Beyond The Sprues

Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Aero-space => Topic started by: Sentinel Chicken on June 12, 2012, 10:11:56 AM

Title: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: Sentinel Chicken on June 12, 2012, 10:11:56 AM
I'm trying to think what the most projects in progress I ever had going at one time. This build will make three, but I know in the past I've had much more going. Heck, there are boxes still to be unpacked that have half-finished builds from years ago in them. Which reminds me, one of them should have a half-finished Welsh 1/144 BAC Strikemaster.......

(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Buzz/Build06_120609.jpg)

Thanks to Japan there are a line of 1/144 pre-painted partially built up models out there that can be had for $10 or less. I've picked up some of eBay; this is a Grumman S-2 Tracker from the F-Toys series of maritime patrol aircraft. They do them in groups of nine or more. This series has three E-2 Hawkeyes, three S-2 Trackers, and three S-3 Vikings, all in 1/144. For those not aware, they come with some of the markings printed on but have decals to finish the job. This is one of the Tracker releases and what you see in the above picture is how it looks out of the box with the major components, one sprue of additional parts and a decal sheet (not pictured here). I don't know if there's ever been a 1/144 Stoof released and if there has, it probably costs two arms, a leg and my left nut. So this is what I'll use as the basis for another what-if build.

It's actually a pretty nifty little build if you never modified it and assembled it as is. But me, nah. I may pick up another one and leave it as is built up, but this one I picked up from a local HobbyTown USA store for only $10.

It does come with a stand and the option of doing it wheels up. The MAD boom even extends out. I won't be needing it for this build, though.
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: Sentinel Chicken on June 12, 2012, 10:13:38 AM
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Buzz/Build06_120611.jpg)

This is where things stood last night. I had split open the halves of the fuselage. F-Toys includes a little clear stand to prop up the tail, but I split it open carefully and added lead fishing weights in the nose. There's a painted cockpit piece that comes off easily as well as a very rudimentary cockpit in gray. The rear underfuselage radome isn't extendable, but it's a separate piece of tan-colored plastic that looks like it could be. I won't be needing that either, I'll be filling that hole (*snicker*) right up.
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: Brian da Basher on June 13, 2012, 03:19:26 AM
You've been on a building tear lately, Mr Chicken and I've been enjoying it immensely!

Thanks for bringing to light one of the pre-painted kits. I've been wondering if they'd be good whiff fodder.

Brian da Basher
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: Sentinel Chicken on June 14, 2012, 11:30:12 AM
Latest progress:

(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Buzz/Build06_120612a.jpg)

(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Buzz/Build06_120612b.jpg)

These shots should give you a pretty big hint of what I have planned for this Stoof. I used Tamiya White Primer on the fuselage to try it out, so far liking what it offers. There are two air scoops on each side of the retractable belly radome that I sanded off along with filling the radome location with Squadron White after removing. I also cut off the radar pod that sits above the cockpit, figure I won't be needing that but will use the right wing search light as a weather radar pod. Figure that might come in handy in the tropical weather where this what-if would be out dispensing the brass love.

I filled the seams on the fuselage halves with thinned out Squadron White putty. I put the cockpit transparency on as a dry fit only, I plan to repaint the cockpit interior rather than leave it a drab gray color as it is now. My original plan because the Stoof's weapons bay is shallow was to have the guns traverse downward out of hinged panels but found the plastic in this area thick and numerous locator pins in the area and I still wanted the slot for the included stand even though I plan to build this wheels down. From looking at cutaway drawings of the Tracker, it looks like the roof of the weapons bay was probably an important structural component of this part of the fuselage. Since I had to cut the gun apertures higher up, I figure that had this been done in real life, some sort of structural beef up would be needed around the openings, so I used some thin styrene strip to look like external stiffening (not to mention it's a good way to cover up some of my ham-fisted work on cutting out the gun port). Additional styrene cut at an angle was used to create the deflector ramps ahead of each gun port.
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: RussC on June 14, 2012, 05:39:40 PM
You've been on a building tear lately, Mr Chicken and I've been enjoying it immensely!

Thanks for bringing to light one of the pre-painted kits. I've been wondering if they'd be good whiff fodder.

Brian da Basher

 Yes they are. usually you can sit and watch the dealers of these from the far east on evilbay and when a series of these has played out, they can be had for very little. Also, since these are packaged as trading kits, you always have lots of common planes or tanks and a few high-value schemes in the "packs" they sell originally , so there lots of these lesser craft being unloaded. Since whiffing will strip the paints anyway, its all good. I once grabbed a quartet of TA-154 "moskito's" for something like 5 bucks plus ship, these were a part of the Takara/Hasegawa line which were excellent in details and fit and came as prepainted parts trees versus assembled birds. I made one into a single seat bubble canopy ground attack type, another into a jet version, the third into IJAAF markings and number four turned into a cloud of parts that went into 6 more craft.
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: Sentinel Chicken on June 14, 2012, 09:01:46 PM
I've got a few more of these 1/144 gashapon kits coming my way thanks to eBay to become whiff fodder. All of them I got for as little as $4 to a max of $10. The plastic seems a bit more firm than most styrene kits but it's workable and so far hasn't reacted adversely to any of my paints and putty.
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: Sentinel Chicken on June 19, 2012, 11:12:06 PM
Latest progress:

(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Buzz/Build06_120619.jpg)

Airbrushed the undersides and sides flat black. There were some gaps on the engine nacelle seams that were easily fixed with some thinned out Squadron White and a top coat of Tamiya Surface primer. I painted the interior wheel wells white but not evenly to give the impression of a grimy, dirty wheel well. There's a big ass seam in there, too, but I can live with that one. Attached the wing pylons, I don't think they had much capacity on the real world Stoof, more like for single stores like the smaller pylons on the A-1 Skyraider. I'll have to think up a suitable set of stores for this build, I'm thinking maybe something simple like a flare launcher or even an ECM pod.
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: finsrin on June 20, 2012, 10:53:04 AM
Could surprise us with AMRAAM or Phoenix or Harpoon.
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: Sentinel Chicken on June 20, 2012, 09:02:04 PM
Latest progress shots:

(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Buzz/Build06_120619b.jpg)

(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Buzz/Build06_120619c.jpg)

First attempt in years of airbrushing a multi-toned camo scheme on a build this size, it was *okay* but I can live with it. Had the airbrush compressor set at a very low pressure but still got more overspray than I wanted. Next time I'll thin the paint out more. One of the main drawbacks of airbrushing, sometimes it's just too labor intensive to mess with. I may, motivation pending, go back and airbrush one of the shades of green again. I have more dark tan areas on the scheme than I need. We'll see. Got it up on wheels last night, it sits on its nose gear just right.
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: AGRA on June 20, 2012, 09:11:27 PM
Wow Tracker gunship. The Tracker was actually proposed for the TROPIC MOON night attack mission in VietNam. But USAF rejected them as too slow and vulnerable to NVA AA fires and went to the B-57 Canberra.
Title: Re: 1/144 Scale Build #6 for 2012: Whiff a Stoof! Because I have modelers ADHD......
Post by: taiidantomcat on June 27, 2012, 10:35:37 PM
The smaller the scale the less forgiving the "soft edge" for airbrushing, learned that the hard way a few times  ::)