Author Topic: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?  (Read 584 times)

Offline Leading Observer

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What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« on: August 11, 2026, 06:27:48 PM »
Going to have a crack at this GB - just got to find the kit in my stash :(
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Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2026, 12:35:06 AM »
 :smiley:
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline apophenia

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #2 on: August 12, 2026, 07:10:05 AM »
I like it!

Maybe 'CF-103' Javelin for closer-in defence? (The CF-100 Canuck had much longer legs but the Javelin was over 150 mph faster than the 'Clunk'.)
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Offline Kerick

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #3 on: August 12, 2026, 08:00:59 AM »
I like it!

Maybe 'CF-103' Javelin for closer-in defence? (The CF-100 Canuck had much longer legs but the Javelin was over 150 mph faster than the 'Clunk'.)

This sounds like a good one!
A Javelin with underwing tanks? How much would that have affected its performance?

Offline apophenia

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2026, 09:23:05 AM »
... A Javelin with underwing tanks? How much would that have affected its performance?

Well it wasn't called 'The Dragmaster' for nothing!  ;D

Still, you do see images of Javelins carrying both 230 Imp. gal. drop tanks on wing pylons plus side-by-side belly tanks. The latter on their own were more common, though (kept the inboard pylons free for missiles).
"Well, Tom Thompson came paddling past, I'm pretty sure it was him ..."

Offline Kerick

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #5 on: August 12, 2026, 12:14:16 PM »
I remember talking to the airborne FACs we used to work with about their aircraft. They flew the A-37 version of the T-37 Tweet trainer. They were saying the drag of the four under wing tanks pretty much cancelled out any increase in range. Might apply here as well.
« Last Edit: August 13, 2026, 11:18:55 AM by Kerick »

Offline Leading Observer

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2026, 11:15:55 PM »
Found the kit:




Scalemates says it was a new too; back in the by Polish firm Plastyk back in 1995. I have no idea how accurate or otherwise it is, but it looks close enough for Whiffing-work. I have the Freightdog FAW9/R Nose correction for the old FROG kit, but as this is this isn't going to be a RAF aircraft, I might leave it OOB. It does have the wing tanks as an option along with the IFR probe and 4 missiles that look Firestreakesque
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Offline Kerick

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #7 on: August 13, 2026, 02:20:47 AM »
Conformal tanks might be the solution here!
I remember an old Javelin kit I built as a kid. Plastic a thick as a brick wall and Sparrow looking missiles that looked like they were made from concrete. But I had fun with it!

Offline apophenia

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #8 on: August 13, 2026, 05:14:47 AM »
Found the kit:

The 'Flatiron' on the box top appears to have fired off one Firestreak(esque) already ... which the pursued Badger seems to have shrugged off!
"Well, Tom Thompson came paddling past, I'm pretty sure it was him ..."

Offline Kerick

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #9 on: August 13, 2026, 06:06:28 AM »
Maybe it’s going after a second one. It’s possible!
I look at some of these missiles and think about how in the world would it knock down a bomber that big? A fighter type? Sure. A four engine bomber? Not with one shot that’s for sure. While I was in Iraq IIRC a C-17 took off and got hit in the engine with a Stinger type missile. It just circled around and landed then got the engine replaced the next day and flew out again. I know a MANPAD is much smaller than a Sparrow type but they just don’t look adequate for a bomber. But of course not every aircraft can lug around something as big as a Phoenix missile either. Capability vs practicality vs cost I suppose. I know if I were defending my country against nuclear armed bombers I would want the biggest bat on the field.

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #10 on: August 13, 2026, 07:51:13 AM »
Like the idea of this  :smiley:

Found the kit:
The 'Flatiron' on the box top appears to have fired off one Firestreak(esque) already ... which the pursued Badger seems to have shrugged off!

Or going after number two  ;)

Offline apophenia

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #11 on: August 13, 2026, 08:04:24 AM »
... But of course not every aircraft can lug around something as big as a Phoenix missile either...

That makes you wonder if the Javelin mightn't have been better off with just 2 x larger AAMs. That said, the DH Firestreak had a 50 lb annular warhead ... or less than half that of the later Phoenix but still not bad for a missile designed in 1951.

By comparison, Firestreak contemporaries like the AIM-4 had 7.5 lbs; AIM-9 up t0 20 lbs; AIM-7C had 65 lbs; with the heavy hitter being the AIM-47 with 100 lbs. Two of the latter would make an interesting option ... although a single AIM-47 Falcon weighed more than 200 lbs more than a pair of Firestreaks. So, there's that ...
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Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2026, 10:37:16 AM »
Now is the time to find a set of late mark Avro Vulcan wings and mate those with the Javelin. 
"Every day we hear about new studies 'revealing' what should have been obvious to sentient beings for generations; 'Research shows wolverines don't like to be teased" -- Jonah Goldberg

Offline Kerick

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2026, 11:24:00 AM »
This is going to be a fun build to watch no matter what! It looked like that kit had some sort of belly tank so that will be cool. It would really be strange if there were conformal tank on top like the F-16 or Typhoon. I’m just speculating, build it the way you see it.

Offline apophenia

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #14 on: August 14, 2026, 05:05:14 AM »
Now is the time to find a set of late mark Avro Vulcan wings and mate those with the Javelin.

Scale-o-rama ... I like it! And it is plausible since both Avro and Glosters were under Hawker Siddeley at the time  :smiley:

BTW Jeff: To add to my embarrassment, having previously never heard of your "All Your Bases Belong To Us" meme, that phrase now shows up in all sorts of my Google searches!  :-[
"Well, Tom Thompson came paddling past, I'm pretty sure it was him ..."

Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #15 on: August 14, 2026, 05:33:55 AM »
Now is the time to find a set of late mark Avro Vulcan wings and mate those with the Javelin.

Scale-o-rama ... I like it! And it is plausible since both Avro and Glosters were under Hawker Siddeley at the time  :smiley:

BTW Jeff: To add to my embarrassment, having previously never heard of your "All Your Bases Belong To Us" meme, that phrase now shows up in all sorts of my Google searches!  :-[
And all this time I thought I was the out of touch old guy/village elder on this forum :smiley: 
As silly as that "All your bases" meme is, it was definitely one of the originals that deserves to be memorialized. 
"Every day we hear about new studies 'revealing' what should have been obvious to sentient beings for generations; 'Research shows wolverines don't like to be teased" -- Jonah Goldberg

Offline apophenia

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Re: What-if Gloster got an Overseas Order for the Javelin?
« Reply #16 on: August 15, 2026, 05:22:52 AM »
And all this time I thought I was the out of touch old guy/village elder on this forum :smiley:

I could arm-wrestle you for the title ... but first I've gotta wait for the arthritis meds to kick in  :smiley:

As silly as that "All your bases" meme is, it was definitely one of the originals that deserves to be memorialized.

Indeed. And as time marches on, I'll likely be memorialising all kinds of things that I've never heard of before ...  :-\
"Well, Tom Thompson came paddling past, I'm pretty sure it was him ..."