ConfAir P-92 Darter - FINISHED!

[Weaver]

Got a coat of undercoat on today, but the PSR still needed some touch up, so paint proper should begin tomorrow.

[kerick]

Good idea Jon, but I've already decided on an alt-universe story for this one.

Pilot encased in foam/concrete for the shock-absorbing effect, because they hadn't developed sufficiently advanced seat-belt technology? 

Like this?

My wife needs this!

[Rick Lowe]

Good idea Jon, but I've already decided on an alt-universe story for this one.

Pilot encased in foam/concrete for the shock-absorbing effect, because they hadn't developed sufficiently advanced seat-belt technology? 

Like this?

Pretty much exactly like that, yes...
And Sandra was quite ok, in the old-school drive-yourself, no-computer-assist vehicle.
Just goes to show. 

[Weaver]

Overall coat of the final colour now on and drying. It's a Montana clone, so I'm going to put a layer of Plastikote clear over it tonight before attempting decals or overpainting.

[Weaver]

One thing after another...    

The top colour coat didn't cover as well as I'd expected, so I've had to put a second coat on tonight instead of the claer coat.

Should still finish, but all my margin is getting eaten, bit by bit...

[Weaver]

And today's (Thursday's) disaster was: a paint reaction. Only on a few small areas but I've still had to sand it off and give it another coat, which is now drying, instead of doing the detail painting tonight. That means detail painting tomorrow morning, decalling tomorrow night, then clear coat overnight.

Still doable in the time, but I can see the margin being eroded with every new problem.

[kerick]

The paint gremlins are prowling around. Paint something unimportant to you and maybe they will infest that and leave the good stuff alone.

[Rick Lowe]

The paint gremlins are prowling around. Paint something unimportant to you and maybe they will infest that and leave the good stuff alone.

A Good Plan! Something sacrificial that you can strip down later... 

A margarine pot you were planning to use as an outdoor planter? 

[kerick]

Exactly!

[Weaver]

Most of the decals are on now. There's a second layer to some of them that I'll start doing shortly.

The paint gremlins are prowling around. Paint something unimportant to you and maybe they will infest that and leave the good stuff alone.

Sacrificial paintwork - love it.

[kerick]

I was painting small parts yesterday when I noticed one looked funny. My first thought was that the paint gremlins were on the attack. Then I looked at my hands and found a matching paint smudge. I guess it was the big clumsy gremlin!

[Weaver]

Well, it's all together and looking quite nice, if I do say so myself. I'll let it dry overnight and then do pics in the morning.

I'm quite pleased that I've managed to do it with a removeable jet nozzle, so that I can do pics tomorrow before putting it back on it's "lollipop stick" for a final clear coat over the decals.

[Weaver]

ConfAir P-92 Darter





Confederate Aircraft's P-92 Darter pursuit fighter had a brief moment in the sun in the mid 1950s before being overtaken by the rapidly advancing aerospace technology of the time. Often held up by the company as an entirely original concept, it was, however, obviously based on earlier work by the Hortenz brothers after they fled the Chihuahan Empire in the early 1940s, moving between various Vespuccian states until settling down in New Tejas and joining ConfAir as consultants in 1945.





Of a distinctive, tailless, highly swept configuration, the P-92 was developed from the CX-108 series of experimental aircraft comissioned by the Tejanian senate after intense lobbying from ConfAir. These initially had some serious handling and control problems and did not have a happy life, with all three aircraft eventually involved in fatal crashes, killing, amongst others, Godfrey von Hartmann Junior, the test-pilot son of the comany's founder. However the flying characteristics were eventually tamed, and a substantially revised CX-109 was eventually produced. This featured a nose intake instead of the original wing-root ones, an extended fuselage and multiple wing fences.





The fuselage extension was mostly for aerodynamic reasons (to give the fin a greater moment arm) but it also made it possible to fit the much more powerful Dibner Traction DTC-75 engine, which featured the first reheat system with a convergent/divergent nozzle to enter series production. Although the engine itself was a rather dated centrifugal design, the reheat gave it much greater thrust and allowed the elimination of the liquid-fuel rocket motors that had features in earlier concepts. Equipped with a pair of 1-inch (25.4mm) Gardner GBA cannons in the wing roots, the aircraft was also equipped with four pylons that could carry rocket pods, small bombs or GAR-1 Rattlesnake air-to-air missiles. However centre of gravity considerations precluded carrying more or heavier stores on the wing, and with little ground clearance under the fuselage, this was regarded as a major limitation of the type, limiting it's use to short-range interception or close air support duties.





After yet more development, the CX-109 was accepted into New Tejanian Air Force service in 1950 as the P-92 Darter, named after a notably fast fork-tailed bird found along the bank of the Rio Grande river. It saw combat in the Fourth Vespuccian Civil War shortly thereafter and achieved respectable results, but was always hampered by it's short range and low payload. It's main claim to fame was the series of engagements that came to be known as the Battle Of Beaumont, in which the Louisian force of Vulture bombers, attempting to bombard the city, were so badly mauled by the defending forces, including the New Tejas International Squadron's P-92s, that the survivors were disbanded as a fighting unit and played no further part in the war. The fleet was mostly retired to second line units or sold abroad by 1955 as more advanced aircraft become available. It lasted longer in front line service with several export customers however, Gaulish and Prussian Darters clashing with each other as late as 1960.





The aircraft pictured was the distinctive mount of the famous New Tejanian pilot Captain Eddona Schelph, heiress to the Dutch Schelph Oil fortune, who eschewed her priviledged background to seek adventure as a mercenary pilot. Insisting, as always, in having her aircraft painted bright red, her background led to her being nicknamed "The Red Oil Baron". Unique to her P-92 however were the vampire bat murals on either side of the nose. Flying for New Tejas's International Squadron, known unofficially as the Chaos Crew, Schelph was poured scorn on the early Rattlesnake AAMs, dismissing them as "not worth the drag", and scored all her kills with guns. Leaving New Tejas in 1954, her subsequent movements are unclear, but reports peter out after 1972, with most historians believing that she died in the Burandan Civil War. The wreckage of a bright red Agouff Maestor armed trainer was discovered in the jungle in the right area of the Buranda/Kimbali border in 1976. Some locals claimed that the pilot's body was burned, some claim that "he" (local custom refuses to recognise a warrior as female, obvious appearances notwithstanding) was handed over to a Kimbalan patrol, but others denied all knowledge of it, leading to speculation that locals might have killed the pilot and covered it up. The matter remains unresolved as present.

Fuselage: Testors 1/72nd Convair XF-92A Dart
Wings and fin: VEB Plasticart 1/72nd Su-7 Fitter
Engine nozzle: Airfix 1/72nd F-4 Phantom (the old one!)
Cannon barrels: Albion Alloys aluminium tube

Paint:
Wepro Tango Red rattle can
Wilko White Primer rattle can
Plasticoat clear matt varnish and Satin Baby Blue (stand) rattle cans
Humbrol Hu-53 Gunmetal, Hu-33 Matt Black, Hu-56 Aluminium, Hu-61 Flesh

Decals:
Black circles: Modelworks racing car number panels
White squares: Fantasy Printshop FP300 1/72nd RAF Roundel Backing Patches
No.7s: Fantasy Printshop FP900 WW Luftwaffe Serials
White ejection seat triangles and 107s: Airfix Red Arrows Gnat
Rescue arrows: Fantasy Printshop FP816
Chaos Arrows: Games Workshop Chaos Space Marines Word Bearers sheet
Vampire Bats: BLE BOP/084 nail art decals
Anti-glare panel: XF-92 kit

I did paint the pilot's head but I forgot to photograph it before I sealed the canopy up. I sprayed the whole thing red, including the cockpit area, then painted the pilot's face flesh, the shelf, bulkhead and pilot's goggles black, leaving the helmet red.

[Andrew Gorman]

Looks
Great!

[sandiego89]

Love it! Great execution