RNZAF TA-4K Mark II

[FAR148]

Well here's what new with my MkII. Time for alittle weapons update, 30mm gun pods. Like the IAF Skyhawks, my Mk II will have them too. I was going to scratchbuild two but I got another Skyhawk project down the road and it would be nice to have some gun pods for her too. So, I'm going make one then mold and cast copies. Lets get started! My 30mm gun pod started life as an AIM-120. After checking various photo references, I figured out how big the pod was going to be and started shaping it. Once I was happy with the shape, I scribed a few lines and remarked a few rivets. To get the pod ready for rubber, I glued the pod to a small strip of styrene and glued it to a lego block (pins sanded/filled) as a casting block. Note the green arrow, showing what direction is forward.



Here you can see my master part on it's casting block and in it's mold box. I like using legos for mold boxes. They can be made quickly and are reusable. With some white glue, I sealed up the mold box. Why white glue? Two reasons. First, it's not permanent and once dry you can easily peal it off the lego blocks. And second, it does not react to the rubber(or RTV). I have found other glues sometime "gas off" as they dry and can react with the rubber causing it not to cure around the glue.



For me, the trickest part about molding and casting ones own parts is just how much rubber or resin to use. So most of the time I try to mold(and cast) more then one thing at a time. A main and a secondary mold. The secondary mold is usually smaller. I try to mix up enough rubber to fill my main mold and any left overs goes to the secondary mold. I do the same when it come time to pour resin, mix up enough resin to pour my main part(s) and the left overs gets poured into other molds for extra parts.


Here's the end result, two 30mm gun pods!



Until later,
Steven L 

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

And they are retailing for how much ??

Ian

[PR19_Kit]

How about a pic of the mould after it's been made please? So we can see how and where you pour the resin.

[FAR148]

And they are retailing for how much ??

Ian

 
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,36447.0.html

How about a pic of the mould after it's been made please? So we can see how and where you pour the resin.

Until later,
Steven L 

[Martin H]

pretty much how I go about moulding and casting

The Wooksta uses the same methods as well.

[PR19_Kit]

Fascinating, thanks. 

I love the idea of using Lego bricks as a 'foundation' for the mould. 

[FAR148]

Well the aluminum tubing that I'm using for her gun barrals showed up today. Got them all mocked up and really happy with how they turned out.



Moving to the rear, you can see I added an extra chaff/flare box and placed the brake parachute housing. The green line show it where I filled the seam from the two fuselage halves. But where the green line ends there is a panel that runs to the tail where the extra chaff/ flare box is mounted. After the filling and sanding I went back and rescribed a few panel lines.



I added a bump of resin for the updated radar warning receiver.



I also cut and shaped some strip styrene for the ILS aerials on the tail.



On to the fun stuff, Weapons!
For left to right, One AIM-9X(hasegawa) on a LAU-129(resin copy from academy F-15K), Two GBU-38(hasegawa) mounted on BRU-57(shull24), drop tank on centerline(kit parts), two GBU-12(Revell)mounted on BRU-57(Shull24), Shorty targeting pod(Far parts) and the two 30 mm gun pod(Far parts).



More to Come!
Steven L  

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Looking good from here 

Ian

[Captain Canada]

Wow...this is going to be awesome ! Love the weapons load. I love Scooters all bombed up.

[Daryl J.]

Great!  I'm enjoying this tremendously.

And this may inspire additional sales of the soon-to-be-rereleased TA-4J.

[NARSES2]

Looking good from here 

Ian

From here as well - love watching your builds 

[kerick]

Is the BRU-57 the same rack as the navy first used with the F-18 A/B Hornets?

[FAR148]

Is the BRU-57 the same rack as the navy first used with the F-18 A/B Hornets?

The Smart Rack has two configurations. The BRU-57/A is for use initially by the Air Force on the F-16 and the BRU-55/A is for use by the Navy on the F/A-18.
More info here....http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/bru-57.htm



HTH,
Steven L 

[kerick]

Thanks

[Ian the Kiwi Herder]

Same subject, Steven. That BRU-55/57 is that a casting or from a kit/weaps set ??

Ian