DONE +++ 1:72 Temco YT2T-1 "Buckskin"; NATC, Patuxent River, 1960

Dizzyfugu · September 10, 2016, 07:46:19 AM

A couple of days ago, Captain Canada came up with this interesting find:

I find this photoshpped TT-1 "Pinto" rather interesting (even though some details are rather fishy), and actually one of the Special Hobby kits even comes with appropriate decals for this blue USN variant. So let's see if I can get one into hardware until the deadline...

"Let's do the time warp again".

Captain Canada · September 10, 2016, 07:55:58 AM

We have no doubts lol

JayBee · September 10, 2016, 08:38:01 AM

That has to be one of the worst aberrations that I have ever seen.
Who could do such a thing to such a lovely little aeroplane, and just what is it's role in training?

I love it!

Dizzyfugu · September 11, 2016, 04:56:54 AM

Yesterday's status: fuselage halves have been closed, and the front engine (once a Merlin from a Hobby Boss Hurricane...) has been mounted and more or less blended with the fuselage. Wings have been prepared, to be mounted today. Also prepped: the tail booms, I had a pair from a Revell Flitzer which match very well in size. Need to add fairings to the wings, though, to mount them, and the Flitzer stabilizer is missing (went into a Fw 190 Zwilling some time ago...). Found the tail from a He 162 that will be modified.
Also found a pair of appropriate propellers in the donor bank - from a vintage Revell box scale Tradewind flying boat!

Progress is good, but I am still sceptical about making it in time for the deadline...

zenrat · September 11, 2016, 05:01:30 AM

Do you ever sleep?

Dizzyfugu · September 11, 2016, 07:48:36 AM

I also do eat. Just brathing is difficult in the coffin, or hanging upside down from the ceiling... Gotta ask Renfield where the saw blades are.

Old Wombat · September 11, 2016, 09:48:29 AM

Waiting for pic's!

Dizzyfugu · September 11, 2016, 11:49:15 PM

No time for pics, gotta push the kit over the finish line...

Besides, after day #2 the tail booms and the stabilizer have been mounted, as well as the wings plus the tip tanks. A new well for the front wheel had to be "dug out" from the new nose.
Landing gear struts have also been mounted, as well as a modified intake/exhaust arrangement for the two turpoprop engines: the front engine will breathe through a ring intake around the spinner and have a single exhaust on starboard, while the rear engine breathes thorugh a single scoop intake on portside and use the original jet exhaust (made smaller, though) with the pusher propeller above, where the TT-1's tail boom once was. Overall outlines remind me a lot of a D.H. Venom and the F6U Pirate - but the thing does not look bad at all!

Dizzyfugu · September 12, 2016, 03:04:33 AM

By the way, I found another rendition of the "Buckskin":

The comments going with it also explain some of the dubious details I wondered about: "The Temco Model 63 Buckskin was offered to the U.S. Navy as a cheaper alternative to the TT-1 Pinto, which had not been ordered in quantity. The sole Buckskin prototype presented a twin-boom configuration and its sole engine drove two propellers in push-pull configuration across the fuselage."

I have doubts about this technical setup, though (just think about the weight and compexity of the gearboxes, and the respective loss of power?), so my interpretation will rather feature two separate engines.

Captain Canada · September 12, 2016, 04:40:49 AM

Good point. Also be interesting to se the landing gear layout.

Dizzyfugu · September 12, 2016, 05:09:53 AM

That's OOB - the main wheels retract inwards into the wings, the struts are pretty long and the track wide, but I can keep this solution as the tail booms grow out of the wings' upper side and leave the lower surfaces clean. The front wheel uses the original position, retracting forward under the front engine - I'll just use a slightly longer and beefier strut and wheel from a He 162. Since this morning, the kit stands on its own two legs - even though there had been casualities... a crash from the workbench ripped the booms apart, I hope that the repair won't cost too much extra time.

Dizzyfugu · September 12, 2016, 09:02:04 AM

On popular demand, here's some footage from the work bench.

Day #1 (Saturday):

1:72 Temco YT2T-1 "Buckskin", Naval Air Test Center (NATC); Patuxent River, 1960 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Temco YT2T-1 "Buckskin", Naval Air Test Center (NATC); Patuxent River, 1960 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Day #2 (Sunday):

1:72 Temco YT2T-1 "Buckskin", Naval Air Test Center (NATC); Patuxent River, 1960 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Temco YT2T-1 "Buckskin", Naval Air Test Center (NATC); Patuxent River, 1960 - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Almost looks like an aircraft!

Captain Canada · September 12, 2016, 09:17:54 AM

That looks awesome !

Old Wombat · September 13, 2016, 01:25:32 AM

Actually, it looks a lot like an aircraft. Very good start!

Dizzyfugu · September 13, 2016, 01:33:57 AM

Thanks a lot. The crash two days ago was not severe; yesterday I added some more extra details and fought with the canopy (somehow, after rhinoplasty, it turned out to be too short?!

), but I got so far that a coat of basic paint (FS 35042) could dry over night. This morning I did some panel shading - I hope I can add final paint details today, apply decals and maybe even varnish, so that I could have a photo session tomorrow. Not certain if it will be enough for edited beauty pics, but overview pics on a runway base should work.

Keep the fingers crossed - it looks good at the moment for the Buckskin to cross the finish line just in time!