BAe-146 Sentry AEW.1

[nev]

Palantir, great name, love it!  B)  

[Hobbes]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I really enjoyed building this.  

[Rafael]

Hobbes, ¿Do you have progress fotos? i'm really interested in the radar dish-so "real"!!

[John Howling Mouse]

Well, that rotodome SURE humbles my attempt at a rotodome. Looks like it was part of the original kit!!!!

.....balsa!?!?!?

For small rotodomes, you might be able to glue together two (shallow, not deep) miniature plates from a child's or a doll-sized teacup set.  Just an idea.

[anthonyp]

Hobbes...  I dislike you.  A lot.  You made me go on eBay and get one of these things!!!

I blame you.  

Very nice model.  You given any thought to a naval AWACS version, similar to the mods proposed for the COD and carrier borne tanker versions?

Again, very nice.  So nice that you MADE me go buy one on  eBay!!!  

   

[Captain Canada]

Wow, Hobbes...that's a kick-donkey model of an awesome what-if aeroplane. The thing was good enough to do it ! I first saw one ot the CNE in '83 or '84....could not believe how quite it was ! Of course, it was after we saw the Vulcan. Or the Concorde......Tornados, Voodoos...that was a good show.

Anyway, great work !

[Archibald]

Well, that rotodome SURE humbles my attempt at a rotodome. Looks like it was part of the original kit!!!!

.....balsa!?!?!?

For small rotodomes, you might be able to glue together two (shallow, not deep) miniature plates from a child's or a doll-sized teacup set.  Just an idea.

That exactly how I would make the rotodome  of an AWACS.  

a naval AWACS version, similar to the mods proposed for the COD and carrier borne tanker versions?

wait a minute, there had been plan for a navalised Bae 146... in tanker and COD variants  ?

[Hobbes]

Anthony: well, my original idea was to do this as a naval bird. But then I saw how big it is, compared to the E-2 (I'm also building one of those) and I couldn't quite see them being used. They'd never fit in the hangar, for one.
So I made up a backstory that fits use from land bases.

I just did a search on those carrier variants, but can't find much. Thorvic recently mentioned that a version with a large rear ramp was studied as well.

Rafael: I'll see if I have some progress photos. In the meantime, here's what I did:

- start with a sheet of balsa, 5 mm thick.
- Cut the disk from the sheet. I used the lid from a small jar as the template, so I was sure I had a circular disk.
- Mark the center of the disk.
- Draw a line around the circumference, halfway between the top and bottom. You'll use this during sanding, to judge how far you've come. Once you're done sanding, the circumference should end up with a nice rounded shape, this line should still be visible.
- Draw some lines on the top of the disk. I drew 2 lines (like a +). The sanding process should eradicate every line at the same rate (this shows you're removing material at the same rate all around the disk). The disk now looks like my picture below.
- Get some coarse-grit sandpaper and a sanding block, and start sanding. You want to sand it down to a more or less parabolic curve. To make this easier, you can create a template for the curve you want. I did it without a template, and the disk ended up a bit uneven.
- When you've got more or less the right shape, use some fine-grit sandpaper to smooth out the disk.
- Plaster a thin layer of wood filler all over the disk, to cover the wood grain. Putty/sand/repeat until the disk is smooth.

[nev]

Well, that rotodome SURE humbles my attempt at a rotodome. Looks like it was part of the original kit!!!!

.....balsa!?!?!?

For small rotodomes, you might be able to glue together two (shallow, not deep) miniature plates from a child's or a doll-sized teacup set.  Just an idea.

Or use an "I am 7" badge off a kids birthday card (think that one came from Alvis)

[Rafael]

Chevere!!!. I will start looking for things to start scratchbuiding my new disk. Thank you, Guys, This is very educative!!

[kitnut617]

For small rotodomes, you might be able to glue together two (shallow, not deep) miniature plates from a child's or a doll-sized teacup set.  Just an idea.

Well I've had this idea for a AEW Wellington which would have been a What-If development of the one that was the first AEW ever.  For the radome I was thinking of using two model stand bottoms from a couple of Testors Swifts (old Hawk kits).  When glued together, these look like what you find on a Grumman Tracer AEW with the rounded front and tapering to a point at the rear.  

http://groups.msn.com/TheWhatifandoddballm...to&PhotoID=2248

It already comes with a fairing for the radome support and I would have to file off the top one.  I was thinking of adding it to my high altitude Wellington Mk.V conversion I have.


This could lead to a back story on how Grumman ended up with their design  

Robert

[Rafael]

Hey Kitnut, That's the exact same piece where my Gannet stands

[anthonyp]

Anthony: well, my original idea was to do this as a naval bird. But then I saw how big it is, compared to the E-2 (I'm also building one of those) and I couldn't quite see them being used. They'd never fit in the hangar, for one.
So I made up a backstory that fits use from land bases.

I just did a search on those carrier variants, but can't find much. Thorvic recently mentioned that a version with a large rear ramp was studied as well.

Yeah, there's not much info on them, but Air Enthusiast had an issue (no. 120) about "Might Have Beens."  In it was an article on the military BAe 146, and how there were never publicly announced naval proposals, centered around a COD variant.  They had folding wings, and an extendable nose gear strut that would be raised so that the tail could clear the hangar deck ceiling.  There were no diagrams of this particular variant in the article, so I have no idea how this would have worked.

The article went on to mention naval rear loaders, AEW, and dedicated tanker variants.

If you can find it, the article has drawings of the rear loader as well.

Funny thing about your build is I was just re-reading the article about a day before your model showed up.

 

[ysi_maniac]

Awesome            

[Sisko]

Nice one Hobbes!!!!

Really looks like it could be a model of a real world aircraft.

Wonder how many people would be fooled?