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747 SCA conversion?


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It seems like I may have seen with my own two eyes :lol: somewhere in this forum, someone mention a conversion set for a 1/144 747 space shuttle carrier? I tried to find it later and could not. Did I sniff too much glue? Is there in fact a conversion set or detail set of some sort? I have long wanted to do that model, but really never cared for the look of the revell kit. I am thinking of putting the hasa. kit on one of their 1/200 scale airliner kits, which should come out pretty good, but it sure would be nice to have the larger 1/144 scale in good quality. Tell me I wasn't dreamin' :wasntme:

Bill

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To my knowledge, no aftermarket conversion kit exists to make a 747 shuttle carrier aircraft with the possible exception of the one that a certain company did (can't remember the name) to convert their own vaccuformed 747-100 kit into an SCA. For awhile, Cutting Edge was doing some space related stuff, including a Pegasus launcher and adapter kit to mate with an L-1011 Tristar. So maybe they were considering such a conversion kit. But nothing was ever issued. Doing the modifications isn't that difficult and it can be done in various scales. I do understand your reluctance to acquire the Revell 747 SCA with Enteprise, but with the possible exception of the crudeness of the pylons provided, you do get some good parts that you don't get if you try to do this on your own. For instance:

The Tailcone: If you do an SCA without a tailcone on the shuttle, then realistically you are limited to only representing Enteprise from the final ALT drop test. Plus, the engine bells on Enterprise are relatively featureless mockups, so existing engine bells would need to be modified to remove the cooling jackets from the bells. ALL ferried shuttles use the tailcone for transport since the buffeting the tail of the 747 encounters from the poor aerodynamics of the orbiter's aft end can cause damage if encountered for long periods of time. A tailcone can be scratchbuilt, but it will take the most work relative to the rest of the changes needed.

The horizontal stab endplates: Relatively easy to make, but Revell again does the job for you here. The plates were originally designed for removal when an SCA is not being used for ferrying an orbiter, but they are pretty much left on all the time. They are needed to provide additional vertical tail surface area since the orbiter covers up a large portion of the 747s tail.

The strut configuration has changed a little bit over the years. The first major change after the Enterprise ALT tests involved shortening the length of the front strut to lower the nose angle of the orbiter. The increased nose angle used during the ALT tests was only to help with seperation of the orbiter from the shuttle and the shorter strut helped to reduce drag for ferry flights.

Besides, if you want to do this in 1/144 scale, the Revell 747 is already the best 747 classic in this scale. And a completed model is fairly good sized when finished. The basic struts are indeed crude, but sheet and strip styrene can be used to busy them up in order to improve their appearance with a relatively minimum effort.

As for the other scales, I also recall one year at an IPMS Nationals that two different modelers entered 1/100 747/shuttle combos built with the Tamiya orbiter and the Nitto/Entex/Doyusha 747 classic. Those models were danged impressive. I have also pondered doing such a conversion in 1/200 scale as well with all Hasegawa kits.

The first edition of Kalmbach's "Famous Spaceships of Fact and Fantasy" book from 1979 had two great articles about the shuttle/SCA, one talking about the 747 (complete with pictures showing the modifications clearly) and the other one covering the proper building of a Revell kit. Its too bad these articles were cut when the second addition of the book came out in the 1990s. But, the first printing can be found at places like eBay or used bookstores with a little searching and its price probably won't break the bank either.

Edited by Jay Chladek
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To my knowledge, no aftermarket conversion kit exists to make a 747 shuttle carrier aircraft with the possible exception of the one that a certain company did (can't remember the name) to convert their own vaccuformed 747-100 kit into an SCA. For awhile, Cutting Edge was doing some space related stuff, including a Pegasus launcher and adapter kit to mate with an L-1011 Tristar. So maybe they were considering such a conversion kit. But nothing was ever issued. Doing the modifications isn't that difficult and it can be done in various scales. I do understand your reluctance to acquire the Revell 747 SCA with Enteprise, but with the possible exception of the crudeness of the pylons provided, you do get some good parts that you don't get if you try to do this on your own. For instance:

The Tailcone: If you do an SCA without a tailcone on the shuttle, then realistically you are limited to only representing Enteprise from the final ALT drop test. Plus, the engine bells on Enterprise are relatively featureless mockups, so existing engine bells would need to be modified to remove the cooling jackets from the bells. ALL ferried shuttles use the tailcone for transport since the buffeting the tail of the 747 encounters from the poor aerodynamics of the orbiter's aft end can cause damage if encountered for long periods of time. A tailcone can be scratchbuilt, but it will take the most work relative to the rest of the changes needed.

The horizontal stab endplates: Relatively easy to make, but Revell again does the job for you here. The plates were originally designed for removal when an SCA is not being used for ferrying an orbiter, but they are pretty much left on all the time. They are needed to provide additional vertical tail surface area since the orbiter covers up a large portion of the 747s tail.

The strut configuration has changed a little bit over the years. The first major change after the Enterprise ALT tests involved shortening the length of the front strut to lower the nose angle of the orbiter. The increased nose angle used during the ALT tests was only to help with seperation of the orbiter from the shuttle and the shorter strut helped to reduce drag for ferry flights.

Besides, if you want to do this in 1/144 scale, the Revell 747 is already the best 747 classic in this scale. And a completed model is fairly good sized when finished. The basic struts are indeed crude, but sheet and strip styrene can be used to busy them up in order to improve their appearance with a relatively minimum effort.

As for the other scales, I also recall one year at an IPMS Nationals that two different modelers entered 1/100 747/shuttle combos built with the Tamiya orbiter and the Nitto/Entex/Doyusha 747 classic. Those models were danged impressive. I have also pondered doing such a conversion in 1/200 scale as well with all Hasegawa kits.

The first edition of Kalmbach's "Famous Spaceships of Fact and Fantasy" book from 1979 had two great articles about the shuttle/SCA, one talking about the 747 (complete with pictures showing the modifications clearly) and the other one covering the proper building of a Revell kit. Its too bad these articles were cut when the second addition of the book came out in the 1990s. But, the first printing can be found at places like eBay or used bookstores with a little searching and its price probably won't break the bank either.

I actually have that book. It is a great book. I think it must be a library book that didn't make it back because it has a card holder in the cover. I picked up at a garage sale several years ago along with the ship model building one.

So the Revell 747 is pretty much the best in that scale? I am shocked :thumbsup:, amazed :wacko: , pleased :nanner: with that fact. (sorry for the overuse of emoticons, I don't get out much) Now I just have to try to find one. I almost picked up one from the local drug store when I was about 12, I guess I should have. And yea, I have to admit I got lumps in my throat every time I would think about trying to scratch build the tail cone. Well thanks for the insight.

Hey Kitnut, I would love to see that 72nd shuttle/747 combo complete!! That would have to be a thing of beauty! Keep us filled in on the progress.

Thanks,

Bill

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Hi Bill,

I have the Aircraft in Miniature (Transport Wings) Boeing 747-100 plus their SCA conversion. I've a Revell Shuttle to go with it. The plan is to get it done this year. And I'll post pics when it's done.

AIM is supposed to be putting the Boeing 747-100 back into production this year according to a post on their website. http://www.aim72.co.uk/

Robert

Edited by kitnut617
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This year Robert?

:rofl:

yeah-- well-- I've been telling myself that for the last four or five years :whistle:

I see you're comptemplating the YAL-1A. When I saw AIM was re-releasing their 747 I put an order in because I want to build one of those too. May I ask where you got the decals from, or did you make them yourself?

Robert

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The only thing about doing a YAL-1 is you'll need a 747-400F. Granted the 400F has the short hump of a classic 747, but the wing is different and so are the wing to fuselage fairings. Just keep that in mind when you decide to tackle a 1/72 scale monster (which sounds very tempting to me as well, albeit in 1/144 scale).

Yes, the Revell 747-100/200 is the best offering in 1/144. Your only other choice is Airfix. The Airfix kit's biggest knock is it seems to be based on a non-flying mockup and it didn't have the fuselage bulges around the wing molded in. Now if one was masochistic enough, they could kitbash the Airfix fuselage with the wing bulges and wings of say a cutaway RoG 747 to make a non-cutaway 747 classic, but that is A LOT of work when just finding a Revell kit without the fuselage is an easier prospect (albeit more expensive).

I have seen the AIM kit with SCA conversion paired up with a Monogram orbiter in person and it looked STUNNING. If I had the room, I might tackle a beast like that. But, in terms of a shuttle/SCA verses a shuttle with boosters, at least the booster shuttle can be oriented vertically, not taking up as much space on my shelf. Another thing to keep in mind is that although AIM seems to be using some very heavy gauge plastic (ABS perhaps?) for their vacs, the Revell orbiter is a little heavier then the Monogram one due to the thickness of the plastic. Do what you can to strip some weight out of the orbiter model and reinforce the fuselage of the 747 since you don't want the thing to collapse under its own weight.

The Monogram orbiter is also ideally suited to an SCA conversion since it features plugged RCS ports on the nose. When the shuttles are transported to and from Palmdale for refits, their OMS pods and Forward RCS modules are removed and replaced with dummy units. The only time a shuttle is flown on the SCA with live units is when it is being transported back to KSC after a landing at Edwards or another off site landing strip (so far, only White Sands has been utilized). Enterprise featured a plugged dummy RCS arrangement on its nose as well, except it isn't as crude as the dummy modules seen on flight orbiters. The split between the RCS module and the rest of the shuttle is clearly defined on the Monogram kit, making it easier to paint the thing in dummy colors (as opposed to a mosaic tile pattern).

As for the 747 SCA, the pylon configurations did change a little over the years. If you don't have it already, I also encourage you to pick up a copy of Dennis Jenkins "Space Shuttle, the first 100 Missions" as it is a comprehensively researched hardcover that includes almost everything you ever wanted to know about shuttle (but were afraid to ask). There is a section devoted to the 747SCA, which includes some pictures of the more recent pylon configuration on the jets. The guys at Dryden also let the heat get to them it seems as a couple of the pylons feature some humor stenciling which says things like "nose to front, lefty loosy, rightie tightie". Of course, granted you can't see that in 1/144. The STS-114 Photo scrapbook that Jenkins did last year also has some nice color photos of Nasa 905 from its ferrying of Discovery in 2005.

Only other change I can see before the repaint is it seems sometime in 1981-82, the 747 had its Satcom antenna bump behind the upper deck hump removed. The Revell kit has this feature, so it will need altering as well to be strictly accurate (not a big thing if it isn't though). The repaint of the jet occured around 1984-85, as the SCA with Enterprise made a stop at the Paris Airshow that year.

Edited by Jay Chladek
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Thanks Jay for that, I'll keep an eye open for the book. I have the Squadron/Signal Walk Around already.

I have the 1/72 Shuttle on it's tank/boosters kit too which I've started:

http://groups.msn.com/TheWhatifandoddballm...047&lc=1033

Cheers, Robert

Not bad at all so far. I am surprised though that you opted to paint the ET with the SRBs attached. This does make it more work as now you have to mask the ET to spray those boosters in white. Oh well, I know you can pull it off if you put your mind to it still. It will be a massive display piece, that's for sure. :thumbsup:

The Concorde model you are doing also looks good. Will that be a visor down bird?

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Not bad at all so far. I am surprised though that you opted to paint the ET with the SRBs attached. This does make it more work as now you have to mask the ET to spray those boosters in white. Oh well, I know you can pull it off if you put your mind to it still. It will be a massive display piece, that's for sure. :nanner:

The Concorde model you are doing also looks good. Will that be a visor down bird?

Thanks, yes I'm doing it all backwards aren't I. The Shuttle itself is just held together with tape and string. I dry assembled it to see what it would look like and then that was as far as it went.

The Concorde is actually my interpretation of the RAF Concorde B.1 (Bombcorde or whatever you want to call it) Here's a couple of links to what I've been up to and why.

http://thekitforum.16.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=26

http://groups.msn.com/TheWhatifandoddballm...concordeb1.msnw

I'm building this from a picture that appeared in the 1968 RAF Yearbook. The picture appears in one of the links.

Cheers, Robert

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Nice work on the bombcorde. I recall somebody did something similar back in 04 at Telford when the kit was brand new. They went with a totally different nose profile though. Many moons ago, a member of our local club also did an interesting kitbash with the Revell Concorde, a center pod from a B-58 Hustler (I think it was the ancient box scale kit) and some 1/144 Exocets to hang under the engine pods and called it a French SSB, complete with psuedo Mirage IV paintjob. It won the hypothetical category at regionals in 1989 and upon reading the name of it, our awards presenter (A Colonel in SAC at the time in addition to being a club member) said "Who's it going to bomb, the Italians?" :doh:

I've been very tempted to try something similar myself.

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