Done +++ 1:72 Lockheed F-94B of the Hellenic Air Force, early Sixties

[Dizzyfugu]

LOL, good ideas tend to pop up in different times and places, so this confirms my concept. And I actually thought that the F-94B, in a second life, could have worked well in the strafing role. There were plans for a recce version without radar (and a bulbous nose), too, but the machine's poor ordnance load would not make it a effective bomb attacker. 

[NARSES2]

Seeing with a camo scheme makes you think it's a T-33, and then you notice the MONSTER jetpipe! 

Very much so.

It's amazing the difference your "dirtying up" does as well. Looking really good

[zenrat]

That's looking great Dizzy!

You may not realize it, but you've also done wonders for Zenrat's blood pressure: I was going to make a (non-competition) model by throwing a coat of SEA cammo onto a Heller Starfire and sending it to 'Nam as a USAF ground attack machine, just to annoy him...

You still could.  But you would then have to explain why.

[Dizzyfugu]

There was actually a planned ground attack singe-seater variant of the Stafire (the F-94D, IIRC), but there was only a single semi-prototype (still a two-seater), which was later used as the testbed for the development of the M61 Vulcan gatling gun (with a weird, long nose that house the complete gun installation):

[Weaver]

Wow, I had no idea about the F-94D! 

Looks like somebody's already done the decent thing with it  :







Turns out that the F-94A/B retained the F-80's ability to carry a pair of 1000lb bombs, so it always was a fighter-bomber.

[Dizzyfugu]

Yes, but the bombs could, AFAIK, only be carried at the expense of the wing tip tanks.

Besides, the CG renditions are just remakes of the long-nosed Vulcan testbed, and not of the actual F-94D "as planned". Can a whif be "wrong", though? Interesting question... 

I have never seen a design sketch of the original/real fighter bomber version, though. The only thing I know is that it was to be a single-seater, armed with bombs and missiles under the wings (and not in pods on the leading edge). I wonder what gun armament it was to carry, and in which configuration? I'd assume at least (four?) 20mm cannon in the radar-less nose.

Maybe an F-80/F-94C kitbash could yield something plausible? Would be a nice whif theme, though. 

As an addendum, things were interrupted here because I found that my reservoir of black decal sheet would not yield enough material for the tip tank decoration I want to apply. So I had to order more of the stuff. which has been delayed over the last weekend. 

In the meantime I started another project, though, an 1:72 rendition/re-interpretation of nighthunter's English Electric Thunderbolt (an RAF MiG-15).

[zenrat]

Blessed are the Big Noses...

[Weaver]

I have never seen a design sketch of the original/real fighter bomber version, though. The only thing I know is that it was to be a single-seater, armed with bombs and missiles under the wings (and not in pods on the leading edge). I wonder what gun armament it was to carry, and in which configuration? I'd assume at least (four?) 20mm cannon in the radar-less nose.

Maybe an F-80/F-94C kitbash could yield something plausible? Would be a nice whif theme, though. 

The radar buy of an F-94C was huge: plenty of room for cannons. What occurred to me was to use the nose of a Hasegawa Panther or Cougar with the four 20mm cannon ports. If it's bigger than the F-94's radome, then you can always cut the latter slightly further back, aft of the rocket tube muzzles, to get a wider section to mate the new nose to.

I've floated a couple of ideas for more radical stuff on the Lockheed 'Stars' thread here: http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,21801.msg311108.html#msg311108

[Dizzyfugu]

Some very nice ideas there. 

I actually think about an F-94D now, but I just have another Heller "B" in the stash. adding a single-seat cockpit/canopy should not be too complicated, but the nose leaves much room for speculation.

[Dizzyfugu]

Hmpf, more delays. I wondered why the decal material would not arrive and it seems as if the online shop had not processed the order - so I had to place it again (and wait for some more days until things can move on again)! 

Anyway, I am already busy with the EE Thunderbolt, which might see the finish line before I can direct my attention back to the Hellenic Starfire.

[Weaver]

Some very nice ideas there. 

I actually think about an F-94D now, but I just have another Heller "B" in the stash. adding a single-seat cockpit/canopy should not be too complicated, but the nose leaves much room for speculation.

The F-94D was converted from a -C differences between a -B and a -C are so great that they nearly called the latter the F-97 instead. The rear fuselage of the -C was much fatter to accommodate a J-48 engine with a huge afterburner, it had swept tailplanes and a much thinner wing section. Converting a -B kit to a -C would be difficult and pointless since -C kits are so readily available.

If you want to do something different to a -B, why not do a photo-recce version? Not the LOROP version I proposed on the other thread, but a conventional multi-window job. There was a proposal to convert a -C for this mission that got as far as a flying prototype, and the feature that made it feasible, i.e. the volume in the long nose, also applies to the -B. Most tac recce aircraft of the era were single-seaters too, so you could still do your single-seat conversion and put a useful extra fuel tank in the rear cockpit.

EF-94C:

[Dizzyfugu]

Well, there's a camera nose in the Heller T-33 which could certainly be grafted onto an F-94.

[nighthunter]

Thomas, I may have some Hellenic decals hanging around somewhere in my decal drawer, would you like them?

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you for the offer - but the Hellenic markings are not the problem! It's just simple, uniform decal sheet... 

[nighthunter]

Oh, ok