Aerials- add or leave alone?

[McColm]

Hi Guys,
I can understand if the model kit you are building if a Whiff by changing the decals or colour scheme. Then you'd leave the aerials in the same place or to the country you are depicting.
But  what if you have created something that never got off the drawingboard or something you kitbashed?
Prime example is the 1/72 Matchbox/Revell HP Victor K2. Which I have added the resin BAe Nimrod AEW 3 conversion set to. Do I use the BAe Nimrod AEW as a reference  (quite a lot of aerials running a long the top of  the fuselage) or comprise with  the Boeing E-3D Sentry?
Likewise the 1/72 Biffo Rotodyne AEW. Thankfully I had the Airfix Sea King AEW in the stash so I'll be adding the lumps and bumps.
As to the 1/72 Avro Shackleton Mk3 conversion; to a twin engine turboprop with the parts from the Grumman E-2 Hawkeye on skis.
The Sea Moose,  Sky Guardian, LB-87 Liberator Express,  Proteus and the EP-5C Marlin all have reference aircraft.
However the Boeing EB-29 AEW Wyton is kitbashed from an Airfix B-29, upper deck cockpit is from a B-17G.Large front nose cone is off the EC-135N and the tripple tail fins  from the Grumman Hawkeye. The rotodome is from the Grumman Hawkeye but the stand is the stack from an Airfix Rotodyne. I've been using the Washington B.1 (B-29A-50-BN,44-61889) WF449,LS-B, XV Squadron as a paint reference. Substituted the bare metal surfaces with matt white and gloss black undersides with  matt black acrylic s.All guns have been removed. A rear wheel has been found but not glued in place as the new nose cone took up the space where the nosewheel well would have been.
As the Russians have censored most photos of the Tu-126 Moss the ELINT Washington  is my only source of reference.

[Old Wombat]

I don't really do aircraft all thet much, let alone ELINT a/c, but I'd tend towards using the style of antennae/aerials from the ELINT donor,

... or go the full Monty & do all the antennae/aerials from both/all donor kits.

[kerick]

Since you are kitbashing an example of something that exists only in your imagination I see no reason to stick to one donor or the other. Something real world that would be reengineered to anything close to that extreme would have small objects like aerials moved all over the place. Plus when aircraft get modified and upgraded over time these items can change quite a bit. Personally, I try to keep within the time frame and place such things in logical places. Similar RW types can give good hints but ultimately I go with my imagination.

[Gondor]

I would personally use the Nimrod aerial fit as a guide only and adjust to suit my own preference, you are after all fitting into the Victor airframe all the stuff that was fitted to the Nimrod.

As a side question. What about the crew that would have been inside the fuselage of the Nimrod looking at the radar scopes? Have you converted the fuselage of the Victor to carry them or are you using a downlink to transfer the radar information to a ground station?

Gondor

[McColm]

The systems operators have the same layout to that of the Nimrod AEW contained in the Victor weapons bay and fuselage. Most of the Windows obscured by the wings.

[McColm]

18 Group  (former Coastal Command) and 11 Group  Air Defence merged during the late 1990s.
Whilst I was working down at Northwood Command Center there was a direct feed on a secure link to whatever air asset the Royal Air Force was flying that day. One monitor showed  the radar picture.

So in answer to your question a secure link to the Command Center, Waddington and any capital ships in the area. The processing would be done on board the aircraft.