BiggTim

UPDATE: 28 September - The new 3D printed antennas, scope, and control box are now available. The price for new sets will be 25 USD to cover the extra cost of materials and special packaging to protect the little parts during shipping. I am offering the 3D printed upgrades to anyone who already received their sets for the difference in cost (3 USD) plus tax and shipping. If you've purchased a set already and would like the upgrades, please email me at bnbresindesign@gmail.com. Thanks! TIM I finally have had some success in making the AT-4 antennas for the -2 conversion, so it is now almost complete. The last hurdle is taking photos for, and compiling, a good set of instructions, which I plan to do this weekend. I'll also cast up a half dozen sets and have them ready to go. I will post here when they are ready to ship out.

Every time I scroll past this thread, my dumb brain sees "rubber ducks" for a second.

Dammit. Now I'm even more bummed I can't go.

I'll take a look at it.

Everything I have read indicates the F4U-2 used the AN/APS-4 radar. I was able to find these photos of an actual AN/APS-4 radar scope at the NASM. Control box (which I believe was mounted on the cockpit wall just to the right of the IP): And the scope itself: The side with the red stenciling is (I believe) the top, and the scope diameter is about 4 inches. Here is an AN/APS-6 mounted in a Hellcat (the only difference being the knob on the lower left of the scope):

Well, they didn't print worth a dang, so I guess I'll keep trying.

Sadly, it looks like your images from the original post in 2009 are no longer visible. I wanted to catch up on it, but it's tough without them. Tim

Boy, that is cool!

Wow, that is a nice looking Phantom!! Very well done! Tim

Two major ones in my response area alone, plus a bunch of small ones. People were NOT being careful this year. Made for a very long weekend.

No kidding! Right now, I have 16 active projects underway, ranging from the research stage all the way to almost done. I haven't even mentioned half of them on the forums yet. It's keeping me out of trouble, though. I even drink less, because I don't want to mess them up!! On the not-so-good side, between this resin stuff and my part-time firefighting gig, the 4 day weekend for the 4th of July didn't seem like much of a weekend at all. I have to go back to my regular job to get a break.

Not yet, Dennis. They are modeled, but I haven't gotten them to print well yet. It may be something I'm doing wrong, so I need to mess with it some more to see if it's just a limitation of my printer. I've also been swamped with other projects, but it hasn't been forgotten.

Thanks for the info! I am planning to write some detailed instructions that will explain all of that, along with some reference photos, although I may have to send them to customers electronically, or they would likely take up a few sheets of paper. We'll see after I get them written. I have the antennae modeled, just need to try printing them this evening when I get home from work. Tim

My thinking as well, Dave. Casting them will not work well, so I may resort to just 3D printing them. The only hurdles left are getting my printer to cooperate and finding the right resin - one that prints well, and but is not too brittle. Some I have a new resin I'm planning to try soon.

A little update on these conversions - the first set of remastered -2 parts for the Tamiya kit cast very well, with the the exception of the T shaped antennae for the bottom of the fuse. Those little buggers are very fiddly and break easily, so I need to do some more work on that. Question for all of you: would you be interested in the -2 conversion with just the radome, radar screen, exhaust flame shrouds, and small cowl scoop (which is what was in the original from AMS) WITHOUT the two T antennae? You'd have to fab your own antennae from plastic rod or wire. If that is acceptable, then I can have them ready to go as soon as I write up some new instructions. If you'd rather have me include the antennae, then it will take longer. Let me know what you think. As for progress on the -5N conversion for the Trumpy kit, it's been going pretty well. I copied the original parts I borrowed from Ray this weekend, and started cleaning up the firewall piece. I also printed a new cowl ring from the models supplied by Jumpei Temma - turned out great!!! Should make a really nice master, once I can figure out how to deal with those dainty little grille bars in the intake openings.... Still a long way to go!!

Man, that is beautiful!

Ok, that was creative!

Yes, it is a tough one. Jumpei just sent me a new 3D model of the windscreen, so I might be able to print that and then cast it in clear resin; if that doesn't work, I could print a blank and vac it. But that's pretty down the list at the moment.

From where I sit, everything you'd see would be cool!

Keep an eye on this thread, Steve. I will post progress here. I feel pretty safe in saying that re-mastering the -5N set for the Trumpy kit should be doable with all the great groundwork that Harold and Karl laid, plus the new resources from Jumpei.

Some minor progress on these: I borrowed an original AMS -5N conversion set for the Trumpy -4 kit (and a -2 set for the Tamiya) from LSP_Ray so I could assess what was in them and make copies to work from. I also bought the -4 kit itself to verify fit of parts. The -2 set for the Tamiya kit should be done in a few weeks or so and ready to cast. The -5N set for the Trumpy is going to take a lot longer. I have to 3D print a few bits to get the best possible shape. The best news on this front is that I found a fellow named Jumpei Temma online who has already modeled many of the parts I need to spruce up, and is sharing his files. I've made contact with him and will be using his top-notch research and excellent 3D files to save a lot of time and effort. I've invited him to come check out this thread as well, so let's hope he does. Tim

Very cool!

I thought so too; it looked familiar!! I've seen a number of them lately, so if you're in need of a couple, I can probably help you with that. Tim

Wow!!

Would that adapter have been used on any other ordnance (not just Norwegian, but anywhere)? Or maybe on ECM pods?