Downen Scaled Replicas
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About Downen Scaled Replicas
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A LONG belated finale for this build! What appear to be small, white antennas were added to the top of the fuselage, nav lights were painted using Copic markers (red & green), and tailplanes were added along with the camera/sensor pod on the bottom of the nose. And here she is, with obligatory soda can for scale reference! -
In addition to lines defining the control surface locations, photos of the flying test articles consistently show a handful of prominent panel lines on the vehicles. Those have been recreated on the model. To get the engraved panel lines to “pop” for photos, my darkest grey enamel panel line wash (PLW) was applied over a coat of Tamiya’s X-22 Clear Gloss acrylic thinned 50/50 with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. Normally I would use a slightly lighter grey for this PLW, but this build is intended to be photographed for marketing the kit and the darker color will ensure that the engrav
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I’m going to pivot on the color scheme for this model… yeah, I’m a flake that way… Rather than a Have Glass V scheme, I’m going to go with the flying prototype’s two-tone camo and use some Hataka Orange (lacquer) paints that have been sitting on my workbench for a few months. This will be my first experience using Hataka’s line of paints. Initially I assumed that the Avenger / Avenger ER test articles were in an F-16 style two-tone camo using FS36118 Gunship Grey over FS36270 Haze Grey (or variously Neutral Grey, Medium Grey, etc.). But once I sprayed paint chips for th
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Unfortunately, I failed to take a photo of my preferred process for filling joints (gaps) on 3D printed resin models. I use the same liquid resin which was used to print the model. The resin is siphoned off into a squeeze bottle with a needle applicator (20 gauge if I’m not mistaken). The resin is run into the joint in question, and then exposed to UV light for a few seconds to cure it in the joint. This should only be done in thin layers so that the UV light can cure the entire run of resin. Since it’s the same material, the filler basically becomes part of the model. Once sanded, the joint s
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A brief pause while I check seams on the fuselage… A display base approximately 4.75 inches in diameter has been designed to accept a 5/32” brass rod for mounting the Avenger in “flight mode”. The base has raised detail representing a stylized Avenger. My process for painting display bases such as this is summarized in the accompanying photo. After priming, the base is sprayed overall in Tamiya’s TS-26 lacquer gloss Pure White. Tamiya’s rattle cans have never let me down; they atomize well and the paint self-levels to a smooth, tough finish. The vehicle is i
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Cruise over to my website (noted in my signature) and add your name to my mailing list. I'll be sending out a notice once the kit is ready. Thanks. --Troy
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It’s a good idea for me to pause now for a bit of pre-assembly painting. It will be difficult / impossible to access the engine fan & mixer parts as well as the inlet and exhaust ducts after assembly. On the 1:1 scale Avenger prototypes the inlet color appears to be the base color of the overall vehicle. On this build I’m going to do a hypothetical Have Glass V operation paint scheme, so I’ll airbrush the inlet the lighter shade of gray FS36270. The boundary layer diverter will be airbrushed the darker FS36170 since it, too, will be difficult to access once assembled. I like Mr
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Yessir. That's correct. I've designed a display base, which I'll start work on shortly & post here.
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All parts printed, most still with their print supports intact in this photo. Everything seems to have printed well, although there are a few edges that need more supports so that the edges aren’t quite so ragged. I find that 3D printing is almost as much an art as it is science. That’s why 2 or 3 prototypes are typically required before all the issues are worked out with a new design. Even then, I still tend to find small issues that require design tweaks months or years later. Note the 3D printed display base and the 3” long brass rod for displaying the model in flight. More on t
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Just saw this posted by Aviation Week on July 31. We’ll see what develops… MQ-20 Emerges As New Candidate For Adversary Air Surrogate A new U.S. defense project is devoted to converting two General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-20 Avengers into air-to-air adversaries for training fighter pilots. The jet-powered uncrewed aircraft systems won the $98 million contract for Project Red 5, a prototyping effort led by the Test Resource Management Center (TRMC), an arm of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The contract calls for GA-AS
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When I first saw photos of the General Atomics Predator C “Avenger” I was impressed with the design and the “mean” look of the vehicle relative to many other uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV). No kits have yet emerged for the Avenger, so many, many months ago I began tackling the design. With complex curves that seem to shift and change with every new reference photo, it’s been an off-and-on project which, finally, is approaching completion. The Predator C first flew on 4 April 2009 employing a turbofan engine and incorporating stealth features, both of which were perhaps fir
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And heeeeeeeere’s the lineup! The basecoat is Model Car World (MCW) 2119 Dark Gull Gray FS36231. Bottom of the aircraft: MCW 2119 Insignia White FS17875 Top of the aircraft: MCW 2120 Gull Gray FS36440 Details: Tamiya TS-12 Orange (decanted for airbrush), MCW 2148 USAF Thunderbirds White (rudder stars), and MCW 2000 Gloss Black (nose anti-glare panel). A1H Build 21 - Paint A by Troy Downen, on Flickr The entire lineup is lacquer which produces a fast-drying and rock-hard finish capable of taking some rough handling and masking, and also capable
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You're very welcome. Thanks for following along.
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Thanks SakisG! I've not known much about Skyraiders prior to doing the research for this build. Turns out, they're great airplanes! While that primer is setting up, a quick look at the helmet. Recall that I 3D printed an APH-6 helmet because the client wanted the helmet displayed in or around the cockpit, but did not want a pilot displayed with the airplane. There is a pilot figure included with the Tamiya kit, but the helmet on the figure did not have much detail. So even though I considered cutting off the little guy’s head and drilling out the face (yuck), instead I went the way
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At last I’ve solved (temporarily, at least) my issues with having photo editing software. So onward with the build documentation!! How about we wrap up those landing gear first, since the gear bays are painted? The gear were entirely straightforward; I used SAC’s metal replacements since I wanted to ensure that the struts would be robust in case they got knocked around a bit by the client. I used some 26 gauge copper wire for hydraulic brake lines and, if you can see it in the photo, a Molotow “liquid metal” marker to paint the shiny metal oleos. (Those markers are awesome! Get one