The Academy B-29 is regarded as the best B-29 produced in 1/72 scale and it is also a straightforward build. The kit provides markings for the following five aircraft: Choice of Little Boy (Enola Gay/Hiroshima) or Fat Man (Bockscar/Nagasaki) weapons.Choice of cuffed or uncuffed propellers (the two subjects in this kit used cuffed propellers).Nice bomb bays with interconnecting crew pressure tunnel.Nicely detailed rear compartment (though you can't really see this after assembly).Nicely detailed flight deck and bombardier's station.This release depicts the Silverplate B-29 which operated without gun turrets, so parts are included to close off the turret openings.Īmong the features and options in each kit: For more about the Silverplate program and the flight tests leading up to their attacks that ended the war, read George Culley's article that first appeared in the IPMS/USA 1995 National Convention Journal.Īcademy periodically reissues their 1/72 scale B-29 Superfortress kits between their conventional bomber and this special edition of the Enola Gay and Bockscar from the 509th.
As the bombs were developed and the bomb length was reduced to rougly 10 feet for both the fission and fusion bombs, flight testing of the Silverplate aircraft and dropping of 'shapes' required further developments that would result in a fleet of special aircraft that would not only deliver the two weapons to Japan, but would continue after the war as the first dedicated fleet of atomic bombers as part of the 509th Composite Group. It was looking like the Avro Lancaster would become America's atomic delivery aircraft until the Chief of the USAAF, Hap Arnold, heard of this and dictated that the B-29 would be the weapon carrier.ĭuring the B-29's wartime production run, a number of aircraft were diverted to Boeing/Wichita for conversion into Silverplate aircraft. The B-29 was also unsuitable as it had two 12 foot bomb bays divided by the wing main spar box.
The B-24 appeared to be a candidate but the Navy had failed to convert the aircraft to accomodate a torpedo in the bomb bay, so an atomic bomb wasn't going to work any better. Early requirements estimated a weapon that would be 17 feet long and weigh over 10,000 pounds.
Dubbed 'Silverplate', the search was on for a suitable aircraft. Even as the Manhattan Project moved forward, a parallel program was launched to find a bomber which could deliver an atomic bomb should the folks at Los Alamos succeed. Germany was working on their own atomic weapon which led to some famous bombing raids to delay their program. Most folks remember the 'Manhattan Project' which was the super-secret program to develop the first atomic bomb.