1/72 RQ-1 Predator

[Pirata]

Those of you who have built the Accurate Miniatures/Platz/Italeri Predator will know what I'm referring to. The model tricks you into believing that it doesn't need a nose weight by balancing perfectly on all three wheels before the propeller hub is mounted. But, once you mount the hub, it rears up.

My diorama is partially inspired by reality in that I've seen civilian technicians tending to the aircraft wearing blue overalls and sometimes, black shirts. I often see Air Police standing around the aircraft though I think the Hasegawa representation of Air Force security might be a little dated. I could be wrong, though.

My diorama also represents the modeling reality that the model is a tail-sitter: notice that my ground crew is holding the aircraft down!

[spejic]

Very nice. What modifications did you do to the kit? I put a lot of nose weight in mine, and I'm worried about how well the spindly landing gear is going to hold up.

[MiG31]

I had to drill a hole in the bottom of the nose to add ballast when I was nearly finished with the model. I think I cleaned up the damage well enough, though I never thought to display it using your method, Pirata. Good work.

[MarkW]

Are the tail fins touching the ground?

[Pirata]

Very nice. What modifications did you do to the kit? I put a lot of nose weight in mine, and I'm worried about how well the spindly landing gear is going to hold up.

The only modification to the kit is that I replaced the pitot tube with a needle and the "crossbar", for lack of a better term, is a thin piece of copper wire. I did this because the kit part broke. The landing gear should hold up.

I had to drill a hole in the bottom of the nose to add ballast when I was nearly finished with the model. I think I cleaned up the damage well enough, though I never thought to display it using your method, Pirata. Good work.

Thanks! I wanted to have personnel around and I wanted to give them something to do! I thought this might be funny!

Are the tail fins touching the ground?

Nope. They are naturally, really close to the ground. I once read that the real plane has suffered from tail strikes on landing & take off. I guess that's why the MQ-9 Reaper has the V-tail inverted.

Thanks for all of your comments!

[HOLMES]

This is such a lovely little Model and dio too.

Love the little touches with the figures , it just gives it that 'je ne sais quoi' to it..

WOW !!! :)

[jminer]

Looks great, love how it all turned out. You don't see many dio's with civilian contractors and that adds interest. Just a note: the Security Forces guy's beret needs to be dark blue. Maroon (or scarlet) beret in the AF is for Pararescue and Combat Control. Also, pretty much any SF on duty will look very similar to any army soldier when it comes to equipment and weapons, so the Hasegawa versions are outdated for modern times. I'd love to find 1/48 scale modern US soldiers. I believe PropagTeam made 4 versions, but even those would be awkward to work into a modern air base dio. Even with surgery.

Justin