ericg Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 Sorry for the lack of updates, getting back into it now. I decided to ditch the kit supplied ordinance for something a bit different. The Trumpeter guided weapons set was purchased with the intention of using its GBU-27's...... that was until I had a look at them and just couldn't live with how inaccurate they are! Anyway, I rifled through the Tamiya F-15 box and got the bunker busters out, shortened them by about 3 cm and this is the result. Nice and accurate GBU-27's! I added the lifting lugs with some scrap plastic card and brass rod to replicate the bolts. The bomb holder frame was then modified to give it a bit more detail, adding the sway braces from plastic rod and brass rod Sitting inside its trapeze support. The black wash needs to be watered down a bit more..this is a WIP after all! Test fit on the trapeze mechanism. Once the bombs are painted and the doors added, they should add quite a bit of colour to the finished aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Wow. You are a craftsman. Go back to school and be an engineer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark31 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Nice work on the pylons. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Williams Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Haven't looked in detail at them, but what's so horribly wrong with the Trumpeter GBU-27s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cch4530 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Eric...is this what has been keeping you from the projects on the shelf of doom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 I think the problem with the Trumpeter weapons is mainly to do with the fact that they just dont hit the mark as far as detail or accuracy goes, for me. When starting a new project, I look at one area of the model that will be the `focal point' of the aircraft, a part of the aircraft that will attract more attention than other parts. Say the open cockpits of an F-4 Phantom, or the field applied camouflage of a KI-61 or an exposed engine of a ME-262 for instance. This will then become my area that I will beef up and detail to really bring it out and make it eye catching. When researching this build, I wanted both bombs hanging down, as if it had just been armed and was ready for the pilots preflight inspection. The GBU-27 is an impressive looking bomb, with its large window at the front and its folded rear wings, yellow bands and brown guidance head. With two of them hanging out of the bomb bay, I reckon they will attract alot of attention. I purchased the Trumpeter guided weapons set to get access to the GBU-27's as I wanted to be a bit different and put something other than the GBU-10's that were included in the kit. I was dissapointed that there were so many parts of the bombs that just didnt seem right that I felt compelled to look for a different way to do it. Hence the reason for going down the path of shortening the Tamiya bunker busters. Here are some photos of the Tamiya ones next to the Trumpeter ones that I smashed together to answer Daves question. General comparison. Trumpeter one is the shorter of the two. From a distance looks OK, but lets have a look at some finer details. Guidance heads. The Tamiya one has way more detail and has the bolt holes that depict the two halves of the unit. The fins are also thinner, and feature the cut down trailing tips. The rear wings. The trumpeter ones are very basic, a little on the small side and they also dont have the folded parts of the wings that you can see on the tips of the Tamiya ones. Also the cicular pin that acts as the pivot for the folding wings is raised, wheres the Tamiya one is recessed. Rear ends. not much to say here.. Trumpeter one needs alot of work. Last but not least, and this was the deal breaker for me, the Trumpeter one has this long raised `thing' down its length. I have got no idea what it is supposed to be but I couldn't find any references that showed anything similiar. I guess it would be easy to remove, but combined with everything else, Just could live with the Trumpy ones going anywhere near my aeroplane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper Enforcer Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I can see a partial strut in one of the pics and it's definately the late type struts. Haven't looked in detail at them, but what's so horribly wrong with the Trumpeter GBU-27s? Like most of Trumpeter's weapons/ordinance, they're lacking in detail, shape accuracy, and plain quality. I end up junking most of the ordinance inlcuded in the Trumpeter kits I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlow Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 (edited) Eric Lovely finish and like the others say, your treatment of the black with grey highlights really looks good. As regards decals, you've done such a good job on her up 'til now that I'd wait for some decals good enough to do all your work justice. The Tamiya GBUs considerably outshine the Trump parts.... good decision! Matt Edited April 12, 2012 by mattlow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 Hi Matt, that will be the quandry with the decals, wont it. Can I not be tempted to put the kit decals on or wait for the Caracal ones, which I have been informed are still a while away? Viper, what is the story with the undercarriage? Do you want some better pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Youngtiger1 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Oh man, that bomb bay is looking totally awesome with those tamiya bombs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
florin13 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Looks good so far. I used the Flightpath set (for pylons and GBU-27), when I made the Italeri kit. Florin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbetty Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 since i have the flightpath set, i will go that route too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzdavidh Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Sorry for the lack of updates, getting back into it now. Anyway, I rifled through the Tamiya F-15 box and got the bunker busters out, shortened them by about 3 cm and this is the result. Nice and accurate GBU-27's! I added the lifting lugs with some scrap plastic card and brass rod to replicate the bolts. Some nice work there Eric. I like the bomb sway braces. As it's the focal point for your model, it might be an idea to fill the pin marks inside the cradles. I also wonder about using the Tamiya Bomb as the basis for a GBU-27. The bunker buster bomb in the F-15 kit has a different profile at the back end... I think by cutting the Tamiya bunker buster you've end up with a bit of a hybrid weapon... the front end of a GBU-27 and the back end of a GBU-28. To my eye at least, the GBU-27 doesn't bulge out to the fin assembly as the 28 - i.e it should be a constant diameter to the assembly as in the flightpath set. Here's a nice profile of the GBU-27 You can see how the profile is diffent at the back end in this photo of a GBU-28 penatrator Looking forward to the finished product Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericg Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 Hi Dave, A bit of research before I got the razor saw out turned up this nice walkaround of a GBU-27. I am pretty happy with my choice of modifying the GBU-28 at this stage. http://svsm.org/gallery/gbu27 The pin marks are on the to-do list, I actually thought they were going to get covered by the cradles, and I want to tone the wash down a little bit as well before they get mounted on the aircraft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nzdavidh Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I am pretty happy with my choice of modifying the GBU-28 at this stage. That's probably the most important thing! For me, that gallery you've linked to, particularly picture number 8 in the series, demonstrates that the fin assembly and profile on the GBU27s and 28s are different. Flightpath look to have nailed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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