Blackburn Roc and Skua

[Old Paul]

To go with the radial engined IAF Hurricane...

Up-engined Blackburn Skua, naval equipment removed, twin Vickers GO rear defence...and before laughing too much, read up on Skua operations (especially sinking the Konigsberg), IAF operations with the Vultee Vengeance and Free French use of A-24's in southern France, 1944-5!

(Oh...and windscreen re-angled, as I always thought the stock Skua set-up was a little strange and bizarre)

[The Rat]

(Oh...and windscreen re-angled, as I always thought the stock Skua set-up was a little strange and bizarre)

You have a talent for understatement! Looks good.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Other than the Boulton-Paul turret on the Roc, was there any other obvious differences between the two aircraft?  Only asking since they look so much alike and what you suggest for the Skau could very well be applied to the Roc. 

Wonder what either of these aircraft would have looked like if Douglas had been involved in production?  How much of the Dauntless and Devastator would have been considered for incorporation into either design? 

[jcf]

Other than the Boulton-Paul turret on the Roc, was there any other obvious differences between the two aircraft?  Only asking since they look so much alike and what you suggest for the Skau could very well be applied to the Roc. 

Wonder what either of these aircraft would have looked like if Douglas had been involved in production?  How much of the Dauntless and Devastator would have been considered for incorporation into either design? 

Roc was developed from Skua.
The major differences were as follows:
Fuselage widened at the mid-point to accommodate turret.
Outer wing panels rigged at 2 degrees dihedral.
Standard attachment points for float undercarriage.
Provision for 70-gallon overload fuel tank under centre-section.

A Merlin C engined aircraft very similar to the Roc was schemed.

Jon

[Archibald]

Butt-ugly indeed. We can consider as a "crime against the Merlin engine".

[sequoiaranger]

Butt-ugly? Depends on whose butt is being discussed, I guess.

That globular turret reminds me I bought two 1/72 Vosper torpedo-boat kits (Airfix??) because I LOVED the globular twin-gun turrets on the thing, plus other guns, torpedoes, and figures. I *KNEW* someday they would make their way into a whif. Maybe this one is my calling! I know of no other aircraft kit that has globular turrets like that, except the Lockheed Hudson, and I think that turret would be waaaaay to big for this Blackburn dive bomber.

If I can find the Vosper kit in my stash, I will edit this post with a pic so everyone can see what I mean.

EDIT: I "Googled" the kit and it looks like the "modern" Vosper kit doesn't have the globular turrets. (Sigh) I will try to find mine, but it seems a moot point to acquire the kit for the turrets if they have changed the molds. 

EDIT #2: Aha!! My kit is the "RAF Rescue Launch", not the Vosper kit per se.

EDIT#3:  Well, it's not even a "Vosper" I found out (yours truly is truly humbled).  Oh well, here is a pertinent pic of the turrets: There is a single-gun type and a twin-gun. The twin-guns are Vickers .303's with the circular magazines, which will find their way onto my "Bleariator" Gloster Gladiator whif (a real one, astonishingly enough) with the two guns mounted atop the wings Great War style!!

[sequoiaranger]

Despite the "fact" that I think the Sea Gladiator would out-perform the Jaeger (the Skua was a pretty big airplane--46-foot wingspan vs 32-foot for the Gladiator, and nearly twice the weight for the similar engine), I like its looks very much. And who knows, maybe some less-crusty FAA types "demanded" a monoplane eight-gun fighter, and Fairey hadn't come up with the Battle conversion to Fulmar, etc. Plus, ANYTHING beats the Roc, eh?

Are you planning to build such a plane?

[sequoiaranger]

You said: "...what I have in my head in polystyrene."

You have polystyrene IN YOUR HEAD?? Man, you were BORN to model! 

>Alas, unlike you, I lack the skills to render...<

Sound to me like you are making considerable, uh...HEADWAY towards your vision. Yes, cutting down on the length of the fuselage and wings is a GREAT idea, and renders your Jaeger more fighter-like. I am eager to see the result.

Keep on keepin' on!

[DarrenP2]

WHAT HAPPENED TO POST MADE ON  25/7/2016?

[Thorvic]

WHAT HAPPENED TO POST MADE ON  25/7/2016?

It depends which forum you posted on, the domain name expired yesterday for Whatifmodelers.com, so we had to create Whatifmodellers.com and redirect members to here. Its possible if you posted on the original site before the domain went down then your post was probably lost in the switch - sorry.

[DarrenP2]

ok

Some ideas :- instead of the Bristol Perseus XII engine how about the Bristol Pegasus,  hercules, Wright 1820-G205A  or the Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4g going from 890Hp to 1200 HP
the wings of the Skua Fitted to the Roc and the forward firing guns Browning .303 machine guns in wings and fuselage.
Skua variant built as a dedicated 2 seat trainer for advanced flying, carrier landing and Weapons training.
Skua Variant built as a catapult float plane for observation
ROC as a night fighter like the Bolton Paul defiant.

[NARSES2]

Must admit I like the idea of a Skua/Roc as a fighter with forward firing guns. A two seat trainer would look good and probably fool a fair few people into the bargain