F-23A photo recon version

kerick · April 18, 2019, 09:48:49 PM

I hand painted on some grey as a primer and puttied a couple of small spots. Real life is pretty busy these days so progress has been slow. Now that the weather is warming up I might be able to bring out the airbrush in the garage and do some decent painting.

NARSES2 · April 19, 2019, 05:49:21 AM

Glad there's still a little progress being made

Real life comes first however so we will see her, as and when

kerick · April 19, 2019, 09:03:32 AM

Its still under construction but between the run up to Easter and my son getting married soon things are piling up. I have to steal a few minutes when I can no matter what the project.

Captain Canada · April 19, 2019, 10:15:09 AM

Very nice. Lots of work going into this one eh !

kerick · April 19, 2019, 05:43:08 PM

I still want to build the sensor port under the lengthened part of the fuselage. I'm going to take a hint from the F-35 EOTS port under the nose.

kerick · April 27, 2019, 09:35:59 PM

The last stage of PSR is complete!!!

I attached the control surfaces back to their original places but in a lowered position. The white plastic is material I added to bring them into a shape that fit properly in a lowered position.

Now I have to build the sensor windows like the F-35 EOTS, just bigger.

Captain Canada · April 28, 2019, 02:50:50 PM

Looks so good

kerick · April 28, 2019, 06:44:08 PM

I have to try and fit the vertical(?) stabs. Fit is as bad as other parts of this kit.

kerick · May 06, 2019, 11:15:22 AM

I've been working on the sensor windows lately. Started with some large plastic sequins.

I glued several layers of plastic together and cut some angled surfaces. I CA glued sequins to the surfaces and trimmed to fit. I had to replace the sequin parts a couple of time until I got it right.

I think it sits too high right now. I'll try to sand it down so it's less high than wide. It's just sitting in place right now until painting is done. At least I got the surfaces presentable as I ran out of usable CA glue. I know its bigger than the F-35 EOTS but I'm saying this is an earlier version that's a little more bulky.

NARSES2 · May 07, 2019, 06:33:33 AM

Imaginative use of those sequins. Impressive

PR19_Kit · May 07, 2019, 12:00:12 PM

An awesome looking pod there, and very stealthy too I bet.

kerick · May 08, 2019, 10:01:32 PM

I built a new version of the EOTS sensor windows. Looks much better to me. A lot sleeker yet still bigger than the F-35. Since this would be an earlier version I'm ok with that.

New version compared to the old version.

Now I have to fit the tail fins.

Caveman · May 09, 2019, 12:24:08 AM

Maybe it's bigger because it has more than one sensor behind the glass? Being a dedicated Recce bird

TheChronicOne · May 09, 2019, 08:43:53 AM

Good deal!! Pretty nifty technique there. I'll have to remember that for future pilfering.

kerick · May 09, 2019, 09:15:38 AM

Quote from: Caveman on May 09, 2019, 12:24:08 AM
Maybe it's bigger because it has more than one sensor behind the glass? Being a dedicated Recce bird

Actually the F-35 has several sensors built into the EOTS. Beauty of it is how it's all tied together into one system. Combined with the helmet system and cameras mounted outside the pilot can see in a total sphere around the aircraft, even look straight down through the floor of the cockpit. And not just in visual spectrum but IR too.

I'm going with it's an F-35 concept but earlier version with bulkier gear plus maybe some other spooky stuff requiring a bigger window. Works for whiff world!