ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', RAAF ("COIN aircraft from a Hawk" Tribute)

Dizzyfugu · June 06, 2014, 12:00:09 AM

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The ASTA (Aerospace Technologies of Australia, formerly Government Aircraft Factories) Baza development was started in 1995 when the Royal Australian Air Force was searching for a two-seat training aircraft that would allow the transition from initial training on piston-engined aircraft to jets, and could also be used for weapon training and CAS/reconnaissance duties.

ASTA responded with a low-wing two-turboprop-engined all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, capable of operating from unprepared strips when operationally required. The aircraft, internally coded "A-31", was of conventional, all-metal (mainly duralumin) construction. The unswept cantilever wings have 3° of dihedral and are fitted with slotted trailing-edge flaps.

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The A-31 had a tandem cockpit arrangement; the crew of two was seated under the upward opening clamshell canopy on Martin-Baker Mk 6AP6A zero/zero ejection seats and were provided with dual controls.

Armor plating was fitted to protect the crew and engines from hostile ground fire. The aircraft was powered by a pair of Garrett TPE 331 engines, driving sets of three-bladed propellers which were also capable of being used as air brakes.

The A-31 was designed for operations from short, rough airstrips.[The retractable tricycle landing gear, with a single nose wheel and twin main wheels retracting into the engine nacelles, is therefore fitted with low pressure tires to suit operations on rough ground, while the undercarriage legs are tall to give good clearance for underslung weapon loads. The undercarriage, flaps and brakes are operated hydraulically, with no pneumatic systems.

Two JATO rockets can be fitted under the fuselage to allow extra-short take-off.
Fuel is fed from two fuselage tanks of combined capacity of 800 L (180 imp gal; 210 US gal) and two self-sealing tanks of 460 L (100 imp gal; 120 US gal) in the wings.

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Fixed armament of the A-31 consisted of two 30mm Aden cannons mounted under the cockpits with 200 rounds each. A total of nine hardpoints were fitted for the carriage of external stores such as bombs, rockets or external fuel tanks, with one of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) capacity mounted under the fuselage and the remaining two pairs of 500 kg (1,100 lb) capacity beneath the wing roots and wings inside of the engine nacelles, and two more pairs of hardpoints outside of the engines for another 500 kg and 227 kg, respectively. Total external weapons load was limited to 6,800 lb (3,085 kg) of weapons, though.
Onboard armaments were aimed by a simple reflector sight, since no all weather/night capabilities were called for – even though provisions were made that external sensors could be carried (e. g. a TISEO or a PAVE Spike pod).

Severe competition arose through the BAe Hawk, though: the Royal Australian Air Force ordered 33 Hawk 127 Lead-in Fighters (LIFs) in June 1997, 12 of which were produced in the UK and 21 in Australia – and this procurement severely hampered the A-31's progress. The initial plan to build 66 aircraft for domestic use, with prospects for export, e. g. to Sri Lanka, Indonesia or Turkey, was cut down to a mere 32 aircraft which were to be used in conjunction with the Australian Army in the FAC role and against mobile ground targets.

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

This extended role required an upgrade with additional avionics, an optional forward looking infrared (FLIR) sensor and a laser ranger in an extended nose section, which lead to the Mk. II configuration - effectively, only five machines were produced as Mk.I types, and they were updated to Mk. II configuration even before delivery to the RAAF in August 1999.

Since then, the ASTA A-31 has been used in concunction with RAAF's Pilatus PC-9 and BAe Hawk Mk. 127 trainers. Beyond educational duties the type is also employed for Fleet support to Navy operations and for close air support to Army operations.

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The 'Baza' (christened by a small sized bird of prey found in the forests of South Asia and Southeast Asia) has even seen serious military duty and already fired in anger: since August 2007, a detachment of No. 114 Mobile Control and Reporting Unit RAAF has been on active service at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan, and a constant detachment of six A-31's from RAAF 76 Suqadron has been assigned to armed reconnaissance and protection of approximately 75 personnel deployed with the AN/TPS-77 radar, assigned the responsibility to co-ordinate coalition air operations.

General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length (incl. Pitot): 14.69 m (48 ft 1 ½ in)
Wingspan: 14.97 m (49 ft)
Height: 3, 75 m (12 ft 3 in)
Wing area: 30.30 m2 (326.1 sq ft)
Aspect ratio: 6.9:1
Airfoil: NACA 642A215 at root, NACA641 at tip
Empty weight: 4,020 kg (8,863 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 6,800 kg (14,991 lb)
Internal fuel capacity: 1,280 L (280 imp gal; 340 US gal)

Powerplant:
2 × Garrett TPE 331-11U-601G turboprop engines, 820 kW (1.100 hp) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 515 km/h (311 mph; 270 kn) at 4.570 m (15.000 ft)
Cruising speed: 430 km/h (267 mph; 232 kn) at 2.500 m (8.200 ft)
Stall speed: 143 km/h (89 mph; 77 kn) (flaps and undercarriage down)
Never exceed speed: 750 km/h (466 mph; 405 kn)
Range:1.611 km (1.000 mi; 868 nmi), clean and internal fuel only
Ferry range: 3,710 km (2,305 mi; 2,003 nmi) max internal and external fuel
Service ceiling: 10,000 m (32,808 ft)
g limits: +6/-3 g
Rate of climb: 6.5 m/s (1.276 ft/min)

Armament
2× 30 mm ADEN cannons in the lower nose
Up to 6,800 lb (3,085 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints

The kit and its assembly:
Like some other of my whifs, this was spawned by a project at whatifmodelers.com from fellow user silverwindblade that ran under the handle "COIN aircraft from a Hawk" - and in fact, the BAe Hawk's fuselage with its staggered cockpit and good field of view appears as a good basis for a conversion.

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

I liked the idea VERY much, and while silverwindblade's work would rather develop into a futuristic canard layout aircraft, I decided to keep the COIN aircraft rather conservative - the FMA 58 'Pucara' from Argentina would be a proper benchmark.

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The basis here is the Italeri BAe Hawk Mk. 127 kit which comes with the longer nose and modified wings for the RAAF version, as well as with false decals.
Anyway, I'd only use the fuselage, anything else is implanted, partly from unlikely donation kits! Wings incl. engine nacelles and stablizers come from the vintage box scale (1:166?) Revell Convair R3Y-2 Tradewind flying boat(!), the fin from an Academy OV-10 Bronco.
The landing gear was puzzled together, among other from parts of a 1:200 Concorde, the propellers were scratched.

Biggest mod to the fuselage is the dissection of the air intakes (and their blending with the fuselage) as well as a new tail section where the Adour jet engine's exhaust had been.

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting and markings:
This model was agood excuse to finally apply an SIOP color scheme, which was originally carried by USAF's strategic bombers like B-52 or FB-111. But what actually inspired me were Australian C-130s - it took some time to figure out that their scheme were the USAF's SIOP colors (FS 34201, 34159 and 34079). But that made the Baza's potential user's choice (and fictional origin) easy.

As a COIN role aircraft I settled on a wraparound scheme. I found a pattern scheme on an USN Aggerssor A-4 Skyhawk that had been painted in SIOP colors, too, and adapted it for the model. Basic colors were Humbrol 31, 84 and 116, good approximations - the result looks odd, but suits the Baza well.

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Later, panels were emphasized through dry painting with lighter shades and a light black ink wash was applied.

The landing gear became classic white, the cockpit interior medium gray - nothing fancy.

The markings were improvised - the Italeri Hawk Mk. 127 features RAAF 'roos, but these are printed in black - wrong for the OOB kit, but very welcome on my aircraft. The rest was salvaged from the scrap box, the tactical code A-31-06 created with single letters from TL Modellbau.

1:72 ASTA A-31 Mk. 2 'Baza', aircraft A31-06 of 79 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF); Williamtown AB, Australia, late 2007 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Thorvic · June 06, 2014, 12:17:36 AM

Very impressive, initial impressions would have had it being a combination of the Hawk and Pucarra kits, but the build is much more interesting than that. Love the idea, love the build and love the user & scheme

PR19_Kit · June 06, 2014, 12:40:37 AM

The wings from a TRADEWIND?!

I'd never have figured that out, superbly done Thomas.

TallEng · June 06, 2014, 01:21:58 AM

Smashing job Dizzy

Excellent welding together of the different parts

Is it me or does the rear 3/4 view look an awful lot like a Kingair?

Regards
Keith

Hotte · June 06, 2014, 02:45:16 AM

Excellent bird

Hotte

Dizzyfugu · June 06, 2014, 02:52:08 AM

Thanks a lot, everyone.

I was surprised how conclusive this thing ended up, and it actually is almost exactly the same size as a Pucara! Got one in the stash, would like to put them both side by side... Finish is not perfect, and I left the hardpoints empty as this just looked so right. I think the SIOP scheme is really cool - it's odd, but effective, and suits the Baza very well (as well as the RAAF Hercs and some Army aircraft!).

McColm · June 06, 2014, 11:08:51 AM

Wow! What a build, I think I've got most of those parts in my stash apart from the Bronco.
I think you might have started a kitbash tribute.

Gondor · June 06, 2014, 11:22:40 AM

Wonderful build as always. I take it that the Mk2 version introduced the twin nose wheels which you occidentally missed from the back story?

Gondor

Weaver · June 06, 2014, 01:40:06 PM

Excellent job - really looks the part.

You realise you have to make a swept-wing jet Pucara now don't you?

comrade harps · June 06, 2014, 04:46:29 PM

Impressive!

Surprised, though, they didn't deploy to East Timor in 1999. Would have been perfect for the job with a recce pod loaded.

Dizzyfugu · June 07, 2014, 02:11:31 AM

Thanks a lot to everyone, my pleasure!

rickshaw · June 07, 2014, 02:43:59 AM

As usual, you put all our efforts in the shade. One question though, why does each engine have two exhausts?

Dizzyfugu · June 07, 2014, 06:35:17 AM

Well, because it's originally a twin engine on the Tradewind... But as an excuse one could argue that the landing gear mechanism called for a forked exhaust pipe - there's actually little space in/under the nacelles. I noticed this twist during building, but did not want to change too much, as the OOB "solution" is pretty elegant.

comrade harps · June 07, 2014, 04:36:38 PM

QuoteOne question though, why does each engine have two exhausts?

I thought that might be some kind of IR suppression kit.

Dizzyfugu · June 08, 2014, 01:48:58 AM

Also plausible - mixed with some cold extra air, but that would have necessitated some (more) air scoops...