Jump to content

Intruders and Prowlers and Growlers 17 Nov. An update at last!


Recommended Posts

Impressive attention to detail and infinite patience are producing awesome results! Simply superb work!

Cheers

Jaime

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys! I'll admit that this build is testing my patience to the maximum, though it's nice to see progress now that the sanding and filling is pretty much finished on the basic airframes. As kev67 has pointed out I find it hard to believe this has been four years since the saga began!

Eric aka The Yankymodeler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Insanity indeed.

But the attention to detail is to be applauded.

Have you met Rich O in the sci fi section?

Are you two related?

Four years? I thought I was slow nowadays, but.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you all! I've been out of town visiting my father and haven't had much time to devote to the build. I was able to do a bit of planning for the next assault ...er..phase, hope to have a bit of progress to report by this weekend.

Eric aka The Yankymodeler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks guys! This project has turned out to be a bit of an adventure. Unfortunately I've not gotten anything to report this week. I was busy bringing home another project...

23' Jafco Seamaster

IMG_3582_zpsn6bpd3c2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

To all hearty souls who are somehow still following this sorted tale, I present a typical story of one step back and two steps forward in a pathetic attempt to account for my long absence. 

 

With the completion of the speed brakes I next turned to installing the horizontal stabilators.  The real aircraft uses an all flying tail, entire surface moves for pitch control and the control surface moves on a shaft.  The Kinetic Prowlers kits have a shaft molded into the kit stabilator and a corresponding socket into the fuselage halves, very prototypical.  The Revell Intruders on the other hand use a tab and slot to attach the stabilator to the fuselage.  Early in the build the slots in the Revell kits where filled with styrene strips and filed smooth planning on later installing an aluminum tube.  The location of the pivot was measured from the Kinetic kits, as Prowlers share the same stabilator position with Intruders, and marked with a deep pinprick.  (cue spooky foreshadowing music here).    A template was then produced to ensure the proper position of the access hatches on the aft fuselage relative to the pivot for the stabilator, and the hatches scribed.   To me this was a key point as the hatches lay under the leading edge of the tail and have ground check stabilator position reference marks painted on them.

DSC01421_zpsd01c2ba6.jpg

 

 

Much time passed as the build progressed but eventually it became time to install the stabilators.   With a bit already in the chuck, for some reason I held up a stabilator to the fuselage for a check for general over all appearance.  The relative location of the hatches looked good as well as the vertical location of the stabilator on the fuselage, but as I looked at the trailing edge something didn’t look quite right.  According to photographs the trailing edge of the stabilator should be just a couple of inches forward of the hinge line, but on the model the trailing edge was too far forward. Did I miss-mark the pivot location on the fuselage or the stabilator?  Rechecking measurements taken on the Kinetic kit revealed no error, perhaps the position of the shaft on the stabilators was incorrect?  Examined closely, photographs taken from an advantageous angle reveal the location of the pivot point.  With a little measuring and calculation of ratios of stabilator root to the relative distance of the shaft from the leading and/or trailing edge of both reference photographs and the kit pieces, the proper shaft position can be calculated.  A quick check confirmed the location on the Kinetic stabilators agreed very well with my calculations.  A check of stabilator root length using photographs and ratios as well as a number of 3-view plan drawings exposed no major discrepancies.   That can only mean one thing (cue previously introduced spooky foreshadowing music) the pivot location on the fuselage was incorrect. 

 

As the sockets had not been yet installed on the seven Revell Intruder variants, the remedy would be to simply move the sockets back on the three Prowlers, a fairly easy process even for me.  I was in the process of marking the new socket location when a sudden realization struck.  The access hatches were scribed with a template referenced to the original (incorrect) pivot point, moving the pivot location back would result in the hatches not being in the correct relative locations relative to the leading edge of the stabilator.  For myself that mis-match would not be something I could ignore, so the hatches would have to be filled and re-scribed.

 

To avoid the issue ghost outlines caused by shrinking filler and the problems associated with scribing over different materials, stretched sprue was glued into the scribed lines and filed smooth.  The template was positioned over the new pivot position and after triple checking with a Mark 1 eyeball, the sockets installed and the hatches re-scribed. 

DSC_0248_zpsdwd1i4k2.jpg

 

DSC_0028_zps6hctwuxx.jpg

 

 

A little clean up still needed on the newly scribed hatches.

IMG_2171_zpsdoqcjd3h.jpg

 

Finally turning to the stabilators themselves, the tabs were cut from the Revell stabilators and couple of the more prominent panel lines seen in photographs scribed.  The location of the shaft he was transferred from the Kinetic stabilators, a shallow hole drilled and a short section of aluminum tube epoxied in.   Simply repeating the process a few times, I declared this portion of the project a success!

DSC_0026_zpsdzdil5xz.jpg

 

DSC_0024_zpsnmbbwzrv.jpg

 

The EA-18s have not been neglected and their progress has actually passed the Intruder/Prowler assembly line.   I am very happy to report a coat of the final color coat has been sprayed and with the exception of one or two small areas needing attention, looks acceptable. 

DSC_0035_zps3e7xse7p.jpg

 

DSC_0033_zpsfrk5xqr1.jpg

 

 

Pleased to report the slot formed between the flaps and the gap seals looks just about right

DSC_0032_zpsml0fuhws.jpg

 

DSC_0034_zpsvdwtl6bz.jpg

 

So that dear followers is my sorted tale contributing to my lack of updates.   

 

 

Eric aka The Yankymodeler.


  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Spurred to resume my eternal musings by a personal message from what can only be described as a devoted follower, it came as a major shock that my last update on the epic saga of plastic butchery was almost exactly a year ago!  Struggling for a plausible excuse I can only offer a pathetic story of a new position within the FAA (in my case that is the Federal Aviation Administration here in USA), family adventures with two wonderful teenage children and a couple of full sized aircraft and boat projects.

 

To sum up the last year, working sessions have been a bit irregular with flurries of activity interspaced with periods of a dark and quiet work bench as a seemingly endless stream of self-inflicted small tweaks, corrections and enhancements occasionally consumed my modelling mojo, but progress has been made!

 

 Starting with some of the more tedious (and least likely to be noticed once on display!) details, I started at the bottom.  The underside of the Intruder/Prowler is a veritable assortment of vents, intakes, scoops and drains.  The drains are quite easily represented by the simple expedient of drilling a hole, the trick is to determine exactly where the hole should be drilled!  A bit of research revealed that fortunately the undersides were fairly consistent between the Intruders with slight variations for the Prowlers and stayed fairly consistent throughout the service life of the airframes.  Locations were marked and bits of appropriate diameter, estimated via the time honored TLAR (That Looks About Right) method, used to drill the orifices. 

JKMJqWZ.jpg

 

 

A series of small tube-like vents along an access panel between the tailpipes and on either side of the sponsion just behind the wheel well were easily represented by aluminum wire bent to shape and epoxied into a hole drilled at the proper location.  Note the Prowlers have 4 vents on the bottom panel while the Intruders have 2.

TCjyQ13.jpg

 

jaakzWX.jpg

 

 

The ‘V’ shape is a deflector formed of shallow channel to help keep oil and other vented fluids from seeping into the aft equipment bay.  This was formed from a strip of styrene and once in place the tip of a knife blade was used to carve the channel shape.

   Additional doubler plates just aft of the tailpipe outlet were cut from .005” styrene. 

 8TNLaY1.jpg

 

 

The doublers around the Prowler aft equipment bay opening were added from strips of .005’ sheet. 

8a4bx7T.jpg

 

 

Ground fueling points on the lower right intake were made by drilling into the custom resin intake being careful not to go too deep and drill into the duct interior then lining the hole with a short section of aluminum tube. Note the Intruder’s recess was flush with the outer skin while the Prowler’s had a slightly raised rim.  This is easily simulated by leaving the aluminum tube just proud of the external contour. The actual valve at the bottom will be represented by a styrene disk to be added near the end of the build.

iHz3PAG.jpg

 

 

  One small vent was a bit more involved having what appeared to be a prow-like angled intake with a boundary layer plate, a tapered profile and an outlet.  Built up from styrene the fabrication was a bit more involved due to the boundary layer plate and the small size but the final product turned out to be acceptable.  Fortunately, the Prowlers lacked these particular vents, saving the fabrication of 3 sets!

lRZ6HwK.jpg

 

 

Turing to the upper side, a variety of materials and techniques were used to produce the plethora of intakes on the top of the airframes.  Unlike the undersides, each version had a unique set of intakes, so it was time at last to make the final decision as to what specific airframe would be modelled at what time frame.  After much research, the subjects were identified, the specific configurations determined and work could carry on.

 

I started with the easy ones, the Kinetic EA-6B Prowler kit supplied 2 two large equipment bay air cooling intakes for installation on either side of the aft fuselage.  The Prowler subjects for this build, versions flown by VAQ-209 Star Warriors, needed only one on the right side, this would prove fortuitous a bit later.  So, the left side locating hole was filed with a styrene plug and the molded in base pad filed off.  The kit supplied pieces were easily cleaned up and as the intake is quite prominent, the interior ducting was opened with a drill and file and installed without much ado.

fgVn67j.jpg

 

 

The Kinetic Prowlers lacked the four small reward opening vents on either side of the fuselage center section, these were simply an exercise in small part fabrication and installation.   

pOnYRqt.jpg

 

 

As supplied in the Revell EA-6A kit, the equipment cooling intakes on the left side just aft of the wing appeared too short.  They were lengthened by cutting and inserting a styrene spacer and height slightly increased with a styrene base.  The intake opening was reworked to better represent the prototypes slightly squared cross- section and the external profile refined with files.   Once into place the appearance is much improved

y4z25Sx.jpg

 

BLbggw9.jpg?1

 

 

At the base of the tail the aft compartment ram air intake was opened up.  Of course, it was only after the intakes were opened on all the airframes, that I noticed it was deleted on the A-6Es, so out came the styrene and a blanking plate was fabricated and installed.

QJqqASF.jpg?1

 

fe31Nl7.jpg

 

 

A-6Es modified with the CAINS (Carrier Airborne Inertial Navigation System) are readily identified by the large cooling system intake on the left side of the aft fuselage.  The kit supplied pieces appeared too short, generally anemic and exhibited crater like sink marks.   Not impossible to rectify but fortunately an easier solution was at hand.   The before mentioned unused EA-6B aft cooling intakes looked to be pretty close to the right shape but a bit short for the Intruders.  A section of styrene was used as a spacer for the base and the profile modified with a bit of file work, once installed the intake looked a close match.  The exhaust located on the lower side of the fuselage being fairly large and in a prominent location was drilled out and a section of styrene tube used to simulate the interior of duct.  The external doubler plates around the opening through the fuselage side were cut from .005” styrene sheet and attached.

TyEWXtP.jpg

 

yTXdqnE.jpg

 

 

The small fuel vent intakes on the spine were carved from built-up styrene blanks, because of the conspicuous location, a small recess was carved into the front to simulate the opening.  These are present on all the versions of Intruders and Prowers.

TaIrNyi.jpg

 

3ViixPX.jpg

 

 

The UHF/ADF upper fuselage antenna on the Prowler and EA-6A did not seem to capture the elusive complex curves so replacements were fabricated by old school carving and filing from a block of styrene.  Not a difficult process the only issue was producing 6 consistent units.

ShZJwR3.jpg

 

 

The inlets and vents on the right shoulder panel of the Intruders differed depending on time frame.  Initially the Intruders had a slot vent with a louver-like shroud on the right side and a trapezoidal set of horizontal louvers on the left side.  Later in the Intruders service life, the vent was replaced with a protruding intake and the louvers reduced in size.  The Revell kits incorrectly duplicated the horizontal louvers found on the left side on the right. This actually made things a bit easier as all I had to do was fill in either all or half the louvers depending on the version.  The EA-6As seemed to carry the earlier shroud/vent throughout their service lives, as   A set of intakes were carved up and a bit of filler applied with the aid of a strip of masking tape and sanded smooth brought the area into compliance.  I decided to build an early and a late ‘E’ model so the pair of airframes were appropriately equipped.

 

Xy2VFZh.jpg

 

GEef4T4.jpg

 

 

PDurjfO.jpg

 

So there is my loooong overdue update for those who still follow this tale plastic butchery.  The has been additional work on the series, I hope to get a posting written up in much less time than this last one.  Thank you all for your continued interest and thank you to Rade for spurring me to get something posted!  There’s more progress to report, hopefully I’ll get an additional update posted in much less time than this last interval.

 

Eric aka The Yankymodeler

 

 

Edited by Yankymodeler
Corrected pic links
  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, phildagreek said:

Good to see you back with this, I particularly like the last photo of your workbench!

Thank you!  I've continued working on the project, just been some slow periods and I've neglected to post any of the progress until now!  The bench is a new addition in the past year, a converted second-hand computer dest.  A bit more work and storage space as well as looking nicer and of sturdier construction than tho old one.

 

   Eric aka The Yankymodeler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I had mentioned in the last update that I wanted to represent an early and late A-6E and the most distinguishing feature of the late ‘E’ is the large Target Recognition Attack Multi-sensor turret (TRAM) mounted under the nose.  The full-size turret is a sensor laden sphere suspended in a fork that can rotate in azimuth and the sphere rotates in elevation within the fork.  The Revel A-6E kit supplies an add on that attaches to the underside of the nose that although is adequate for casual inspection, is lacking in refinement.  In preparation for a to be later fabricated TRAM turret, an opening was cut into the underside of the chosen airframe and a styrene tube of appropriate diameter installed.  Care must be taken to ensure symmetry as even a small variation in lateral position will result in large changes in the shape of the opening on the curved part of the nose.

 

Rough opening cut

OHFIK9I.jpg

 

Tube in place and rough trimming, easy to go too far at this stage!

gC1zPJu.jpg

 

Finished TRAM opening

OrqH9aK.jpg

 

 

The KA-6D as a dedicated tanker usually had the armor plate protecting the engines and the flaperon actuators located in the aft inboard section of the wings removed as a weight savings measure.  The removal of this armor for the KA-6D version of the build has been documented in a previous WIP posting.   It was not uncommon for the armor under the aft fuselage protecting the stabilator actuator to also be removed, and as it turns out the subject and time frame I chose for my KA-6D build was one of those airframes.  This meant a bit more work, did I really expect anything different?

Close inspection of the reference pictures that turned up this tidbit of information also revealed the bumper/tiedown was mounted to the fuselage and the armor plate, when fitted, was slotted to fit around it rather than the bumper being mounted to the armor plate as depicted in the kit.  The fuel dump was also poorly represented by both Revell and Kinetic and I was never satisfied at how I had cleaned up the unit when the fuselages were joined.  All this was in a relatively prominent location so this was a chance to improve the area, but how could I improve just the tanker version and not address the rest of the collection…a familiar sinking feeling that I was going to get into more work than I anticipated once again crept in

 

Original bumper and fuel dump area with armor.  This happens to be a Revel EA-6A, the A-6 variants are identical.   Note the bumper is attached directly to the solid armor plate.  This armor needed to be removed for my specific KA-6D subject.

2ruLC7d.jpg

 

The bumper/fuel dump area on one of the Kinetic EA-6Bs

G93fBhh.jpg

 

 

So, once again taking the opportunity to turn a simple conversion of one model into a large mini project, I decided that I’d go ahead for the sake of consistency and replace the bumper/tiedown/fuel dump on all the versions. After all, how hard can it be?  Cleaning up the area was a quick matter with razor saw and file.  The KA-6D needed a small patch of styrene to replace the very aft section of fuselage as it became too thin for comfort after removing the armor plate.  Aluminum tube was formed into fuel dump tubes, the upper section pressed flat with jewelry pliers and a mandrel from a piece of wire.  The hole for mounting into the fuselage was carefully drilled and the tube epoxied into place.  The fairing for the pipe was carved from styrene.

 

Fuel dump fabrication from aluminum tube

Q7OpRsi.jpg

 

 As long as I was in this deep, I wanted to represent the slot in the armor feature on the aircraft that were so equipped, the two A-6Es and the EA-6As.  A small end mill in the Dremel tool and slow very cautious work produced the desired results.

3JsVtkn.jpg

 

 

 After all this the tail bumper/tiedown itself was anticlimactic, a simple matter to build up from styrene the only difficulty being the relatively small size. 

 

KA-6D without armor

rZBG2PF.jpg

 

A-6E with armor. 

5Y8Okai.jpg

 

EA-6B

ZHrEHHC.jpg

 

Overall, I think the appearance in somewhat improved.

 

 

In departure from the usual construction sequence and in anticipation of the amount of work expected in achieving any resemblance to proper fit and appearance, I decided to install the landing gear at this point.  The stock kit landing gear parts are somewhat simplified to accommodate molding restrictions, and due to the age of the molds the details were very soft with large amounts of flash.  So in my trademark spirit of making projects much more work intensive than they need to be, I choose to clean all the details off down to the basic gear legs and add them back on with styrene rod and strip. 

 

I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the stock Revell Intruder main gear leg, y’all have to use your memory of this ancient kit or use imagination for the ‘before’ comparison! 

 

Clean up of the oleo scissors proved to be difficult due to an impressive amount of flash as the molded flexible brake lines crossed the scissors.  It was easier to simply remove and replace with new assemblies built up from styrene sheet and rod.  This also offered the opportunity to fabricate a more petite part and include the lightening holes.  Removal was accomplished by razor saw, hobby knife and small files taking care to provide a properly aligned mounting surface on the gear leg to attach the new scissors.  As 16 sets were needed this process took a couple of building sessions.

7zLgXLh.jpg

 

 

 A repurposed paint mixing tray served to keep the various components organized. 

Here are some of the ‘spares’ left over in case the carpet monster demanded a sacrifice or two.

4jyEhGu.jpg?1

 

 

Both the Revell Intruder and the Kinetic Prowler kits depict the trunnion on the upper end of the main strut as a solid triangle.  Although correct for a Prowler, the Intruder trunnion is an open structure with a tubular appearance.   Being one of the larger and therefore more prominent components in the wheel well, a more representative structure was built up using styrene rod.  As a number of sets needed to be built, a small jig was constructed to help keep the size and the subtle angles consistent.

 

Ulf5qMO.jpg

 

pFtDFaO.jpg

 

Once the concept was decided upon, it was a simple matter of repeating each step seven or eight times, I lost count and just kept building until I ran out of parts!

pFtDFaO.jpg

 

Revell molded brake line details into the main gear legs and they suffered the most loss of fidelity from molding restrictions and wear of the molds.  The metal non-flexible portion of the brake lines running along the back of gear leg were simulated with styrene rod. The only thing of note having to do the work twice, as reference pictures revealed dual lines.

 

Here a single line is installed, the second was added after the first was thoroughly set, I forgot to take a picture of that stage before the gear legs were installed in the airframes.

0QSoypw.jpg

 

ThmAhJm.jpg

 

 

The flexible part of the brake lines was molded as leading to a terminal on the bottom of the strut close to the axle, rather than to the wheel hub as on the real aircraft.  Fortunately, the terminal looked very much like the fitting that is supposed to be on the inside of the hub, so it was carefully removed from the strut and attached at the appropriate location on the wheel hub.  One less part to fabricate!  The flexible lines will be added after the wheels are attached close to completion (If that day ever arrives!)

 h7ED79Z.jpg

 

zwQ85qo.jpg

 

 

The intruder nose gear is quite busy, consisting of a myriad of struts, hinges, actuators and hydraulic lines.  Due to molding limitations and in the case of the Revell kits, the age of the molds, the details were simplified and quite soft.  So in keeping with the spirit of making more work whenever possible, the moldings were cleaned up and the details replaced with various sizes of styrene stock and rod.  The large cylindrical steering actuator mounded low on the right side was built up using tube, disks and rod for actuators. The unit also has a big flat spring coiled around it that serves as a shimmy damper.

COsd17S.jpg

 

PiXrT39.jpg

 

gC7WRfX.jpg

 

 

Installation began once the subassemblies were to a sufficient state of delicacy to ensure appropriate levels of damage during the process.  Fortunately, I managed to underachieve in that endeavor even though the fitting process was a test of patience requiring a number of building sessions and a few minor repairs, all seven sets were eventually in place, aligned and left alone over night to set.  I did leave off a couple of the more vulnerable details that would be fairly easily added after installation. The large drag links need yet to be installed, they will require a bit of fabrication and custom fitting and will be topic for a future update posting.

1hVjWVv.jpg

 

 

To sum the progress for this update; all the Grummans are now on their gear, a milestone of sorts. A paltry accomplishment, I can’t figure out why it took me so long!   And that wraps it up for now, thank you for your continued interest!

 

Eric aka The Yankymodeler

 

A0JIdOL.jpg

 

 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...