*** FINISHED *** M.A.D. C.A.T.

[NARSES2]

It still amazes me after all these years just how well a coat of primer brings everything together  That really does look the business 

I'm boggling at the thought processes that led from a Catalina to this!

As is my brain 

[Old Wombat]

When the primer goes onto a greeble build or a kit-bash it illuminates the design guiding the apparently disparate conglomeration of bits .... and, possibly, the mental instability of the builder.

[CANSO]

This is great!  . I'm boggling at the thought processes that led from a Catalina to this!

It's more a homage to the MAD-Cats technology rather than to the plane only, but at the finish (I hope) there will be more elements to compare with a real "Cat".

It still amazes me after all these years just how well a coat of primer brings everything together  That really does look the business 

Primer can bring it together or on the opposite can show you that some parts are not made to go together. I learned through the years where some of the problems could show and try to avoid them. I also break the surface with shadows in such way that the gaps disappear without filling.

When the primer goes onto a greeble build or a kit-bash it illuminates the design guiding the apparently disparate conglomeration of bits .... and, possibly, the mental instability of the builder.

With a great possibility,,.yes, I agree!

[CANSO]

Finished the painting on Saturday. I've used a 3-tone scheme, similar to the original ASW-1 used over the Northern Atlantic. The colours are not exactly the same as the original ones, but are still in the same range:
1. dark grey - top
2. light grey - sides
3. white - bottom.
3. additional metalizers for exhausts, panels, engines etc.
Unfortunately my camera cannot catch the subtle difference between the greys under the LED-light (AND MY WHITE BALLANCE IS COMPETELY OFF ). Tomorrow (I hope) I'll have the chance to do some natural light shots.




Decals - in the morning (I hope...).
Cheers!

[CANSO]

Finally I could manage the decals, the finish coat and the final photos. Today is father's day and most of the activities were not around modelling .
A big "Thank you" to my family, giving me this whole week as a gift, just for me and my model. I appreciate it very much and hope I did a nice looking model at the end.
Here are some of the final photos:










I could even build a small stand for the model:

And here's the notorious MAD CAT:

Cheers!

[AeroplaneDriver]

Absolutely stunning result!   

[CANSO]

Thanks a lot!

[Flyer]

Absolutely stunning result!   

X 2

And it looks more like a aircraft than I thought it would when I read the first few posts. 

[NARSES2]

Certainly works for me 

[Old Wombat]

Absolutely stunning result!   

Certainly works for me 

Yup!

[The Rat]

Somebody just smacked me gob! 

[Dizzyfugu]

Cool, I like it. 

[CANSO]

Thank you all for the nice words!

And it looks more like a aircraft than I thought it would when I read the first few posts. 

Indeed it's a flying machine and more specifically it's an atmospheric antigravity flying craft, which means that it moves in air and not in the vacuum of space or on a far planet with less gravity. That why the craft has more or less an aerodynamic form. In a difference to an airplane in doesn't create lift. I usually build crafts with some known type of propulsion (jets, rockets, propellers) and the AG-device, called in my builds "antigraviton" is used for the hover function only.There are many types of AG-machines and some of them not only hover but also move in all directions because of their AG-devices.
I wanted to write more about the model's armament, based on the real VP-63 M.A.D. Cats history and modifications. I'll post some additional details tomorrow.

Cheers!

[CANSO]

O.K., here is the weapon carried by the MAD-cats and designed to kill enemy submarines. It's known as retro rocket or retro bomb:

If you check any possible photo of a VP-63 Catalina you'll see the retro bombs under the wings, with the launching rails - 12 or 15 bombs/rockets under each wing.


Similar rockets, called Hedgehog have been used with the same idea from ships:

An interesting article explains the idea behind those rockets. For me the most interesting part was that the rockets have been fired backwards and after a while their trajectory was vertical, targeting the submarine at the exact spot where it was detected by the MAD-gear.
My model has 6 launchers for retro-rockets placed in front of the cockpit:

They shoot 3 salvoes x 4 rockets = 24 rockets in one sequence. The circular part between the launchers is the rocket carousel, charging the launchers from the rocket-bay in the fuselage. This is the way my MAD CAT tries to hit the enemy submarine (manned or unmanned). In a difference to WWII retro-rockets mine are not exploding, but emitting strong electro-magnetic signals which disable the submarine computers and make the vessel non maneuverable.
In case the retro rockets don't do the complete job and only force the submarine to surface, the MAD CAT - pilot will try to hit it and "freeze" it with the electric-cannons, attached under the nose.

This is of course a very risky job, since the submarine can fire back and disable the craft, but MAD CATS' pilots developed a "fancy" tactic to dive vertically above the submarine, turning off the antigravity device, shoot at it and than turn on the AG, hovering away in an unpredictable direction.
Going through my stash I even found a matching midget-sub, to be hunted by my M.A.D. C.A.T.:


Cheers!