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I probably got a little overly ambitious with the AGM-65 Maverick
missiles. They often show up in groups of three hanging under each wing of an A-10. I wanted to duplicate
that, so six missiles it is. At this early stage in the overall A-10 project, I'm a bit concerned about
weight and about how well I'll be able secure a cluster of three missiles to the plane and not have them
vibrated or blown off through buffeting--not unlike the concerns with real jets. If the plane flys
well and seems to have plenty of power without the missiles, I'll eventually fly with them attached. For
now, though, they'll be for static display on the model only. At 1/9th scale, these missiles are about
11" long. |
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I built the Mavericks with functioning rails to give me some flexibility as to how they'll be attached to the aircraft. The rails can be attached individually to the hard-point pylons under each wing, or in groups of three as originally planned. From a true-to-scale point of view, the rail guides on the missiles are quite a bit too large. I built them up from balsa and needed the bulk for strength. On the real thing, the launch rail ends up almost touching the missile's surface. On mine, there is a bit of a gap. I'm sure with a bit of work this could be improved upon, but I'll stay with what I have for now. | |
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Initially, I had planned
on painting the very tip of the missiles where there is either a glass window or opaque cover, depending on
what type of seeker head is being used. Later, I thought it would be very cool to make miniature TV cameras
behind clear plastic windows. The picture to the right is the real thing--that's what I'm trying to
recreate. For the TV cameras, I ended up using buttons, wood dowels and little clear plastic "jewels" from
a craft shop. Creating the window has been more difficult than I thought. The tough part is finding a
clear plastic hollow sphere with just the right curve. First, I tried clear Christmas tree balls from a
craft shop. They made nice windows, but the curve was too shallow. Next, I tried a couple of different
sizes of trinket containers found in those machines at Wal-Mart and supermarkets. The small one turns out
to be the perfect size, but has a mold mark right in the middle. I'm still searching. Using one of these
windows, though, I made a little mock-up to show the desired effect. I won't drill a hole in the nose
cones for the cameras, though, until I'm sure I have found a window that will work. |
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I finally got around to finishing the Maverick missiles. I was about to abandon the whole window thing when someone
suggested the blister packs that disposable contact lenses come in. While they aren't prefectly clear, they're clear enough. In fact, they kind of hide
the flaws in the little cameras I made. All-in-all, I'm happy with how the missiles turned out. |
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