Couple Of Freshies

[bluntie]

'evening blokes and bloketts,
                                         After watching J.N.M.,ysi and others about the place doing some serious plastic bashing i realised that to date my wiffing has been limited to paint and markings ,which has been a great deal of fun,and i have plenty more projects to do on that theme.but this time i am after more of a challenge,so after a search through the stash i settled on the TAMIYA ki84 as the subject for a bit of surgery. For some time i have been wanting to do something with camo over natural metal as late war Japanese aircraft used, so in that regard the ki84 fits the bill nicely,also good old tamiya kits like this with good fit reasonable detail and realy thick tough plastic should make things a little easier.
First and most obvious modification was to lop of the nose panels forward of the cockpit,at this point i had a choice of going for an in line engine(R.R. merlin a la CASA built 109's) , building a 24 cylinder 'corn cob ' type engine or a single  BMW jet.
While all these were good ideas nothing realy seemed to sit right.the jet was a close contender ,but after building the Kikka a while ago and doing a bit of research on the subject it still was'nt too plausable.untill i re read some info and found a mention about Nakijima engineers doing a paper proposal on fitting cropped propellors to the Kikka's turbines,as was done to the gloster meteor.
Bingo!!  turboprop ki84!!!
And here it is,i have taped and blu-tacked every thing in place just to get a feel for it. as usual all coments are welcome,honestly guys i wouldnt mind some advice on this one!....also for your veiwing pleasure the Airfix boomerang

[PanzerWulff]

Looks good so far to me.and I really like the boomerang but have been debating on trying to get one I have heard the airfix kit is horrible Whats your opinion of it???

[GTX]

Turbo-prop Frank - wicked idea!  Can't wait to see the final result.

What's the plan for the Boomerang?

Regards,

Greg

[Brian da Basher]

Fascinating mods to that Ki084, bluntie! I'm really excited to see how this one turns out!

That's also some very masterful detailing on the Boomerang. Great stuff!

Brian da Basher

[Eddie M.]

Outstanding! B)  I'm hooked and waiting for more....
  Eddie

[bluntie]

Thanks for the comments guys,
                                            after some more juggling with the nose area i seem to think the end result is going to be a profile something like the XP-47, originaly i had more like a PIPER ENFORCER look in my mind but it just did'nt look right,by moving the thrust line up i figured this would free up some room under the engine for oil coolers and exhaust ducting. not sure how aerodynamicly correct this is tho !,also i have opted for i single exhaust on the port side, could any one with a bit more knowlage on turboprops tell me if this is feasable? i suppose my hypothetical Nakajima engine would be in the 2000-2300 shp range if thats any help
As for the Boomer what can i tell ya Panzer,its AIRFIX. the plusses are the shape is very good,and laid out on scale drawings it is spot on dimensionly,wheels and undercarriage are good, the engine is useable and the decals are fine...but....
the detail is ...wellll....isnt.. the C.A.C. Boomerang had one of the biggest roomiest cockpits in the bussiness and the AIRFIX compfy chair is all you get,the canopy is 'orrid,spinner,prop blades and exhaust damper are all somewhat anemic,most of the panel lines are incorrect, and there are sink marks here and there
Having said that its about the only game in town,TASMAN produce a good CA-13/19
but having built a couple of TASMAN kits they are not for the fainthearted,SPECIAL HOBBY are supposed to be releasing one in 1/72 [yay!!!!] but i dont expect to see one in oz any time soon...
I 'spose the bottom line is with not a whole lot of work,some good referance and a couple of ods and sods,a good accurate Boomer can be made out of the AIRFIX kit i would say give it a go Panzer!
this one will be finished as A46-116 this aircraft went missing on ops in the Gusap area of PNG in april 1944, i have built a couple of missing RAAF/RNZAF aircraft ,just my little memorial for some one who never came home...
Thanks again guys.. Bluntie..

[ysi_maniac]

You are making a great job detailing Boomerang's cockpit. I agree with you: those old unique Airfix kits are not Tamigawa but you can have lot of fun detailing then; I do love them and, above all, I love the wide range Airfix got.

BTW TurboHayate is just COOL
   

[Sisko]

I like the idea of the Turbo prop.

Looks like a lot of work.

Are you doing any sort of hand drawn design or are you just trying things to see what works?

[Damian2]

Thanks for the comments guys,
                                             after some more juggling with the nose area i seem to think the end result is going to be a profile something like the XP-47...

Thats a pretty cool idea taking a radial engined plane and converting it to an inline source. One of my "Distant Future" projects is an inline powered Skyraider (already started cutting up an old 1/32 Mustang) powered by an Allison V-3420-17 as mounted n the XB-39

XB-39 history at the USAF Museum

A pic!



Or maybe an XB-38 will tickle your fancy!



*edited as I found a pic! And one of an XB-38

[ysi_maniac]

Allison V-3420-17 as mounted n the XB-39

Do you mean the huge four lines engine mounted on Chain Lightning?

I love that engine  

[John Howling Mouse]

This is so crazy, it just might work!!     Love the turbo exhaust!

JHM (but not that "J.N.M" you mentioned or the dreadful JMN, either)

[Rafael]

Have I mentioned I LOVE turboprops?

Bluntie, your models are fascinating, and your Ki-84 is superb. It really reminds me of the enforcer profile. The boomerang came as a surprise tome, since I am thinking in a turborop variant. I'll keep tuned to this thread, for more inspiration.
Great Modeling

Rafa

[bluntie]

OOOPS!
                     Sorry 'bout that JHM, Iwas thinking of that well known dutch modeller JNM.. with four M's and a silent Q..,unfortunatly he is often confused with the other bloke from Aberdeen ,McMNJ.who i belive is a cousin to O'JMN in Dublin..
and as you say that JMN [awful little man that he is!] heard recently that he has left the peoples popular front and is now with the popular peoples front...
Heya Sisko,yep i photo copied the instruction sheet before i started and did some drawings on that just to see if it was worth going ahead,..has the postie been yet?
thanks ysi and D2 , Rafa! turboprop Boomer! sounds pretty good. heres a couple of pix of the prototype CA-14A fitted with a G.E. B-9 turbocharger andR-2000 engine. from all reports it was very successful, but the Americans would not allow liscence productin of the turbo units in oz.
Also one i would love to build ,the C.A.C.15 a supercharged intercooled R-2800-10W engine,2000hp,700mph , 4 20mm cannons or 6 .50 mg,....nice!.....
just cant bring myself to cut up a $50 CMK  kit..

[BlackOps]

Totally bonkers, I love it!   This is gonna be cool

[ysi_maniac]

This thread makes me think on an advanced Boomerang, perhaps in the line of a P-51D but the belly intake moved to the chin.