane.

The Testors XR-7 Thunderbold model is representing the "Aurora" hypersonic mystery plane of Groom Lake, Area 51 - or not... It is of course much more a fictional model than anything else. As a fan of science-fiction and airplanes it makes the best of both worlds for me and a nice change in the showcase - or on ARC.

The fact that this is a fictional kit prevented any rivet-counting and was a good excuse for building it straight from the box.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

I do not recall big problems during construction, except that the large fuselage halves where a bit warped. Despite that the construction went forward very quickly.

Testors suggests an overall black paint scheme, which makes sense: The hypersonic X-15 was also back on most of its missions because of the high temperatures which the air friction is creating - the black paint was capable of  absorbing some of the heat and to withstand it. There was also an overall pink and an overall white X-15 paint scheme - the later one was used on the speed record flight actually.

And finally Auroras precursor spy plane is a black bird - sorry for the pun. So I decided to use predominantly black which also makes Auroras lines even more nasty.  As a reference to the X-15 I made the canopy framing white (I saw this on some pictures of the X-15), which brakes up the monotone colour and was easier than to use different shades of black. I can be awfully lazy sometimes.

I decided to close the canopy and to give it a gold "heat shield" coating. This perfectly hides the simplified cockpit of the kit.

The kits decals where used and everything was sealed with a flat coat from a spray can... I did not find out what happened but the clear coat frosted! I suppose that the humidity and temperature (I sprayed it outside) was causing this, but I am not sure. I could have tried Future on this frosted coat to make it clear again, but I decided to be very happy with this unexpected result, because it reminded me on the Bell X-15 when it was full of propellant - the fuselage was frosted then.

So my XR-7 Aurora Thunderbold whatever what-if is filled up and prepared for a short flight around the world.

René

Photos and text © by René Zass