The Royal Air Force has recently retired all of their Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules aircraft believing that the Airbus A400 Atlas can handle everything that the Hercules could perform with ease.
However as no plans are in place to fill the gap between what would have been the BAe 146 and the C-130J ,I've  come up with a few alternatives of my own.
My first thought is to use either the 1/72 Revell or Heller C-160  fitted with four turboprop engines. The Revell kit is over engineered and certain parts don't fit. The landing gear is similar to that of the Revell Airbus A400M. I've yet to build the Heller model.
Roden does the An-10/An-12 Cub kits also in 1/72 scale and they too can cause problems in the construction. There's also the vacform kit, I haven't tired building one of them yet.
Prices of the Revell Airbus A400M in 1/144 and 1/72 are expensive, other whifferters have changed the wings and/or engines. These are difficult kits to build.
Examples of the C.1 and C.2 are available, slightly cheaper than the 1/144 Revell C-17 kit although there's the resin models if you prefer.
Another alternative is the G.222/C-27A Spartan. The C-27A in 1/72 is expensive but if I used the C-130 fuselage and wings with a pair of turboprops.
The Fairchild C-123 Provider or even the A.W. Argosy with modern engines.
A kitbash using a C-123 and the Mach2 Argosy might work . Roden and Mach2 both provide the C-123 as well as the vacform manufacturers & those who sell the resin kits.

Interesting idea. Personally, I'd go for the C-27J Spartan. I've already used the Italeri kit for another whif. I didn't find it all that expensive but , we all have different budgets. It's a very nice kit though . I do like the notion of a twin engined Herc. To that end, I'm going to do my own using a pir of engines salvaged from the 1/72 Revell Airbus A-400M which I broke up for spare parts following an unfortunate accident!

I'd agree the Revell C-160 is a bit over engineered but, a great kit nonetheless. Slightly trick assembly in places but, amazingly good value for money 

Quote from: Beermonster58 on September 03, 2023, 01:42:59 AMInteresting idea. Personally, I'd go for the C-27J Spartan. I've already used the Italeri kit for another whif. I didn't find it all that expensive but , we all have different budgets. It's a very nice kit though . I do like the notion of a twin engined Herc. To that end, I'm going to do my own using a pir of engines salvaged from the 1/72 Revell Airbus A-400M which I broke up for spare parts following an unfortunate accident!

I'd agree the Revell C-160 is a bit over engineered but, a great kit nonetheless. Slightly trick assembly in places but, amazingly good value for money 

Maybe the Spartan wings or G.222 wings could be fitted to the fuselage of a C-130, I might switch wings over on the C-160 and change the propellers for Hamilton four blade. 🤔

Airbus has announced that it is considering a smaller version of the A400M known as the A200M to replace the Lockheed C-130.

Quote from: McColm on September 03, 2023, 02:44:22 AM

Quote from: Beermonster58 on September 03, 2023, 01:42:59 AMInteresting idea. Personally, I'd go for the C-27J Spartan. I've already used the Italeri kit for another whif. I didn't find it all that expensive but , we all have different budgets. It's a very nice kit though . I do like the notion of a twin engined Herc. To that end, I'm going to do my own using a pir of engines salvaged from the 1/72 Revell Airbus A-400M which I broke up for spare parts following an unfortunate accident!

I'd agree the Revell C-160 is a bit over engineered but, a great kit nonetheless. Slightly trick assembly in places but, amazingly good value for money 

Maybe the Spartan wings or G.222 wings could be fitted to the fuselage of a C-130, I might switch wings over on the C-160 and change the propellers for Hamilton four blade. 🤔

I'm building a C-130 at the moment. The C-27J Spartan wings would just look ridiculously small on the much bigger C-130 so, I don't think that would be a realistic option.. I'd include the Embraer 390 as a contender as, it has already been selected as a C-130 replacement by Holland, Hungary and, potentially - Sweden. Of course, there is a slight problem in that no kit in anu scale exists!!    

Lockheed planned a twin-Herc some years back themselves, but it never got as far as cutting metal IIRC.

That E390 is a nice looking aircraft, and it surely can't be too long before someone kits it.

Quote from: PR19_Kit on April 27, 2024, 04:39:28 AMLockheed planned a twin-Herc some years back themselves, but it never got as far as cutting metal IIRC.

That E390 is a nice looking aircraft, and it surely can't be too long before someone kits it.

It is that! . It would certainly be a contender for my C-130 replacement for the Feachd an Adhair Poblachd Neo-eisimeilach na h-Alba (Air Force, Scottish Independent Republic) for whom my current C-130 is being built (along with my Airfix Skyvan!)!