SteveV22FE Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 (edited) I have put the WC-130J in a holding pattern while I get started on this project. The plan is to finish the Weatherbird and the Spectre at the same time. One weekend in the early Fall of 1993, I was called out to the airbase to work on a transient Herk that dropped in for RADAR problems. Well, I wasn't a Comm/Nav troop. I was a GAC troop. They Pro Super told me that they couldn't get a hold of the Comm/Nav person and since I was cross trained, it fell on me. I got out to the base to see an AC-130. The crew told me that they had already troubleshot the system and determined that they needed a new RT. So, I ordered the new RT and while we were waiting, I took a look at the aircraft and realized that this was a 1954 model AC-130A gunship. I looked up at the fuselage and on the side was the trademark crescent moon and skull emblem and the name "Ghost Rider". I will be modeling Ghost Rider as it appeared that day in 1993. Ghost Rider was retired in 1995. It was then flown to Dobbins AFB, Georgia to be put on static display. Ghost Rider is now on display at the Aviation Wing of the Marietta Museum of History. The RT came in, I quickly op checked it and sent the aircraft on it's way. I always wanted to model that aircraft. Now, keeping in line with my, building a model of every aircraft I've ever worked on, technically, if I close my left eye and squint my right, I can say that I worked on an AC-130A. This isn't going to be a Jon Vojtech AC-130 build, but it will be an in-flight build similar to my C-130H "Damien" build and WC-130J build. Beginning the build... Like all of Italeri's C-130 kits, they look good, but they have their shortcomings. I found the Testors boxing of the AC-130A kits with the 54-1630 "Azreal - The Angel of Death" marking. On a side note, aircraft 1630 is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. To build an AC-130A accurately, I would have to back date this kit to a C-130A. The C-130A had two cargo doors. There was a door on the left side forward fuselage and then the ramp and door at the aft end of the aircraft. When the aircraft was converted to a gunship configuration, the forward cargo door was closed and doubler-plates installed to prevent the door from opening ever again. Holes were then cut into the door for cannons. Additional openings were added to the left side of the fuselage for gun placements. Many modifications were done to these aircraft during their service with the USAF. (All pictures are posted under "Fair Use Most AC-130A model Spectre builds I've seen are lacking key backdating features to make them correct, most notably the forward cargo door. Here are photos of the aircraft: Left forward fuselage Left Aft Fuselage The boring side of the aircraft You will notice in the photos that the aircraft has three bladed propellers. The aircraft was originally delivered with three bladed propellers. It was then modified to to have four-bladed propellers. When it was retired at Dobbins AFB, the USAF removed the the four bladed and replaced them with the original propellers. I began the build by replicating the sealed forward cargo door. This was done by using .010 x .030 Evergreen styrene. All of the windows on the cargo door had been plated over during this period of time. On the aft fuselage, the forward window of two aft windows over the left aft sponson had been plated over. On the left aft fuselage where the ramp is located was the search light. This too had been remove late in Ghost Rider's career. Edited July 24, 2016 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rom Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Great!!I LOVE AC130s! Have fun! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted August 22, 2015 Author Share Posted August 22, 2015 (edited) A little more work on Ghost Rider this morning... I added patches and fairing to the ex-forward cargo door area. If you look at early Vietnam era photos of Ghost Rider you will see intake scoops in this are which had be removed by the time it was heading into retirement. The fairing in the kit has an opening on the aft side of the fairing. This needed to be closed to be accurate. I also closed the left aft paratroop door and removed the raised reinforcements from the upper section. A window was added on the door above the Beacon Tracking RADAR fairing. The spotlight area is closed, sanded and polished. Next step will be to add the forward fairing for the removed spotlight opening. This fairing is also molded with having an open aft side. This too will have to be closed. Edited August 22, 2015 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CodyB Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Hello There! I am watching this with much interest. Do you plan on posting an update any time soon? Thank you!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Hello There! I am watching this with much interest. Do you plan on posting an update any time soon? Thank you!! At the moment, everything is packed up. I'm in-process of moving to the DFW area and it will be a little while before it get's back on the bench. Stay tuned though, it will be back as soon as possible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Steve, great start to a really interesting build. Looking forward to your next update once you get settled in. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GazzaS Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Hi, I like the story that you've started this build with. I don't know much about gunships, so I'm really looking forward to seeing your model. Best Wishes, Gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MHaz Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 At the moment, everything is packed up. I'm in-process of moving to the DFW area and it will be a little while before it get's back on the bench. Stay tuned though, it will be back as soon as possible. Welcome to DFW! Where are you planning on living? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 (edited) Welcome to DFW! Where are you planning on living? Sorry it's taken so long to respond...busy busy busy. I'm in Burleson now. I just took out "Ghost Rider" and I've made some progress. Here it is pieced together. This is what you get when every piece in the original kit is warped. You use the AC-130 fuselage half and use another kit. There's a lot more work to do. I can't wait to get back on it. Edited March 17, 2016 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
falcon20driver Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Great work, I look forward to seeing more. Welcome to the metroplex. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alternative 4 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Are you going to re-scribe the panel lines? I was donated a C-130H with the raised lines already sanded off and would appreciate some pointers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 (edited) For clarification purposes: The 3-blade props were replaced on this aircraft sometime between, 1977-1980 (best estimate). It flew with the 4-blade Hamilton Standard until it's arrival/retirement at Dobbins ARB, GA on 28 September 1995 to go on static display. At that time it was wearing the two-tone gray paint scheme.The museum acquired 3-bladed props and put those back on it. Here is pic of it at Duke Field wearing the overall gunship gray and four blade props: Per the Bill (Spectre623) at C-130Hercules.net, one of the curators at the museum where Ghost Rider now resides, has been very helpful in my research on this aircraft. He's been with it since it arrived in Sept 95. He has been my single best source of information on this aircraft. The historian at Hurlburt Field actually told me to contact him. The Wing Historian actually told me he "was too busy" to help me. This pic is shortly after the 3-blade props were reinstalled: When I saw it, it had the two-tone gray paint and four bladed props. I don't recall, however if it was carrying external tanks that day or if it had something else on the outboard of 1 and 4 engines. Here is 0014. This is what "Ghost Rider" looked like when I saw it with 4-blade props. Edited March 18, 2016 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 Are you going to re-scribe the panel lines? I was donated a C-130H with the raised lines already sanded off and would appreciate some pointers. Dymo-Tape is your best friend when it comes to scribing. What I do is I use painters blue tape and place it where I am going to scribe the line. I then place the dymo-tape on top of that. With your scribing tool, use light pressure to get your line. Make multiple passes using a little more pressure each time. Use too much pressure or try to get it in the first pass, you run the risk of skewing your line. There are scribing templates available for odd shapes like access panels and weird shapes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted April 2, 2016 Author Share Posted April 2, 2016 I've neglected some updates, so here goes. Flight Deck. Not much to see here. Any detail in here is really lost when the model is closed up. I will dull this down a little bit before I close the fuselage. Cut the window and added the doubler to the paratroop door Boxed in the in Bofors cannons I didn't like the mounting of the two forward guns A side shot Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yardbird78 Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Coming along nicely. You are putting a lot of work into that model and it certainly shows. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SteveV22FE Posted July 24, 2016 Author Share Posted July 24, 2016 (edited) Been a long while since a real update. Ghost Rider is all together. Props are painted. Lots of filling, sanding, primer in that order, over and over and over. The chaff/flare fairings, the EW sensors just aft of the nose, the TACAN antennas as well as the VOR antenna on the tail are on! Still a lot of work to do... A LOT... Edited July 24, 2016 by SteveV22FE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ichitoe Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 SWEEEEEET!!!! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A-10 LOADER Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 NICE !!! She's getting there and looking really good now. Glad to see your back at the bench again, looking forward to the next installment. Steve Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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