Dyess C-130h Senior Scout

[Trooper111]

While in the Air Force and assigned to Dyess Tx.

I often saw "them" come and modify the plane where it would get red roped off and guards posted at the four points of it before it would disappear for a few weeks, then come back and turn back into a plain jane again.

I walked around as close as I could and made mental pictures for the future.

I scrounged the net for photos, but they truly are as scarce as the plane... Yes, there are some, and they will help but not many. 

I got some pictures from a regular on here and Britmodeller.

And so, it begins

 

Moving onward, I was able to complete the beef up strips and apply an initial layer of bondo over the gaps. The wheel sponson fairing gave a bit of trouble with a second touch of bondo being needed but not sanded yet. The wings and belly still need some sanding to make everything fit smoothly.

 I have begun making the antennas one by one, instead of making one set and then copying them with resin or even 3d duplicates.

The doors have their initial "Pre-patch" panels installed where the actual antennas will fit onto them... It's just slow going.

The wheel well door antenna will be finicky and I'll have to be extra careful not to break them off, once installed onto the gear doors... So, they may be closer to the end.

 

 More as construction continues

Edited January 6, 2025 by Trooper111

[Da SWO]

Senior Scout?

Can you post a picture or two?

Edited October 7, 2024 by Da SWO

[Trooper111]

Yes, A Senior Scout C-130h.

I'm still adding features to the external fuselage right now such as the beef up stringer that goes along the rear fuselage.

 The fuselage beef-up plate, in case the propeller separates from the engine(s) at the moment and such.

This is the 1/72 zvezda C-130 model, so itll be tons better than the Italeri one.

 

I'm working on it a bit each day.

I have Drawdecal brand for the Dyess markings of an H... the rest will be scrounge

 

[Da SWO]

Would you like some photo's?

[Trooper111]

Da SWO...

Yes Please to the pictures!!!

I have sent a couple messages on ARC to a few people but no replies yet.

You can send the pics to my E-mail directly at

Usafecm@yahoo.com.....Thanks, Trooper

 

[A-10 LOADER]

22 hours ago, Trooper111 said:

Yes, A Senior Scout C-130h.

I'm still adding features to the external fuselage right now such as the beef up stringer that goes along the rear fuselage.

 The fuselage beef-up plate, in case the propeller separates from the engine(s) at the moment and such.

This is the 1/72 zvezda C-130 model, so itll be tons better than the Italeri one.

 

I'm working on it a bit each day.

I have Drawdecal brand for the Dyess markings of an H... the rest will be scrounge

 

Cool, that's a lot of antennas to scratch-build however.

Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Steve

[Da SWO]

E-mail is out.

 

Note, we had E's, but the configuration was the same.

[Dutch]

Trooper, I am following along when able. K/r, Dutch

[Trooper111]

Dutch Sir,

 Knowing that you are in a direct path for this second impact of a storm, I hope you have battened down the hatches that were left open on the first impact... fridges don't like being horizontal, it's not good for the freon inside.

 Stay safe and let us (the community) if there is anything we can do for you and your other half once this is over.

 Home is Fort Pierce on the opposite coast, so I understand what you are going thru right about now... Keep safe

[striker8241]

Very interesting. Here's another version of the C-130 I've not seen before. Looking forward to watching your progress, Trooper.

 

[stevee671]

When I was working the Senior Scout when I was at Dyess, I recall a lot antenna's on the paratroop doors and the main landing gear doors.

 

I'm surprised this is being talked about here as that program was very classified when I was TDY working Senior Scout/Flowing Pen Mission out of Howard AFB, Panama.

 

I assume, by now, Senior Scout is no longer a relevant system.

Edited January 3, 2025 by stevee671

[habu2]

A quick search turns up quite a few Senior Scout photos, even on various af.mil sites, so the honeymoon must be over. 

[AWACS-RESIN]

Great,

this will definitely be another model in my Herc series.

I'll watch this closely.

[Trooper111]

Added a few more pictures and a bit more narrative to original post

[Trooper111]

A bit more progress today as it was an "Inside day" here, because of the cold.

I had to reglue and Bondo the left horizontal stabilizer because of my clumsiness.

I sanded smooth yesterdays Bondo on the wings & belly then added the rear troop doors with the base for the antennas on them already.

Added the two inside engines after sanding the wing/fuselage seam but may need a bit of touch-up with Bondo here and there, just to smooth the seam/gap on the two engines.

I was able to coax the windscreen into a better fitting shape with about 30 mins use of hot water and minimal bends till it fits soooooo much better. however, I'm still hesitant on using liquid cement on the clear parts, but need something stronger/faster than Testors clear parts adhesive (which I have).............................. Suggestions Anyone?

While building the plane, Before I added the nose, I filled it with pieces of cut up fishing weights and super glued them in place, I also added "bullet" weights to each side of the nose wheel bay. They will not be seen once the nose gear, wheel and door are installed.

Also, I forgot to post the picture of the Wingtip... When the Senior Scout package is installed, the wingtips are changed out because they too are antennas, but do not have the normal "Wingtip lights" installed in place and the normal rounded wing tip has a flat edge to it that is positively noticeable.

    Ok, back to work on the antenna farm. More to come later on. 

[A-10 LOADER]

When I installed my windshield on my AC-J, I used Tamiya extra thin.

Steve

[ThePhantomTwo]

On 1/6/2025 at 9:41 PM, Trooper111 said:

A bit more progress today as it was an "Inside day" here, because of the cold.

I had to reglue and Bondo the left horizontal stabilizer because of my clumsiness.

I sanded smooth yesterdays Bondo on the wings & belly then added the rear troop doors with the base for the antennas on them already.

Added the two inside engines after sanding the wing/fuselage seam but may need a bit of touch-up with Bondo here and there, just to smooth the seam/gap on the two engines.

I was able to coax the windscreen into a better fitting shape with about 30 mins use of hot water and minimal bends till it fits soooooo much better. however, I'm still hesitant on using liquid cement on the clear parts, but need something stronger/faster than Testors clear parts adhesive (which I have).............................. Suggestions Anyone?

While building the plane, Before I added the nose, I filled it with pieces of cut up fishing weights and super glued them in place, I also added "bullet" weights to each side of the nose wheel bay. They will not be seen once the nose gear, wheel and door are installed.

Also, I forgot to post the picture of the Wingtip... When the Senior Scout package is installed, the wingtips are changed out because they too are antennas, but do not have the normal "Wingtip lights" installed in place and the normal rounded wing tip has a flat edge to it that is positively noticeable.

    Ok, back to work on the antenna farm. More to come later on. 

Nice! Were you at Dyess during the 463rd era? I was with the 96th from 83-87.

[JohnEB]

I was at Dyess 1997-2004 with the host unit Bomb Wing command staff. Never heard of any special goings on with the '130 unit.

It wouldn't shock me, but if they were still doing anything at that late date, it was a very well kept secret (usually you'd hear enough to know not to ask any questions about odd goings on). 🙂

 

My hat's off to the crews, they did a lot of important stuff they don't/can't  get credit for.

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2025 by JohnEB

[Trooper111]

I was at Dyess assigned to the 317th Maintenance Squadron, First AMS in the Back shop, Then OMS on the Flightline, Then AMXS, which was a re-invention of the wheel from 2000 to 2009 when I retired after 20 years of service.

 

[stevee671]

You guys were a bit after me.

I was a GAC troop from 91-96 at Dyess.
463d AGS, the 773d ALS, then in 1993, were transferred to ACC and became the 40 AS.

 

Lots of ROTEs to RAF Mildenhall, Daharan, SA, Howard AFB, Panama (Senior Scout).

 

[Trooper111]

I apologize now for the time in between posts here but I'm a busy guy and although a lot of you in model land have dedicated time each day/night for your models... I do not.

 With that being said, I have managed to progress on my Senior Hunter/Senior Scout C-130h that will ultimately become 74-1673 from Dyess AFB, Texas, curtesy of Draw Decals and the kit decals.

 I have spray painted in FS 36173 that Vallejo Model Air has named Neutral grey, but whatever the name is, it looks like AMC grey to me. I still have the canopy masks in place for the gloss coat/dull coat still to come.

Looking at references, 1673 has the wing walkway painted lighter that the surrounding wing color... Which will be outlined with black "walkway lines" later on in the process.

I have scratch built every "extra" antenna except the SKE upper and lower radomes, with more still to be added to the forward lower fuselage (as I build them). Duplicating these antennas on the paratroop door and MLG doors is time consuming and very tedious.

 On the Paratroop door antennas, I still have to add lengths of wire between the six similar antennas... again more to come.

Empty Gear Door (Plain Jane mode)-VS- (Antennas added) in the next picture.

Placing the left Gear door and getting it to stay while I took a picture was a balancing act, but I think it looks very good and very busy.

I hand painted the exhaust "cones" beneath the wings and it looks that part... not perfectly perfect, but I have firsthand knowledge by looking and working on this very C-130 from 2000-2009 while at Dyess, that the paint was less than perfectly perfect in places.

More "added Extra" antennas on the replaceable panels at the rear of the fuselage.

And of course, the propellers are painted too... I still have a truckload of decals to get to, but it's been a long while since I've updated this model for y'all. Hope you all enjoy this as much as I do, making oddball models that are not the mainstream F-16, F-35 or the likes.

[A-10 LOADER]

Nice progress, she's coming along.

Steve

[Dutch]

Trooper, Looking terrific!  49 days and a wake-up for me.  Moving to south-central NC to be close to grandchildren.  Renting for now until I can find some land on the SC side and build a barndominium.  Will set up my workshops then. (modeling, woodworking, auto/plane)   Keep up the great work! K/r, Dutch

[Trooper111]

I don't get to work on my model every night like most of you all here do, but I'm making slow progress on my Senior Hunter/Senior Scout modified C-130h that will be marked up as Dyess 74-1673.

 I've managed to get 98% of the antennas on it already... Just a couple more to go.

I've gloss coated it and began putting on the decals. Hopefully this weekend I be able to get most of them on.

 No banana for scale but I promise you these antennas were a PIA to hand make. The wire that goes between the dipoles on the troop doors were a test of my patience and steadiness.

More to come in a few days...Trooper

[AWACS-RESIN]

Patience and steadiness? Build a Compass Call. This requires your patience.

Nice progress. Maybe one off my next projekt.