cairnsy Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 G'Day All, I was just curious about the light grey WRM fuel tanks carried by some F-15E's in Afghanistan whether they are externally any different to the standard gunship grey tanks carried. I intend to do 2 391fs Jets one early OEF with nose art and one Late OEF wit Sniper XR JDAM etc and am tossing up whether I want dark or light grey tanks for a bit of contrast. So would the tanks in Tamiya's 1-32 Bunker Buster kit be appropriate for the WRM Jugs? Cheers Cairnsy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 The aft end is blunt: Regards, Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
galileo1 Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 Nice pictures!! I like the contrast in colors. It'll look good! Rob Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geedubelyer Posted October 13, 2010 Share Posted October 13, 2010 G'day Cairnsy, You can modify the Tamiya gas bags like this On occasion one of each could be loaded so check your refs. Good luck with your project. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 The Strike Eagles I tanked over Afghanistan this summer and last, were standard Gunship Grey with the pointed tail cones. Haven't seen the WRM tanks in a while. As was said, know your timeline and work from there. Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strikeeagle801 Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 Jeff's correct. It actually has been several years since I've seen any WRM tanks used, but you did say you wanted to do a 391st jet from early OEF (using the MO Avengers decals I'm guessing?) and the WRM's would be appropriate for that timeframe. As Murph and Guy pointed out, they are not just flat on the back end, but have some detail back there that is important to notice. In my opinion (for what it is worth) Guy's WRM's are the best that I have ever seen done. Another feature to note on WRM's is that they do not have all of the raised weld lines that the regular drop tanks do. They are sent in sections to the theater and bolted together there. So, they actually have a mix of raised and recessed panel lines. If you look at a Hasegawa 1/48 Eagle drop tank, you would keep the two recessed lines that basically split the tank in thirds, fill in the others, and then add a raised weld line towards the back as seen in Murph's pic with them all on the ground. Aaron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kenlilly106 Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 (edited) I've seen the term "WRM" bandied about a bit on the boards and I know that it stands for "War Reserve Material" and that the back end of the tanks are blunt, beyond that I have some questions for the crowd: Besides the blunt end and the seams/weld beads, what's the big difference between a WRM tank and a stock one? Were these tanks stored in a warehouse somewhere or was there a stack of parts that was assembled to make them? Instead of making them like they did, why didn't they make more tanks like the stock ones? This is one of those terms that I see a lot but that I really don't have any idea of the "why" behind it. I guess it's my engineers curiosity. Ken Edited October 15, 2010 by kenlilly106 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
galileo1 Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 (edited) Those are actually good questions, Ken, as I was too thinking about the "why" behind it. I've just become acquainted with the term early this week and got curious about it.... Rob Edited October 15, 2010 by TOPGUN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 (edited) Ken, They were built and stored as unassembled units, so more of them could be shipped to a combat theater, since they took up less space than if they were already assembled. Additionally, they weren't intended to last for years like the regular external tanks. BTW, the pilots usually refer to them as "nestables." Regards, Murph Edited October 15, 2010 by Murph Quote Link to post Share on other sites
strikeeagle801 Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 They also don't have some of the internal baffling that the regular tanks do. Like Murph said, they are not designed for extended use. One of the main reasons you see the Nestables in combat zones during the opening stages of a conflict is that in addition to being easier to store and get into the theater, they are also cheaper than the regular tanks. Because of this, if you have to drop the tanks in combat, it is not as much of a loss in terms of money. So, you'll see a lot of them used until the chance of having to drop a tank is decreased, and then you'll see more regular tanks carried. I don't know what maintenance is like on the drop tanks, but I would bet that most of the F-15's and F-16's supporting OEF/OIF have carried the same two tanks for several months, if not years. Aaron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kenlilly106 Posted October 15, 2010 Share Posted October 15, 2010 Thanks Murph and Aaron for the explanations, it makes a lot more sense now. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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