Concorde Bomber Variant

[giraffeboy]

Hey there!

I've only just joined this website, and here i plan to show the progress of my build. I bought a 1/72 scale airfix Concorde kit from eBay a while back ( £10 - what a bargain!). I planned to make it as the Concorde prototype, but gave up cus the tail was too difficult . so it lay in a box for a while, til i found out about the infamous Bombcorde that crops up alot on the net.... hmmmm i thought, and then forgot about that idea.... then whilst building a Vulcan, i found that i didn't need the bluesteel from the kit...... and that was when i decided to make a bomber variant of Concorde. Here goes......


The Concorde programme was going well. Pan Am had received its 6 concordes, and had options for a further 2. Airlines all over the world were putting in orders, and in total there were 67 confirmed orders, with further options resulting in a projected total of 100 passenger aircraft.

A freighter variant was nearing the end of development, with the prototype taking its first flight in 1975. Fed Ex had orders for a fleet of 10, with UPS taking options for 6. Worldcargo ltd. took orders for 12 aircraft.

The British government commissioned BAC to build 2 one off VIP aircraft, a sort of Airforce one equivalent, but much faster -----watch this space---------

In 1977, the RAF held secret talks with BAC ( Now part of Airbus) about the possibility to build a military bomber/reconnaissance variant, to replace the Vulcan bomber. After 3 months, and a long study, Airbus reported that it was possible, however it would have to be kept very hush hush, as it would be seen bad for business if the french government found that they were indirectly financing a British military project. The aircraft was named " VALIANT B4 , in tradition with RAF bombers being named beginning with the letter V. The rough specs were :

41,000 dry thrust (upgraded olympuses)
10,000 reheat
Shortened fuselage
Bomb bay
New radar
strengthened wings
More fuel capacity
Titanium Nose / Forward fuselage
Mach 2.45
ceiling 70,000 feet.


Please tell me your ideas, and if you have any comments, on what else to add, please post!  Pics coming soon! 

[rallymodeller]

Sounds cool -- we like to see everyone's builds.

However, search on the site for "Bombcorde" and "Vengeance" to see other variants of the same idea. There is some great semi-official artwork done by BAC showing what their proposal to the RAF looked like back in the Sixties, and elsewhere on the site there is CGI artwork and several build threads. In fact, that may be what led you to this site in the first place as searching Bombcorde on Google leads you here .

[kitnut617]

Like this maybe -----  



And welcome to the forum --- 

[Hobbes]

Welcome to the madhouse, and I like your build idea.

[giraffeboy]

Here's a progress update :

Have cut out a section of the wing and have inserted the blue steel fairing :


















Thanks for the tip rally modeller and yes, that is how i found this site!

And kitnut617, It was your model that inspired me to start! Looks like a great model, what colour scheme are you going to paint it as? thats another thing i need to think about, i was thinking as doing mine like this person's:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17192&mode=threaded&pid=194183

[Maverick]

Welcome aboard GB.  Looks like you're well under way with the conversion.  The Blue-Steel recess looks like a natural fit!

Regarding schemes for the type, since it's toting Blue Steel, I guess anti-flash white is a given like the link you've shown.  That being said, I've done a number of Bombcorde colour profiles over the years that are on my Photobucket account, more specifically here:



Regards,

Mav

[giraffeboy]

Thanks! the only fit problem was with the bulkheads, which i had to cut the bottom off, but other than that, it was ok I think that i might add 2 more nuclear missiles (not bluesteels, but something similar but smaller) and mount these either side.

Wow, great artwork, that exactly the sort of thing I'm planning on doing. I'll defo hav a look at your other colour schemes I've got some decal paper, and plan to print my own decals

Now I'm trying to decide what to do with the nose, do i leave it as it is, or try and create a non drooping one as per the picture? :



btw, here's a quick mock up i did in photoshop ( this is probobly gonna  be used for my 1/144 vip concorde transport) :



And just a interesting pic i found on the net :



It does look rather good with the blue lighning stripe !

[albeback]

Nice! I LIKE that!!

I have started work on a long range strategic reconnaisance version of Concorde. First thing I have done was to make a slight modification to the nose. I didn't want this to really look like a warmed over airliner!!  

I'm not going to shorten the fuselage. The kit is a difficult enough build without even MORE b***** joints to file/fill!! It won't be named Concorde of course and, as a reconnaisance aircraft it wont have a "V" name either. I have one or two ideas in mind!

It won't have have a single fin/rudder either!! Oh no - in Al's Whifworld, single fins are OUT!!

Basic specs ;
Crew of four - Pilot & RSO in tandem upper cockpit. 2 mission specialists in lower/rear cockpit.

Extended wings to allow climb to up to 80,000 ft

Uprated RR Olympus giving max dash speed of 1650 mph

Additional fuel tanks in fuselage

A/c to carry a variety of optical/electronic sensors

Twin fins/rudders - similar to XB-70


This is as far as I have got up to now. Once I have done a bit more work, I'll probably start a new topic

[Radish]

I have a USAF one planned.

Should be ready by the Avon Show.

[giraffeboy]

Cool! There seem to be quite a few What if concordes buzzing about! I have now cut out the rear bomb bay, and have built some what if blue steels to go either side of the main one. Now all i have to do is finish the bomb bay before i join the wings Pics coming soon

Btw, what registration should i give it? its gonna be doing the same role as the vulcan did, and its in about the late 1970's

[giraffeboy]

Brilliant, thanks! I think I will go for XW517 - XW524 for the 10 aircraft, and i think the one i am building shall be XW254 (so it will be the best performance model, as it was the last built, and has had the best construction (a bit like G-BOAF, which is 1 ton lighter than G-BOAC)

[giraffeboy]

* i meant seven aircraft sorry

[giraffeboy]

I have cut out the rear Bomb/equipment bay, and have constructed a basic interior out of plastic card. This has been painted grey, and the wings have been re profiled slightly. The top wings and base wing are now attatched to the fuselage, which is minus the nose section. Pictures to follow!

[anthonyp]

I'm going to move this to the Bench/Aircraft section, since that's where it really needs to be.

BTW, welcome aboard, and I love what you're doing.

[Weaver]

Can't have too many Bombcordes - nice one Giraffeboy and welcome aboard.


Must get back to my flying boat version some time.....