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Wolfpack 1/48 T-38C Talon


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2 hours ago, dylan said:

does anyone know if they plan a NASA version of the T-38C?

 

Didn't think NASA had any C-models... do they?

 

AFAIK all NASA Talons are designated T-38N, and NASA has Block 2 & Block 3 airframes.  I found one reference that said some/all of the Block 2 jets have the new glass cockpit.

Edited by habu2
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13 hours ago, BillS said:

The Hypersonic wheels are a must. That’s a great kit but the wheels/tires are wrong. Hypersonic nails the thin, high pressure profile. Oh, whatever happened to the AT-38 release with Holloman markings?

It’s still listed as coming soon on their site.

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5 minutes ago, habu2 said:

 

N961NA is a T-38N (according to FAA and NASA)

 

Besides, Wolfpack already did a kit with NASA markings. Fundecals did an AM sheet as well. 

...well, it has C type intakes and exhausts as well as MB seats, so you’d need the C kit, seats plus a separate source of decals.

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If you are going to do a T-38N there are a lot more to it than a core kit with the new intakes and decals:

 

1. Cockpit- NASA jets with the color weather radar nose have a rather different front panel and possibly back panel as well (haven't found any good picks of the back panel). It is not a glass cockpit C panel and looks closer to that of the A with the round steam gauges. Instead of the four across rows on the right side of the panel (engine gauges) the NASA Ns use three three across rows. Probably because they doubled up the engine RPM gauges and are using a needle for each engine in a single gauge. This helps make room for the radar screen in the center of the pit. The rest of the panel is a weird scramble of other relocated round gauges. 

 

2. Ejection seats- the stock seats can be used with the radar nose, but by the time NASA's fleet began converting to what became the C style intakes, the Mk 16 seats had become common except for perhaps a couple jets very early on in the conversion process. Reason being is NASA's female astronauts and shorter male astronauts flying in jets with the older seats had to wear ballast weights on their body to help prevent the more powerful "one size fits all" ejection seat rocket didn't cause spinal damage in the event of an ejection. The Mk 16 seat is rated for a lot more different body types. 

 

3. The radar nose. The Funderkal sheet instructions talk a bit about the radar nose. The trickiest shape to pull off are the two subtle bulges on top and bottom of the nose. Trumpeter to their credit with their NASA T-38 kit has rendered the shape of the nose beautifully. The nose is unique only to the NASA fleet as I have never seen a USAF jet with it. The new nose was first added to the fleet in the early to mid 1990s. Not all jets necessarily got it, but it looks like those NASA jets that didn't appear to have been reassigned from the Ellington field fleet (9XX numbered jets) to mainly Edwards/Dryden (8XX numbered jets).

 

4. Det cord on the canopy- It looks like the front canopy on Mk 16 seat equipped NASA N jets has a diamond of det cord on the front canopy. It doesn't appear the back seat does. Replicating this could be a little tricky. Not sure if the USAF went this route with the C fleet either.

 

So it will take a fair amount of work to turn a Wolfpack C into a NASA N model. To date, the Trumpeter NASA "T-38C" gives you a better starting point with its radar nose, but even it still needs some work. Nobody yet has done a T-38N kit that can be built right from the box. Wolfpack's NASA T-38A kit only builds into a NASA A model as used from the 1960s up through the early to mid-1990s (unless doing an Edwards/Dryden jet).

Edited by Jay Chladek
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Here's some info I got in 2004 from a gentleman who worked in JSC's PR department.  I was asking about several NASA public domain photos to help Vince of VM Decals with his NASA sheet.  Not entirely apropos but y'all might like it.

 

"Here is some basic info on the Johnson T-38's.  JSC is currently [2004] operating 33 Northrop T-38 Talon aircraft.  They have been going through a series of upgrades from wings strengthening, semi-glass cockpits, ejection seats [Martin Baker], engine intakes, exhaust ejectors, and nose change modification since back in the early 90's.  JSC now identifies these aircraft as T-38N's.   The new style paint scheme and NASA markings began in 1993, so I think it would be safe to say that NASA 912 was in the same paint when the major mods were performed.  This aircraft was acquired as a T-38A from Northrop on 9 February 1966, Serial No. 65-10354, c/n 5773.   During a slow period after the Apollo program, JSC loaned NASA 912 to the Air Force at Eglin AFB, Florida from 12 March 1973 to 16 August 1978.  It was returned to JSC once the Shuttle program began to pick up steam.  When returned it carried a band of red diamonds on the tail, which the head of JSC Aircraft Operation, Mr. Algranti, wanted to keep on the aircraft.  When I retired in '95, the diamond markings, were still on the tail, but I'm not sure if they are still there.  They may have been removed when the new NASA meatball/vector replaced the old NASA worm.  This aircraft was the first to receive the new cockpit improvements [Block 1]."

Edited by Slartibartfast
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Just now, airmechaja said:

So is the C available now or not? :dontknow: If so, from whom?

It should be available soon.  When Wolfpack Designs releases a new product it usually takes 2-3 week for the distribution chain to supply it  to the retailers in Asia, more here in the USA. Perhaps LuckyModel will have it first.

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