What-If 72nd Scale DC-9 Clandestine Cargo Aircraft WIP

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The recent (2017) Atlantis Models re-release of the old Aurora 1/72nd scale DC-9 came into my possession a few years ago.  I had no real intentions at the time of purchase for the kit but felt the need to acquire one just to see if my muse would spur me on at a later date.  Well that went no where fast and aside from picking through the box once or twice it pretty much just took up space in the stash here at the house.  That changed not too long ago when I decided to spend some time removing parts from the runners and doing some cursory fit checks to see how the kit would go together.  At some point during the kits progress from factory to store to my possession a portion of the tail had broken off.  Nothing major though as it was seen as a spot that could benefit from possible modification during assembly or get repaired with some putty.  The kit is large enough to work with comfortably even if it is 1/72nd scale it was within the limits of my comfort zone and the old tooling does provide you with some rather thick and forgiving plastic to work with. 

Initial work was done on assembling the two fuselage halves.  Then came the tedious process of trying to smooth out the seams that were all too obvious thanks to the imperfections between the two fuselage halves.  The wings went together a lot easier and that helped to restore my faith in not ruining another project so soon.  The engines were also assembled at this time and left separate from the fuselage for the time being. 

At this point I started pondering just what it was that I wanted to do with this model.  Building it out of the box was out of the question.  I recalled reading an article years ago about a special-delivery cargo aircraft that was operated by a three-letter agency to deliver cargo by parachute into denied areas at low level at night.  This was in reality a Boeing 727 which had the rear air-stair modified to become a slide or ramp which was opened in flight and the cargo bundles with attached parachutes were ejected down this ramp and into the waiting hands of the "freedom fighters/revolutionaries" below.  I decided I wanted to create a similar vehicle but based on the DC-9/C-9 since it too has the rear air-stairs feature it looked like a good idea for a what-if. 

So with this as my goal, I started digging through what few 72nd scale parts I still retained.  Fortunately for me I still had a few bits and pieces that could be used for this project.  Among these were a small FLIR ball from a long gone Hasegawa 1/72nd scale HH-60/MH-60 Blackhawk, some tiny pitot tubes from a source long forgotten, and unfortunately a 1/48th scale aerial refueling receptacle from a very horrible ESCI A-7E Corsair II that does not look out of scale or over-sized on the DC-9 fuselage.  The large air-intake scoop on the bottom of the fuselage adjacent to the rear cargo hatch started out as a part from an Academy or Hasegawa 1/48th scale F-15E Strike Eagle.  It looked to be an appropriate size and shape once it was removed from the original base part so it became a part of the project. 

The repair work mentioned previously is shown in the last image with the rear of the fuselage at the tip of the vertical stabilizer and the fuselage proper.  I had cut away the tip of the fuselage in an attempt to install an APU exhaust and failed to achieve my goal so I applied some Two-Part Epoxy and did some quick sculpting on both areas.  It had to sit and dry for several days until it finally hardened to the point that it could be sanded and fine-tuned to regain the shape that was lost.  The black outlines on the doors is black magic marker. 

WIP images attached to show what has been done so far.  I am still trying to determine where the air-stairs would be located under the fuselage.  One diagram that I managed to find has yielded some information but I have to study it a bit further to get more familiar with it before I start scribing on the model. 

[Old Wombat]

That's looking promising, Jeff! Keep it coming!

[Frank3k]

I almost thought it was a vacuform with all that white plastic. I like the refueling probe. Are you going to give it a sensor “chin”?

[Jeffry Fontaine]

That's looking promising, Jeff! Keep it coming!

Thanks Guy/OW.  All part of the juggling act between the current batch of projects that keep me sane. 

I almost thought it was a vacuform with all that white plastic. I like the refueling probe. Are you going to give it a sensor “chin”?

Some consideration was given to mounting the FLIR ball under the nose but space for that was not really available.  The nose landing gear door ends right at the demarcation with the radome.  While the nose gear door is engraved into the fuselage I really see no way to have the FLIR positioned on the nose landing gear door.  I am considering positioning the FLIR behind the nose gear on the centerline of the fuselage where it would have a complete 360 degree FOV.  I forgot to mention the little nub sticking down from the tail which I am calling a rear observation device to view the air-stair when deployed to allow confirmation of the bundles being dropped.  I was trying to go with an IFR probe but I had none to work with.  The boom receptacle made more sense as it sort of blends in with the fuselage and is not as distinctive. 

[finsrin]

Well thought out as usual Jeff.    Being very practical.

[robunos]

Interesting . . .   
If I may, could I ask for some information about this kit, which will be very helpful for a project I'm working on ?
I need to know the size of the engine nacelles, the kit parts, not the real aircraft.
I need to know the overall length, overall width (without the pylon),and the intake and jetpipe diameters.
Thanks In Advance,


cheers,
Robin.

[Ramba]

Looking good! Waiting patiently for the end results.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Thanks for the support!  Taking this slowly as I really want to not cock it up.  Still trying to determine what a proper "clandestine aerial cartage service" would paint their vehicle.  Dark grey underside with a deep purple on top? 

Still trying to come up with a catchy name for the front company too.  CAT ("Clandestine Air Transport") is too obvious





***Edit to fix spelling error.--jjf

[Old Wombat]

AFT - Air Freedom Transport

Because every self-respecting clandestine air freight service believes it is working in the name of Freedom.

[Robomog]

You must have a very steady hand to draw in the door outlines, I'm impressed 

There's always "Air America"  or is that too easy and a bit lame 

Mog
>^-.-^<

[Frank3k]

CIA Cargo International Airlines

[finsrin]

Liking that:

CIA Cargo International Airlines
or
CCA Clandestine Cargo Airlines/Aircraft

[Old Wombat]

Or be very tricky!

AIC - Air International Cargo

[Frank3k]

Or be very tricky!

AIC - Air International Cargo

Put the A upside down to indicate that it would fly South of the equator.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Interesting . . .   
If I may, could I ask for some information about this kit, which will be very helpful for a project I'm working on ?
I need to know the size of the engine nacelles, the kit parts, not the real aircraft.
I need to know the overall length, overall width (without the pylon),and the intake and jetpipe diameters.
Thanks In Advance,

@Robin - Check your PM in-box for my reply to your questions. 
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You must have a very steady hand to draw in the door outlines, I'm impressed 

There's always "Air America"  or is that too easy and a bit lame 

Mog
>^-.-^<

The hand is not so steady.  However the engraved plastic is deep and wide enough to accommodate a find-tip Sharpie marker which allowed me to fill in the lines with ease. 

I do have some very small Air America decals if all else fails but I was hoping to find some other name if possible. 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Attached two images of one engine nacelle to show the overall shape for Robin and to emphasize how little detail these things have.  The grey plastic bit under the engine intake is from an Italeri 1/72nd scale B-57 Canberra that was parted out long ago.  If I remember correctly, that part was part of the American [Martin] Canberra for additional cooling air for the oil cooler on the engine nacelles. 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Or be very tricky!

AIC - Air International Cargo

Put the A upside down to indicate that it would fly South of the equator.

Upside down "A" does appeal to me.   

[Buzzbomb]

Nice work and a great subject idea 

[The Big Gimper]

CIA -> Canadian International Airlines

"When your Maple Syrup just can't wait"

[Robomog]

 

Mog
>^-.-^<

[The Big Gimper]

A few profiles from John Lacey.

[The Big Gimper]

I have the original Aurora Box with Air Canada decals.

So your build Jeff is very interesting and informative.

[Frank3k]

The lack of detail on the engines and parts is due to either the era the Aurora kit was made or a conformal coating on the plane to reduce visibility in certain wavelengths. We speculate, you decide.

[robunos]

Interesting . . .   
If I may, could I ask for some information about this kit, which will be very helpful for a project I'm working on ?
I need to know the size of the engine nacelles, the kit parts, not the real aircraft.
I need to know the overall length, overall width (without the pylon),and the intake and jetpipe diameters.
Thanks In Advance,

@Robin - Check your PM in-box for my reply to your questions. 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Attached two images of one engine nacelle to show the overall shape for Robin and to emphasize how little detail these things have.  The grey plastic bit under the engine intake is from an Italeri 1/72nd scale B-57 Canberra that was parted out long ago.  If I remember correctly, that part was part of the American [Martin] Canberra for additional cooling air for the oil cooler on the engine nacelles.

Many Thanks, this was exactly the information I needed . . .


cheers,
Robin.

[The Rat]

The 9 doesn't get a lot of recognition, but it was a workhorse for many airlines for many years. Love to see how this comes out.

[Gingie]

Wow, that is some smooth tooling. I think I've seen vac-forms with more detail!

What a terrfic project idea though. Maybe some kind of IR / Audio dampening on the engine exhausts? Some kind of defensive store like flare / chaff? Unless the clandestine aspect more tied into making it plausibly deniable as a civilian liner. Great name suggested so far. A British one could be "Mysix Courier"

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Unlike the typical Vacu-Form this model has some weight to it.  It can take a beating as I discovered when I lost my grip on it and watched it plunge to the floor and bounce.  There was a moment where I was kind of hoping to see it shatter but it rebounded like nothing happened. 

@Graeme/Gingie - I had considered swapping out the kit engines with some 1/48th scale units from an A-10 Thunderbolt II but that did not look as practical as I had hoped and losing the thrust-reverser feature would have meant coming up with something to replace that feature.  So I stuck with the original engines and added the B-57 Canberra air-scoop feature. 
The counter-measures package is cobbled together from some ECM bumps from the Monogram A/F-18 Hornet and some unknown wedge-shaped square things attached to the underside of the wings at each tip and on top and bottom of the fuselage near the cockpit.  The wedge-shaped square things would house the chaff and flares for a last-ditch attempt in dodging AAA or SAM activity while ingress and egress from the delivery location.