Boeing F-32D Corsair III

[AeroplaneDriver]

Following the loss to the Lockheed X-35 in the JSF competition Boeing shelved the X-32 program.  A few years later some forward thinkers in the company saw that the loss of airliner market share to Airbus meant Boeing needed a new product.  At the same time the F-35 was developing into a 2-tier program, one highly capable aircraft for the prime customers; the US, UK, and a select few highly trusted allies, and a somewhat less capable aircraft for other export customers.

Boeing saw an opportunity to dust off the X-32 and develop it as an aircraft to compete with the export version of the F-35.  Since the mid-term changes to the X-32 design (reconfigured intake, change in wing planform and addition of a tail surface) had been driven by the need for a carrier-based design, the company returned to the original X-32 design with it's delta wing and distinctive (ugly, some would say) forward swept intake.  

The entire aircraft was designed for ease and efficiency of construction, and without the need to meet specific specifications for the USAF, USN, USMC, RN, and RAF the designers were free to build an off-the-shelf aircraft that would be a viable replacement for the thousands of F-16s, F-18s, and similar aircraft inservice around the world.

By making a few subtle design changes, such as reworked intake ducting, Boeing were able to produce an airframe that could legitimately be marketed as "low observable" when compared to F-16s and F-18s, but still be exportable under us government regulations.

The aircraft retained the internal weapons bays, and in the clean configuration was quite stealthy, but could also be fited with external hardpoints (wingtip missile rails and up to two hardpoints per wing).

One customer for the newly named F-32D Corsair III was Australia.  While the RAAF had acquired F-35s, cost increases in the program had lowered the planned buy, leaving a need for a number of cheaper tactical aircraft.  A purchase of 48 F-32s filled this gap.

The need for this aircraft was highlighted in 2010, just a year after service entry.  After years of insurgency the Indonesian government fell to Islamic extremists in June 2010.  A UN embargo was impossible to enforce on a nation made up of thousands of islands, and it was soon  obvious that the new Indonesian Islamic Repoublic was suporting unrest in Pakistan with the aim of installing an extremist Islamic government in a heavily armed nuclear power.

Even France agreed that this must not be allowed to happen, and in late 2010 a multinational force began an operation ot oust the Islamic government from Indonesia.  US, British, Canadian, French, German, and Spanish forces operated from bases in Australia during the war.

By mid 2011 the conflict had gone from the phase of precision guided stand-off weapons to an old fashioned iron bomb and boots on the ground kind of war.  In this phase of combat Australian F-32s flew hundreds of CAS sorties supporting allied troops.  in this role it carried a variety of weapons, including Brimstone missiles, CBUs, Small Diameter Bombs, good old fashioned dumb bombs, and the 27mm cannon.

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This is the Revell X-32 that was just screaming for something other than grey!  When complete it will wear full color Aussie markings and carry retarded 500lb Snakeyes on MERs and a pair of ASRAAMs on the wingtips.

[AeroplaneDriver]

I'm sick of seeing new warplanes in grey, so I picked testors MM Faded Olive Drab for the lower surfaces and Olive Drab for the top in an "F-16-style scheme".

The kit is fairly decent (IIRC it's the Italieri mold), with some really nice fitting areas, such as closed gear doors.  Unfortunately the vertical stabilizers were crap, looking nothing like the real X-32's.  I replaced them with F-18 fins.  The wingtip rails also came from an F-18.

[AeroplaneDriver]

I handpainted a sharksmouth inside the intake lip since the shape of the intake just screams for somekind of shark treatment.  The seat still needs to be fitted.  The blue inside the canopy is a strip of masking tape to stop overspray through any gaps.

[BlackOps]

Great write up for one of my favorite aircraft, can't wait to see it finished! I agree with you about being tired of plain old grey paintjobs.



Jeff G.

[noxioux]

I'm one of the few people that honestly like the Boeing desing.  Does that make me a bad person?

Nice build, though.  I think I prefer your color selection to grey as well.

[nev]

I'm one of the few people that honestly like the Boeing desing.  Does that make me a bad person?

Me too!  It has character!    

[Gary]

Lovely model and agree on paint.
However, I must make a point here. We don't call the bombs retarded. They are velocity challenged.    

[lancer]

Excellent work on the F32 Nick. She's looking really good now, looking forward to seeing her done with lots of mission markings and suchlike.  

We don't call the bombs retarded. They are velocity challenged

Thanks Gary, I just shot a KFC chicken burger all over my office keyboard :dum:  :dum:  :dum:  

[AeroplaneDriver]

Well...I left the model last night liking the green, but feeling like it needed something else to really make it stand out from the "shades of grey" world of modern warplanes....

So...this morning she has acquired a set of tiger stripes.

[AeroplaneDriver]

I'm also rethinking the full color markings.  I have a set of black Aussie roundels from a Hawk kit that may find there way on to it...still up in the air over that one though...

[Mike Wren]

tiger stipes are good!    

[BlackOps]

Cool, it looks like seaweed!  I like it, it really makes it stand out


Jeff G.

[Ollie]

That thing looks wickedly class Aeroplane!

 

[anthonyp]

I like the seaweed look.  Makes the Wide Mouth Bass a bit easier on the eyes.  Of course, the wingtip rails may have been enough to do that, and make the plane (dare I say it) attractive?

Can't wait to see it finished!

   

[Spellbinder99]

I respect opinions of you guys, but after 25 years working on aircraft for a living I still think that is the most butt-faced abortion of an aircraft to make it off the drawing boards in the last 40 years......

But a lovely job of model building and the paint scheme really works.

Cheers and please show us more.

Tony