1/72 C-123K Special Ops Aircraft

[striker8241]

Hello, All,

 

I’ve been away from aircraft modeling for some time but I’ve gotten the itch to finish something I started about 4 years ago – a model of a C-123K Black Bat Special Ops aircraft used in Vietnam. Below is a picture of the operational aircraft.

 

 

 

The kit I’m using is Roden’s C-123B Provider, which I’ll turn into a C-123K by adding the two jet pods.

 

Below are some shots of the cockpit so far.

 

 

 

Since I’ll be detailing the cargo deck, I cut out a removable section of the roof. The clear cockpit window molding will be attached later on to the removable part so the cockpit detail can be seen as well.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

[Trojan Thunder]

Wow, that is impressive detail work. Nice to see you back at it

[A-10 LOADER]

Clever work making that roof panel removable.

 

Steve

[striker8241]

15 hours ago, Trojan Thunder said:

Wow, that is impressive detail work. Nice to see you back at it

 

Thanks for the good words, TT.  It's good to be building aircraft again, although this one is kind of the ugly duckling 🙂. 

[striker8241]

10 hours ago, A-10 LOADER said:

Clever work making that roof panel removable.

 

Steve

 

Thanks very much, Steve. Wasn't sure how it would work out on this model but it seems ok so far.

[Hajo L.]

Off to a great start! I built Rodens NC-123K a while ago... It´s ugly, but cool looking!

 

 

HAJO

[striker8241]

Thanks, Hajo. Yeah, that Black Spot is really cool looking compared to the standard C-123K. Nice job on your build btw!

 

 

Russ

[Gator52]

Good to see your work again Russ!

 

Chris

[Da SWO]

Are you scratch building the jet engines?

[striker8241]

16 hours ago, Gator52 said:

Good to see your work again Russ!

 

Chris

Hi, Chris. Thanks very much! It's good to be back modelling again.

[striker8241]

16 hours ago, Da SWO said:

Are you scratch building the jet engines?

Hi, SWO. No, I'm using the jets from my Black Spot kit.

[Thadeus]

Nice project. Good work on the interior.

[J.C. Bahr]

Looking good so far!  👍

[striker8241]

Thanks Guys!

[striker8241]

For a change of pace, I decided to work on the recip engines. These are pretty well represented by the kit but I wanted to show at least one engine with the cowling covers open as this is quiet a sight... looks like the man-eating orchid in Jumanji  :-).

 

 

Unfortunately for me, Roden went the easy route and molded the cowling in two pieces when in actuality it should be in four. So I glued the two kit pieces and the nose cone together and then scored the panel lines that represent where the individual covers separate, as shown below.

 

 

 

 

 

Then I used cut off staples to reinforce the inside of the left and right covers at the cowl flap opening (the image below shows the panels already separated).

 

 

 

Once the staples were set, I made the four cuts with a razor saw to create the four panels of the cowling, as shown below.

 

 

 

For the two side panels, I added some thin strips of styrene on top of the staples to even up with the panels.

 

 

Further unfortunately for me, Roden only provided the forward two thirds of the engines and left off the engine mounts, oil tank and a host of other details. I had to move the engine mounting disc up to just behind the exhaust manifold (where it belongs). This will give me 12 mm or about ½ inch of room to add the engine mounts, oil tank, etc.

 

 

To provide a mount for the modified engine to the wing, I first glued the fairing to the wing and then drilled out the front of it. Then I added a mounting plate.

 

 

 

That's about it for now. Thanks for looking in!

[Major Walt]

I’m looking forward to seeing more of this build! Amazing work!

[striker8241]

Thanks, Major Walt! Glad to have you aboard!

[Youngtiger1]

This is nice. I don’t I have seen any of the Roden 1/72 Provider series being build. So, I’ll follow along with a big bucket of 🍿

[striker8241]

Thanks, Youngtiger1!  Glad to have you and your bucket with me! 😄

[striker8241]

Hello, All. Hope you're all doing ok. I think I've solved the problem of mounting the engine assembly to the firewall. Below are some pictures of my progress so far. The mount seems pretty rigid so now I will add the hoses and wires and assorted other details. Then I can attack the really difficult step - detailing the inside of the engine covers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers and thanks for looking!

[Gator52]

Love the engine work Russ!

 

Chris

[striker8241]

Thanks, Chris!

[Rob Mignard]

The airplane you’re building was code named Heavy Hook, not Black Bat. They worked with MACV/SOG to do team insertions and other interesting things. The crews, from the taiwanese Black Bat squadron, flew in civilian clothing. The Heavy Hook aircraft were upgraded from the Duck Hook configuration (no jets and less capable avionics). I highly recommend Chris Pocock’s book “The Black Bats.”

 

Mig

[striker8241]

Thanks for the info, Rob. "Heavy Hook" was the US code name of the modification program but the planes were given to Taiwan and "Black Bat" was what the Taiwanese crews called them, at least when I worked on them in 71.

[striker8241]

Hello, All. I've finished detailing the display engine (I hope). Below are some pictures (the propeller is not finished yet).

 

Thanks for looking!