Sequoiaranger industries Turbo Tigercat C.O.I.N aircraft.

chrisonord · November 20, 2009, 08:21:41 AM

Much like the OA-47 turbo thunderbolt that was reverse engineered for the Honduras airforce, this Tigercat started life as a museum piece in dire need of a rebuild. The donor aircraft was stripped and parts copied and built from modern materials, and the engines replaced with a pair of very powerful turbo prop motors.The wings are a mix of aluminium titanium and composite materials, making them lighter, and able to carry a wide range of ordnance and internal fuel. The avionics are modern items also, and the pilot sits in an A-10 style titanium bath for protection. Four fixed 20 mm cannon are in the nose, along with a GAU-25 equaliser 6 barrelled cannon in a pod on the centre line pylon. This pylon is plummed for a ferry tank, and can also carry a MER, or electronics pods with only minor modification.The aircraft is also capable of carrying air to air missiles as well as most air to ground ordnance used by the Honduras Airforce. Also available for this aircraft is a nose mounted night operations sensor suite, this is built into a seperate nose section and can be quick changed within 1 hour due to its plug and play construction.
A maritime version is on the drawing board also, and this aircraft will also be multi mission capable, with various weapons/sensor suites that can be swapped over, and a moments notice.
The kit is the Aoshima F7f Tigerat in 1/72nd scale, I got this along with an old monogram one from Craig (Sequoiaranger) hence the name of the company that did the build in my back story.
Upgrades for it are, scratch built turbo engines, aeroclub avro shackleton contra props, plastic pipe for the exhausts, F-18 drop tanks for the wing tip tanks, evergreen strip for the pylons, and the gun pod is made from the target drogue unit from the Hasegawa air to air set.
Cheers,
Chris.

Ed S · November 20, 2009, 09:40:54 AM

Well done. The F7F makes a good COIN bird. The new engines look great.

Ed

sequoiaranger · November 20, 2009, 10:15:42 AM

Or flatulent. Not sure which. Maybe both.

So you used the Aoshima one for this whif? Wasn't that a nice kit? Most Aoshima stuff I have had in 1/72 scale has been rather crude, inaccurate, and ill-fitting. This one seemed the best Aoshima kit I had ever seen, even though maybe a product of the 80's. I had intended to make it a civilian "executive transport" with a long, glazed passenger compartment (maybe a TBF canopy sunk into the fuselage a bit) that could hold a few extra V.I.P's in tandem. Never got around to making it, and probably never would, so it's a win-win for all.

I'm glad to see it built into such a nice rendition.

BlackOps · November 20, 2009, 10:25:37 AM

This does look nice indeed!

chrisonord · November 20, 2009, 10:38:54 AM

Quote from: sequoiaranger on November 20, 2009, 10:15:42 AM
Or flatulent. Not sure which. Maybe both.

So you used the Aoshima one for this whif? Wasn't that a nice kit? Most Aoshima stuff I have had in 1/72 scale has been rather crude, inaccurate, and ill-fitting. This one seemed the best Aoshima kit I had ever seen, even though maybe a product of the 80's. I had intended to make it a civilian "executive transport" with a long, glazed passenger compartment (maybe a TBF canopy sunk into the fuselage a bit) that could hold a few extra V.I.P's in tandem. Never got around to making it, and probably never would, so it's a win-win for all.

I'm glad to see it built into such a nice rendition.

Hya Craig, I am glad you like what I did with the Tigercat, I wanted to make as good a job of it as possible, the other one is going to be a bit different, and I am thinking of modding the fuselage also, maybe putting a big bulge in the belly of it for sensors and fuel.
The kit was a bit awkward to fit in places, especially where the engine pods, meet the wings, and along the top edge of the tail, but other than that, it was an ok build.
Cheers,
Chris.

Sauragnmon · November 20, 2009, 01:28:04 PM

Quite an interesting looking critter you have there, Chris - she turned out nicely.

Weaver · November 20, 2009, 01:49:18 PM

Oh that's very pretty - a Tigercat with engine pods that finally match the fuselage shape....

Makes me wonder about a close-cowled in-line piston-engined one with wing leading-edge radiators.....

You're coming up with some nice paint schemes of late and this is another one - well done!

chrisonord · November 20, 2009, 01:57:18 PM

Cheers for that

I have started the engine pods already for my next turbo tigercat, the next one wil be a lot more modified than this one, possibly even stretched in the fuselage depatment, and a tripple tail

We shall see
Chris.

ysi_maniac · November 26, 2009, 05:53:50 AM

Perfec concept and execution!

I must admit that I love Tigercat

Stargazer · November 26, 2009, 06:50:04 AM

Nice !!!

Army of One · November 29, 2009, 02:30:16 PM

Awesome build...love it.......have you any close up pics of engine/exhaust plse. Any info on what you did to scratch build the engine housing plse....been wanting to try to do this sort of mod myself on various aircraft but would not know were to start...any help appreciated......

chrisonord · November 29, 2009, 03:01:26 PM

I don't have any close up pics of the tigercat, as my camera is crap......on a good day.
what I did to build the engine conversion involves lots and lots of putty, some plastic tubing and some lengths of sprue. I stuck some plastic card over the front opening of the original engine cowls, the stuck a short length of plastic pipeto the card, dead central, then glued some short lengths of sprue, round the pipe to bulk it out. The the tonnage of putty, begins. I built up the putty at an angle tothe end of the tube and the outer edge of the cowl. Then, I just let it go off and repeat until I started to get somewhere near the shape wanted. I then got an old screw that I cut the head off the screw, and put it into the back of the cowling where the prop goes in, then put this into my cordless drill.
I then set the drill going slowly and used a sanding block set at an angle and gently sanded the shape in. They needed more putty, as there were a few troughs here and there but they came out ok eventually. One thing to note is not to put any pressure on the engine as you are turning it as the heat generated can cause some nasty problems, just take your time with them.
The intakes are made from plastic tube cut at an angle and superglued on, and the exhausts are also very simple bits of smaller diameter plastic pipe, cut at an angle and sanded to fit.
Dead easy really.
Chris.

Army of One · November 29, 2009, 03:35:43 PM

Chris.......

...many thanks...just had a problem on how to get started......I thought of doing it all out of putty...thought it would be to heavy....never thout of building it up first n using less putty....many thanks

chrisonord · November 29, 2009, 03:54:05 PM

Glad to be of help Hank
I thought about just a solid lump of putty, but the putty slug would fall off as it would not have enough to grip onto.The sprue gives it that bit more grip as well as not needing as much putty. Plus it makes the final product cheaper

I have just done another tigercat, but the engines are different on that one, as they have the intakes built in and the cowls are narrower and more of an oval shape,similar to those on a P-3 for example.
Cheers,
Chris.

Army of One · November 29, 2009, 04:13:16 PM

At work at the moment n looking at the internet...it would seem that if the engine is nose mounted a large exhaust on either side (Tucano) and wing mounted can be rear (C130J).....requires an intake or two......any other rules.....a lot seem to have almost flush intakes on the side as on the C130J......as you can tell I am not mech minded....just don't wanna spend a lot of time doing something and make a glaring mistake.......