Kind of a broad topic, but I have made/am making several models of this sort of thing. Mostly upgrades of existing hardware and cancelled projects. We're talking things like the Strike Cruiser, A-12 Avenger II, Super Tomcat 21, F/A-201 Kestrel and even some heavily modified/upgraded WWII vessels. Wasn't quite sure where to put this, hence directly under Current and Finished Projects. Photos to follow. The ships are pretty large because they are constructed primarily of cardboard and 3D-printed parts, at a rough scale of 1 inch = 21 feet (approximately 1:252 if my math is correct). The aircraft are constructed to the same scale and I am in the process of replicating them in 1:48 as well.
The best looking aircraft I currently have are the A-12s, which leverage everything I have learned so far about prototype construction at this scale.
IMG_20230329_112415583.jpg
I've always liked the look of the A-12 :thumbsup:
Yeah it looks way cooler than the B-2 if you ask me. Has an actual canopy, straight trailing edge, and F-22ish intakes. Also it was supposed to have a multimode radar that could allow for both air to air and air to ground weapons.
My what-if USS Wasp (along the lines of a Midway with the enlarged flight deck, but a smaller ship overall and with a deeper hull. Air wing currently consists of two MH-109 helicopters, six A-12A Avenger IIs, and three F/A-201 Kestrels.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Got more Kestrels inbound hopefully, took a new approach with them of 3D printing the fuselage and then gluing on the wings and tail. Canopy is represented by an appropriately shaped gob of hot glue.
Yay! Paper models!
Yeah they do take time, but it's fun to look at when finished. I have some more stuff I need to take photos of and post.
Please do. Paper models, and the history of them, absolutely fascinate me
Spino I also saw some North American Vigilantes on the those carriers
Yep, A-5s are a much earlier design, but I got to thinking about it and it seems to me that an A-5 would actually make a pretty good strike/tanker aircraft. Give it F404 or F414 engines for better fuel economy, hang some AGM-84 Harpoons on the wings for maritime strike or bombs/JSOW/SLAM-ER for land strikes, or a lot of fuel tanks and a buddy store somewhere for tanking.
An A-5 wouldn't need a buddy store. With the central bomb tunnel filled with extra tanks, the hose reel could be right at the stern, unreeling through the bomb hatch that's already there.
That's given me an idea for a Trumpeter and FROG A-5s I have stashed in The Loft. Thanks for that. :thumbsup:
Quote from: PR19_Kit on April 10, 2023, 11:54:16 AMAn A-5 wouldn't need a buddy store. With the central bomb tunnel filled with extra tanks, the hose reel could be right at the stern, unreeling through the bomb hatch that's already there.
That's given me an idea for a Trumpeter and FROG A-5s I have stashed in The Loft. Thanks for that. :thumbsup:
Hmm... both the drogue and the receiving aircraft might get a rough ride from the jetwash there. I'd be inclined to put the hose reel about 2/3 of the way back, with two tanks ahead of it and one behind it, and feed the hose out through a long, hinged tube that can be lowered to keep it well below the jet nozzles.
Anything Navy makes me happy! Thanks for the new subjects. :thumbsup:
Quote from: PR19_Kit on April 10, 2023, 11:54:16 AMAn A-5 wouldn't need a buddy store. With the central bomb tunnel filled with extra tanks, the hose reel could be right at the stern, unreeling through the bomb hatch that's already there.
That's given me an idea for a Trumpeter and FROG A-5s I have stashed in The Loft. Thanks for that. :thumbsup:
Actually the canoe on the RA-5C might make a better spot for a hose reel now that I think about it. I need to make some tanks for the A-5s.
Sorry I thought the aircraft was an A-5. Wish we had amphibious seaplanes capable of Mach 2.2 armed with 30mm cannons and air to air missiles while using a aerodynamically & hydrodynamically designed ski with a wide track undercarriage an armored 360 degree bubble canopy canard foreplanes a mig-21 style tailplane & twin vertical fins
Photos of the F/A-201 Kestrels coming soon!
Kestrel time! These things are relatively easy to make, although not as easy as the A-12s were...
Neat :thumbsup:
Aviation Strike Cruiser, or my take on it. Has a 64-cell VLS in the aft portion of the superstructure, 16 Naval Strike Missiles (in cannister launchers), and 16 large launch tubes similar to the Virginia Payload tubes for the Flight III and IV Virginia class SSNs. And, oh yeah, don't forget the laser dazzler systems to foil incoming missiles! This is kind of a what-if 2020s upgrade of the original CSGN Mk II (or the strike cruiser with the aviation deck).
Quote from: PR19_Kit on April 10, 2023, 11:54:16 AMAn A-5 wouldn't need a buddy store. With the central bomb tunnel filled with extra tanks, the hose reel could be right at the stern, unreeling through the bomb hatch that's already there.
IIRC, a refueling palet with such an arrangment had actually been developed for the Vigilante, but it was never fielded.
I like that Strike Cruiser :thumbsup: although I must admit I find modern naval gun turrets rather weird looking :unsure:
The naval gun on that cruiser is the Major Caliber Lightweight Gun system, essentially a single mount of the same 8in/55 autoloading guns that the Des Moines class cruisers carried, in a new turret. Not a very modern thing at all, it was actually tested on a Forrest Sherman class DD in the 60s.
Quote from: Spino on April 18, 2023, 12:03:08 PMThe naval gun on that cruiser is the Major Caliber Lightweight Gun system, essentially a single mount of the same 8in/55 autoloading guns that the Des Moines class cruisers carried, in a new turret. Not a very modern thing at all, it was actually tested on a Forrest Sherman class DD in the 60s.
Thanks I didn't realise that. Mind you I was brought up on images of RN destroyers with "open" turrets and 6/8 crewman feverishly working the 4.7" gun wearing heavy duty duffle coats and Wellington boots ;D
Here's a photo of the real-life mount on the USS Hull:
MCLWG.jpg
Cheers :thumbsup: