AN-12BKM Civilian Gunship ***FINISHED***

[TheChronicOne]

Been rather ill, but feeling a bit better for now so back to work!

I've done putty work on the engine to wing fitment. Probably not the best but at this stage, I'm going to get it all together, prime, then let that lead me to my next decision concerning PSR.



With all that in mind......... .  . . .   

I've masked all the little fuselage windows, glued the wings on, glued the stabs on, glued the nose on, glued the windscreen area on, and glued the gunners house on.  There will be more PSR for some of these areas then I'll go ahead and mask those and prime it.  I actually bought a masking set for this!! It will save hours and frustration and therefore worth every damn penny.

So, here she is for now sitting in my Handy Hands clampy-thing. As luck would have it, it looks like it would in action firing on mountain sides. 

[sykotik]

I'm really warming to the overall look of this aircraft. There's something really quite beautiful about it's lines.
I love the idea of turning it into a gunship still
Got any ideas on a colour scheme?

[TheChronicOne]

I agree!! I noticed the same earlier, after I glued the wings to the fuselage.  There's a slight "dip" or whatever at the ends of the wings that is aesthetically pleasing, like a birds wing. Also, for being a cargo craft it's somewhat "slender."  It seems more aerodynamic. The supposed counterpart is the Hercules and it's easy to tell that the Herk seems(is) larger and bulkier. Of course, the An-12 is smaller and all that but all else considered the shape of it is more streamlined and kind of sexy.

And.... yeah buddy, I have a livery!



"A" like a mountain peak, background won't be quite as dark but rather more subdued "purple" color for mountains in the distance. The rest is just a green bottom with red stripe. Saw this type of livery before occasionally on other civvie birds.

[Tophe]

Congratulations!

[Rick Lowe]

Cool! 

[TheChronicOne]

Thanks y'all!!! Back at it today, I think. I did some PSR stuff yesterday but still need to fill in a wee bit by the cockpit and do the masks. I can do these at the same time if careful. Hopefully by afternoon I can prime it. I'm quite happy to have this project back on track. It's my baby!!! I want to see it done then I'll be the only person on the planet with a civilian gunship!!   

[Rick Lowe]

I'll be the only person on the planet with a civilian gunship!!   

That they're admitting to... I'm looking at YOU, Blackwater...

[TheChronicOne]

Now that would be a great project to model!


"n August 2017, it emerged that infamous private military contractor Erik Prince was proffering up the idea of privatizing the war in Afghanistan to both that country's leadership and U.S. government officials, including offering to create a mercenary air arm to aid beleaguered Afghan troops. A more detailed breakdown of what that force could have looked like, such as plans to turn Russian-made An-26 cargo planes into gunships and acquire AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters, has now emerged."
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/16797/blackwater-founders-private-afghan-air-arm-pitch-included-an-26-gunships-and-ah-1-cobras

Hey how bout that!

[Rick Lowe]

Yikes, truth really is stranger than fiction... and a joking, offhand remark can often be something that exists in the real world... 

[TheChronicOne]

Nutty stuff, aye!!!


I have the masks on and am preparing to prime the gunship:

[zenrat]

And then, given that its in the private contractors interest that conflict continues, you make the same offer to the other side...

[TheChronicOne]

This sounds sort of like our glorious for-profit prison system!  Play both sides of the field!

[zenrat]

This sounds sort of like our glorious for-profit prison system!  Play both sides of the field!

Absolutely.  And if you can also privatise the police and the justice system then they are perfectly placed to ensure prisons are always as (over) full as possible (better build more...) and thus making maximum profits.
That's how capitalism works.

[TheChronicOne]

Not too long ago (well, I say that... it's probably been 12 years or so now) here there were plans to build another large prison directly across from the large prison they built in the late 90's early 2000's. Both private, of course. It was a big hub-bub and all in the news for awhile.... then......    Nothing. Somewhere along the line the project was quietly done away with for reasons to this day I can't ascertain. I can't help but wonder if they thought it a bit too obvious to start building prisons across from other prisons   

In more important news..        She's primed!!! I'll let it sit a day or two then go over it to see if anything needs filled or sanded. The wing areas look beautiful. I'm VERY happy with how they turned out because the gaps were BAD. However, I can already see problems around the cockpit area and nose so we'll see....

[Old Wombat]

She looks good in her underwear!