Dutch Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 (edited) So, yesterday or the day before, I asked Bill at Bill's Models about the possibility of creating 1/144 drone pylons for the DC-130A. I just received notification that they are ready! How is that for service? Edited March 14 by Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 1 hour ago, Dutch said: So I asked Bill at Bill's Models about the possibility of creating 1/144 drone pylons for the DC-130A. I just received notification that they are ready! How is that for service? Pretty good! Just have to make sure they are the right pylons; Rob has some great info on them. Although the DC-130A I'm looking at doing has nonstandard pylons........ Bryan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 I would build a standard USAF SEA camo DC-130A from Vietnam or Davis-Monthan era or a more colorful USN DC-130A from Point Mugu, so I think that these pylons will work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 (edited) Viet Nam, Bien Hoa Air Base DC-130A 56-0527. With nonstandard pylons. Note the intake covers on the drones. Edited March 14 by BWDenver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted March 14 Share Posted March 14 (edited) Bryan, Oh, nice project! Those are the long wing 147s, correct? (Sorry, I don't have my Teledyne-Ryan 147 model chart in front of me.) That explains the extra sway braces from the top of the pylon to the drone wings. However, your photo also shows the extra chord and zig-zag on the lower pylon trailing edge. After looking at photos of the US Navy VC-3 DC-130A, it appears that the Shapeways 3D printed DC-130 pylons are for this version or for just carrying the short wing drones as this USAF DC-130A is doing. K/r, Dutch Edited March 14 by Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 17 minutes ago, Dutch said: Bryan, Oh, nice project! Those are the long wing 147s, correct? (Sorry, I don't have my Teledyne-Ryan 147 model chart in front of me.) That explains the extra sway braces from the top of the pylon to the drone wings. However, your photo also shows the extra chord and zig-zag on the lower pylon trailing edge. After looking at photos of the US Navy VC-3 DC-130A, it appears that the Shapeways 3D printed DC-130 pylons are for this version or for just carrying the short wing drones as this USAF DC-130A is doing. K/r, Dutch Dutch, look at the props. The DC-130A has the nonstandard pylons. The DC-130H in the background has the saw tooth notch what every you choose to call it, pylons. In the shot with the two noses look at the camo pattern on the nose, the bird to the left is DC-130A 56-0527, the same as the nose on shot... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 One often overlooked tid bit, at least on the testers kit, is the engine nacelles extend back to the flaps on the No. 1 & 4 engines on the C-130A. There is a bump out or whatever on the flap it's self. I think this was eliminated on later variants, but I don't know C-130E & H airframes. If you do a DC-130A you will have to address this, if you want an accurate AC.... These shots were taken by me at Mitchel Feild in Milwaukee, July 1971 of 57-0470. You can clearly see the remnants of the sealed forward cargo door that turned out to be such an incredibly BAD idea! The unit had just upgraded from KC-97L's to C-130's. Around 1968 one of the KC-97's flew right over our house at around 300'. We lived on lake Michigan, and it was not uncommon for military planes to use the point we live on as a "feet dry" nav spot. A few minutes later as it approached Port Washington one of the outboard jet engines fell off. It landed behind a farmer tilling his field. I can only imagine what the damage would have been if it had dropped as it flew over the house. Cheers Bryan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 14 Author Share Posted March 14 2 hours ago, Dutch said: Bryan, Oh, nice project! Those are the long wing 147s, correct? Dutch Not sure, the long wing birds had 27' and 32' wings. I think those are the short wing birds. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 I am learning and relearning things all the time. Thanks Bryan. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 Ah yes, the path to the perfect model is strewn with lots of pebbles and boulders.... And a few cactuses.... Bryan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Da SWO Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Here is a good book. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 Thanks Brett. And ordered. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scott Smith Posted March 17 Share Posted March 17 Great thread! I have the old 1/48 DC-130 kit with drones in the stash. Unfortunately I’ve never been able to get my hands on the old Cutting Edge DC-130 nose for it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 (edited) Thats great. The rub comes in if you want to do a DC-130A. First off depending on when the C-130A was produced it may have had the forward cargo door. After a crewmember was sucked out in flight when the door opened, they sealed it. At some point, I think the 130E, it was designed out of the airframe. I have the Testers 1/72 DC-130 kit, paragraphed down from the 1/48 or vice versa. The C-130A had different props and engines, and aft nacelles. And there in lies the rub. The No 1 & 2 aft engine nacelles extended onto the outboard flats. There was even a large bump fairing on the flap it’s self. The flaps extend back and then down when they deploy. The aft end of the outboard exhaust nacelles overlaps the outboard flap by about a foot. And on top of that is the bump on the flap itself. From looking at shots this was done away with for the C-130E on. However, I am not a C-130 expert. But I do know the C-130A.There is one on display at the NSA in Maryland. And one weekend myself and another modeler drove up there to take pictures of it. I was shooting them for OzMods and a prospective C-130A conversion they were working on. The first time I got up front and personal with a C-130A was a WISC ANG bird at Mitchel Field in Milwaukee. I never paid much attention to the engines until years later when I started thinking about the DC-130A. As you can see from the attached shots the aft end of the nacelle is very different that the DC-130 kit’s. The initial OzMods kit was pretty simple, they just gave you the 3 bladed props and an “external” tank. The tank on the NSA bird was actually an electronics pod, not a fuel tank. It was built up as a tribute to the C-130 lost in Russian. The nose, is also another problem. But one you can probably do with Milliput or some other filler. DC-130 lore and mythology indicate when they wanted a new thimble nose of the drone controllers they grabbed the nose radome off a C-121. But when you overlay the two, the DC-130 nose if a lot blunter than the EC-121. See attached. My guess is, if they started with a 121 nose, it was cut down for a fiberglass mold. Or they built up a mold form. Rob and I have bounced a lot of emails back and forth on the nose. The Airmodel offering is nice, but not quite correct. The upper angle on the DC-130 nose appears almost flat, but is around 5 degrees downward slope as found by Rob. In the shot from a DC-130A at Bein Hoa you can see the nose appears flat on top, angled up on the bottom, 15 degrees based on Robs calculations. The downward dome is also a bit longer than with the Airmodel VacForm. I actually have both the Airmodel offerings. However if you angle the Airmodel nose up a few degrees it will work, but the lower thimble will have to be cut off and redone. In addition to reworking the mating surface of the radome to the nose. OzMods has released an updated C-130A conversation that is a lot more encompassing. This time around they give you the engines and the exhaust extensions. I should have mine in the next week or so, and I’ll let you know how it looks. BTW, the Bien Hoa DC-130 shot is actually backwards.... Cheers, Bryan Edited March 17 by BWDenver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 18 Author Share Posted March 18 OzMods C-130A conversion, Italeri/Testers & Airfix C-130E/H. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to doing an early DC-130 is they were DC-130A’s. The challenge was the engines and aft nacelles on the bottom of the wing, let alone three bladed props. OzMods initial offering was only the props and what represented as tanks, but were really electronic pods. A number of years ago I ventured to the NSA (yeah, THAT Intel Agency) in Maryland to shoot reference shots of the C-130a on display at their aircraft display area. When we pulled in there was no one in sight. 45 seconds after we started pulling out the cameras there was a security guard parked next to us. He warned us if we took pictures of the building, our cameras would be confiscated. We assured him we would not do that, and went about taking picture’s. He stayed and watched…. As you can see some of these shots I had to literally get on the ground and shoot straight up to get the layout of the engine exhaust nacelle area. This is an area that is almost impossible to get a good shot up. In all I sent them about 30 shots of the engines and AC. With this offering the ability to do a creditable DC-130A just got a lot easier! I hope to do DC-130A 56-0527, one of the first 147 Drone carrier deployed to Viet Nam. OzMods did a great job doing the masters for this conversion. The extended nacelles lay down on the wings almost perfectly. In my book this goes a long way to making this a great conversion. Enjoy! Bryan Wilburn Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Da SWO Posted March 18 Share Posted March 18 (edited) The OzMods nacelle exhausts are a straight hole, I am cutting black dog exhausts down to fit. Here are a couple of pics with the nacelles on. Will post some more photos next week after I install the Black Dog exhausts. Edited March 19 by Da SWO Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 (edited) So your crossing the Black Dog exhaust pipes with the OzMods aft nacelles? Nice idea! What's fascinating it the first C-130 took off on Aug 23 1954, and it's still in production in the form of the C-130J. And likely will be in production into the next decade. Edited March 19 by BWDenver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 19 Author Share Posted March 19 (edited) The OzMods exhaust stacks are not actually a 100% straight through pipes. They do take a bit of a downturn, just not quite enough to be 100% accurate for the C-130A T56-A-11/9 engine. They are also fairly colorful in nature and not monotone in color. As you can see in the shots the exhaust of the C-130A T56-A-11/9 exhaust pipe is a multi-segment unit. the final unit larger than the first aft of the N2 nozzle and exhaust bullet. This little detail is likely an extremely difficult part to cast as it would likely lock the part into the silicone mold. Perhaps with using high pressure air the part can be popped out, in the same way Metero separated complex parts from silicone molds. The other alternative is for some enterprising company to print the part. I suppose if you really want a 100% accurate exhaust nozzle you will need to rework the Blackdog parts as they are not accurate T56-A-11/9 exhaust nozzles. The Blackdog parts are very long and represent the Allison T56-A-15 turboprop engines, when in reality the back end of the T56-A-11/9 engine is just inside the stack tucked into the fairing. I think the fact OzMods are the first ones to release an accurate C-130A exhaust faring, coupled with T56-A-11/9 engine pods and props goes a long way to make me happy with it. It's also interesting to note the props are in a "flat" or minimal thrust position. Cheers Bryan C-130_H_Cockpit_72243.pdf Edited March 19 by BWDenver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 (edited) Bryan, Your comment about the DC-130H pylon trailing edge shape got me thinking. I remembered the pylon shape, just couldn't place it. While scrolling through my spares box items on SCM I came across the old Airmodel AM-63 DC-130A/DP-2E pylons with Ryan AQM-34E/F Firebee II drone set. These are the 1/72 pylons you want, n'est pas? PM me your address and I will send along the pylons with the DC-130A/E/H nose. I need the DP-2E pylons and AQM-34E/F drones myself. Kind regards, Dutch Edited March 21 by Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 (edited) 1 hour ago, Dutch said: These are the 1/72 pylons you want, n'est pas? PM me your address and I will send along the pylons with the DC-130A/E/H nose. I need the DP-2E pylons and AQM-34E/F drones myself. Kind regards, Dutch Hey Dutch, I greatly appreciate the offer! But I too have that kit. I'm looking to do DC-130A 56-0527 as it appeared in Bien Hoa, see below. When compared to other Intell DC-130's it's a bit of an odd duck in that the pylons it used were BQM-34 target pylons, with external supports. The BQM-34 pylon is a straight back unit lacking the extension near the lower end. that and it only has two inboard pylons, not the 4 of later birds. DC-130A 56-0527 differs from the follow-on DC-130A AQM-34 inboard pylons that had the extension as seen in the Airmodel kit. The pylons of the Testers DC-130 kit are the correct shape for what I want to do, but the wrong shape for most other DC-130A/E/H intel birds. Rob has done a fantastic job of cataloging the various DC pylons. In the second shot taken at Bien Hoa you can see the 4 principle 147 drones, and likely a DC-130E with the BQM style notched pylon. Left to right, 147J 27' wing, 147H 32' wing, 147NX (decoy) 13' wing, and 147G with a 27' wing. i think the DC-130E has a 147H on the pylon, but not sure. I think DC-130A 56-0527 was possibly the first DC-130A deployed to combat, and they literally pulled a target DC, and sent it to Viet Nam. Also of interest is the downward dome is a dark grey, not the standard black. I'm surprised I have not seen comments from you on my Jet Ejection Seat thread. It's fascinating as it has almost 2,000 views at this point, bit more popular that I thought... I have three filing cabinet drawers on ejection seats and figured sine I gave up on the book idea... Thanks' again for the generous offer! Cheers Bryan Edited March 21 by BWDenver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dutch Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 Bryan, My 98 year old mother-in-law is living with us now. I only have so much time; actually, little to no time. Sorry about not commenting on the EJ seat thread. K/r, Dutch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 Not a problem! Bryan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Absolutely fantastic collection of DC-130 pics, most of which I've never seen. Thank you very much for taking the time and effort for posting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BWDenver Posted March 30 Author Share Posted March 30 59 minutes ago, Daniel said: Absolutely fantastic collection of DC-130 pics, most of which I've never seen. Thank you very much for taking the time and effort for posting. You're very welcome. It's all about helping others! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gmat6441 Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 The forward cargo door was present until the 61 year C-130E models. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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