Viper Prototype

[Els]

I am not quite knowledgeable enough with Battlestar Galactica techno stuff but I like the look of the early Vipers in the show Caprica. I see someplaces on-line that they are refered to as the MK-1s and others say they are not. Well it is ok, because I am not building one of those. That would entail a lot of research and I am to lazy for that. What I am going to do is make an early version of that, maybe a predecessor in flight testing.

I will be using these two kits, both have been in my stash for a long time.

Here it is knocked together after some time with the razor saw. It will give you an idea of where I am going with it.

The bottom was also chopped to move the nose landing gear back.

I was really hoping to see a lot of new vehicles in the Caprica show but it turned out to be something quite a bit different than I was expecting. Too bad...

Els

[ChernayaAkula]

Kit-bashes are not uncommon in Whifworld, but the combination of these two, a P-40 and a Super Hornet, that DOES stand out! Wicked project!

[hornet97]

Kit-bashes are not uncommon in Whifworld, but the combination of these two, a P-40 and a Super Hornet, that DOES stand out! :woot.gif:/> Wicked project! :thumbsup:/>

Couldn`t agree more. good luck

[Els]

Thanks. I hope it comes out looking as cool in reality as it does in my imagination.

I worked on the cockpit for a while

I don't use a lot of photoetch because I usually pose my aircraft kits in flight and by the time you put a pilot in the seat and close the canopy you can barely see all the added work that you did. When I opened up the F-18 kit I found a set of photoetch and some aftermarket decals. I must have bought them along time ago and just put them in the box. So I decided to use the photetch for the seat. This will be a mixture of old/new technology.

I had to do a little more sanding to get it to fit into the P-40. I will clean it up before installing it.

Next I will try to fit the P-40 to the F-18.

Els

[Els]

Piko, that is way to much work.

I actually got quite a bit done today.

I finished up the nose section, smoothed out where the props would have been

The nose landing gear bay was moved back and reinforced with scraps and puttied in.

The nose was attached for the second time...yes, second time. After I put it in the first time, I noticed that I had forgot to install the cockpit so I had to rip the whole thing back out and start again. Thats a couple hours I won't get back. Sprue and plastic stock was glued around to reinforce.

And the new dorsal spine was started. The inital round of putty was added.

Els

[komoras]

what putty do you use?

[Els]

Komoras,

Usually for this part I would use Aves or Milliput but I am all out so I am just slathering on a few layers of Squadron white putty. Hopefully it is strong enough to take the stress of sanding without cracking.

Els

[Els]

I had a little bit of time to work on this today. I chopped down the centerline fuel tank so that it would fit with the new location of the nose gear. As you can see, a lot was chopped out of it and it is pretty small now. After some putty it will be OK.

Since this will be a test and evaluation aircraft I am going to model it as if it is going to do a missile test. I scratched up some camera's for the wing tip to film the missile as it is fired.

Hopefully it will look alright once painted up.

Els

[Els]

After 5 rounds of puttying/sanding, I am starting to get it to the shape that I want.

Here is a side view with one of the vert stabs on so that you can see the profile I am trying to achieve.

I have also base painted the missile that is going to be tested. Since I do not know what a Caprican test missle looks like I just used a kit missle and the Mythbusters paint method.

After a few touch-ups and some decals it should be good enough.

Thanks for looking, let me know what you think.

Els

[Els]

Hello all,

It probably doesn't look like a lot has been done, but there have been many rounds of puttying and sanding. I have dropped the flaps and ailerons or whatever they are called. I took the simple rout and just cut them, sanded them, and added a bit of round tubing.

I am ready to start painting I think.

Els

[Els]

Paint is on and so is the wash.

All the wash is off and it is ready for decals, too bad my printer that I have had for about 7 years has finally died.

I have raided my leftover decals stash for everything that looked testerly but I still need something that is Caprican. I guess it is time to buy another printer. Since that may take a little while I guess I will be able to work on my entry for the Phantom group build.

Els

[Els]

I decided not to wait for a new printer and just went ahead and used what decals I could scavange. It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped but it is done. I found quite a few rough spots that I should have resanded after I put the wash on but I am ready to move on to the next build and am happy to leave it as a good three footer. There are some BSG decals that I scavanged from a Viper kit and the rest of the decals I tried to make as testerly as possible. I like the shape of it. I will post more pictures in the completed thread.

Thanks for following along, let me know what you think.

Els

[jimz66]

WOW Where did you come up with this idea?