[Zap Rowsdower]

The fuel tanks for the vintage Skystriker are pretty much final now. Here they are in the flesh:














And here are some reference images:

[Zap Rowsdower]

Forum member Highlander shared some photos of his WIP Skystriker upgrades using the parts he ordered from me that I thought might be fun to share here:

Replacement landing gear/wheels, wing glove pylon, and a LANTIRN targeting pod:


RIO station painted up a bit:


Ejections seats (seat cushions and ejection handles are his own scratch-built additions to my base seats, and they really make them pop):


And here they are installed:


I look forward to more progress photos and I'll share them as I get them.

On a side note, I think he has inspired me to come up with an ejection handle part to add onto my seat set. I was going to skip that step since it will require a separate piece and added assembly, but man it looks nice all together on there!

[Zap Rowsdower]

I posted this request in the vehicle parts BST, but I'm spamming it here once as well. I'm looking for a mostly bare frame of the vintage Skystriker to restore/customize with my 3d-printed parts. Yellowed plastic is ok, missing stickers is ok, I just need a few key pieces and hopefully no broken tabs. Details are here, if anyone can help me out:

https://www.hisstank.com/forum/5513455-post854.html

[Zap Rowsdower]

New upgrades for the modern-era Skystriker:

• Phoenix missile belly mount and 4x missiles
• Reserve fuel tank pair under nacelles
• Wing glove pylons for multiple ordnance at the wing glove on each side

Take a look:














I'm still refining the wing glove pylons and the belly-mounted Phoenix missiles setup, but they're both working as-is. None of the upgrades pictured require any permanent modification to the Skystriker either, which is always something I strive for whenever possible.

Here's the full list of custom parts shown in the photos:

• Replacement nose cone (pointier than the original, and not squishy rubber)
• TCS/IRST chin pod
• Engine intakes
• Reserve fuel tanks
• Phoenix missiles and belly-mount
• LANTIRN targeting pod
• Wing glove pylon set
• Home-printed missiles (sidewinder and sparrow)
• Articulated tailhook
• Engine nozzles

I have strakes prepared for the gear gear cover and nacelle that I haven't printed and mounted yet. All that remains beyond that is a finalized 2-seater cockpit setup and I think I'll have my F14-D upgrades complete for the modern-era Skystriker.


Once again, the real-life inspiration:










And here are some reference images specifically for the wing glove pylons. You can see why it's a bit rough trying to design a single pylon for the Skystriker since the real F14 has several specific pylon adapters depending on what they will be outfitting on the plane...




















And ultimately, this is the pylon design I am currently trying to emulate:



It's working with everything except the Phoenix missiles so far. I hope to be able to make the Phoenix missiles work as well, but if not I'll settle for what I already have.

[Zap Rowsdower]

I have updated the wing glove pylon design a bit more. I think I'm just about done with it now for the modern-era Skystriker.

Reference:









The giant, thick mounting peg bases for the missiles on the modern-era Skystriker made it necessary to take some liberties with the shape, angle, and size of the pylons, but overall I think it works and the changes aren't terribly noticeable if you aren't staring at reference photos side-by-side with the parts I designed.

And here they are:





















The blue skies outside today demanded a few outdoor photos:









And the replacement nose cone once again:




Astute observers may have noticed some drooping in the front pair of belly-mounted Phoenix missiles. I went too narrow and thin on the arms that hold the mounting pegs for the front set, so they are acting like they're on a springboard right now. I am going to thicken that up a bit to avoid "missile droop." Once I get that sorted out I will be finishing the vintage-compatible version of these new parts. After all of that...maybe it's time to work on the 2-seater modern-era cockpit for a while again? We'll see.

[Zap Rowsdower]

I recently had a request to model the Stinger's front bumper/push bar. I had been meaning to do that anyway, so I went ahead and did it.





The home-printed test turned out pretty nicely, too. Photos are below. But while I was at it I also did a mash-up model that's a combination of the Stinger's front bumper/push bar and the brush guard from the VAMP MK II. That print turned out even more fun and I think it's my new standard for the vehicle base.






Anyway, here is the print of the basic Stinger bumper/push bar. I snapped the rear hook off of one side of the spiked portions when I was removing support material on this one, so just pretend you don't see that for now. I also need to thicken up the support arms, but the basic form and fit are doing well:















And here is the hybridized Stinger/VAMP Mk II bumper/push bar with fog lamps:












And a few general shots of my Franken-VAMP with my various colors of printed test parts:








I believe these are my next potential VAMP repro parts to make...eventually...

[Zap Rowsdower]

[ARBCO Avenue]

Your work is inspiring Zap. I always enjoy seeing what you are up to.

[Zap Rowsdower]

The test print of the back deck for the Stinger was so-so. It fits, but not smoothly. I'm afraid I might break something trying to put it in place. I have some fine-tuning to do on that.

In the meantime, turret engine panels for the Stinger are coming along now:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARBCO Avenue

Your work is inspiring Zap. I always enjoy seeing what you are up to.

Thanks! I haven't had much time for this stuff lately, but I have an itch to get some of the VAMP/Stinger stuff done now so that's where I'm spending the time I can find.

[Zap Rowsdower]

Engine panels are all done now...