F-5U Morsair (December 2004 - May 2008)

[John Howling Mouse]

Wasn't satisfied with any of the potential donors for prop spinner hub covers so I quickly glued/puttied/sanded then cut a fuel tank's tip for a more aerodynamic nosecone...

[Tophe]

Did the rough pattern for the canopy and cast a couple of spares in case my Dremel slips...yawn...   :zzz:

You convinced me, Barry: scratch-building is far above my level. Congratulations to your being able to do that, but this is reserved to a very few top modellers, obviously. I remember canopies (and canopy/fuselage new joining) was my main problem in what-if modeling...
Though, TSR-Joe's models brought a hope to myself: as I don't care of pilot seat and control panel, I do not need a clear canopy at all. So... I can use plastic and putty freely, then paint in black my plane canopy/eye... This is very promising and may provide success to my going back in modelism. Thanks to you all  

[nev]

*insert obligatory compliments and comments of amazement*

re: 50cals mixed with cannon, I'm struggling to think of a US WW2 era fighter that used cannon at all.  Heck, even in Korea their F-86s were still armed with MGs rather than cannon (resulting in lots of Mig-15s returning to base peppered with bullet holes but no serious damage).  I do know that a lot of aces (on all sides) insisted on tracer being taken out of their guns - they wanted the first their prey knew of them to be when their plane was being hit.

[Ollie]

Go for all-20mm armament, nothing rips apart an airframe like 20mm shells, and you can do nasty things to troops with them too!

Anyone remembers "Saving Private Ryan" and the nasty 20mm gun the Waffen SS use at the end??

     

[Ollie]

Nev, they had P-51As with 4 20mm guns, night fighting Hellcats and Corsairs had them.

F8F had 4 20mm, and although it didn't fought in anything, it was in service just before the end of the war.

Black Widow had 4 20mm guns.

 :ar:    

[John Howling Mouse]

And what, precisely, defines the distinction b/w "machine gun" and "cannon" anyway?  I was scanning a debate about this topic on the 'net once and several self-proclaimed experts could not come to a joint conclusion.  Some said it had to do with calibre, others with mechanics of the weapon itself.

I know Tophe may be thinking that, in the end----both do the same thing: destroy whatever their rounds hit.  But mine are plastic only and the rounds would be only about one mm diameter.  Feels only like a mildly irritating pinch to a six-foot-tall man...  

Here's a more recent piece on MG vs Cannon:

http://www.simhq.com/_air/air_028a.html

[Ollie]

Barry, the difference is easy.

Machine guns do this sound when they fire "Takatakatakatakatak..."

The bullets do this when they whizz by "piouuuuu..."

And when they hit "poc-poc-poc".

Canons go "pof-pof-pof-pof", then the rounds "veee-veee-veee-veee" and finally "prrrr-boom-pprr-bormu...."

:dum:  

[Tophe]

Canons go, then the rounds "prrrr-boom...."

2 canons = twin-prrr-boom?    

[nev]

Anyone remembers "Saving Private Ryan" and the nasty 20mm gun the Waffen SS use at the end??

On the paras climbing all over the Tiger?  Yeah, that was pretty horrific    

[Ollie]

Horrific yes, but a cool scene nonetheless.  That ought to teach those US airborne to leave them Tigers alone...



Seriously, the reason I love that scene is because of the noise made by the gun "blak-blak-blak-blak".

Frighteningly annoying!

 

[retro_seventies]

I can't believe that it's taken me so long to post on here...i'm SO sorry Barry!

LOVE the plane - its very interesting to see where you are going with this, and if you get a kick out of it it could be the start of a series of "normalised" planes!

radial mustang next?

single boom lightning?

Really great stuff Baz, and the in progress shots really give a feel for how it's coming (my heart goes out to you with those wings)

[Tophe]

it could be the start of a series of "normalised" planes!
radial mustang next?
single boom lightning?

There has been a true Radial-engine Mustang (see Aerospace Projects Review for details, my free book for a simple profile). And I have turned this F-5U kit into a radial-engined F-51U in a topic of this forum.
I had posted also a single-boom P-38 (UAV, pilotless) in another topic some months ago. If you don't find any, I may search or post again here.
These were nice dreams, yes, thanks to the dreamers...  

[Joe C-P]

And what, precisely, defines the distinction b/w "machine gun" and "cannon" anyway?

Cannon can fire explosive shells.

The P-38 was armed with 4 .50s and 1 20mm.

[John Howling Mouse]

...it could be the start of a series of "normalised" planes!

radial mustang next?

single boom lightning?

^_^  In my model project spreadsheet, I do have a whole bunch of "normalized" concepts:
- Viggen with "regular" wing structure;
- Mirage 2000 with "regular" wing structure;
- An-74 with regular underslung engine pods;
- T-33 and CF-100 both "modernized" with swept wings/tail (all tips to be more squared off);
- Normalized Ekranoplan to become a standard, ground-based T-Tail cargoplane;
- Turn the inverted nose of an F-94 to a more normal profile (make an oversized F-80, in other words);
- Convert a Fairey Rotodyne into a normal cargo plane;
- Normalize and somewhat enlarge a Dornier Skyservant (relocate the weird, nose-mounted engine nacelles to normal ones slung under wings);
- F-102 and/or F-106 with regular wings (like those of a Mirage F.1);
- Convert the Shinmeiwa, Stranraer and the Marlin seaplanes into regular land-based cargo planes;
- Put a regular, single-finned tail on a B-25 Mitchell bomber;
- Convert a Harrier into a regular format single or twin-engined (flow-through jet engine) strike attack aircraft (no VTOL capability);
- Replace VG wings on F-14, Tornado, and F-111 with fixed wings;
- Turn the V-22 Osprey into a straight-forward helicopter (this project has recently stalled on me...but Jason should be getting the left-over wings any day now!)

[Ollie]

Ok, let's see...

- Viggen : keep the delta wing, move it forward and put the canards on the middle of the fin...  

- An-74, it has been done, it's called the An-74-300 and is sold by Antonov...    

- T-33 : there was this prokect, Skyfox I think about a T-33 very modernised with a supercritical wing and all the stuff.

- F-94 : inverting the nose would make it a kind of armed T-33, no?  They're both two seaters.  While at it, give the man in the back a pair of .50s to defend the plane since he's facing backwards!  

- Dornier Skyservant : what you are planning was done by Dornier, it's called a Dornier Do 228!!  They used a Skyservant and modified it to the new configuration before selling it!    

Barry, that's bad, you have 3 projects scooped by the real builders!      

But do them, it'll be amazing!!!