F/AV-12E Wasp (XFV-12 upgrade)

Spey_Phantom · January 12, 2009, 01:14:37 PM

ive just started work on a little kitbash/scratchbuild project

i think everyone knows the Rockwell XFV-12, well im building one and bringing it up to 21st century standards

the fuselage is from an old 1/144 F-4E model, the model served well to develop the F-4B conversion, now it will be given a new life as the main fuselage for the F/AV-12E Wasp.
the nose is from a old scrapped revell 1/144 F/A-18A while the canopy is from a 1/144 revell YF-23.
still have to find an exhaust for the rear, wings will be scratchbuild.

tomorrow im gonna use putty to fill up the holes and then sand off to reshaped the nose.
armamant will be 2 AMRAAMS and under the wings, im planning sidewinders.

as for markings, im thinking US Marine Corps, or maybe a Dutch bird

and here's the progress as of now

sotoolslinger · January 12, 2009, 05:19:06 PM

COOL

is that a single engine bird

I can't see the butt

This is cool though we'll have F-4 projects going together

Only yours will be better looking

pyro-manic · January 12, 2009, 05:19:51 PM

Cool! It'll be interesting to see a "production" version of this machine, with a proper radar nose, etc.

BlackOps · January 12, 2009, 07:08:16 PM

This is gonna be good! Great subject!

Ed S · January 12, 2009, 07:52:53 PM

Quote from: pyro-manic on January 12, 2009, 05:19:51 PM
Cool! It'll be interesting to see a "production" version of this machine, with a proper radar nose, etc.

Check this out.

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,18584.0/highlight,fv-12.html

Ed

pyro-manic · January 12, 2009, 08:06:14 PM

Wow, that's a cracker, Ed! Very, very nice build.

ChernayaAkula · January 12, 2009, 10:33:39 PM

Cool idea!

Spey_Phantom · January 13, 2009, 05:13:35 AM

thanks for the positive comments guys.

Ed, that production FV-12 of yours looks great, very inspirational

ive sanded off the putty this morning, but i might have to do it again on the nose.
the wings & canards are now cut out and mounted on the fuselage. the new canopy seems to fit the F/AV-12 very well, but im gonna do a few modifications on the upgraded new design

the lift system of the original XFV-12 was to weak, so im gonna use a combination of the Dassault Balzac and the X-32B's lift system. in the centre, she will be fitted with a lift engine like the Balzac, but the top intake will be the same as the original XFV-12 design. for the rear im thinking of a system for direct lift, with a build-in EJ-200 engine, but with the thruster mounted downwards, so 2 small scoop intakes will be mounted on the back.

for the landing gear, the original XFV-12 configuration will not be changed, but the gear housings in the wingtips will be slightly larger, to accomodate the puffer ducts and some additional electronics.

but dont worry, dispite the shanges, she wont lose her classic XFV-12 looks

here's a progress pic of her on the assembly line.
but for the rear oulet, im thinking adding 3thrust deflecter scoops like the X-31, but i dont wanna ruin the lines of the classic design

Ed S · January 13, 2009, 07:53:36 AM

Coming along nicely. It's starting to look like an FV-12. What do you have planned for colors and markings?

Ed

BlackOps · January 13, 2009, 08:10:52 AM

A question for those who know such things. Is the Fv-12 the same thing as or based on the HiMAT? http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-025-DFRC.html or vice versa?

Jschmus · January 13, 2009, 08:48:44 AM

Quote from: BlackOps on January 13, 2009, 08:10:52 AM
A question for those who know such things. Is the Fv-12 the same thing as or based on the HiMAT? http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/news/FactSheets/FS-025-DFRC.html or vice versa?

No, those are two separate projects. The XFV-12 was a Rockwell project for a VSTOL fighter for the Navy's Sea Control Ships. It worked great as a model in the wind tunnel, but they found that the full-size aircraft lost 60% of it's lifting capability in VTOL mode. The one prototype wasn't even capable of taking off under its own power. It did hover, but only after being lifted aloft by a crane.

HiMAT was a NASA project for studying fighter maneuverability. It was basically a half-scale F-16, with different flying surfaces. It was very, very manueverable, but it was just a project. No full-size model was ever flown. I was disappointed when I heard that, much as I was later when I learned they weren't going to make a fighter out of the X-31. *Sigh.*

pyro-manic · January 13, 2009, 08:51:12 AM

I don't think so. The FV-12 was supposed to be a replacement for the Harrier, to operate from the proposed Sea Control Ships, a type of small aircraft carrier.

EDIT: JSchmus beat me to it.

JoeP · January 13, 2009, 12:34:30 PM

So far, so good.

I'm liking this.

Spey_Phantom · January 14, 2009, 11:46:37 AM

UPDATE:

the assembly (without the landing gear, witch will follow later) is complete, the final sanding has been done and its now in grey primer. i'll post pics some other time

im gonna put this one in the freezer for now for various reasons

Quote from: Ed S on January 13, 2009, 07:53:36 AM
What do you have planned for colors and markings?

i dont know yet, im kinda having a dilemma about that, ive been browsing through my decal spares and have decided to go for 1 of these options.

-US Marines
-US Navy
-Royal Air Force
-Canada
-Japan
-Venezuela
-Mexican Navy
-Italian Navy

so i got plenty of options to choose from

noxioux · January 14, 2009, 05:24:48 PM

Can't beat Mother Green and Her Killing Machine! USMC all the way!