RAAF FAC OV-10A Finished!

[ericg]

Thanks guys.

 

Here is a great pic of Graham, taken by Ken Semmler upon their diversion to Tay Ninh West, post combat action. He is chatting to ‘ALOFT 07’, the FAC mentioned in his combat report above. A great thing about this photo is that it is a photo of s/n 14620, the actual aircraft that I wish to depict. I was hoping for coloured propeller spinners as per some pics of OV-10’s but no such luck. Black they will be. Other interesting details in the pic, the Helmet hanging over the gun barrels, empty rocket pods, various crew equipment stowed in the aircraft and the access step deployed from the bottom of the fuselage, which I will deal with later.

 

 

A small update. I have began to work on the clear parts. I feel that this area will determine how successful the model will look as a replica of the real thing. Lots of detail will be visible through the large windows and it is critical that as much effort goes into them as the rest of the model. I reckon the canopy frames look a bit underwhelming and in need of a bit of beefing up. There is lots of stuff attached to the frames and a lot of the access windows mechanisms will hang off them so they need to be a bit thicker. The Broncos that I have seen built up look a bit vacant in the cockpit.

 

The windshield.

 

 

I found a sheet of black styrene and cut off a thin strip. I pre curved this by dragging it through my fingers. The black styrene means I won’t have to be quite as diligent in masking and spraying the inner frames.

 

 

I then tacked it to the inner frame with superglue.

 

 

Once I was happy with the new inner frame position, I very carefully wicked Tamiya extra fine glue into the join around the circumference of the frame. Obviously a mess up here will mean disaster. I also added the thin duct that runs up the right side forward windshield glass glass frame that supplies fresh air to the small eyeball vent on the top of it, which I also scratch built from a couple of pieces of different sized plastic rod.

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2019 by ericg

[Zactoman]

Very nice build so far!

 

On 8/13/2019 at 6:39 AM, ericg said:

What, no step?

You may want to add the hand-hold on the right wing top as pointed out here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/296183-148-ov-10a-bronco/&do=findComment&comment=2857038

Note that the cover is spring-loaded so it's normally flush with the wing surface.

 

Also note that the oil filler cap you added to the right engine is also present in the same location (right side) of the left engine.

 

[ericg]

Thanks Zacto! I have done the left side as well, just haven’t shown it in the pics yet. Will be sure to add the handhold. Thanks for pointing it out.

 

I went and met Graham today whilst I was in Noosa, Queensland visiting family. I brought along the model to show him the work in progress and talk about his time flying the machine in Vietnam. I had an excellent time and will be back to show him the completed model as soon as it’s done.

 

 

Graham sent me a pic of the flight line at Cu Chi. I clearly shows the Broncos parked with the elevators full up as per being in the locked position. The servo tab on the trailing edge is also deflected.

 

 

The elevator. In this pic, I have removed the tabs that are provided to position the elevator on the horizontal stabiliser.

 

 

I scored the servo tab hinge line using the back of a no.11 blade at an angle.

 

 

 

Attached to the horizontal stab with the servo tab deflected. The servo tab moves automatically in an opposite direction to the control surface to assist with stick loads.

 

 

 

 

[ziggyfoos]

On ‎8‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 8:31 AM, ericg said:

Here is a great pic of Graham, taken by Ken Semmler upon their diversion to Tay Ninh West, post combat action. He is chatting to ‘ALOFT 07’, the FAC mentioned in his combat report above. A great thing about this photo is that it is a photo of s/n 14620, the actual aircraft that I wish to depict. I was hoping for coloured propeller spinners as per some pics of OV-10’s but no such luck. Black they will be. Other interesting details in the pic, the Helmet hanging over the gun barrels, empty rocket pods, various crew equipment stowed in the aircraft and the access step deployed from the bottom of the fuselage, which I will deal with later.

 

 

 

Since you're doing that specific a/c, you may have also noticed but some other marking interests I see in that one are that the fuselage ejection seat warning triangles are not really one of the "normal" variations seen.

And also the yellow blade tip markings are nearly completely worn off on all the blades on both props, looks like just only some slight traces of yellow on the edges on all the blades.

Here's a slightly less left-side cropped version of Ken's original photo that shows the right blades:

 

 

 

10 hours ago, Zactoman said:

 

You may want to add the hand-hold on the right wing top as pointed out here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/296183-148-ov-10a-bronco/&do=findComment&comment=2857038

 

Thanks for the link/pic. I mentioned the missing handholds and some other oddball KH omissions a few posts back but didn't have photo.

Most obvious on the wing is that there's no center fuel tank at all according to KH, no idea why. With the usual red painted rings around the fillers, it makes it seem even more obvious that they're MIA.

Edited August 17, 2019 by ziggyfoos

[ericg]

4 minutes ago, ziggyfoos said:

 

Since you're doing that specific a/c, you may have also noticed but some other marking interests I see in that one are that the ejection seat warning triangles are not really one of the "normal" variations seen.

And also the yellow blade tip markings are nearly completely worn off on all the blades on both props, looks like just only some slight traces of yellow on the edges on all the blades.

Here's a slightly less left-side cropped version of Ken's original photo that shows the right blades:

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the link/pic. I mentioned the missing handholds and some other oddball KH omissions a few posts back but didn't have photo.

Most obvious on the wing is that there's no center fuel tank at all according to KH, no idea why. With the usual red painted rings around the fillers, it makes it seem even more obvious that they're MIA.

 

Thanks mate. I have had my eye on the centre tank omission for a while and am devising a method on fixing it. 

[ericg]

Whilst meeting with Graham the other day, I was able to get him to sign a book that I have had since I was working on Mac Cottrells O-1 Birddog. The book is ‘Hit my Smoke’ and is well worth a read for anyone interested in FAC’s in Vietnam. It contains personal accounts written by 22 of the 36 RAAF pilots that served in that capacity during the war. Some very interesting stories indeed. 

 

 

 

The cover of the book is an edited version of Graham’s original photo of him rocketing an abandoned ship for practice, looking over his shoulder. The interesting detail for me is the Kangaroo painted on Graham’s helmet, reflected in the rear view mirrors. As the OV-10 that I am making was not adorned with a Kangaroo, as was the frowned upon practice, I will incorporate his helmet into the build somehow. I believe the painting of the iconic Kangaroo on Aussie flown aircraft was a cat and mouse game, pilots painting them on the noses of all 3 of the main FAC aircraft and Crew Chiefs painting over them when they were rotated through major bases during servicing. 

 

 

I have found the kit is a little light on in some of the detail which I have started to fix. One of the things that has stuck in my mind that Graham mentioned is the more challenging aspect of the FAC’s sortie, and that was to manage the multitude of radios that communicated to the many different aspects of the mission at hand. It is of great importance to me that I try as hard as I can to incorporate this important part of the aircraft into this model. 

 

Firstly, the instrument panel coaming has these 3 small blobs of plastic that are expected to be mounted to it. Nothing special about them at all!

 

 

The gunsight and selector panel/compass has been done as a rather flat and awkward looking combined part.

 

 

I wanted something a bit better from all of these parts and decided to fix them. I was lucky enough to be sent a copy of the Illustrated parts catalogue (Thanks a lot Mark) which enabled me to get a really good appreciation of how everything fits together. If someone goes to the trouble to send me stuff like this I will always try and reciprocate by detailing the parts as much as I can.

 

I split up the gunsight and selector panel, and ditched the compass.

 

 

drilled out the gunsight to enable a clear lense to be fitted later on.

 

 

I made up some boxes to mock up how everything has going to fit together

 

 

The small radio selector boxes made up with a couple of different diameters if brass tube to simulate switches and knobs. Copper to do the wiring.

 

 

Fitted, with the map box made from plastic card and flap from Tamiya tape.

 

 

The newly separated gunsight and selector panel. I have beefed up the gunsight a bit and lowered it a fair bit from where it would have been. The selector panel, has been made from a section of thick plastic card and brass.

 

 

Painted. The compass and mirrors will be the next things to be added to this area.

 

 

The next thing to be fixed was the missing fuel tank filler panel in the centre of the wing. Like the 5th step, this has been completely forgotten about by Kittyhawk. As it is right on top, it will be highly visible.

 

 

I scribed a new panel and screws using a sewing needle mounted in a pin vice and a combination of a few different photo etch scribing templates. 

 

 

Whilst I was in this area, I scribed the also missing push in hand grip panel. (Right wing only)

 

 

The next challenge will be to depict the fuel tank filler caps which are present in the larger of the two circles on each of the 5 fuel tank locations. Kittyhawk have not depicted them on these panels.

 

You can just see them in these 2 pics of the Australian War Memorials example that is under restoration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 2019 by ericg

[dodgem37]

Nice additions.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Whitey]

Superb detail Eric.

 

[red Dog]

I love the attention to details. Really great WIP. thanks for sharing all this.

[Zactoman]

14 hours ago, ericg said:

The next challenge will be to depict the fuel tank filler caps which are present in the larger of the two circles on each of the 5 fuel tank locations.

 

[Juggernut]

If this is of importance and just as a tidbit of information from an aircraft mechanic, and my apologies if you already know this...the fuel cap (the "T" portion of it) should open into the wind (to prevent it from opening because of the wind)....in other words, aft (wing trailing edge) should be to the right in zacto's photo and your photo showing the layout of the fuel cap and what may be a fuel quantity probe right next to it.   If aft isn't to the right, the fuel cap is installed incorrectly (which is entirely possible).

Edited August 20, 2019 by Juggernut
addressed incorrectly installed fuel cap possibility

[Zactoman]

16 minutes ago, Juggernut said:

If this is of importance and just as a tidbit of information from an aircraft mechanic, and my apologies if you already know this...the fuel cap (the "T" portion of it) should open into the wind (to prevent it from opening because of the wind)....in other words, aft (wing trailing edge) should be to the right in zacto's photo and your photo showing the layout of the fuel cap and what may be a fuel quantity probe right next to it.   If aft isn't to the right, the fuel cap is installed incorrectly (which is entirely possible).

Nice catch. I hadn't noticed.

The other 4 caps on this plane are all at about the 7:30 o'clock position. Only that center fuel cap was off.

 

[ericg]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

Some more pics from Graham.

 

Cu Chi airfield and HQ 25th Division.

 

 

A typical fire support base.

 

 

I wanted to sort out the fuel filler caps. Due to there being 5 of these in top of the wing in a very visible location, I felt that the kit depiction wasn’t going to cut it.  As can be seen, the new panel that I scribed in the middle of the wing looks like the outer panel, whereas the inboard panel has an indent in the middle of the larger circles to represent the refuelling hole. None of these are right compared to the reference pics as posted above so I had to come up with a solution.

 

 

With a pin, I scribed a deep circle in the middle of the larger circles of each fuel panel

 

 

using a microchisel, I removed the plastic in the scribed circle without breaking through to the other side.

 

 

I then used a 4mm punch to spread and enlarge each of the holes slightly and make them all exactly the same size. 

 

 

The hardest part was going to be coming up with the fuel filler caps. I needed 5 of them to look roughly the same as they will be easily seen. I experimented with trying to make a small template out of brass sheet to scribe each one but this did not work so come up with this solution. It would have been almost impossible to cut such a small shape into plastic card and keep them all looking the same so a little innovation was required.

 

I punched 1.6mm holes offset into 3.8mm plastic card disks.

 

 

I then cut these disks into small crescent shapes through the 1.6mm holes, and then cut some blank 3.8mm disks in the same place.

 

 

I cut a small slot in the larger of the two parts

 

 

I joined the two parts up to make the fuel filler cap.

 

 

 Mounted in place. I probably won’t do the small pull tabs that sit inside the holes as a dark wash will imply that there is something in there.

 

 

Another small but worthy addition.

 

 

 

[BradG]

Sharp work mate.

[gmctaggart]

Great Job.