Lockheed XR-7

[Tomintoul Wildcat]

Thought this might be an opportune moment to start here!! I recently obtained this very hard to find kit at, of all places, a car boot sale!! Among a variety of other items, the seller  had a selection of (mostly sci-fi related) kits for sale. I eagerly grabbed this one!!  He had the honesty to advise that some of the parts  ( engine pods & undercarriage) from the XR-7 had been used on another sci-fi project but, I wasn't going to let that get in the way!!  

These items have masses of "what if" potential. So, I started with the engineless & wheel-less XR-7!  After a bit of research, I turned up a three view ( shown below). This featured engines buried in the fuselage & exhausting over a rear shroud to reduce IR emissions. Far more sensible than these silly pods!! . I started by modifying the upper fuselage as shown in the three-view drawing. Don't think I got the shape quite right but, it'll do. In order to provide exhausts for the Pulse Detonation Engines, I opted to cut a pair of exhaust ports in the lower rear fuselage.

That's as far as I've got. Next job is to find a suitable undercarriage!

One thing that took me by surprise was the size of the models. The SR-75 in particular is HUGE!! The XR-7 is bigger than an F-15!. I've posed the main components next to a 1/72 MiG 15 & F-86 to give a sense of scale!

[Hobbes]

Welcome, you're off to a good start.

That 3-view looks like one of Bagera3005's drawings:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,21956.0.html

[Go4fun]

Very interesting indeed. And that is one huge model indeed.

[Tomintoul Wildcat]

Welcome, you're off to a good start.

That 3-view looks like one of Bagera3005's drawings:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,21956.0.html

I believe you're right.  There was a link to a whole lot of other profiles on the site I found the three view. Very impressive work and a whole bucketload of "what if " material !

[pyro-manic]

Looking good so far. Have you seen General Melchett's build of the same kit from a few years ago?

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,30447.0.html

[bearmatt]

Promising entry here 
Topic notified....

[RotorheadTX]

AAAAARRRRGH!!!!!   

I always hated those stupid podded PDWEngines, couldn't figure out how to un-ugly them, so I gave away my copy of the Thunderdart.
Now I see how to fix it, and I'll probably never find another one.

Talk about spitting-nails ticked-off!!! 


Excellent work! Wish I could emulate it! Keep going!!

[Tomintoul Wildcat]

Progress!!
The lack of engine & undercarriage has made this one of the quickest & easiest builds in ages. There were fewer than 20 parts ledt to assemble. I wasn't concerned about the rather sparse cockpit. All I added were the obligatory masking tape seat belts & left it at that!

The generally excellent fit of parts marred only slightly by the poor fit of the separate nose. The only filler needed was entirely the result of my ham fisted modifications!! The completed airframe looks rather bland & featureless so, I cut off & repositioned the control surfaces for a bit of interest and then added a pair of underwing fins. In the photos, the control surfaces are just held in place with blu tack for now.

Looks a bit messy thanks to Sod's Law of modelling!! I'd built the intake shrouds but neglected to paint the interiors first!! . I adopted a rather crude but effective solution. Revell Aqua Colour Anthrazit thinned about 50-50 with water was applied using my handy pipette!!. A couple of 360 degree rolls ( the model!! Not me!!)to ensure coverage & that did the trick.  Also messy - the process revealed a couple seams I hadn't closed properly so, I just let the excess paint drip out & wiped it off!

I needed an undercarriage & after several combinations I selected the combination shown. Main gear - Airfix Nimrod. Nose gear - Airfix 1/48 Tornado ( I think!). Again, in the photo it is merely held in place for now by blu tack.

Haven't made a final decision on a colour scheme yet. The overall black option in the kit is simply too boring & dull. I don't like the Dark Gunship Grey /black scheme for the SR-75 either.  I want a metallic finish.  I don't own an airbrush so, it'll be rattle cans.  I think a trip to Halfords to check out their range of metallic car paints might be in order!!

PS - thanks Pyro- Manic for the link. I hadn't seen that. What an excellent job the General has done. Something to aspire to. I also found his build of the SR-75. A truly spectacular model. Very hard act to follow.

[Tophe]

Interesting...

[bearmatt]

Looks waaaay better with this landing gear 
And also that you skipped the puls engine nacelles on top. Looking very good now!

[Tomintoul Wildcat]

Well! Apologies for the delay. Here is the finished article. I wasn't impressed with the choioce of colour "scheme" (all black - yawns!!) offerred by the kit. I wanted a metallic finish but not the usual aluminium type. I figured that these awfully clever Lockheed types would come up with a fancy heat resistant metallic paint finish so, I visited my local Halfords for one!!  

I came away with a tin of Ford Light Sapphire Blue. It was a bit darker than the label on the tin but, I rather like it. I wanted a fairly clean finish on this - a top secret aircraft would after all NOT be spending much time outside exposed to the elements, satellites & prying MK 1 eyeballs ! Not very obvious in the photos but, a light application of Pro Modeller Dark Dirt wash gave the darek grey areas ( Revell Aqua - Anthrazit) a slightly streaky/worn look and , some staining to the metallic blue. The lighter metallic areas were brush painted Tamiya Titanium Gold & Titanium silver - again with a light wash of Dark Dirt..

I have of course forgotten the ejection seat warning triangles!! Anyway, that's it. A very simple and enjoyable project AND, even if I say so myself, it looks a whole lot better than the original concept & it's silly pods!!

[PR19_Kit]

I'm sure JayBee said he'd controlled one of them into Macrihannish, er, Campbeltown the other day. 

LOVE the colour scheme. 

[JayBee]

Now, now, Kit.
You know that I would not say anything like that, Official Secrets Act and all that 

Jim

[NARSES2]

Good model, lovely scheme 

[Mr Ten]

Your built-in engines are definetly the best improvement possible for this aircraft. It gives a real credible look over the previous " barrels stuck on upper wings " .

Very nice model !