F-23A photo recon version

[DogfighterZen]

I agree, going by the looks of the weapons pods tested on the Super Hornet, it would never be a normal cylindrical shape.
Those guns pods look very familiar... Are those from a Monogram 1/48 F-5 kit?

Yes they are! About time they get put to some use.

Those guns pods look very familiar... Are those from a Monogram 1/48 F-5 kit?

They look like SUU-23A gun pods carried by F-4s that didn't have guns, but I have no idea what scale they might be.

Thanks, Kerick.  I have a pair of those in the weapons spares box that came with the 1/48 F-5F I've been working on. Not sure but they do look like the the pods you mention, Kit. Maybe they get used if I buy a 1/48 Phantom kit... Or maybe they'll end up being used for some other purpose, who knows? 

[kerick]

IIRC these pods were used by gunless Phantoms over Vietnam but the crews didn't like them as the recoil would knock them off bore sight right away. So we ended up with the F-4E.
I'm going to try to make stealthy tanks by cutting and bending some sheet plastic.

[zenrat]

They had 20mm Vulcans in yes?
So if they are "off bore sight" would it matter?  Just hose them around a bit.  You'll be sure to hit something.   

[Scotaidh]

They had 20mm Vulcans in yes?
So if they are "off bore sight" would it matter?  Just hose them around a bit.  You'll be sure to hit something.   

Yes, but they didn't have endless ammo - a few seconds was all there was.  Not as easy as video games would have you think ...

[zenrat]

They had 20mm Vulcans in yes?
So if they are "off bore sight" would it matter?  Just hose them around a bit.  You'll be sure to hit something.   

Yes, but they didn't have endless ammo - a few seconds was all there was.  Not as easy as video games would have you think ...

What, no magic reloads to pick up?

[kerick]

There was a pic I saw of an A-10 with in addition to its own gun had two of these gun pods strapped on. Something about strafing convoys or some such.

[Old Wombat]

There was a pic I saw of an A-10 with in addition to its own gun had two of these gun pods strapped on. Something about strafing convoys or some such.

For when a GAU-8 is just too much gun!

[kerick]

I read a story once about an A-37 pilot in Vietnam who rolled in on a target that was a straw and bamboo hut. He was armed with a mini gun in the nose of the A-37 and two in pods under the wing. The hut exploded into a cloud of splinters and straw when he cut loose with all three guns. Imagine what that A-10 gun pod combo would do to just about anything.

I have a really terrible problem here. The weather is so nice that I end up doing all these outdoor projects instead of model building. Really cutting into production! I'll have to start doing my rain dance to create some bad weather so I can be inside and work on this project!

[zenrat]

...I have a really terrible problem here. The weather is so nice that I end up doing all these outdoor projects instead of model building. Really cutting into production! I'll have to start doing my rain dance to create some bad weather so I can be inside and work on this project!

I wouldn't worry.  It'll be along soon enough.

[kerick]

So true! Thunderstorms in the area today so no outdoor projects to distract me. I'm going to make the stealth fuel tanks today.

[Rick Lowe]

There was a pic I saw of an A-10 with in addition to its own gun had two of these gun pods strapped on. Something about strafing convoys or some such.

The F-4s in Vietnam (callsign Chico) used 3X 20mm pods - centreline and outer wing stations - for just that.


Probably killed more trees than 'Suspected Truck Parks', but there you go.


The Vulcan they mounted on the HueyCobra was de-tuned a bit (750 rpm, IIRC), so maybe they did the same there?

https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/equip/m195.htm


And the regular unit was changeable from 3,000 to 6,000 rpm stock-standard.