Revell 1:48 Fuji International PMC F-14EJ Kai

[sv51macross]

Sorry for the long absence!

I'm working on the boosters mounted to the wings. At this point it's just the rough balsa cut-outs but you'll get the picture. To hang off the boosters will be a drop tank and two GBU-38s each (or should I try and scratch Mk082+GCS bombs?)






I'll post more backstory when the Boosters a re more fleshed out. I have yet to scratch wing-mount fairings, intake/exhaust housings (overtuned GE F-414s from Saab + TV), spatial maneuvering/STOL thrusters, ECM blips/baubles, and the all-moving fwspt winglets.

[Sauragnmon]

Mac, that's some crazy stuff looking there, man... looks like she might well be an interesting bird, though I have to wonder - wouldn't that kinda screw with most of the lift generating area of the aircraft?  She'd be more based on pure-thrust than a Phantom with boosters that big.

[sv51macross]

Mac, that's some crazy stuff looking there, man... looks like she might well be an interesting bird, though I have to wonder - wouldn't that kinda screw with most of the lift generating area of the aircraft?  She'd be more based on pure-thrust than a Phantom with boosters that big.

You do have a point, but like I said, I'm just fleshing them out, so right now they're a bit bigger/bulkier than the finished product will be. Plus, I'm adding forward swept wings, about 2/3 or 3/4 the are of a F-16 wing, to the boosters. Ad it's only when swept that the really take away lift production, but that actually is a good thing (in the book I'm writing, this aircraft's pilot has a penchant for power-oriented dogfighting maneuvers best performed with the wings swept).

[sv51macross]

Revised the shape of the boosters. I'll flesh them out some more tomorrow and work on a mockup of the fwspt winglets.

[sv51macross]

Moar work!

The boosters are almost finished. At this point it's getting the noses pretty (for mach-3.5 airflow at least) and smoothing out the undersides.

[ChernayaAkula]

  Firekin' 'ell! That looks excellent! 

[Taiidantomcat]

Sweet Tomcat

[Howedar]

I'm afraid you lost me with the giant random wing booster stuff.

[sv51macross]

I'm afraid you lost me with the giant random wing booster stuff.

Not really random...

     The largest difference between the JMSDF's AST-21s and the Fuji International PMC's F-14EJ Kais were the large wing-mounted boosters, based around the GE F-414++ [the ++ designation referring to the IPE F-414 fitted with thrust-vectoring nozzles] engine in Fuji International's Boeing F/A-18J's. Whereas the JMSDF used close-in tactics sparingly, relying on the Aeon-warheaded AAM-7 'Starburst' air-burst missile to secure air-superiority, Fuji International, possessing engagement rules based in Imperial-Japan military ideals, preferred close-in combat with heat-seeking missiles and guns (hence the 1300-round 30mm internal gun on the F-14EJ Kai). To improve performance of the F-14EJ Kai, and before the advent of the Phoenix Mach-1 engine, the decision to add boosters to the wings was made. The structure of the F-14, being new-build airframes with carbon-nanotube reinforced carbon-fiber wings and center-sections, was more than capable of handling the increased weight. While the additional 50,000lbs of thrust was well welcome, the adverse effect on maneuverability with the wings swept-forward was severe, so large, forward-swept winglets were added to make the boosters 'pull [or lift] their won weight' as it were. The boosters were fitted to carry Super-Hornet wing tanks to compensate for their drain on internal fuel reserves, as well as having conformal 190 US-gal tanks fitted.
     The advent of the Phoenix series of engines allowed, theoretically, speeds of mach-3 or greater for the F-14, however, the forward-swept winglets could not withstand the stresses of speeds greater than mach-1.7. To allow such mach-3 dashes, the winglets and tank mounts were fitted with explosive attachment points which would leave clean surfaces when jettisoned, leaving a highly-loaded, sleek aircraft capable of safely attaining mach-3.1 (maximum-sustained speed, with booster limiters overridden, the aircraft could reach mach-3.7). Also usable as weapons mounts, the boosters had a capacity of 1000kg of ordinance each, usually bombs for strike missions.

[sv51macross]

*Phoenix Mach-1 Engine
-Not an aircraft but worthy of mention in its own right. Designed as an indigenous replacement for the Russian AL-31, it was developed as a hybrid turbofan/ramjet engine, with the ramjet occurring at high mach numbers. Backpressure and venturi were provided by an experimental, unique setup with a lower, scooped petal and a 'thumb' that pressed down into the scooped petal, creating a U-shaped channel for gases to pass through. This had the effect of generating vortexes around the exit flow and accelerating the outflow, increasing thrust, this effect further enhanced by rivulets engraved on the petal's interior. Both parts were fully articulable so thrust vectoring of exhaust gases by +/- 25 degrees was possible. Thrust output was estimated to be in the 40,000lb range but tests revealed slightly higher numbers. Ramjet mode had measured thrusts consistently in the high 70,000lb range. Most aircraft required retrofitting of cooling scoops into the afterburner as the engine was extremely efficient and became very hot if at higher throttle settings than idle. An unusual effect was that the engine appeared to be constantly in afterburner (identified by constant delfageration out of the exhaust), though this was merely a product of remaining unburned fuel being burned in the venturi effect of the petal-and-thumb, though even at idle the engine produced enough thrust to require brake application. Opening of the petal-and-thumb wide enough to reduce thrust at idle caused destabilization in backpressure shockwaves and stalled the engine. Fuel consumption was actually less than the Saturn AL-31J, and even with the Mitsubishi-built GE F-110. The engine was shown to have extreme tolerance to disturbed airflow, able to provide at least 50% of maximum non-augmented output even while in reversed airflow.

Assembled the Phoenix Mach-1 engines, incomplete but mostly there.


Based on, for those who know, the Super-Phoenix Mach-11 engines fitted to B-503 Yukikaze in episode 4 of the OVA Sento Youse Yukikaze

But, I'm not liking too hotly the way they look on the bird herself.

(sorry for the washout)



I was thinking though about scratching GE Iris TV nozzles for the engines and pretending that the F-14EJ Kai was the testbed for the Phoenix Mach series by using the Mach-0, a preproduction test engine using the Mach-1's center section and ramjet components, but having a 'conventional' flower-type nozzle.

(GE Iris TV nozzle as fitted to NASA's F-16D VISTA)

[ChernayaAkula]

Awesome to the max!

[sv51macross]

Thought it was about time to post a pic of the aircraft's pilot/owner; Major Maya 'Princess' Kudou, S-101 flight lead for S-100 Shinigami Sq. in the Fuji International PMC

[sv51macross]

Update; I've been working on the detail for this bird including ECM gear, countermeasures, and the AAM-4 mountings.



Visible in the photo are:
- High-res/speed camera suite  under the nose to provide 360/360 visibility coverage. Camera data is cyber-cast into pilot's vision. Also able to provide thermal imaging.
- SakuraEDS radar-warnign receivers on the intakes, main component of the SakuaEDS system that provides 360/360 radar warning coverage, also able to detect MM wave radiation, and act as jamming antennae when needed.
- Pylons for AAM-4 carriage in the tunnel, four semi-recessed nad four semi-conformal pylons. Rear pylons may be relocated to engine trunk mounts. current capacity is eight dedicated stations + glove pylons.
- Relocated primary chaff/flare buckets between black pylons.
- Tail sting implemented with integrated tailhook. Installation required relocation of chaff/flare buckets. Sting contains rear-facing search/track radar as well as focused/aimed microwave gun for rear-hemisphere missile destruction (lacks power to disable mildly shielded A/C avionics). Tail cone able to flip open to allow braking/anti-spin chute deployment.
- Auxiliary chaff/flare dispensers on TE of ventral fins.

And for the item that most of the Tomcat fans will undoubtedly despise me for, Sufa-ing a F-14.



- MHI AIIF suite installed. Provides advanced notification of friend/foe status via transponder interrogation. Continuously up-linked with the Japanese defense ministry's intelligence bureau to provide accurate nationality ID.

- SakuraEDS nose RWR antennae, similar function to inlet-mounted pieces but more focused to the forward plane. Lack the jamming fucntion of the inlet antennae as proximity to the radar set renders such function redundant.

Note, shape of the nose pimples is not finalized, they need some refining/smoothing still.

How am I going to put in an IRST now?

[Taiidantomcat]

I always wondered what an F-14 with the IFF strakes and sensors would look like Nice Work 

[John Howling Mouse]

Holy Hannah-freakin' Montana but this is cool.  Way above my own limited level of comprehension (naturally) but I do know "cool" when I see it.

Amazing!