Global Scale Modeller

My first entry into this SIG will be Hasegawa's 1/72 V-22 Osprey.

Before getting into the kit, here's some background courtesy of the instruction notes, along with some of my own photos of CV-22s in action at RIAT plus a couple of archive shots of the prototypes.

Overview
The MV-22B Osprey is a “tiltrotor” transport aircraft used by the United States Marine Corps and other branches of the American armed forces. Sharing the flight characteristic advantages of both rotor-winged (helicopter) and fixed-wing aircraft, the Osprey is capable of vertical take-offs and landing (VTOL) flight, greatly expanding its operational range and versatility. One of the great advantages of helicopters is of course their ability to take off and land vertically, negating the need for a long runway, and also its ability to hover in place while in flight. However, two major drawbacks of helicopters are their typically low flying speed and short operational range.

And while fixed-wing aircraft are capable of high speed and long operational range, they also require long runways or landing strips that may not be available in a given tactical situation. The “tiltrotor” feature which is at the heart of the Osprey’s design was developed to utilize the advantages while eliminating the disadvantages of both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Essentially the Osprey’s “tiltrotor” blades act like helicopter rotors, rotating horizontally, when the aircraft needs to act like a helicopter. But when the Osprey is to operate in high speed level flight like a fixed-wing aircraft, these rotors are tilted 90-degrees to the front to revolve vertically, acting essentially like giant aircraft propellers.

Development
Research on the tiltrotor concept began in the 1940s, when the United States Army and Air Force undertook a joint project to develop a “convertiplane” aircraft. In 1955, the XV-3 prototype that was the result of this project made its first successful hovering flight.

From 1971, the United States Army and NASA undertook joint research on the next stage of tiltrotor development with their XV-15 prototype making its first successful hovering flight in 1977 and its first airborne rotor tilt-to-level flight in 1979.

In 1981, the U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) officially announced that it would be developing a next-generation vertical take off and landing (VTOL) support aircraft for all branches of the Armed Forces. Under these auspices, the Joint Services VTOL Experimental Aircraft (JVX) project began, using the earlier XV-15 prototype as its base development aircraft. In 1985, the aircraft was officially named the V-22 Osprey. On May 2, 1986, full scale development (FSD) of the MV-22 officially began. On March 19, 1989, the first successful flight was made, with full production getting the go-ahead from the DoD in 1994.

Design
In terms of the basic structure, the airframe features two three-bladed “prop rotor” rotor wings with a rotational diameter of 11.58m, each attached to an engine nacelle. These two nacelles are in turn attached to the wingtips of the aircraft’s fixed wings, from where – utilizing the Osprey’s so-called “tilt system” – the rotor/nacelle units can be pivoted or “tilted” back and forth between horizontally and vertically rotating positions. The two massive prop rotors are counter-rotated relative to each other to eliminate the effects of torque on flight characteristics. A key safety feature of the Osprey is its ability to operate on one engine, in the event of the other engine failing, while still keeping both prop rotors rotating – a capability which is made possible by both prop rotors being joined by a single drive shaft.

The Osprey’s fixed wings are swept slightly forward, and they can be folded up to 90 degrees to facilitate storage, such as on an aircraft carrier. In this storage mode, all three blades of the prop rotors can also be folded up on top of one another to all face in a single direction, greatly reducing overall airframe size. The Osprey also features a “full glass cockpit” with cutting edge navigational and other instrument displays and avionics. The length of the cabin is 7.37m, 1.80m wide, 1.83m high and features a rear-opening cabin door that allows the easy on- and off-loading of troops, supplies and even small vehicles. The Osprey is used both as a transport and rescue aircraft. There are slight differences in onboard equipment between the Navy, Marine and Air Force variants of the Osprey, which at present include: the MV-22B, which is used by the Marine Corps for amphibious combat operational support and fast deployment; the HV-22B, which is used by the Navy as a combat reconnaissance and rescue aircraft; and the CV-22B, which is used by the Navy as a special operations (e.g. for SEAL missions) aircraft.

Aircraft Data
Flight crew: two; total width (including rotors): 25.54m; length: 17.47m; height: 6.63m; rotor blade length (1 piece): 4.90m; engine: Rolls-Royce Allison T406 with maximum output of 6,150shp; maximum ferrying/cruising range (with extra fuel tanks): 3,593km; ceiling: 7,925m; maximum speed: 565km/h (in level flight) and 185km/h (in “helicopter mode”).

Onto the kit itself - the original dates back to 2013 and has been reissued in a variety of colour schemes and markings up until this release last year.


I won't be using the kit decals for this as I want to build up a USMC example and have picked up a set of Xtradecals with a variety of markings; I've also picked up a mask set for the glasswork. This shot incudes the original kit decals for completeness


Onto the sprue frames and everything looks well moulded and tidy - here are the main fuselage parts along with the crew & assorted bits of undercarriage


Two the same for the rotors


Engine nacelles and rear stabilisers


Main wing & more bits of the tail plane


Clear parts - including a base to allow the aircraft to be posed "in flight" which is always my favoured approach if available


And the instruction sheet - doesn't look too bad at first glance...


No doubt it'll have a few surprises hidden away for me when I get there


And finally here are the paint callouts and eye-watering decal placements...


I'm really looking forward to building this one up as I'm completely fascinated by the actual aircraft and the design challenges that had to be overcome to make it work. If this one goes together well I could see myself building up a couple more in alternate schemes.

Thanks for looking - hopefully the first update will be along soon

Awesome information and very cool kit Neil!

What a wild aircraft design
Simply amazing. Looking forward to the build

This is going to be good

A very interesting aircraft. I did here they are also a very expensive aircraft for the military to operate...

Every time I see - or hear - one of these I am minded of the Fairey Rotodyne... Do not get me started on that topic!!

Thanks for checking in guys - I'm really looking forward to this one, just wary of any gotchas as I've not built anything remotely choppery since... mumble mumble mumble…

digger303 wrote: Mon Dec 02, 2019 9:28 pm ...I did here they are also a very expensive aircraft for the military to operate...

Yah - I suspect that's the booze bill required to get the crew up in something so blatantly bonkers!

RangerNeil wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2019 1:35 am Every time I see - or hear - one of these I am minded of the Fairey Rotodyne... Do not get me started on that topic!!

Oh yeah - that was a properly mad idea! Didn't Airfix do a ropey old kit of that back in the mists of time?

Tomcat64 wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:57 am Oh yeah - that was a properly mad idea! Didn't Airfix do a ropey old kit of that back in the mists of time?

They sure did

Great subject!

That looks like a really cool build. Good luck, mate!


Tommy

Kevthemodeller wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:19 pm

Tomcat64 wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:57 am Oh yeah - that was a properly mad idea! Didn't Airfix do a ropey old kit of that back in the mists of time?

They sure did

Yep - got two in the stash awaiting build after the move. One will be the Rotodyne Y as per the kits box art and one will be the Rotodyne Z which met the Army and RAF requirements. I believe Revell also did a 1/48th version with a full interior?
An interesting point of conjecture is that if the prototype had the RR Tynes it was designed for and not the underpowered Napier Gazelles the Ministry of Supply forced on them the world might be using Rotodyne variants and not Ospreys!!

RangerNeil wrote: Wed Dec 04, 2019 12:27 am

Kevthemodeller wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:19 pm

Tomcat64 wrote: Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:57 am Oh yeah - that was a properly mad idea! Didn't Airfix do a ropey old kit of that back in the mists of time?

They sure did

Yep - got two in the stash awaiting build after the move. One will be the Rotodyne Y as per the kits box art and one will be the Rotodyne Z which met the Army and RAF requirements. I believe Revell also did a 1/48th version with a full interior?
An interesting point of conjecture is that if the prototype had the RR Tynes it was designed for and not the underpowered Napier Gazelles the Ministry of Supply forced on them the world might be using Rotodyne variants and not Ospreys!!

Interesting stuff - I hadn't realised there were a couple of different variants on the type. Will be looking forward to seeing you build them up when you get around to them

Ok I've managed to get started at last

Section one covers building up the basic interior bulkheads and cockpit area before joining up the two fuselage halves


Here are the parts involved - there are some ejector pin marks on some of the parts, but for the most part they're strategically placed on faces that shouldn't be visible when everything is built up


And there is the occasional hint as to which way around some of the parts need to go


The instructions call out for building up into the starboard fuselage half but I've gone the other way and built it up in the port half to allow easier access for painting


Looking forward this is just about all the detail in the cargo cabin and I suspect none of it will be visible through the small portholes once built but I'll be giving everything a shot of grey just to be sure


A quick dry fit showed that the cockpit section could be fitted after the two fuselage halves are joined up, so that'll stay out for the moment for ease of painting as well


Slightly disappointingly the fuselage join isn't as neat as I'd like, but this is definitely the worst alignment issue I'm facing so nothing too serious


And with that in mind I added some bars to try and help keep everything aligned


So here's how that looks with the cockpit dry fitted and ready for some primer


Talking of which I flicked ahead to sections 9 & 10 and identified other cockpit parts that also need painting up - I'll build & paint the crew a little later on as I'll need to be able to fit them into their seats to get the alignment sorted on their arms


And here are the parts - this will be mounted up and primed along with the rest of the cockpit section


That's all for now, hopefully this weekend I'll be able to get the priming and initial paintwork for the interior done as well as assembling the wing sections.

Thanks as always for looking & have a great weekend

Off to a good start there mate

great start here Neil!

The plastic bashing starts and looking good

Tomcat64 wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 1:36 pm <snipped>
Interesting stuff - I hadn't realised there were a couple of different variants on the type. Will be looking forward to seeing you build them up when you get around to them

Cheers Neil. The Rotodyne saga was a convoluted one that did not reflect well on the Gov't of the day - akin to TSR-2 and Mk 2 Nimrod - but best told another day, perhaps when the build starts.

For now - that's a nice looking Osprey kit!! I'll happily trade you on the alignment issues.
I'm looking forwards to seeing both how it progresses and the finished item.

Kevthemodeller wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 3:00 pm Off to a good start there mate

jmurphy18 wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:06 pm great start here Neil!

Hawkmoon wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 7:36 pm The plastic bashing starts and looking good

Thanks guys

RangerNeil wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 10:07 pm For now - that's a nice looking Osprey kit!! I'll happily trade you on the alignment issues.
I'm looking forwards to seeing both how it progresses and the finished item.

Thanks mate - yeah I was thinking when I posted this that I have nothing to complain about with alignment compared with what you're tackling

I didn't get as much bench time this weekend as I was hoping for but still managed to make some progress with the Osprey.

All of the internals as well as the cockpit were given a coat of Ultimate Black primer followed by Vallejo Model Air Dark Gull Grey.

While that was drying I moved onto the next couple of sections which involved the basic build of the wings & tailplane


Here are the parts for the main wing assembly


And here's the built up assembly - fit is generally good if not precise and needs a little wiggling to get things aligned


And the same for the tail plane - here are the parts


And the built unit - the vertical stabilisers are just dry fitted as I think it'll be easier for masking the scheme I'm planning if I can leave these off for now


I then dry fitted the fuselage sections and the wing assemblies all together to see how it looks. There will be some filling & sanding required in places but overall not too bad at all.


That's all for now - hopefully I'll get some time in the evenings this week to keep it moving along and start building up the engine nacelles and rotor assemblies.

Thanks as always for looking

The dry fit looking really good. I hope to get a start soon as I am tying up loose ends on two others now.

I think the dryfit looks really good.... but you never know what happens when you commit to glue

Anyway, I'm sure that you will sort that out


Tommy

digger303 wrote: Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:21 pm

jmurphy18 wrote: Tue Dec 10, 2019 3:26 pm The dry fit looking really good. I hope to get a start soon as I am tying up loose ends on two others now.

TommyKillander wrote: Tue Dec 10, 2019 5:34 pm I think the dryfit looks really good.... but you never know what happens when you commit to glue

Anyway, I'm sure that you will sort that out


Tommy

Cheers guys

Hoping to throw some glue at it this weekend

Made some progress on the Osprey over the weekend.

Before sealing up the two fuselage halves I broke open the Eduard mask set and installed the windows


The join between the two halves wasn't great (although not as bad as RangerNeil's!) so I concentrated on getting the top lined up as best as possible which still left some filling & sanding to be done - fortunately there's virtually nothing in the way of surface detail in this area


While I was pondering the fuselage join issues, I move off and added the ailerons to the mainwings


The instructions are a little vague - especially for the dropped position, but here are the parts...


And here's how they finished up after much dry fitting to figure out how they were supposed to fit


Back to the fuselage and I finally spotted that the plastic in the port half was slightly thicker in places than on the starboard side which was why I'd struggled to get a clean fit all around. After a few rounds of filling and sanding as well as test priming the top was done


Underneath I had to remove more detail, but since that'll be mostly hidden away that shouldn't be too much of a problem. There's still a couple of minor gaps to get sorted in the front gear bay but otherwise I think we're there


So the main wing section was also added - once again I can't get a clean fit all around so there's a little filling & sanding to be done here to tidy it up as well


That's all for now - I've also primed & base coated the cockpit section and I'll install that once I've finished most of the sanding to avoid getting dust behind the glass.

Thanks as always for looking

Looks really cool Neil!! Nice progress

Ace! What a machine, great build so far too

The more I see the more I like this kit Everything going together really well so far Neil

Thats coming on reallly nicely. And yes - I envy you the fit of the fuselage etc!! Looking forwards to seing the finished item.

It's all been said all I can do is

Well it's been a while with a load of distractions and not much bench time since December, but I finally got myself installed in the den in the right frame of mind at the weekend and gave some attention to this poorly neglected bird...

Feeling in the need to actually stick some bits together I hopped around the instructions and settled on the engines...


Here's the starboard one completed with most of the parts for the port one... I say most because it was supposed to be all of them, but when I started putting them together I realised I'd missed a couple


Then moved onto the rotors


And here's the completed one with ALL the bits for the other one


And the end results... the rotor assemblies are handed so I've marked the back of the starboard one to remind me to get them around the right way, and there's still a bit of tidying up to do on some of the seams on the engine nacelles


With the build itch scratched I moved back to the fuselage and did some more filling and sanding to get the seams tidied up some more and then added some of the less breakable gribblies before moving onto the undercarriage


As the wheel bays, doors and legs are all the same colour as the underside of the body I decided to go ahead and add them now as they're pretty sturdy


The instructions call out for G5 (the door actuator) to be added to the main gear legs before installation but since there's no clear mounting point I chose to install them after the leg & door were in place


Finally a quick photo of the cockpit parts - these were done in December but I hadn't posted them up. The decals in here were really erratic; some performed perfectly, some wouldn't settle and some just disintegrated... so I tidied the details up as much as I can with a fine paint brush, but may revisit these again


And since the rotors & engines are all attached with the magic of poly caps I can dry assemble things to see how it's coming together




Hopefully I can get the crew painted up and installed in their cockpit over the next week or so.

Thanks as always for looking

good to have you back in the game Neil, the bird is beginning to look the part!

Paul

Glad your back at the bench mate, all coming along very nicely

Nice work here Neil. The bird is looking sweet with all your hard work.

Coming together quite nicely - I'm looking forward to seeing the finished item.

That looks sweet, Neil!


Tommy

Quax wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:40 am good to have you back in the game Neil, the bird is beginning to look the part!

Paul

Kevthemodeller wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:54 pm Glad your back at the bench mate, all coming along very nicely

jmurphy18 wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 5:06 pm Nice work here Neil. The bird is looking sweet with all your hard work.

RangerNeil wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:05 pm Coming together quite nicely - I'm looking forward to seeing the finished item.

TommyKillander wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2020 9:05 pm That looks sweet, Neil!


Tommy

Thanks guys - it's been good to get back to the bench

Have moved this along a little more in the last week or so...

First up the canopy... this was masked on the inside and then the appropriate sections were given a couple of coats of Tamiya smoke; the upper console was then installed and finally the Eduard masks were added to the outside


Inside the crew were painted up and placed in their seats before installing the cockpit into the nose section


The canopy was installed and fitted nicely


This section was given a coat of Ultimate grey primer to allow the grey to show through the canopy before the black layer goes on


And the rotor assemblies were primed in Ultimate grey and then given a coat of Vallejo NATO black. These will have the metallic details picked out with a brush before adding decals


That's all for now - Ultimate black will be sprayed liberally over the fuselage & nacelles next to see if there's any more filling & sanding required.

Thanks for looking in

Looking good Neil!

Moving along very nicely Neil, the canopy should look great once the masking is removed

jmurphy18 wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2020 5:12 pm Looking good Neil!

Kevthemodeller wrote: Sat Feb 29, 2020 1:24 pm Moving along very nicely Neil, the canopy should look great once the masking is removed

Thanks guys

I've made a bit more progress on this lately but don't have many photos to show for it, but here's a quick update anyway

Firstly some sanding woes. I don't know if the plastic on this kit is softer than I've been used to or if I got some crud in my sanding stick but after my first coat of Ultimate black primer I noticed a ton of scratch marks where I'd been sanding. So I spent a couple of sessions working those out with some Micromesh fine grade sanding paper and a polishing stick until I got a decent surface.

Here are the bits in their final coat of Ultimate black


I then put down a coat of Vallejo Light Ghost Grey on the undersides and left that to dry overnight. Started in on the masking the following day and realised I'd missed a bit so recoated that and set it aside to dry again (I always leave Vallejo Model Air overnight before masking it) and switched over to the vertical stabilisers.

This is my second attempt at these as well as the finish on the first attempt was truly awful, so it was left to soak in Ultimate thinner for a couple of days and scrubbed off. This version involved a coat of Ultimate white primer with Vallejo Trainer yellow over the top; this was left overnight before being masked up and having NATO black painted over. The alignment of the yellow is slightly out in a couple of places but I know if I try and fix them I'll end up making a mess so they're staying as they are on the outside and I'll start work on the inner surfaces next.


So life permitting I hope to get the main sections masked and painted up this week before starting on the decalthon

Thanks as always for looking

Some very nice primer there Neil, great safe on the vertical stabilisers

Love these weird looking aircraft, can't wait till your on the home stretch.

Kevthemodeller wrote: Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:54 am Some very nice primer there Neil, great safe on the vertical stabilisers

digger303 wrote: Wed Mar 11, 2020 10:58 am Love these weird looking aircraft, can't wait till your on the home stretch.

Thanks lads - it's getting there...

I didn't get as much time on this last week as I'd hoped but have spent most of the weekend masking & spraying.

There's some touching up and minor fixing to do but for the most part I'm happy with how it looks, all paint has been Vallejo Model Air (Light Ghost Grey - FS36375, Dark Ghost Grey - FS36320 & Medium Grey - FS35237).

So here are the components... first the stabilizers


The nacelles


And finally the main fuselage - it still looks scrappy around the cockpit where the masks are in place and I wasn't fussy about being too tidy




And whilst I had the tape out I added the metallic leading edges to the rotor blades as well


And then dry fitted everything to see how it was looking




With that all done I can embark on the decaling and still in with a shout of finishing on time

Thanks as always for looking

Very nicely done here Neil! She is going to really cool bird!

Back on tack Neil

Saw this today and thought maybe Neil would enjoy it.

Colours are looking sharp mate. Is that a Navy or Marine scheme?