Background
This is part 2 of my OV-10 Bronco, Then and Now project. I
used the Hawk/Italeri/Testors kit, combined with the Paragon
Designs conversion set for the OV-10D (stock #48091). For a
discussion of the short comings of the Hawk/Italeri/Testors
kit and the greatness of the Paragon Designs set, see part 1
of this project, the OV-10A Bronco.
The Paragon Designs OV-10D conversion set is mostly
identical to the OV-10A update set. One sprue in the set is
swapped to provide OV-10D details in place of OV-10A details (like
different rear instrument panels and engine exhausts). Also, one new
piece is present -- the OV-10D nose. Everything else is the same
including the new wing and tail and the same identical etchings set.
All of this is great, except for the replacement engine exhausts.
For the exhausts, the Paragon Designs pieces are just
plain wrong. Paragon Designs was apparently using the
Famous Aircraft of the World, #45 on the OV-10 Bronco. The scale
drawing in this book draw the exhausts wrong, making them look like
small jet engines attached to the sides of the tail booms. The
Paragon Designs pieces are identical to the drawings in the
book. I needed to scratch build new exhausts to fix this error. I
had several close-up pictures of these exhausts that I had taken at
air shows to help me identify Paragon Designs error and allow
me to get them correct.
To scratch build my own exhausts, I started with the Hawk/Italeri/Testors
kit provided pieces. These are actually about the right size and
shape for the OV-10A. The OV-10D exhausts are the same
piping as the OV-10A with an IR suppression kit laminated onto them.
I created my exhausts the same way.
I started with the Hawk/Italeri/Testors kit OV-10A
exhausts and added the round intake onto the front of the exhausts
using some styrene tube stock. Then, I rolled and attached some
.005" sheet styrene to rough out the exhaust shape. After this was
dry, I applied gobs of super glue and accelerator to better define
the exhaust shape. A touch with an X-acto file then smoothed
and shaped the super glue to finalize the shape of the exhausts. The
last thing was to hollow out the rear of the exhausts using my
Dremel and add the splitters using thin sheet styrene.
Besides incorporating the Paragon Designs conversion set
into the kit, like on the OV-10A, I also did a lot of extra
detailing of my own. In fact, everything I did to the OV-10A was
also done to the OV-10D (where appropriate), including opening the
cockpit entries.
A few things were unique to the OV-10D, though. These were as
follows.
I used all Testors Model Master enamel paints on the model. It is
finished in the three tone camouflage of Marine Green (F.S.34097),
Dark Ghost Gray (F.S.36320), and Flat Black (F.S.37038).
The markings on the model come from various sources. It is
interesting to note that there are two versions of markings on this
camouflage. The first has gray markings on the black areas and black
markings everywhere else. The second uses green markings on the
black areas, but still uses black markings everywhere else. I have
built the second of these. The majority of the decals come from the
SuperScale decal sheet #48-364 with data markings taken from the
Testors kit decals. A few of the data markings are custom printed
decals I made on my PC and laser printer. Some of the markings were
masked and painted to create the positive / negative appearance
needed for things like the "MARINES" markings on the tail booms. The
model represents an aircraft from VMO-2 based at MCAS Camp Pendleton
in 1992.
Weathering is done like on the OV-10A with thinned down enamel
paint washes and air brushing to highlight the panel lines and show
general wear and tear on the airframe. A final pass with silver
dry-brushing rounds out the weathering.
Go to Part
One - OV-10A Bronco
Click the
thumbnails below
to view larger images:
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Project
Statistics |
Completion Date: |
9 November 1996 |
Total
Building Time: |
97.0 |
Research: |
5.5 |
Construction: |
13.8 |
Painting: |
29.1 |
Decals / Markings (includes
time to create and print custom decals):
|
10.5 |
Extra
Detailing / Conversion: |
38.1 |
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