Airforce762 Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 I'm sure everyone has heard of broplan's G550CAEW vacform model kit and perhaps Amodel's G550 series of model kits (which is better than broplan's imo). I guess it's taking too long for manufacturers to come up with a decent G550CAEW kit so I decided to 3D print my own in 1/72 scale (and in 1/48 scale also). Here's some photos of the first version of the model I printed, assembled and painted. Enjoy the photos and welcome the discussion! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 Wow! How long did it take to print something like that? Looks great! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airforce762 Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 1 hour ago, JackMan said: Wow! How long did it take to print something like that? Looks great! Printing takes about 1 week since I only have time to supervise the printing a few hours per day. Thanks for your compliment! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JackMan Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 Thanks & welcome to ARC Quote Link to post Share on other sites
scoobs Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 Nice work! As an a former Navy AEW guy this is right in my wheelhouse - I've got the Broplan kit but hopefully awaiting Amodel or Sova to release a CAEW version. Dare I ask how much it would cost to print another for purchase?? -Scoobs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airforce762 Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 (edited) 10 minutes ago, scoobs said: Nice work! As an a former Navy AEW guy this is right in my wheelhouse - I've got the Broplan kit but hopefully awaiting Amodel or Sova to release a CAEW version. Dare I ask how much it would cost to print another for purchase?? -Scoobs Thanks for the compliment! I wrote to Amodel about collaborating for the CAEW kit. The representative said it'll take about 18-months and over USD10,000 develop the CAEW kit which I was seriously considering. They said they'll work out the exact cost and get back to me but they went silent thereafter so I think they're either not interested in the collab or decided to develop on their own. I tried the broplan kit before, bought 2 kits and gave up while building the first one. It was painful to build and the appearance doesn't look right lol. The model in the photo is 3D printed using ABS plastic and comes with stand only. I recently upgraded it to photon-activated resin printing with landing gear. The finishing is smoother and I'll upload photos of them once I'm done painting and assembling my first prototype. A kit will cost USD180, comes with RSAF decal and inclusive of shipping via registered airmail. Edited October 15, 2021 by Airforce762 Additional information Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted October 15, 2021 Share Posted October 15, 2021 That is great job on the G550CAEW AF. 🏆 I have both of the SovaM Special mission releases of the AModel A550, the Israeli G550 and the 'JSTARS' kit. Have you considered creating an update set of just the lumps and bumps to modify either of the more suitable SovaM kits? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airforce762 Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 6 hours ago, Trojan Thunder said: That is great job on the G550CAEW AF. 🏆 I have both of the SovaM Special mission releases of the AModel A550, the Israeli G550 and the 'JSTARS' kit. Have you considered creating an update set of just the lumps and bumps to modify either of the more suitable SovaM kits? Thanks for the compliment! Yes, that was the very first thing I considered, to create a conversion kit for Sova's G550 kit. I studied their entire G550 kit series in great detail, hoping to see if i could kitbash a G550CAEW out of them. Unfortunately, the closest I could get to the CAEW is to cannibalise the vertical tail of the Shavit model onto the civilian G550 and all other parts had to be scratch built. The challenge of making a conversion kit for the CAEW is that a large area of its airframe is modified so I figured it might be better off creating the entire plane in Solidworks and print it out. If there's strong interest in the conversion kit then I think it's worthwhile to spend time working on it. Else it'll just be the whole model for now. Cheers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 Well it looks like you had a good think about the conversion. The full kit looks great as I said. It is nice to see these obscure types being built. I would love to do the CAEW one day. Looking forward to seeing the next iteration with gear. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rusty_M Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 And, there are other paint options for an airframe which is very similar ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airforce762 Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 8 hours ago, Rusty_M said: And, there are other paint options for an airframe which is very similar ... So far there are 4 operators for the G550CAEW. RSAF and Italian Air Force seem to share identical antenna placements while the USN (in your photo) and the Israel Air Forces have different antenna placements which would need more research on my side Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airforce762 Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 Just fixed the landing gears and partially painted. Will upload photos again once fully painted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 It looks great! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ureckiy Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 The model looks very good! I highly appreciate your hard work, accuracy and patience that you put into this model. The model is amazing and is stunningly well made! I hope you will create many more beautiful and accurate models. My respect for you, Good luck! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MusicOn Posted September 15, 2023 Share Posted September 15, 2023 I'm curious 2 years later what if anything ever developed on this topic. Especially now that the USAF just went IOC with the new EC-37B COMPASS CALL which also uses the CAEW airframe: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airforce762 Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 On 10/23/2021 at 3:04 PM, Ureckiy said: The model looks very good! I highly appreciate your hard work, accuracy and patience that you put into this model. The model is amazing and is stunningly well made! I hope you will create many more beautiful and accurate models. My respect for you, Good luck! Will make good, or even better out of the original model my friend! Hope everything is going well on your side! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airforce762 Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 On 9/15/2023 at 9:52 PM, MusicOn said: I'm curious 2 years later what if anything ever developed on this topic. Especially now that the USAF just went IOC with the new EC-37B COMPASS CALL which also uses the CAEW airframe: Everything is pretty much still on the RSAF's G550. Apart from an on-going trial to print and make a 1/48 scale version LOL This USAF version looks pretty good! Based on my initial study of the EC-37B, seems like only major difference is the antennas which my base model have no problem adapting to. Can consider running a prototype model if there's good interest from the public. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MMATULLI Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 On 10/15/2021 at 4:21 AM, Airforce762 said: I'm sure everyone has heard of broplan's G550CAEW vacform model kit and perhaps Amodel's G550 series of model kits (which is better than broplan's imo). I guess it's taking too long for manufacturers to come up with a decent G550CAEW kit so I decided to 3D print my own in 1/72 scale (and in 1/48 scale also). Here's some photos of the first version of the model I printed, assembled and painted. Enjoy the photos and welcome the discussion! Hello where can I find the 3D file for the print? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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