High-speed build

[Leigh]

P.S. Hmmm a High Speed build...maybe a good idea for a GB?

We had a one week build last year.  Doesn't mean we can't have another one mind  

Yeah I thought we should have another this summer too.

And I lost me bet the paint didn't dry in time.

[John Howling Mouse]

I actually like the spacing of the pylons, just aesthetically more interesting because it's more dynamic (to me) than equal spacing.

Either way, it's an intriguing concept and one of the fastest builds I've ever seen.

And I never even considered using Aves' product on plastic.  I take it that the Apoxie sculpting medium has very good adhesion to plastic?

[AeroplaneDriver]

Great looking build!!

Here is a link to Phoenix Air you may find interesting.  

http://www.phoenixair.com/force/index.html

I interviewed with them a few years back, they provide target simulation and EW training for USAF/USN/NATO in LR35s.  They have hardpoints for carrying various jammers and target simulation pods.  If you browse around you may find some useful pics.

I didnt get the job, but is sounded fun.  Lots of time flying 20 feet above the water at 400 knots in a simulated cruise missile attack on a carrier type stuff!

[Captain Canada]

C'mon, Rally....updates, please ! You're lolly-gagging !

Cool link, Aeroman. Too bad they didn't add a bit of flash to their markings, tho. Quite the impressive fleet pf a/c, and very capable as well ! Would make a neat whif story, pressing them into USAF service during a conflict.

[rallymodeller]

Hey, come on now! I had to get some sleep and something to eat...

I swear by Aves, ever since Dave "Blap! Models" Guertin gave me some last May. It sticks briliantly to plastic, can be thinned to almost a liquid with rubbing alcohol and can be smoothed to a finish so smooth with just a fingertip that it doesn't need sanding. The end-result is just about the same hardness as styrene. Comes in a bunch of different colours too. And, becasue it's corn-based, it's non-toxic and smells a bit like Fritos (!). Lastly, it keeps forever and is dirt cheap for the amount you get (a pound of it -- two 8oz tubs -- cost me $10 at last Wonderfest). It's a family-owned business and the people are super nice. The Starship Modeler store sells it mail-order if any of y'all are interested...

Anyway, thus ends the commercial break. Back to work. More pics soon.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Or you can contact them directly at Aves Studios web page and order from the actual source.

I like what you have done so far to your LJ35.  

[John Howling Mouse]

can be smoothed to a finish so smooth with just a fingertip that it doesn't need sanding.

What is this blasphemy, heretic?!?!  If the Great God Of Modelling had intended for us to to build models without sanding then why-----wait a second.

Without sanding, you say?

:dum: What the hell have I been doing all weekend long, then?  :dum:  

[rallymodeller]

Gah! Camera's out of juice!

I'll pick up some batteries and post later. It's painted now...

[rallymodeller]

Finally got the camera up and running...





Gotta paint the canoe fairing (which I have decided is a SLAR housing for sea surveillance), the nose radome and a few other detail bits...

[Ollie]

Go Rally go!

[John Howling Mouse]

Whoo-hoooooooooooooo!!  This is like the Olympic luge of modelling!

 

[The Rat]

HOOOOOOboyoboyoboyoboy!  :dum:

Wankfest tonight!  

Speaking purely metaphorically of course...    

[rallymodeller]

Gonna post some of the backstory now. I'm done but for the shouting but I'm having camera troubles. Enjoy the story while I get the cam figgered out...


Rodolfo Gutierrez enjoyed these night flights. Skimming along above the Caribbean at 100 meters was hardly a challenge for him, but it was the way the moonlight glinted across the water and, to a lesser extent, across the nose of his black-painted, specially equipped Sabreliner. He looked across at Guillermo, his co-pilot and thought just how far both of them had come since their days in the Fuerza Aerea Colombiana. But those days were long past now. Now he was extremely well-off, paid handsomely by the man who had lured him from the A-37's. Kind of ironic, he chuckled to himself, that the very thing he was destroying those years ago was now his cargo -- crowding the cabin along with extra fuel tanks and electronic gear.

The "Go-Fast" speedboats were too vulnerable to the Norteamericanos now, with  the United States Coast Guard HITRON's evil Stingray and Enforcer attack helicopters shooting them up. The Piper Cheyennes and Aztecs that they used to use for the job were vulnerable to the Customs Service's Blackhawks. So his employer thought to up the ante; to build special jets that could go fast and low across the Caribbean in the middle of the night at wave top height straight from Colombia and some of the more "friendly" islands. These jets would be equipped with terain avoidance radar and other electronic wizardry that would, if not fool the Coast Guard, would at least allow escape or the breaking of any pursuit.

Rodolfo broke his gaze at the moonlit water and scanned his instruments. There was no-one around, according to the sensors arrayed across the ancient Sabreliner's airframe. HE would have to wake Guillermo soon, he thought, as his GPS navigation system indicated that soon they would be in American airspace. A quick jaunt up the Florida coast, a landing at a private airfield south of Tampa, and back to Haiti where he would grab a few hours sleep and a meal. Then a return flight to Colombia and a repeat of the mission later in the week. He had no idea of the exact value of his cargo -- he was far too well paid for that sort of idle thought. But he could guess that it was well over a million dollars, possibly much more.

No matter. It wasn't his job to be concerned about these things. It was his job to fly the plane as he was instructed. He leaned across to shake Guillermo's shoulder.

"Attention black-painted T-39. Attention black-painted T-39. This is the United States Coast Guard. Do not make any sudden flight path alterations or you will be fired upon."  The sound of the warning over the Guard frequency made Rodolfo's blood run cold. He checked his sensors again -- there was nothing around. Who was tracking him? Where were they? The Guard frequency crackled to life again. "Attention black-painted T-39. Turn on your running lights immediately and ascend to flight level 100".

Rodolfo looked across at the now-startled-awake Guillermo. His young Latin features were highlighted by beads of sweat reflecting the dim lights of the instrument panel. Guillermo slapped a row of switches and nodded to Rodolfo. "The jammers are active, jefe," he reported.

"Muy bien," Rodolfo replied. He firewalled the throttles and banked his aircraft to the west. If it were a Falcon following, which he suspected, they would be hesitant to follow this low. In any event his Sabreliner had modified engines too and was capable of limited aerobatics.

"Now now, T-39. Back on course to Tampa," the radio said

"Never mind them, Gui," Rodolfo said. "What can one of their Falcons do? Follow? We'll lose them. Fire some flares. If they're using FLIR that should blind them nicely."

The sky outside brightened up as the flares fired from ports at the rear of the converted bizjet, But in the fading light, Rodolfo caught sight of...something. Was that a Learjet? But it looked wrong...

"Not gonna tell you again, T-39. Last warning."

"Shut that damned radio off!" Rodolfo yelled. He pushed forward on the control column. "Let's see if these Americanos have real cojones!"

He hadn't even pulled back to level off when a stream of tracers lashed across his nose. In the dark night it looked like a laser. "Madre de Dios!" Gui yelled. "They're shooting at us!"

"More flares!" Rodolfo yelled. "And chaff too! We'll blind them yet!"

But only the first flare package had ejected when Rodolfo felt the Sabreliner lurch hard to port. Warning lights and alarms went off in the small cabin. Moments later his last sight was the moonlit Caribbean filling the windscreen.


A dim grey shape circled over the flaming spot in the sea where Rodolfo and Guillermo had met their fate. Inside the flight cabin of the modified C-21 Learjet the Coast Guard flight crew relaxed, just a little. "Tough little bugger," Cdr Jake Macaulay drawled, his south Texan accent rolling through the intercom. "Safe weapons and call this one in to Key West. Upload the video too."

"Righty-oh, Skipper" the EWO said, back in the cabin.

"Back to Jax, Skip?" the copilot asked.

"Sure, Ben. I think the cutters can take care of this one. Fire off a locator and we can call it a night." The MC-21E stopped it's circling and climbed off to the north, towards home.

Details of the MC-21E Pave Lear to come with the pics...

[elmayerle]

Love that back story.  Sounds like the kind of thing that could actually happen, too.

[K5054NZ]

Pave Lear.....I like!