Tail warning radars?

[kitnut617]

Yeah! I've put a Tornado ADV nose on it, when I measured up the Hasegawa F.3 kit is worked out very close in size, but the C-Scale conversion I got from Trevor (Howard of Effingham) seems to be a bit smaller so to get it to match up, I had to put it further out and it makes the nose about 18 scale inches longer.  It's got a sort of F-18 look to it now.

I think the way I've taken the photo also makes it more pronounced, looking at it from other views it looks pretty good.  Maybe the paint scheme I've got planned for it will change it a bit.

[TallEng]

That is a very pointed nose
To my mind it makes it look more 'Eagle' like
(Which is a good thing )

Regards
Keith

[kitnut617]

I've got three F-15E's (Monogram, Hasegawa and Italeri) in 1/72. They're all of the prototype though and I haven't found a kit of a 'production' F-15E yet.  The Hasegawa one comes with parts that you fit instead of the pointed tail boom ends which are small canisters which I presume are some sort of passive detector;



I'm calling it that anyway.

And these are what I'm using for the forward looking ones, they're about the same size as the rear ones;



The rear of these 'outer' rails I think really are flare dispensers, if they're not -- they are on this build --- 

[Gondor]

The rear of these 'outer' rails I think really are flare dispensers, if they're not -- they are on this build --- 

That's close. They are called LAU-138's in US service and have a bottle of Nitrogen at the front to cool the I/R optics of the AIM-9M and a BOL chaff dispenser at the rear of the launcher.

Part Z1 in Hasegawa's Aircraft Weapons VII : X72-12

Gondor

[Diamondback]

Rub is, LAU-138 isn't AMRAAM-compatible--and the nitrogen cooling is for a system Navy Sidewinders use but AF ones don't. Creative re-use!

There's also an AF BOL that mounts on the back of a LAU-125/6/7/8-series called an ALE-58, though if memory serves it's only been seen on a handful of Air National Guard birds.

If memory serves the tail "nipples" (that's what a couple crew-chiefs I've known through various aviation sites have called 'em) are a RHAW if I recall correctly. Off-topic since the main intent here was tail radar systems not F-15 builds , but my own plan for a build I was doing before the model was stolen in a "take everything and sort out later" break-in (God, I ****ing HATE thieves!) was to mount laser IR countermeasures (a mini Nemesis DIRCM, basically) in 'em.

[Devilfish]

I used to work in the Air Warfare Centre at RAF Waddington and my job was to analyse radar systems.  The future of air radar systems is definately AESA (active electronically scanned array) as they are made up of hundreds of small individual transmitters which work together to produce the beam pattern required. 
The point being, as they are made up of these tiny transmitters they will in future, not have to be placed in a traditional "dish" position, but will in future be part of the aircraft's skin and can be placed around the aircraft giving a full 360deg coverage.  That's the future anyway.  But, there is no reason why a group of these units couldn't be fitted to the rear of an airframe, without impacting on the shape too significantly.