1/35 High speed, multi-purpose drone

[Frank3k]

I'm trying to come up with a stealthy, jet powered drone similar to the "Hopeless Diamond" (and other variations) - since all I have so far is in my CAD software, I wanted something I could start putting together now.

The Ukrainians have had amazing success with low cost drones, drone swarms as well as high speed drones to take out Shahed and similar drones. They've even taken out a Shahed with the STING drone at a 500km range. Here are some of their drones:



I noticed that the drones on the left side look familiar.... The old (1958 issue) Revell Tactical Missile set has a Little John rocket as well as four Dart anti-tank missiles:



https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-h1812-us-army-tactical-missiles-set--1518087

Atlantis has released many of these old 1/40 scale Revell kits, and I had this one in the stash. With the help of the plastic propellers from a Trumpeter 1/350 flying boat, I rescaled one of the Darts into this:



The "periscope" is a piece of clear sprue to be used as a recon camera:



Even rescaled to 1/35, it's a decent sized drone. Here Steve admires it, cautiously:



I still need to add some thin legs and an antenna - this one would be reusable.

The rest of the Tactical Missile kit has some of the issues you'd expect in a 68 year old kit (even if it's a reissue) but it still holds up well and most of its sins can be fixed with some sanding and putty:

[Buzzbomb]

Very good work on what might be an super interesting thread.

[Kerick]

Nice work on repurposing the missile.

[GTX_Admin]

Looking good.

[Frank3k]

This is the "Hopeless Diamond" based drone WIP. Not loving it, with or without wings. The engine intakes would be covered with a mesh or something:





Wings swept forward:



I'm aiming for a 15 foot/4.6m length or about 131mm/5.2" in 1/35

[GTX_Admin]

 

[Kerick]

The diamond drone looks very interesting. Just one note, where the wings meet the fuselage, don’t have a 90 degree angle. That angle actually seems to reflect the radar signal straight back to the transmitter. Certain angles work best for stealth performance but definitely not 90.
It’s your model so build it whatever way you like. Just my $0.02.
Otherwise, I’m very interested to see this come together!

[GTX_Admin]

The diamond drone looks very interesting. Just one note, where the wings meet the fuselage, don’t have a 90 degree angle. That angle actually seems to reflect the radar signal straight back to the transmitter. Certain angles work best for stealth performance but definitely not 90.
It’s your model so build it whatever way you like. Just my $0.02.
Otherwise, I’m very interested to see this come together!

To that end, a 30° angle would be best

[apophenia]

Thanks for including the HI Sutton comparison drawings for reference (he does great compilations!).

...
I noticed that the drones on the left side look familiar.... The old (1958 issue) Revell Tactical Missile set has a Little John rocket as well as four Dart anti-tank missiles...

That is one heck of a transformation! Love where this is going ... and the stealthier Hopeless Diamond too 

[finsrin]

Redo of Revell Dart shows great ingenuity.    Can claim to be most any scale.

[Kerick]

The diamond drone looks very interesting. Just one note, where the wings meet the fuselage, don’t have a 90 degree angle. That angle actually seems to reflect the radar signal straight back to the transmitter. Certain angles work best for stealth performance but definitely not 90.
It’s your model so build it whatever way you like. Just my $0.02.
Otherwise, I’m very interested to see this come together!

To that end, a 30° angle would be best

Or, IIRC, some multiple of 30.

Redo of Revell Dart shows great ingenuity.    Can claim to be most any scale.

Very true.

[Frank3k]

The first drone is almost done. This is the second set of props - I fumbled it while picking up the forward section. The Trumpeter clear styrene is very brittle, so I managed to break off at least one blade from all the props and knocked off all four from one. I tried repairing it, but two of the blades flew off into another dimension. Luckily, I had another set.

A couple of the legs need straightening and I need to add decals:



On it's legs, it comes up to Steve's shoulders, so that would make it about 1.5m/5' tall:



I'll see what the other Darts look like next to figures at different scales. One may become a space yacht in 1/350

[Old Wombat]

Looking good! 

Steve, of course, is too cool to look impressed. 

[GTX_Admin]

That looks great

[Dr. YoKai]

Nifty! I may have to get the set just for launch rail.

[Frank3k]

Craig - the launch rail and other equipment in this kit is nicely detailed. I agree - I'm really liking the launch rail; it takes some effort to clean up, but it has a lot of potential.

Over at Whatif, Perttime suggested adding wings to the Little John. I scratchbuilt the sings and intake for a jet engine. I used the exhaust from a 1/144 jet to cover the huge hole at the rear.

The original nosecone seemed short, so I made a quick draft print in PLA and added a camera fairing as well:



Some sanding, CA filler and more sanding and I got this:



Next is painting and decals.

[Dr. YoKai]

Looks sweet so far, Frank.

[Frank3k]

I have the winged Little John mostly done. It may get a touch of weathering, then a satin coat:



This is a pretty nice kit overall, despite the ancient molds. One of the most enjoyable parts has been the launch rail for the Little John. There are other equipment bits in the kit, but this is the one I've spent the most time on. I decided to close off the notch at the end. I added a couple of tanks and used some thin solder as pipes. I also added solder control lines to the two main electronic boxes):



I added many Meng bolts as well, especially where the ejection pin marks were inconveniently placed:



It's easy to get carried away detailing the launch rail/base. I may still add a control box, plus some detail painting.

[The Big Gimper]

In your 2nd photo, I see some form of blue discolouration of the sky?
What is that Frank?

Otherwise nice build.

[Frank3k]

Carl, that blue is apparently why lies above and beyond the layers of clouds. The clouds came in after sunset and it's been socked in since. So a bit like Ontario, except for the temperature. And Spanish instead of French. And TACOs instead of Poutine.

[Buzzbomb]

All good. Finally see a use for the honest John set I have in the stash