Jabba Posted March 7, 2012 Posted March 7, 2012 Looks good Dave. With the Maverick, could not the rail mount straight onto the pylon, or does the lump from the Sparrow launcher get in the way? That fit of the lower fuselage is not that great at all, good luck with that one.
DaveJL Posted March 7, 2012 Author Posted March 7, 2012 Looks good Dave. With the Maverick, could not the rail mount straight onto the pylon, or does the lump from the Sparrow launcher get in the way? That fit of the lower fuselage is not that great at all, good luck with that one. I tried that, but the rail does not give enough clearance for the fins on the missile. The majority of AGM-65 hard-points i've seen have an adaptor fitted to the aircrafts own pylon with the rail on the adaptor. I'm thinking now i should have just modified the AIM-54 pylon instead of the Sparrow one.
DaveJL Posted March 11, 2012 Author Posted March 11, 2012 Small bit of progress. Sanded the horror show that was the fit of the front and rear fuselage and fiddled with the Sniper pod: The front pallets were dropped in favour of two of the rear shaped ones. My plan was to add the Sniper on the side the Brimstones will be carried (like the Tornado GR4) and mounted on a modified pylon. (taken from hasegawa weapons set 'E') After playing around with it for a while, i'm not so sure it looks as good in the flesh as it did in my head. Perhaps i could modify it a bit more and 'sink' it into the forward Sparrow recess. My initial idea was to mount it on the starboard side (as you look at the aircraft head on) but i realised that is is the side of the boarding ladder (i'm keeping mine retracted however) and there might be a clash so it may have to go on the port side, but this is the same as the DJRP! Any thoughts? Do you think it looks a bit daft? 'Freezer'
Jabba Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 I think keeping the normal fwd pallets maybe slightly better as it would be a bit more aerodynamic rather than jjust sticking the pod into the aircrafts slipstream.
Parabat Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 Freezer, Looking good. I'd angle the Sniper pod out out on the Starboard side (aircraft starboard), keeping the access to the ladder etc. Maybe you could cant it out a bit? Obviously not letting it interfere with the intake airflow. I'd say don't reduce the pallets, I like the idea of having the rear pallets at the front. Really enjoying this one, keep up the good work bud.
DaveJL Posted March 11, 2012 Author Posted March 11, 2012 I think keeping the normal fwd pallets maybe slightly better as it would be a bit more aerodynamic rather than jjust sticking the pod into the aircrafts slipstream. Was thinking that myself after the initial fitting, but then i figured that it could be done as it would be the same sort of height into the slipstream as the bomb pallets and bombs would be when attached. Will require some thought i think!
DaveJL Posted March 11, 2012 Author Posted March 11, 2012 Freezer, Looking good. I'd angle the Sniper pod out out on the Starboard side (aircraft starboard), keeping the access to the ladder etc. Maybe you could cant it out a bit? Obviously not letting it interfere with the intake airflow. I'd say don't reduce the pallets, I like the idea of having the rear pallets at the front. Really enjoying this one, keep up the good work bud. Thanks mate. Not sure what to do at the moment. The fit i have at the moment hangs as low as the bombracks and attached bombs would be when attached. I could also maybe add it to the same pallet that the Brimstones would be on, but would need to re-add the original front pallets. I got the idea of the sniper fit from the original Tomcat 21 idea, which had integrated pods forward of the pallets.
Parabat Posted March 12, 2012 Posted March 12, 2012 Thanks mate. Not sure what to do at the moment. The fit i have at the moment hangs as low as the bombracks and attached bombs would be when attached. I could also maybe add it to the same pallet that the Brimstones would be on, but would need to re-add the original front pallets. Got you. Yeah, some thought needed on this one! I'm sure you'll find a way though.
DaveJL Posted March 12, 2012 Author Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) I've a few ideas floating around my head at the moment. Got you.Yeah, some thought needed on this one! I'm sure you'll find a way though. Just need to find a way that looks the least daft!! My initial ideas were based on this: http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0132.shtml Note the location of the integrated FLIR and targeting pods. Edited March 12, 2012 by DaveJL
Kev1n Posted March 12, 2012 Posted March 12, 2012 this is one I would like to see finished....a Brit Tomcat not that I have any idea what you guys are on about above tho, I'm not that technically minded.......
DaveJL Posted March 12, 2012 Author Posted March 12, 2012 this is one I would like to see finished....a Brit Tomcat not that I have any idea what you guys are on about above tho, I'm not that technically minded....... Me too mate! Hope I can sort the Sniper pod dilemma...basically the problem is the location, angle and how low it 'hangs down' so as not to interrupt the airflow underneath the jet. I'm trying to integrate the Sniper so as it does take away a hard point for ordnance, hence the extra pylon forward of the front pallets. Could go one of two ways this one!
DaveJL Posted March 16, 2012 Author Posted March 16, 2012 (edited) Fiddled about with the sniper fit a bit more today and i think i'm set on the layout: Using the short pallets, i'm going to recess the pylon for the Sniper pod into the forward sparrow bay so that the pod does not 'stick out' into the airflow as it will 'hang' no lower than the bombs. I've also fiddled with the angle of the Brimstones to ensure that if they are hypothetically launched, they would; 1)not strike the Sniper pod on the way through 2) not hit the Paveway II with backblast and 3) not strike the sides of the intakes. The idea of the pod in this location comes from the Super Tomcat 21 proposal in the early '90's. (lost out to the F/A-18E/F of course) http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0132.shtml Still looking awfully messy, but should hopefully be on the home straight soon enough. Please let me know what you think of the weapons fit. 'Freezer' Edited March 16, 2012 by DaveJL
Parabat Posted March 16, 2012 Posted March 16, 2012 I thinly it looks good, busy, but good. What about having a full-on Phoenix pallet on the stbd side for the LGB, with the rear pallet on the port side as it is now to accommodate the Sniper pod. Cool to see a full up load on this Cat!
DaveJL Posted March 16, 2012 Author Posted March 16, 2012 I thinly it looks good, busy, but good. What about having a full-on Phoenix pallet on the stbd side for the LGB, with the rear pallet on the port side as it is now to accommodate the Sniper pod. Cool to see a full up load on this Cat! Thanks mate. Was thinking that myself, but then i was thinking about adding a small ECM bump (or some other technical thing the RAF 'cat) to fill the void left by the longer pallet. If the longer pallet does go on, i was thinking it might affect the weight balance etc. Turning out to be trickier than i thought!
DaveJL Posted March 25, 2012 Author Posted March 25, 2012 A little more work to show on this one. Painted and weathered the inside of the GE-110's: Engines and shrouds added to the airframe: Bits added to the cockpit. Will add a few bits of wire here and there to detail this area up slightly: Chin pod added: And finally the forward pallets/sniper fit. I went with Parabat's suggestion of leaving the larger pallet on the opposite side to the Sniper pod, which will be recessed in the forward part of the old Sparrow bay, just in front of the shorter pylon which will hold the Brimstone missiles. I've added a small 'ECM bump' in the middle of the two pallets: More to follow. 'freezer'
DaveJL Posted March 26, 2012 Author Posted March 26, 2012 Finally getting somewhere with this now. Added a bit of wire to the GPS display on top of the rear coaming and a bit to the front right of the pilots control panel: Modified and added the rear antennae fit to the upper fuselage. The large TACAN antennae will remain as is: Fins added: Ventral strakes on: Started the clean up of the forward pallet/sniper area. Will need a good bit of work to tidy it up. The layer of putty on top of the Sniper pylon is needed to ensure the rear part of the pod does not contact the pallet. You may notice the small white antennae on the left pylon. This is the ROVER antennae that was added to all F-14D's on the last crusie of the F-14 in 05/06 (note this was the VF-31 and VF-213 D models only when in service with the USN) Will get a bit more of cleaning up done tomorrow. More to follow. 'Freezer'
DaveJL Posted March 27, 2012 Author Posted March 27, 2012 Ok just about ready for priming. I added a few more 'RAF specific' parts. Firstly, a sensor on each tail fin: New comms antennae (similar to the TARDIS upgrade on the Tornado GR4) was made from styrene sheet: Cleaned up the forward weapons area: Added the canopy jettison handles from pieces of GRU-7 seats: And finally what the weapons fit will look like: Only thing that is missing is the fuel tanks. I started thinking about the paint scheme. As these would be relatively new jets in the RAF's arsenal, i think i'll go all over medium sea grey with only a few panels a different shade, much like the Tornado GR4's. The heavy weathering seen on USN machines will not be replicated as the aircraft will not operate at sea. I was also thinking about doing some 'radical' markings on this, along the lines of sharks teeth, again as seen on GR4's during Op Telic. On that note, would anyone have a set of Tornado sharks mouths from either of the Model Alliance Op Telic sheets that they could spare me? Will pay of course! Teeth like these: http://images.fast-air.co.uk/Harrier-Missi...raq-photo-1.jpg http://orientalredneck.blogspot.co.uk/grap...elicTornado.jpg Or even Harrier teeth!!: http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=102116 Kit is off for a soapy bath and priming later this evening, and i'm off for a beer! More to follow. 'freezer'
Neal Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) Looking good. This may be opening an old discussion (but I couldn't see it) wouldn't the brimstones be fitted on the rear pallet so they don't affect the other stores when fired? Or do they drop away before motor ignition? Edited March 27, 2012 by Neal
DaveJL Posted March 27, 2012 Author Posted March 27, 2012 Looking good. This may be opening an old discussion (but I couldn't see it) wouldn't the brimstones be fitted on the rear pallet so they don't affect the other stores when fired? Or do they drop away before motor ignition? Thanks Neal. I think the Brimstones fire directly from the launcher and they are indeed fitted to the rear pylon on the Tornado GR4. I put them on the front one on this as, if they were at the back, the motors would likely strike the inside of the 'tunnel' as it narrows slightly toward the back. I've fiddled with the setup and if this was real, the missiles would not strike the sniper pod and the rocket would not hit the rear GBU. Either that or we could 'pretend' that they do drop away before ignition, a lot like the AIM-54's that were fitted to the USN/IRIAF machines did
Navy Bird Posted March 27, 2012 Posted March 27, 2012 Lots of great imagineering going on here! Can't wait to see it finished. A companion FAA Cat would look nice, too! Cheers, Bill
DaveJL Posted March 27, 2012 Author Posted March 27, 2012 Lots of great imagineering going on here! Can't wait to see it finished. A companion FAA Cat would look nice, too! Cheers, Bill Thanks Bill. A FAA 'cat is on my list, but will be an intercepter version! Don't think i'll get it done for this GB mind you
DaveJL Posted March 30, 2012 Author Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) Good bit of painting done. Overall Tamiya XF-83 'medium sea grey 2 (RAF). Once dry, i painted the 'bags', shrouds, exhausts, cockpit coamings and sills: When this was drying, i moved onto the various sub assemblies. Fuel tanks: Wing glove pylons and Brimstone launcher: Weapons: The Brimstones and AGM-65 still need stencils applied. DJRP and Sniper. Again, just stencilling needs done here: Overall shot of the jet: With regard to the coamings, many USN jets had dirty, khaki, brown and even purple covers on them. (all due to wear and tear) They will remain black on this as they are relatively 'new'. The wings and horizontal stabilisers have also been painted but are not completed yet. Next up is to add details - nav lights, fuel dump valve, chin pod sensors, ECM colours and so on. More to follow. 'Freezer' Edited March 30, 2012 by DaveJL
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