Revell 1/139th AWACS converting into a JSTAR project

Nice job on the filling so far Lee.  That looks like the Goldilocks scale for that a/c.  Not too big.  Not too small.  Just right .

Chris

Thank you, Jay! I enjoy 'piecemealing' kits if it helps save a kit (and a dollar). This kind of build also helps keep my kit-bashing and scratch building skills fresh.

When the engines and pylons were discovered missing I honestly thought about just gluing the basic structure together and giving it to my oldest son to fly around. But I thought about it and gave myself thru the summer to track down what was needed. Sometimes you just have to be patient...and a bit lucky!

Later,

Lee

I am thoroughly impressed with your scratch conversion abilty and am learning lots . TY so much for posting this cool model and all your hard and clever work and I am watching in ernest.

So, here are a few shots with the JSTAR pod and antenna attached. I also modified the engine pylons and glued them into place. I had to trim the middle to back half of each pylon as it is curved to match the wings of the Minicraft kit. The Revell wings are straight and have no curvature. Had I not modified them the engines would have been at an upward angle. This took a bit of test fitting and cutting and doing it a few more times. Overall, I am pleased with how they look. I used glue and Vallejo putty to fill the gaps and will clean them up later this week.

Cleaned up the seams as well and added the JSTAR-specific parts (after this pic was taken).

So the basic structure is together. The wings have tabs that interlock and give the the correct angle. So I put them in each side of their respective fuselage halves and before gluing the fuselage I put glue on the tabs. Once this set up then I glued the wing root seams in place. 

After this set up I then glued the fuselage halves together. I did this literally panel by panel along the fuselage as the fuselage had some very mild warpage. This was tedious to say the least!  :o  I then put a thin layer of filler on the seams. Finally, I glued the radome and the horizontal stabilizer assembly in.

Thanks Toshi and Jay! I had to be patient and bide my time on those missing parts. I figured I might get lucky at a show at some point but was thrilled to find what I needed online. My mantra? No kit left behind LOL! 

Nothing major...sink marks were filled and sanded. Next up is gluing the fuselage together and then adding the wings. In my initial mock up there appear to be notable wing root gaps to fill. Oh joy! 

Sounds like fun! I'll be following!

Toshi

I admire your fortitude on finding the parts for this odd scale . Following in ernest.