Anigrand F-103A Thunderwarrior

[General Melchet]

Hi chaps, some of you good fellows might have seen this already over on another site, but I thought that it's rightful home was here among it's own kind as it were !!.This is the Anigrand XF-103 Thunderwarrior( or Thunderpants as I prefer to call it ...coz the kit is just that!), dressed up to represent an operational aircraft serving with the 84th FIS, TAC USAF based at Hamilton AFB California in the mid sixties.Though the real deal never got any further than the mockup stage it's fun to imagine what this strange exotic beast might have looked like had it gone operational. Basically a point interceptor the design would have been in competion with the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and later F-106 Dart, so it follows that it would have been assigned to some of the units that operated those types.
Basically a longe range (with tanks and IFR), escort,in possibly later modified form for the B and RS-70 Valkyrie and had a design speed slightly in excess of Mach 3. The F-103 was to be armed with six AIM-4 Falcon AAM's, or later two nuclear Genie's plus two AIM-47 'Super Falcons, (as fitted to YF-12A and F-108 Rapier).
The airframe was to be built mostly from titanium and newly developed light weight alloys for the flying surfaces and forward fuselage sections.The pilot had an interesting time of it ! with no forward vision (only the use of EVS style TV scanning and minimal side view he was also squeezed into an encapsulation pod , much like the Stanley seat used in the later B-58 Hustler, and had to read instruments mounted on the forward bulkhead over five feet away, though essential flight instruments were mounted on a small panel in front of him in the capsule! .
Firing the missiles would have proved interesting too as due to their relative position on the forward fuselage sides they would have needed to be fired up on the rails, effectively causing the thrust line to be directed back over the wings !!ALA F-8 Crusader, only at Mach 3 !!
Anyway the project was cancelled early on due to the horrendous cost and the fact that the design really would have been a 'one trick pony' and so yet another wonderful design Gerry Anderson would have been proud of bites the dust ....

I airbrushed the model Xtracrylics ADC grey with Tamiya and Gunze paints for detail work, and used decals from the spares bin, Monogram 1/48th F-106, Microscale F-102 stencil and markings set and many others.
I wont go into the build now but to say it was 'orrible is an understatement, the kit resisting right up to the end...( Anigrand really ought to get their act together regards qual' control, as this thing had air bubbles everywhere, misshapen parts including the rear exhaust on one side looking like it had been held over a flame !! and a lot of broken bits, though this maybe more down to packaging, so a lot of time was spent just making the thing buildable 


Anyhoo, Hope you like it,

[NARSES2]

You've made a stunning job of that sir 

I know what you mean about Anigrand's quality control - I sometimes think he has 3 Mondays in a week and his team lose every Saturday 

[General Melchet]

Thanks Narses, LOL..reckon you're right there, got two more Anigrands in the stash and while I like the subject,( F-108 and small scale M-50), I'm not exactly relishing the idea of building 'em

I sometimes think he has 3 Mondays in a week and his team lose every Saturday

....


Reckon you can chuck in a few late Friday afternoons too !!!!!

[sideshowbob9]

Absolutely beautiful model  

I also despair at Anigrands quality control. I have a XV-5A I've temporarily given up on 'til I can build up the courage  

Just one question, are those missiles mavericks? They look a bit off to be AIM-4s. If so, I think an "AIM-65" is a stroke of genius!

[tigercat2]

A fantastic job; superb paint and details!!   I agree with you comments on the kit; I built one several years ago (it did not come out nearly as well as yours) to finish my Century Series collection. 

Have you built the Anigrand F-108?


Wes W.

[Mike Wren]

  gorgeous, I hope mine's half as good... 

[pyro-manic]

Superb. Lovely aircraft, and pretty markings.

[Supertom]

Very nice.  I quite like Anigrand's Century Series stuff, need to go buy some before they're OOP.

[General Melchet]

Thanks chaps, firstly, Sideshow, these are actually an early Falcon variant, the GAR-2A(AIM-4B) designed for this aircraft with the larger surfaces of the GAR-1D, but with the longer nose of the GAR 2 (AIM-4B )....... with me so far? , actually the AIM 4 family was rather large with many variants tried out over the years , the most succesful being the AIM-4D.
The ultimate weapon for the Thunderwarrior though was to be the mighty GAR-9 (AIM-47), the missile touted for the F-108 Rapier and the Lockheed YF-12A, which itself later became the all singing, all dancing AIM-54 Phoenix as used by the F-14.

I've got the F-108 in the stash Wes just waiting for Microscale decals (got em now !!), They are rather nice subjects aren't they, just wish they would tighten up on quality though !!

Thanks all,

Andy

[tigercat2]

If your upcoming F-108 is anything like the '103, it will be a sight to behold!!

How about the F-109 by Anigrand - along with Trumpetors F-107, this fills out the Century series very nicely.


Wes W.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Hi Andy,

Impressive work considering what you had to start with out of the box.  Did the kit come with drop tanks or did you pinch those from another kit?  

[General Melchet]

Thanks Wes, the F-108 looks OK in the box , better than the '103, but until you start putting it all together who knows ?? ...


Jeffry, thanks, the tanks were pinched from a 1/72nd Heller Mirage IVA ....and the nose gear from a Mirage 2000 !!

Andy

[sideshowbob9]

...... are actually an early Falcon variant, the GAR-2A(AIM-4B) designed for this aircraft with the larger surfaces of the GAR-1D, but with the longer nose of the GAR 2 (AIM-4B )....... with me so far?

I am now. Thanks for the info. 

[tigercat2]

Years ago I did an Anigrand '108; not nearly the quality of your work, but I thought it was a pretty good kit.  The read canopy gave me a bit of a hard time.

I added Conformal tanks (from an F-15) and drop tanks (from a B-58), under the theory that on an operational mission, the '108 could blast off from a coastal base, burn the fuel in the externals and CFTs, then punch them off over water, leaving a full internal fuel load for the rest of the mission.  IMHO it would have not made  much sense to scramble a tanker to refuel the '108, at least not on the outbound leg.

I recall reading somewhere that North American claimed that an operational '108 could detect and destroy a hostile target 1000 miles away 30 minutes after takeoff.   Not bad performance for 50 years ago!!

[tigercat2]

Here is a question on the correct shade of "ADC Grey" used in your superb F-103.  In your first five photos, the F-103 is clearly the blue-ish grey of ADC grey, and in the final photos it has more of a tan-ish grey.  I have noticed the same thing in photos of the F-106, F-101s and '102s in various publicaitons.  I did not realize how much difference lighting and background colors make in photographing ADC grey.


Wes W.