Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

I have the luck of living literally just a few steps from the forest where we have several firebreak roads through the hills which are regularly cleaned up so, everyday, except for when it rains, i take Bob to the forest and we both get 3 to 4KMs of walking/running in peace... and luckily, Bob doesn't really pass gas that much... that i can smell, that is... 
It's also great for thinking about music and lately, because i can't be singing somewhat loud rock and roll with my baby girl sleeping in the bedroom, i've been rehearsing louder parts of songs during the walks...
It only gets weird when i come across a neighbor...  

Well, starting my last 30 days at home with my baby girl while her mother went back to work today.
5 months have gone by in a heartbeat and i just wish that my missus could stay at home but unfortunately, we both have to work...

This means i'll be spending most of these 30 days at home and i can get some stuff done on models when the baby's sleeping and after the house chores are done.
With that said, i've ordered a few more things but most are in back order so, won't be getting them before late August/early September.

Looking back at the Op. Downfall GB, i had a few models in mind for that scenario but music got me busy again and i've had to postpone them. One of the models i dug up from the stash is the Special Hobby 1/72 Goodyear F2G "Super Corsair".
Maybe as a land based Marines fighter flown from Okinawa to escort B-29s and support the landings, etc. during the invasion... I think it's the best looking of the family and the kit looks good in the box but the propeller is too short, according to stuff i read.
There's a brand selling the correct length prop as a resin part, Obscureco aircraft, but they only make them in 1/48... i do have the same kit in 48th scale but i wanted to buy them for both kits...
That means that if i want it with an accurate prop, i'll have to modify it myself... Also, the pair of canopies supplied are vacuformed parts so, i'll have to be very careful when separating them from the mold.

But after i mulled over it for a few days, i ended up putting the GB idea aside.
What i really want to do is a low back F4U-5 with a bubble canopy so i also thought of cutting up the Italeri 1/72 kit and use a P-47D canopy from the Academy kit.
Problem with the Italeri kit is also the prop, the blades are too skinny...
So i went as far as cutting up the prop dome off the Italeri kit's prop and putting it on the Academy P-47's Standard Hamilton 4 blade prop, which looks much better.
Didn't get to test the canopy but i believe it can work... So the thought is, what if Vought took the same route as Republic did with the P-47 and NAA did with the Mustang? Maybe they could've done it before the F2G came out and introduce the bubble canopy on the F4U-4 and keep it on later variants?
Maybe those would've been seen later in Korea...

Anyway, i haven't done anything else on that project but, inspired by Dizzy's Vultee P-52B, i may be pulling it back to the bench to have multiple options of models to work on depending on what's grabbing my attention at the moment.

 

[zenrat]

I think the phrase "full of beans" has been misunderstood.

[NARSES2]

I think the phrase "full of beans" has been misunderstood.

 

Looking back at the Op. Downfall GB, i had a few models in mind for that scenario but music got me busy again and i've had to postpone them. One of the models i dug up from the stash is the Special Hobby 1/72 Goodyear F2G "Super Corsair".

Built it a few years ago, it's quite a decent build.

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[DogfighterZen]

I think the phrase "full of beans" has been misunderstood.

I took that as "full of energy" but the "digestive" interpretation seemed funnier...  

Built it a few years ago, it's quite a decent build.

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Chris, i like that a lot!   
That's a type of scheme i've never done and should really try that on something sometime soon.
Good to know it's a nice kit, it is my favorite radial-engined fighter design in a tie with the XP-72. Despite that, i am still more inclined to build the lowback F4U-5 in Korean war markings before i build the F2G.
Would be nice if Special Hobby brought out those F2G kits again... For those wanting the prop issue corrected, a 3D printed item could be the way to fix that.

Managed to do a couple of bits on the A-7 last night.
A few scraps of 0.5mm Evergreen and i have the HUD's supports for the reflective glass and also, the VOL/ILS blade antennas for the top of the fin...

The Portuguese SLUF is a weird mix of the A-7A shell, with the B's engine and a mix of D and E avionics. Then it has D's wheels, no catapult bar on the nose gear and the D's Doppler radar fairing on the belly, plus a small vent and the large TACAN antenna on the spine that apparently weren't used on any other variants.
Finding good reference pics for these details can be very time consuming, making for rather slow progress so i have to get my act together or i'll soon be achieving the rate of one finished model per year...

 

[NARSES2]

Thanks, appreciated 

[DogfighterZen]

Well, to prove that i have been doing something regarding the absence of whifs on my bench, here's what i did to remedy the poor prop of the Italeri F4U kit.
As i mentioned previously, i simply cut the dome/spinner off the Italeri kit, did the same to the Academy P-47D's Hamilton Standard Hydromatic prop and replaced it with the Italeri bit.
So, why not just use the Academy kit's prop as it was? Because the corsair's prop had a larger dome than the one on the P-47's prop but the blades look much better as the pic shows...

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I've also been digging through the stash to find the stuff i needed for the next projects (and still forgot a couple of boxes ) and finally got the Lonestar Twin seat XL out of the box, along with one of the DSI conversion sets.

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Got the Hasegawa F-16I SUFA out, too. Unfortunately, i'd forgotten that i'd already used some of the parts on my second F-16W so, i will have to either use the Kinetic 1/72 SUFA kit, which provides some but not all the bits i want to use, or buy another Hase SUFA kit, which has all i need in the box...
Also got a couple of Hobbyboss 1/72 F-5E kits and the Hobby2000/Fujimi 1/72 A-4M to have them all in the "Next on the bench" pile beside me.
This is because, for most of these projects, i still need to buy some stuff and that means that some of them may have to wait longer than others so, any of these can be pulled onto the bench in the near future...

 

[kerick]

I have a similar F-16XL/Sufa conversion in mind. The Sufa kit did not use all the little bits and bumps.

[DogfighterZen]

Well, the truth is that a modernized XL is something a lot of people have thought about and some have done it in scale models.
We can find the Israeli F-16XLI SUFA, USAF F-16XL E/F and even the F-36 Kingsnake... i know i've seen one RNZAF example, one RAF and i believe i've seen Japanese XLs, too.
All done with different details but the idea is mostly the same, as is mine for this project.

I've had to get all my Hasegawa, Tamiya and Kinetic 1/72 kits and respective aftermarket sets out of the boxes and go through the spares boxes to gather all the F-16 bits and see what i have and what i have to buy for the Viper projects.
I already knew that i need to buy some bits but after properly organizing the 1/72 projects and their respective kits and parts, i found that i also still need to buy a couple of kits for donation purposes.

So, every time i'm about to start a new modern F-16 build, i go through several ideas in mind for which details it could have if it was done in real life, depending on the exact scenario i end up choosing for it.
My modernized Viper ideas are mostly based on what has been done with the Super Hornet and more recently, the F-15EX and, could theoretically be done to the Viper.
That means modern guts with some structural upgrades and internal/external improvements for the old designs.
The F-15EX didn't get external changes besides the EPAWSS sensors below the canopy and the edges of the tailbooms but the Super Hornet grew a bit in size compared to the original Hornet and got a redesigned wing, LERX and intakes.
My twin tailed F-16W family has some of those and other mods but i've never tried doing it to the XL so, the background is the same for this one.
If the F-16XL had gone into production, the official designation for the variants would've been the E for the single seat and F for the twin seat variant. The later UAE Block 60 Desert Falcons, which ended up taking those letters, would've probably been based on the XL design. The F-16I would also be an XL, i imagine.
Still, these are the obvious coices of operators following reality but, other countries could've joined the XL program and this is Whif World so that's one more detail to consider...

 

[Old Wombat]

Would the XLs really have maintained the F-16 designation, though? 

Yes, the core of the system is F-16, but the overall design is so far removed that I can't see it remaining an F-16 in service.

What it might be, I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised by something like an F-116 designation.

[DogfighterZen]

Would the XLs really have maintained the F-16 designation, though? 

Yes, the core of the system is F-16, but the overall design is so far removed that I can't see it remaining an F-16 in service.

What it might be, I have no idea, but I wouldn't be surprised by something like an F-116 designation.

I believe it would, just like the F-15 did. The Strike Eagle had way more commonality with the B/D Eagles but it's capabilities make it a very different fighter and it only got the "Strike" added and the E as official designation.
I've read on multiple articles that by the time of the ETF program, General Dynamics already had the E/F letters reserved as official designation for both XL variants so, i believe that's what they'd call it, simply F-16E/F Strike Falcon.

So, i'm embarking on a first for me... 37 hour build to participate in the One Week GB... Imagine the US invades Iran, they succeed... after hostilities are over, they find a single HESA Saeqeh fighter hidden in a bunker somewhere in the Desert and ship it back to the States to study the result of the Iranian modification to the well know F-5 fighter design.
I have to stop writing if i'm to even get the kit assembled before the deadline...  

[zenrat]

Good luck.   
Go for it.

[PR19_Kit]

A 37 HOUR build? Strewth, that'll take some doing! 

Have you been talking to Dizzy? 

[zenrat]

There were people on a car modelling forum I used to frequent who each year tried to do 24hr build during Le Mans.
I couldn't (and can't) see how anyone could produce a satisfactory shiny paint, detailed car build in so little time.
Howver, I have full confidence in DFZ's ability to succeed here.