As some of you know, I've built plastic scale models since I was a kid. I haven't done much building lately, but I'm still active in a local model club, and always mean to get back to the workbench and sling a little styrene.
I've always been intrigued by the Grumman X-29, the forward-swept wing technology demonstrator. Two aircraft were built by Grumman in the early 1980s, and flew over 400 research missions from 1984 to 1992. The X-29 combined the forward fuselage from the F-5A with composite wings. The aircraft was aerodynamically unstable, and used three digital flight control computers and fly-by-wire controls to automatically adjust control surfaces to maintain proper control.
One of the X-29s is on display at the USAF Museum in Ohio:
The second is at the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB.
I first built one of these kits 20-odd years ago, finishing it in the standard color scheme used by the test aircraft. I picked another one up at a recent model show, and got to looking at it, thinking about how I would finish it - I wondered what they would have ended up with if, rather than just a technology demonstrator, this had been the prototype of a next generation fighter...
The kit itself is a Hasegawa 1/72 scale X-29 (it will be about 8" long) The main changes I'm making are the addition of F-16-style missile rails to the wing tips, underwing pylons for missiles and ECM pods, and an avionics spine to the top of the fuselage using some styrene stock. I'll probably add a few other bumps and bulges before I'm done.
I scrounged a pair of pylons and Sidewinder rails from an F-4E/J kit - I cut down the length to better fit the X-29. And since I couldn't find any ECM-type pods in the spares box, I made up a couple myself. Here are the two pylons with the ECM pods. The pod on the left started out as the front half of a bomb rack from an ancient 1/72 Revell F-16A with some additional strip stock added. The one on the right is a variety of plastic stock.
I also added chaff/flare housings on the back end of both pylons.
And here is a look with the pylons on the aircraft. I was feeling proud of myself with how well these assemblies worked out, and how they look on the aircraft, when I thought "Will these things clear the ground???" I know, I know, good time to think about that...fortunately, the main gear struts are a one-piece unit that could slide into place and allow the model to sit on the gear. Sitting it on the workbench, even without tires, I had sufficient ground clearance - dodged a bullet on that one!
I started going through my decal box to figure out what markings to use, figuring I would grab some F-16 markings. Then I came across this sheet, and was sold. Checking photos online, I saw that Israeli F-15Cs used for air defense are in a two-tone gray, similar to USAF schemes, rather than desert colors, so I plan to go with that look.
And of course, since this is a product of the Grumman Iron Works, it needs a "cat" name. Poking around the 'net, and it appears the Hebrew word for cat is "khatul" חָתוּל, so I bring you the F-29I Khatul. I'll post updates as I go along, and let you see the final results when I'm done.
...and before anyone says it - yes, I know I put the wings on backwards!
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