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CIRPAS Pelican


zebra

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I've been on a bit of a run of 1/144 builds lately, but it feels like I've got that out of my system and I want to move on to something completely different. I also feel like a bit of a conversion, so I've settled on the CIRPAS Pelican. This is a modified Cessna O-2 which is used by the US Navy Postgraduate School's Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS). It's an "optionally piloted aircraft" and they use it for atmospheric research and as a surrogate for the RQ-1 Predator in training exercises. Here's what it looks like:

 

f7e7b2fe-5a31-458a-9a0f-7102eb45cfeb?t=1

 

The most obvious modification is the long nose fairing replacing the front engine. Apparently, as well as housing sensors, this improves its atmospheric sampling capability as it enables it to take samples of air that's undisturbed by the prop and not polluted by the front engine's exhaust. In most photos there's a FLIR turret under the nose as well. The most significant of the other modifications is the three-blade prop replacing the O-2's standard two-blade prop (presumably the engine has been replaced with a more powerful unit as well). It'll need custom-printed decals as well, as the serials, codes and 'NAVY' titles aren't in the standard fonts so I don't think I'll find them in the spares box.

 

I'll be doing this in 1/48 using the ICM kit - here's the box and sprues:

 

1:48 Cessna O-2

 

All being well, I'll make a start tomorrow.

 

thanks for looking

Julian

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Time to pick up the pace on this. Over the last couple of weeks I've been designing, test printing, tweaking and re-printing a 3D-printed nose and finally got one I'm happy with. It's not a perfect fit - in particular, getting the contours where it meets the lower part of the original nose was tricky - so a bit of blending in will be needed, but I'm happy enough with it so can get on with the rest of the build and have started painting interior bits. Here's how the nose looks taped to the fuselage:

 

Pelican WIP

 

more soon 

Julian

 

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Getting on with the basic O-2 build - doing everything (apart from the Pelican conversion, obviously) OOB so have got the interior done fairly quickly :

 

Pelican WIP

(sorry for the poor photo)

 

and got the fuselage together:

Pelican WIP 2

 

Once I've got the joints cleaned up I'll add the nose. Seems to make sense to do it before everything's closed up - otherwise some sanding dust would inevitably get in, and it'll be much easier to remove if I do it now.

 

 

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Nose on, with a bit of milliput added to blend it in at the points where it doesn't fit so well. 

 

Pelican WIP

 

One advantage of the Pelican conversion is there's plenty of room in there for nose weight. There's a fair amount of liquid gravity in there - the CG is somewhere between the nose gear leg and the end of the forks and it will actually sit on its nose. Obviously the CG will move back when I add the wings and tail booms but I can't help wondering how much more liquid gravity I'd have had to add to end up with a nose sitter!

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Pretty happy with the nose now so moving on with getting the rest of the build done. Aerocraft brass main undercarriage fitted (it didn't get here in time for me to use the brass nose gear) and upper half of the wing is on:

 

Pelican WIP

 

One thing I've just noticed is that the real aircraft is a later version with a slightly different window configuration. Not a lot I can do about that now so I'm going to live with it.

 

cheers

Julian

 

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6 hours ago, zebra said:

One thing I've just noticed is that the real aircraft is a later version with a slightly different window configuration. Not a lot I can do about that now so I'm going to live with it.

I doubt many would notice, this the first time Ive ever even heard of one of these. Im guessing thats pretty much most here. 

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5 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I doubt many would notice, this the first time Ive ever even heard of one of these. Im guessing thats pretty much most here. 

Thanks Dennis, that's what I thought too. That's the advantage of building something really obscure, much less likely that anyone will notice my mistakes!

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51 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Not sure I would call them mistake's ? More like you're using the best kit available for your purposes. 

Thanks Dennis. I think they've recently released one with the right windows, but it was certainly the best available when I bought it and started thinking about this project - might even have still been the best available when I started the build!

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Moving along with assembly - all the major bits in place now, a few more small things to do before I give it a coat of primer. I've also done a little bit of CAD work and will print a couple of parts tomorrow - an antenna to go under the fuselage, and the hub for the 3-bladed prop (I'm planning to use prop blades from the kit) - and knocked up a decal for the titles and serials.

 

Pelican WIP

 

more soon

Julian

 

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  • 2 years later...

Hello. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Jim Botaitis. I am the owner/operator of JBOT DECALS.

I always wanted to build a model of the PELICAN. To that end, I wrote to them about 15 years ago and asked for photographs.

They sent me lots, and I drew all the art to make 3 or 4 different versions. An image of my art is attached.

I can print a set for you in 1/48 scale if you want. Contact me and we can discuss this.

Thank you!spacer.png

 

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