COIN Aircraft from a Hawk

[nighthunter]

Hmmm, I cooked up an idea for a Hawk COIN conversion, too - I might pursue the Pucara-ish idea, with classic straight wings, turboprops and probably a T-tail, but I have to check if the parts I have in mind actually match in size and shape! 
Also an idea for user and livery: I think Australia lacks an appropriate aircraft, and that wouzld eventually be a good excuse to apply RAAF C-130 three-tone cammo (I think these are B-52G colors?) as a wraparound scheme, coupled with low-viz markings:

[img]

At least, this idea/concept made it on the project list - will take a while, and some reality check.

Thanks a lot for the inspiration!     

Dizzy, those colors are in fact a B-52 Scheme for SEA, comprising of:
Top:
FS 34079
FS 34201
FS 34159

Underside:
FS 36622

[Dizzyfugu]

Yep, cross-checked that, too 

Looks great on other aircraft, too, and I might end up with what I used on the Kfir, Humbrol 83, 31 and a very dark olive drab (think I used RAL 6014, Gelboliv, from the Humbrol authentic range) instead of the 'correct' 116.

[Dizzyfugu]

Any progress here? 

[silverwindblade]

No, I was away from home last weekend, and I don't really get any modelling done during weeknights due to my schedule. I'm hoping to pick up some parts to donate on Saturday morning, and then do a little more over the precious little free time I have this coming weekend.

[Dizzyfugu]

  

[Dizzyfugu]

Good news here: fought through the kit pile in the basement, and found the potential donation wings I had in mind for my aforementioned idea for a Hawk COIN conversion - the unlikely wings fit in size and shape, and even bring engine nacelles to the mash-up-party! So, there's a sister ship in the dark and long pipeline - or at least on the project list. 

[silverwindblade]

Sounds good to me! I look forward to seeing what you cook up for your version of the same idea

[Dizzyfugu]

Looking forward to yours, too! I think they'll look VERY different, but it's always intersting to see different interpretations of the same basic idea. 

[silverwindblade]

So, as the weekend rolled around, I got a little bit more work done on this. Not as much as I'd like, due to various things, but I still got some things done.

I got hold of one of the 1/100 A-10's that Dizz suggested - unfortunately, I underestimated it's size! A 1/72 would definitely have worked a heck of a lot better - but never mind, as it's worked out well enough.



I used the outers from the A-10 wings to graft onto the wing I'd already constructed, and they look pretty good. I also used the tail from the scrapped F-16X, as that's suffered a catastrophic undercarriage 'incident', and it looks pretty good.



It's looking pretty streamlined now, which is great, but there's a lot of smoothing over and puttying needed to bring it together. Especially on the bottom of the wings, and where they join the fuselage.



It's turned into a pusher-prop, single engine too - the Mohawk props I ordered were way bigger than I thought with the blades attached, and in 'pods' on the fuselage they stuck out too much, and there wasn't enough ground clearance to mount them on the wings. So, one engine at the rear it is. Which means there's a kind of Scaled Composites vibe going on now - but I'm liking it, and it's pretty close to what I originally envisaged.

I'm going to set aside some time to work on it during the week, and it's also a bank holiday weekend next weekend!

[kerick]

I like the fuel tanks positioned mid wing. Gives it a very different look.
I'll be watching this one!

[Captain Canada]

That's looking pretty wild !

[silverwindblade]

The fuel tanks will be the location of the main gear - I've turned them into sponsons/landing gear wells. I might also locate the cannons there too.

Also, I'm not sure whether to put wingtip rails on the ends of the wings, or tip tanks.

[Dizzyfugu]

Cool!  And I see that 1:100 A-10 wings have grown!

I am still pondering about "my" interpretation, cooking up a background story. I currently work on an anime character figure (a Tatjana Wiszla from 'last Exile', if that tells anyone anything?), but I'm wildly decided to add a (more conservative, though) sister ship to your bold creation. The Hawk really has potential for a ground attack aircraft - wonder why I never got that link...?

[silverwindblade]

Yeah, the 1/100 wings as a whole were too small. But I still got some use out of them!
I know Last Exile well, too. It was a good series!
I'll look forward to seeing your interpretation, and I'm hoping to work on my own one a lot more this week, and edge it a lot closer to completion.

[jsport]

lookin good.