F-45 "Mustang II" - Ultimate USAF Dogfighter

[Spino]

Got this crazy idea from reading this article some years ago, and I think I have an idea for how to make it happen.  Setting aside the whole issue of whether modern 5th gen fighters are all that they are cracked up to be or not, I'm going to loosely follow the design philosophy given here, and borrow the name and designation while I'm at it.  I'll be starting with the fuselage and nose section of an X-31, but I'll be deleting the thrust-vectoring vanes in favor of a more conventional approach, either a 1D nozzle like the F-22 or a 2D nozzle like some of the newer Flankers have.  I would like to replace the X-31 wings with something larger, maybe a cranked double delta or something, but I'm not sure if that's feasible within the time I have to work with.  I was originally intending to enlarge the X-31 for this build, but after a fresh look at the info laid out in that article compared with the X-31's stats, it turns out that won't be necessary.  It almost looks like the proposed fighter is essentially an X-31 with souped-up derivative of the F414 engine installed.

[Spino]

Current state of things.  I wasn't able to get anything done the past couple of days, but today I got the cockpit sawn off, printed the ejector seat, assembled the fuselage and tail sections, and added a scaled-down version of the F-22's thrust-vectoring nozzle in place of the tail paddles that the X-31 had.

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I also collected the weapons for this little fighter from my spares box.  I had originally printed up some AIM-132 ASRAAMs specifically for this build, with the intent that they would be in conjunction with the IRST that I'm planning to install since the sensor suite for this plane is supposed to be primarily passive.  I'm still considering swapping out at least one pair of the AMRAAMs in favor of those, perhaps the AIM-9Xs as well.  ASRAAM supposedly has similar range to early AMRAAM variants, so it would be a perfect fit here.  I just took the photos with the Sidewinders because I was minded for a bit to just replicate the typical loadout of an F-16, but the more I think about it the more the ASRAAMs seem to fit.

Unfortunately I have been having no end of trouble when attempting to smash-mold a canopy for this thing, it's gotten to the point that I'm nearly out of handy clear plastic!  I might have a solution for this, we shall see.

[perttime]

X-31 is one of the coolest jets ever!
It isn't very large, so there's limits to what it can carry. Is there space for a gun in it?
The photo makes the vectoring nozzle look a little heavy ... or does it?

[Spino]

It isn't very large, so there's limits to what it can carry. Is there space for a gun in it?
The photo makes the vectoring nozzle look a little heavy ... or does it?

I'm trying to find space for one as we speak!  It won't be a Vulcan, that's for darn sure.  The F-22 nozzle does make the tail a bit on the long side, but not overly so in my book.  If anything it just makes me want to either add horizontal stabilizers or better yet cut the wings off, move them back, and add canards!  The only reason the latter operation gives me pause is because this is a one-week build and I got started two days late!

[Spino]

The rest of today's progress.  I scratched up and 3D-printed most of the cockpit, painted the pilot and the seat, and added missile approach warning apertures all over the fuselage (plus the nose IRST that still needs some PSR).  Unfortunately my grand plan to mount the AMRAAMs on the fuselage corners has been scuppered by the fact that the X-31's main gear would be in the way, so I'll have to find another solution for those without incurring too much drag.  Unfortunately I don't see where I could feasibly put a gun other than under the fuselage on centerline (and aft of the nose gear obviously.  There's just not enough room for it all 
As cool as this build is, it still really has me wishing that I hadn't already started on my F-107, that build would have been much more straightforward I suspect...

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Here you can see the ASRAAMs, even they look rather large compared to this little plane!

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[Spino]

Well, for better or for worse, the wings have been sawn off.  Originally I thought I'd just move them back and add canards, but the more I looked at those tiny wings, the more I couldn't help but feel that something else was called for.  So I'm printing up some custom-made cranked delta wings similar to the X-31's original wings but larger and with dogtooth leading edges.  If these work out as intended I'll have a plane that will probably look something like "Typhoon and Gripen had a wild night together", but with an F-22-style nozzle, or maybe "Lavi and F-22 .... ".  Here you can see just how tiny those X-31 wings are, the extra length of the TVC nozzle really makes a difference in the perceived fuselage scale compared to the wings!

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I also painted the cockpit and continued PSR on the nose IRST and the many MAWS apertures.  The DSI bump is nearly done, and I also added a gun bulge in the only spot where there was any room for it!  The gun itself probably can't be a Vulcan, but for a plane like this that is suppose to use as many off-the-shelf components as possible, I'm not sure what else would work.  M230 is a possibility but it's known for not being very accurate (they don't call it an "Area Weapons System" for nothing!).  Whatever it is really needs to use ammunition that is already available in US stockpiles.

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[Spino]

The new wings and canards delivered exactly the look I was going for!  It almost looks like a Gripen or a baby Eurofighter.  I"ll admit that it was a bit risky to attempt this in a one-week build but given the relative simplicity of the rest of the model (except for the canopy), I think it was more than worthwhile.  Plus, the reconfigured wings would require a different landing gear configuration than what the X-31 had, so I now have space for two fuselage corner-mounted AMRAAMs.  Just need to finish the PSR and a few other details before it's on to painting and weapons!

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[perttime]

The larger wing does make it look more balanced. The stock wing looks on the small side, to me, on the stock X-31.

[kerick]

The new wings look perfect!

[Spino]

I'm sure it adds to the takeoff weight, but it does look right.  And in aircraft design, what looks right usually is right!

[HarryPhishnuts]

That looks great. I can almost see it dancing around the sky. I've definitely up my 3D modeling game. 

[Mossie]

The new canard configuration looks right. 

[Spino]

The new canard configuration looks right. 

Almost like a US take on the Lavi now that I think about it.

[kitbasher]

The new canard configuration looks right. 

Almost like a US take on the Lavi now that I think about it.

I can see that.

[George the Cat]

Well done!!!

Do you need more supplies of filler now?