Armed Escort Tiltrotor

Well, here are a couple of close ups of the centerline gunpod that'll hang on this bird.  I'm going to have a flexible ammo feed chute come out of the fuselage into the pod.  I'm not sure of the corresponding caliber for the cannon, the styrene rod is a little over 1mm diameter, so I'm going with something in the 40mm range, with a heavy barrel for a high rate of fire. 

Here are the photos:





I should be shooting some paint soon.

Edit 8/14: No paint yet, but I did get that package, Trigger.  Thanks!  I think there's quite a bit that I can use on my next project in there. 

Here are some more updates.  I've gotten the interior of the office done, so I assembled the glass and masked off the windows so now she's ready for the exterior paint.  Also, I added a couple of 7 shot rocket pods to the Hellfire pylons for some added bite.  Take a look:

Looks good, LJ

Alright, I've been slacking, and throw in getting some annual training/shooting taken care of and here is the latest update for my escort.  Now, onto the photos:











Just some details, weathering and decals left to add, and it'll finally be done.

That looks awesome Lem!

OMG that looks GREAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How long did that take you to do. I am talking about the paint job....

Bud

Great job great and interesting camo job, please give us some details on how you did it.

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone!

The painting went pretty smoothly.  Instead of using the same method as my A-10W, I shot the first color, MM acrylic Gulf War Army/Marines Sand, and then I masked off with regular masking tape cut with a fresh #11 blade into various rectangles and squares.  Then it was just lather,rinse repeat with the following colors (all Tamiya acrylics) Dark Yellow, Flat Earth and Red Brown - they were the colors I had on hand that best matched my desert MARPAT cammies, and it's a really close match to boot.

By the end of it, I had the entire top almost covered in several layers of small bits of tape.  I think it took just as long to peel the tape off as the whole painting process!  I let the first color coat cure a couple of days, but the rest of it was done over the course of a weekend.  The Tamiya paint, thinned with rubbing alcohol went on nice and dried pretty quickly under the lamp on my bench.  Overall, I think it's looking pretty good.  Hope to have the final touches done and some more photos by the end of this weekend to share.

Wow, That is a awesome paint job.   And you did it completely with masking tape, Great work.  Just don't let any Colonels see it.  They might get ideas. 

Semper Fi,

Chris

Awsome stuff everyone. Well, as you all can see by my post count, I'm new, so let me introduce myself. My name is Scott, I work in SoCal as a military advisor for a major defense contractor here designing flight gear for pilots. I did 14 yr's in the US Army half between tanks (M1's) and helo's (A model & Longbow's). I'm a private pilot on the civie side as well, so I have aviation on the brain. This thread has SERIOUSLY got me inspired to start my plastic addiction..I mean hobby, again.

I started construction on my vision of what the V-22 escort might look like and will be posting some pic's either tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks all for the inspiration (Lemon, you're bird is SWEET) and I look forward to learning from the masters here on the forum.

 

DP aka Scott

Here are some pic's of the beast as she stands tonight. Obviously a LOT of putty and styrene. Based on the Longbow, I've moved the sponsons back and grafted a 1/72nd JSF radome on the nose. I have a feeling I'm going to go a highly modified V tale for this girl.

 

Comments are welcome, enjoy!

DP

 

DP-
Welcome aboard! Looks great, it's a very different look than what we have seen so far! Keep posting pics.

LJ, really looking great as well. The paint looks excellent!


Phil

DesertPilot, welcome to the Forums! It's nice to have another SoCal model builder! Hey, now that you've re-acquired your addiction, you may be interested in coming to the Nationals next year in Anaheim. My club is hosting it so if you want more in for omn Nats or my club, E-mail me.

Your work looks fantastic! Keep those posts coming!

Welcome DesertPilot, like your build, looks to me like you used an Apache body as a basis for your build. Am I correct? Been thinking lately about the Osprey and combat useage, seems to me that they will need some kind of gunship support when shooting into a hot LZ, unless in range, I don't think the W or Z Cobra would work.

Gents, thanks for the welcome! Yes, I have used the Has. AH-64D the base for my project. It's got a lot more on it now,  but I'm on a business trip until Friday, so I have to wait to post more pic's. 

I got to spend some good time at VMMT-204 the Raptors this summer (got to fly the sim & sit in the FE's seat for a ride around the patch!) and after speaking with the pilots, it sounds like the MV-22 isn't going anywhere without Harriers or F-35's in esscort. It looks like Wiskey Cobra's are going to be employed for short hop missions. It's a very unique ship, freaky to fly in. During the transition it feels very strange. The only way I can discribe it, is like a car on ice. Controlled, but on the move.

 

More details when I return, again, thanks guys.

 

DP

Again, welcome. Haven't had the chance to see the MV-22 yet, soon I hope. Will wait for more info on your build.

Alright, I've been caught in the hurricane of my life lately, but I've finally gotten this one done...just in time to pack it up to move to Quantico...(a long, long story).

Glad I finally got something done.  Enjoy.

Great job LJ. Glad to hear from you also.

Lemonjello, that is an incredibly awesome model; I am overwhelmed. You have truly done the concept proud. Congrats on an incredible build!

Great job LJ!  I must admit that mine is sitting on the back of my bench, only getting occasional attention.  If I ever get any real work done on it I will post but for now it is little more than a pile of plastic feeding the clutter monster.

Mac

I know what you mean, this one sat waiting for a clear coat and decals for a long, long time.  Seems like things lately are just conspiring against me getting anything built.