I will tackle another one for this GB, a kitbashing and  -modding project that has been lingering in the back of my mind for long (parts are mostly there!) but which was - until now - too scary to tackle. The GB is a good occasion and motivation to get things going, though. Again, I will only post the finished build because there are some rather vague and hazardous aspects (like creating whole body parts from scratch or at least through massive mods) involve, so that progress and outcome are uncertain. I can tell so far that it will be a modern German aircraft design and also carry modern Luftwaffe markings. 

"Failure is always an option." 

Failure is always an option."  😆..Mythbusters 😊
You've gotta go for it Diz..this one sounds very interesting indeed 😉

Theme is a transport aircraft - and the plan/idea is to add/implant a tail ramp into a hull that was not meant to carry one...    This project might even include one or two additional models as load, for a complete "set"!

Good news: work has slowly started with the new engines (what else?  ), and I dug out some donor and reference kits for measuring and comparison of optional ingredients.

  

Last weekend resulted in some more progress. Donor engine were revamped (come from an vintage and "crashed" project from my youth) and work on the fuselage started. I might add WiP pics soon, though, because the mods I plan/make/try are so massive that it's hard to describe everything in detail without visual reference. 

So, here comes the visual update. First the major ingredients - this is not a koit conversion, but rather a kitrbashing of two Matchbox Do 28D Skyservants!


1:72 Dornier Do 36; Deutsche Bundesluftwaffe (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

There were/are three core thoughts behind this build when I held one of the kits in my hands:

• Could a Skyservant be outfitted with turbofans blowing over the wings (Coanda effect) like the stillborn C-14?
• What about changing the landing gear from a tailsitter into a tricycle arrangement?
• Wouldn't a loading ramp make sense

For the engines I had an assortment of old (35 years?) engine pods from a Matchbox A-10 at hand., which had to be revamded thoroughly:


1:72 Dornier Do 36; Deutsche Bundesluftwaffe (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

However, the rest of the aircraft requires SERIOUS mods to meet my vision of the potential outcome. For the tricycle landing gear it was soon clear that the fuselage would have to be lengthened in front of the wings, therefore the 2nd Do 28D was used as a donor bank.
At the same time I also started with work on the tail ramp. The Do 28D's tail is tapering, but with a boxy diameter, and I tried to use as much of the original structure as possible with long cuts along the edges to widen the area with blossom-like petals, including the fin.
Becoming a military transport aircraft, some window were closed, too, as well as the original double door - it will later disappear behind an external pod for the landing gear, and a new pair of doors (from the donor Do 28D) will be inserted directly behind the cockpit/in front of the wing "hump". BTW, the fuselage halves are still separate, because I want to complete and stabilize the tail first - the interior is only secondary, but I think about a movable ramp and a rough interior with a floor and some ribs in the opening area.


1:72 Dornier Do 36; Deutsche Bundesluftwaffe (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr


1:72 Dornier Do 36; Deutsche Bundesluftwaffe (What-if/kitbashing) +++ WiP by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Always interesting a Do-28 whif. It's eminenly whiffable. When you wrote of 2 kits, I was afraid you were planning a zwilling, like the one I have "in-build" since years...

Well, the original Do 28D is not "enough" to convert it into a tricycle layout - just moving the wings backwards would look strange. I thankfully have a Revell Do 228 as reference for the proportions at hand, and I guess that the plug behind the cockpit should be enough. The wings will probably have to be extended, too, to keep the proportions. But the parts are there to do this stunt, and Kit will certainly like that. 

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on August 22, 2023, 12:10:41 AMWell, the original Do 28D is not "enough" to convert it into a tricycle layout - just moving the wings backwards would look strange. I thankfully have a Revell Do 228 as reference for the proportions at hand, and I guess that the plug behind the cockpit should be enough. The wings will probably have to be extended, too, to keep the proportions. But the parts are there to do this stunt, and Kit will certainly like that. 

Always.

I know it's mandatory in certain circles, but I prefer to be careful. 

            

Extended wings ala Hurel-Dubois? 

What a silly idea! Who'd EVER want to do that.......................

            

That does look rather good actually.

Dizzy would have fun building those wings