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1/144 EC-135 ARIA


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I've decided to take another crack at converting a Minicraft KC-135 into an EC-135 ARIA version. I had made a few resin copies of my original nose conversion, and pulled one out to see if I can interest myself in pursuing this again...

Here are a couple shots of my conversion early on... Lots of styrene, super glue, red putty and Milliput... and sanding and priming..!  Unfortunately it didn't survive, but I did make a mold before its demise...

 

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And here's two of the copies. Solid chunks of resin. I used my Dremel tool to route out the nose gear well area in one, and a resin copy of the kit gear well is ready to be added. Obviously, some reconstructive surgery is ahead...!

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Thanks Dutch... Yeah, I haven't decided which engines to use yet... I'll be happy to just make this nose conversion work for starters...!  Did you make a nose for yours? 

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  • 3 weeks later...

So here's the nose section with the reconstruction of the nose gear bay 99% complete. I also added a spare windshield decal (thanks Dutch) to help with the alignment of more work.  The ARIA nose had 16 "ribs" running longitudinally along the radome. I'm trying to figure out how to make these.  I can't stretch sprue thin enough to make these in this small scale. I'm considering scribing them on, but just not sure.  Any suggestions gratefully welcome...

 

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Those "ribs" are lightning diverter strips.  If lightning were to strike the non-conductive radome, they give it a path to the metal airframe.  In real life they are about the thickness of 1/32.  They're also about 1/2 inch wide.

 

Here is some information:  https://www.lightningdiversion.com/diversionstrips.aspx

 

C2j

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  • 5 weeks later...

A little more progress on the ARIA.... I added the a/c intake under the right forward fuselage, along with the bleed air vents behind both... they still need a little cleaning up before I call them done though...  I also am going to have the gear doors open on this one.  The Minicraft nose gear well is pretty well rendered in this small scale, but isn't visible at all unless you open up the doors.  I added the two skid plates to the nose well, which I believe are designed to stop the wheels from spinning on retraction.  I'm also adding some detail to the main gear wells with solder and plastic bits, just to add a little interest.  More to be done on them though...

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Edited by bluedot25
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20 hours ago, bluedot25 said:

Thanks very much Dutch... I don't believe it though..! And you definitely have me beat in another way... you actually finish a lot more models than I do..!

Tom,

Well, that was last year.  I am waaaaaay behind in my building goals for this year.  I have been wanting to do some mold making and casting myself, but haven't had the courage to start yet.  That and a lack of time.  Work schedule is just too busy lately with overtime and travel.  And then, I spend a perfectly good couple of hours browsing other people's work on ARC Forum instead of modelling myself!  But I still like watching your progress.

K/r,

Dutch

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got the nose section attached... I've heard that resin can shrink as it dries, and apparently mine did a bit.  It didn't fit as well as I had hope for.  So, it took some repeated applications of red putty, sanding, priming. Mr. Surfacer, and more sanding, but I finally achieved an acceptable join to the fuselage...

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  • 3 months later...

Hi Don...  I've been juggling four 1/144 projects lately... The EC-135 ARIA, my NC-135B, KC-135A, and lately my "strakeless" B-52G... And too many projects around the house! I'll get back to it soon...

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