Pellsons Perceivings

[Pellson]

For unpainted glass fibre I am a big fan of RAF "Hemp" (Humbrol 168, IIRC) or Revell 75 (RAL 7030), both rather brownish greys. Humbrol's Radome Tan was/is very yellow-ish, but it does IMHO not look like bare glass fibre.

I THINK I used the R75 on the intakes on my Drakens, as can be seen here

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..but I'm not sure. And I can't check until I get home..
I do however think that those intakes came out rather well. In particular after varnishing.

Back at my "own" room now, after the treatment. Theoretically, I'm glowing faintly, but I suspect that any attempts to read in the dark will end in disappointment. 
Nevertheless, it's good to be on the other side, even if there still are a few days left until I know if I'm out of the woods, from a side effects perspective. Some nausea is apparently not too uncommon, and there is also a small risk of pain from the tumours as they die. But it shouldn't be too bad, most likely.

Well, I'll probably just carry on reading for a bit, then. If I don't go for a small walkabout on Evilbay, now that I have the time to spend. I might not have corresponding funds to spend, though.. 

[Pellson]

Hello. It's me again.

God, I'm bored!! Sorry about this, but rambling here does kill time. Rather a lot of it too, and I do enjoy it unproportionally much. Reading is good too (I've even looked back a few years into your production, @Dizzyfugu) but I'm to fast a reader for my own good, it seems.
This way, however, is slower, typing away with one finger on my phone. And it gives me the opportunity to think out loudly, plus the fact that from time to time, it's not only the echo that is answering. Not bad!

Having plowed through three books I brought to deduct the initial sqn dispersal planning for the RSwAF during the period 1958 - 1989, ca, and collated this in lists for better overview, I'm now back att mulling over that radome. Which is a bit futile as I can't really do anything about it from here. But the mind is a strange entity..

Anyway - also Lansen markings are on my mind. While I'm quite satisfied indeed with the combination of 1990's grey air superiority scheme and 1970's yellow numbering, I've also come across some photos from the period when the J32B was active as an interceptor. Generally, the aircraft were overall dark green, but for the section under the rear fuselage where paint anyway dissolved due to starter fuel leaks, but numbering differed somewhat. F12 and F21 seems to have had both the wing no and the tactical no in the old pre-1964 font, yellow and white respectively, whereas F4 seems to have had the "standard" newer font instead, but all yellow. F1, however, seems to have had a transitional period, going from the old system, via the new font for the wing no and a special, unique font on the tail (both yellow) to all new font in the end (at least on some airframes). Also, they repeated the tactical no, in post-1964 smaller font, but with smaller size, on the nose, just behind the radome. There's a shot from F16 at Uppsala, which actually was the initial war dispersal base for the 13th fighter sqn for a few years, when a J32B, Adam 20, is landing there, and you can just about make out that small no on the nose.

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I think that looks a bit nice. So I might just go that way, if I get the feeling.

But that's for another day. Now back to some half boring telly series. And my third litre of tea since four o'clock, as I'm supposed to safeguard my kidneys from getting overly radiated by actually pissing out superfluous isotope. It's a good thing I'm good at tea...

No promises made - I might also return to this crime scene again. Look - another hour well spent..   

[Pellson]

Right. Back again. Sorry.. 

Having spent much too much time on the webz this evening, I've learnt the following about radome colouring.

Originally, a "clean" kind of glassfibre reinforced plastic was used to make the radomes, combining enough physical strength with low enough electromagnetic interference. Different paints were tried, but early on, the radar stations were too crude for this to get noticed, but as thing got better, paint detracting radar performance was detected as an issue. Also, as speeds increased, another issue surfaced. When fast air particles hit the surface of something, electrons are going to rub off, much like the eternite/cat fur experiment, and the surface gets an electric charge. And this meant real interference.
Accordingly, uncoloured glass fibre reinforced material that didn't as easily get charged came in fashion, like on the J35B above, and this is late fifties/early sixties. Another example is the Buccaneer S.1.

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More examples: E. E Lightning and most Soviet types (green radomes)

Relatively soon, however, it was found that carbon powder, either mixed directly in the radome plastic, or in paint that was applied very thinly on the radome surface, formed a conductive surface that could be grounded in the metal airframe and thereby evened out, meaning problem mostly cured. But the carbon powder dyed the materials coal (sic!) black, resulting in the ubiquitous black radomes during the sixties and seventies.
And this was fine as long as you didn't want to sport a light high altitude camo scheme, because then, that black nose showed up like an inverted beacon. Look at early F-16A's, for instance.

New research followed, and conductive bright dyes paired with less carbon was the next step, leading to various grey radomes, one very good example being the Tornado F.3

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Still, the radome differed in hue compared to the painted airframe, but not in such a glaring way.

Next step again was even better paints, enabling more or less matching hues, and eventually, on older aircraft, these could be used to paint over older black radomes with only marginal loss of performance. Top notch performance still required dyed plastics however, which is why most modern aircraft does sport a small difference in tone towards the airframe. Or a white radome, because the latest thing is a white very conductive plastic, as seen on some modern Russian fighters.

In my case, I think I would want the radar of the J32F replaced in the late 1970's timeframe, basically giving the Lansen a JA37 radar set. But ideally, you would still want either very thin paint or a dyed radome, like batch 15 F-16's. So given the age of the original radomes and the possible performance together with a dedicated WSO, I would probably have them replaced by something grey.

This however will leave the natural glass fibre colour behind, so I'll probably look at some reasonably light grey hue. Like that Tornado, or something. But no decision is made, and it's even more undecided when it comes to Drakens.

Time will tell. I.e when I get home and can try a bit. 

[Gondor]

I thought for a while that you were going to change subject and do a Buccaneer instead.

[PR19_Kit]

That post stands as the definitive treatise on radome colours!   

Superb stuff, and time well spent in your 'shielded cabin', doubly so in your case. 

[Rheged]

That post stands as the definitive treatise on radome colours!   

Superb stuff, and time well spent in your 'shielded cabin', doubly so in your case. 

Agreed wholeheartedly, It's a superb example of  how to make  the optimum use of  "medical downtime".  We are all profoundly impressed!

[NARSES2]

Hello. It's me again.


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Not enough nose weight ? 

[Pellson]

Having checked out of the hospital, I'm now basking in a surprisingly bright Scandinavian March sun, waiting for my mate to bring the car. This hospital has the worst parking solution ever, which is somewhat weird since it's a specialist unit, serving all of Scandinavia, but it is what it is. And accordingly, you have to be creative if you can't sort your travels via train/bus, and in my case, a mate took custody over the old Discovery for these few days, leaving me here on Monday and picking me up in a bit. Really nice of him, actually.

And it'll be absolutely wonderful to get home again. Not only am I longing for the family, but that Lansen really needs to get finished while mojo is high. The Drakens took almost a year and a half, and they don't even have their loadout sorted yet. What a shock if I could close off the Lansen in a matter of weeks!

Following that, I am strongly tempted to give a two-engine Lansen alternative a go. It'll be something along the lines of the @Dizzyfugus J31, but I will probably base mine on a Vautour, but "SAABifying" it enough to make it stand out. We'll see. One has to monitor that mojo a bit not to leave too many started projects hanging..

But first - home. It'll take me something like four hours from now to get there, but it'll be a joyous trip. It usually is, going home.

[Rheged]

Excellent news!!  If I may be permitted a minor adjustment to your last post............This   Every hospital has the worst parking solution ever,

[PR19_Kit]

That sounds all very good Mr. Pellson. As you say, heading home is always good, even if it is a few hours away. 

[kerick]

Home is the best place to be! I hope everything goes well for you.

[Pellson]

Home.

And I've already run two more PSR sessions on that poor Lansen... 

[NARSES2]

Glad your home and the MOJO is still up and running 

A "SAABified Vatour" ? Interesting. I've always liked the Vatour for some reason, keep meaning to build one of mine as an RAF low level strike aircraft.

[Pellson]

Every hospital has the worst parking solution ever,

Reluctantly admitting I'm something of an expert in the area, there are differences indeed. Both my local hospital in Norrköping, where I usually leave blood samples, do x-rays etc, and my regional hospital in Linköping, where I do these radioactive scans (PET-scans), have quite good - if expensive - parking facilities, and it's never a matter of finding a spot. In Uppsala, however, I've spent an hour and-a-half without finding a free spot, resorting to illegal street parking. Not assisting much in stress management, I tell you..

In other matters - I stupidly dug out a Vautour kit from the Stash^TM, and started to compare sizes and measurements with some surplus Heller Lansen parts. The two-engined Lansen contender is very buildable indeed! Too buildable, at this stage, as I really should stay on the interceptor for now! But the (mojo) Force may be against me on this. Oooh, it is pulling...

[zenrat]

If the mojo calls you would be foolish to resist.

IME private hospitals have better parking solutions than public hospitals.