NEW USAF spaceplane ! Rockwell TAV. BIG new kit, 1-48th !

[Desert Dawn]

This time i chose to make a very sexy new spaceplane at a much bigger size than my previous ones.

At 1-48th scale, the Rockwell TAV also known as MRCC is about 30 cm long (12 inch) !
(somewhat bigger than an F-16 kit).

Designed in 1980, it was to have a mission similar to that of the F-111 (!). But it's its design that made me want to make it as a kit since a good 10 years: it is a real little fighter-bomber disguised as a spaceplane.

The launch concept was so simple and so do-able that i wonder why they didn't build it (well, maybe they did, but they are just not telling us...).

The rocket booster to launch it into orbit was a single Solid Rocket Booster from the Space Shuttle, plus two smaller rocket boosters attached at the rear of the spaceplane, making the whole assembly almost entirely reusable (probably entirely, i just don't have confirmation yet if the two smaller boosters were reusable).

With a system like that, the Reagan era would have had a global, reusable hypersonic bomber able to reach any point on Earth in 1 hour or less (while the new (small) HTV-2 (unmanned) that was launched this spring can only be used once).


The MRCC TAV kit is now available at the special price of 85.00$ US for a short time only (the regular price will soon be 105.00$ US, you save 20.00$. The kit include about 40 parts. Lenght of the kit is about 31 cm. The kit also include the pop-out air inlets and pop-out wings.

And now, purely for your enjoyment, i have just made this digital art from one of my kit's photos and it will now officially be the boxart for the Rockwell MRCC TAV resin kit.

The MRCC features pop-out air inlets that were deployed below Mach 2 for airbreather engines (beside its rocket engine), and it could be air-refuelled from what can be seen in the artist concept illustrations. The pop-out inlets will be included with the kit as optionnal parts.

The exterior is almost complete, i just need to add the ventral flap and to build the inside of the RBCC engines and the RCS engines and scribe the panels. After that i will make the canopy, cockpit interior and landing gear. Haven't decided if i will make it two-seat or single seat. Illustrations i've got show both two-seat and single seat versions.


Stephane
Stratosphere Models
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[Stargazer]

Brilliant design and excellent model! Is it custom-made or are you planning to release it? Can't wait to see it finished anyway!

 

[Desert Dawn]

Brilliant design and excellent model! Is it custom-made or are you planning to release it? Can't wait to see it finished anyway!

Hi Stargazer,

all my models are released as resin kits for the general public (unless mentionned otherwise). More pictures to come.

Stephane.

 

[Desert Dawn]

New pics to feast your eyes:

Shades of the F-106 B)

I have slightly increased the height of the fuselage, i modified and curved the fuselage underside, added more curve to the fuselage leading edges, rounded the nose tip and added external details as well as the pop-out inlets for the two turbojet engines.

I have finished to scribe all the panel lines.

Now i am working on the wheel wells and cockpits.


Stephane
Stratosphere Models
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr
Web site: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[bagera3005]

can you get images from all 6 sides id like to blueprint

 

[airman]

nice !

 

[Desert Dawn]

More progress, added additional details, working on the cockpits, designed some key-in to facilitate the assembly of the kit for the modellers.

Stéphane
Stratosphere Models
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[Desert Dawn]

Stéphane.
Stratosphere Models.
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[Stargazer]

Beautiful work!! Can't wait to see it finished!

 

[OM]

all my models are released as resin kits for the general public (unless mentionned otherwise).

...As someone who only rarely works with resin kits, to me this is sad news. Otherwise I'd get on the waiting list, because this is beautiful work at the very least!

 

[Desert Dawn]

Hi OM,

There would be no other way to obtain it because no injected kit company would ever do a subject like that (there would be no sales at all there for them). We are talking very small production (as for most super-rare aicraft or spacecraft unbuilt projects), only a handful or so get produced (and that's also why i will soon get out of resin kits and into making my own injected kit products (I"ll be making P-51's and Bf-109's, the stuff that makes money, not space kits), so don't wait too long to order, take them while they are still available ! By the way, there is no waiting list, everyone can order now). But don't worry, my resin kits are very easy to put together (actually MUCH more easy than injected kits ! Because there isn't hundreds of sprue to cut, most of the parts are very clean, meaning i already remove many of the pouring stubs (or most of them) before mailing them. And flash is usually very minimal or absent as i pressure cast everything.

Stephane.
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[Desert Dawn]

I forgot to post this earlier. This shows the launching system for the Rockwell MRCC TAV.

And here is a new drawing of the MRCC TAV with everything out, in landing configuration. The Stratosphere Models
1/48th scale resin kit now include those pop out wings.

And an updated picture for the exhausts.

Stephane.
Stratosphere Models.
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[Desert Dawn]

And now, purely for your enjoyment, i have just made this digital art from one of my kit's photos and it will now officially be the boxart for the Rockwell MRCC TAV resin kit.

The MRCC TAV kit is now available at the special price of 85.00$ US for a short time only until the end of July 2011. After this the regular price of 105.00$ US will apply. So right now you save 20.00$. The kit include about 40 parts. Lenght of the kit is about 31 cm. The kit also include the pop-out air inlets and pop-out wings.

For the background clouds i used one of my own photos that i took last summer just after a thunderstorm. It doesn't look like it but it was pouring rain when i took that photo !

Cheers !

Stephane.
Stratosphere Models.
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[Desert Dawn]

Another 2 variants, with white ceramic nose (zirconia).

and black nose variant.

Stephane
Stratosphere Models.
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[Desert Dawn]

Here's another series of illustrations, night mission version.

And glorious sunset.

Stephane
Stratosphere Models.
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[Desert Dawn]

Wheel wells and flap:

Fits like a glove.

All the main parts have received key-ins to make alignment and assembly easy.

Stephane
Stratosphere Models.
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

 

[pathology_doc]

Now we just need to get to work on the real thing!

I wonder what the possibilities would be of Branson and Rutan putting this together? If it could be done in the 80s, surely it's not too much of a stretch now?

 

[ikke666]

what would have been the specs (length, width, engine type,...) of the real air/spacecraft? :

 

[Desert Dawn]

what would have been the specs (length, width, engine type,...) of the real air/spacecraft? :

Hi, they are known because the launcher was a standard Space Shuttle SRB engine. I posted a drawing of it on the 1st page. As for the engines, any standard jet engine would be fine for thee two outboard engines, or a somewhat modified version of said engines with a more efficient fuel that can be used as a heat sink or that can decompose itself into more energetic fuel than typical JP fuels (there are a number of fuels that were studied and developed at AFRL for high speed aircraft projects). The middle-engine was a rocket engine. I would think if they redid that project today, PDWE could be used to replace the two turbojet engines, would save lots of weight, if they can get them to work properly.

Stephane
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr

 

[Orionblamblam]

The middle-engine was a rocket engine.

It didn't have a middle engine. It had two positions for swappable engines... either turbofans with single expansion ramp vectorable nozzle, or self-contained rocket engine/propellant units, similar to the single rocket engine planned for the North American A-5 Vigilante. In this case, Shuttle OMS engines (AJ10-190) with N204 and MMH tanks, pressurized by helium. The rocket "pallets" would be designed to have the same structural attachments that the turbofan would.

Most missions would not need the rocket engines. The MRCC was, like the Dyna Soar, basically just payload... hurled suborbitally across the planet by RSRMs or clusters of smaller solid rockets.

 

[Orionblamblam]

I wonder what the possibilities would be of Branson and Rutan putting this together?

Not sure quite what use Branson and Rutan would have for it.

 

[Desert Dawn]

Yes it did, your own words, verbatim:

''It had one large rocket engine and two turbojets; the turbojets could be removed and replaced with more rocket propellant and OMS-type engines.''


And link of your post:

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1615.msg13515.html#msg13515

Next time it would be more appropriate and ethical if you posted a picture proving what you say.

Stephane
Stratosphere Models.
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels

The middle-engine was a rocket engine.

It didn't have a middle engine. It had two positions for swappable engines... either turbofans with single expansion ramp vectorable nozzle, or self-contained rocket engine/propellant units, similar to the single rocket engine planned for the North American A-5 Vigilante. In this case, Shuttle OMS engines (AJ10-190) with N204 and MMH tanks, pressurized by helium. The rocket "pallets" would be designed to have the same structural attachments that the turbofan would.

Most missions would not need the rocket engines. The MRCC was, like the Dyna Soar, basically just payload... hurled suborbitally across the planet by RSRMs or clusters of smaller solid rockets.

 

[Orionblamblam]

Yes it did,

No, it didn't.

your own words, verbatim:

''It had one large rocket engine and two turbojets"

Guess what: I was wrong. It happens when you you're casually typing without looking at the source documents. That's why it's important to check your sources... *epsecially* when you're goign to devote a considerable amount of expense and effort to something. It'd be silly to waste time and money when a simple question could have gotten this correct.

Next time it would be more appropriate and ethical if you posted a picture proving what you say.

"Ethical?" Oooooh-kaaaay...

 

[Desert Dawn]

What 'considerable amount of money and effort invested in a product' ??
　
Total amount spent on the MRCC Rockwell TAV project:

2 small left over sheets of 1/8th gauge styrene that were catching dust.

One hack saw worth about 5.00$.

One X-acto.

A couple sheets of sand paper.

A metal ruler.

A sheet of paper.

A few tiny tubes of cyano and less than half a tube of liquid plastic glue (not even a single trace of filler outside the model, and very little inside).

Perhaps i should count the graphite from the mechanical pen as the 'high expense' on this one, the way the price of carbon is going through the roof these days (!).

And reference material that did not even cost me a cent.
　
And that's for parts that fit with the precision of a Japanese injected model kit
Not bad for a "heavy investment" of less than 50.00$ total !
　
I call it Stratosphere Models efficiency: Watch some others burn money for superfluous expensive tools that they do not exploit to their full potential, while i do it for a shoestring but with the precision of an injected model (not my words by the way, the words of my clients about some of my recent kits).

And with a kit build in such a highly modular fashion like this one, "if" i ever had to update any part of it in the future to offer more options, it would be a breeze and a matter of just a few minutes, even by hand (did i mention that i use 3D CAD to make parts now ?). For exemple, right now i can offer it as a two seater or as a single seat version by just adding a single new part.

The way it is going, i might soon have to put your name on my list of non-paid advertisers and helpers (!), because the more you keep posting whatever goes through your.. mind, no matter of how little interest it maybe, you are helping me keep my ads at the top of the list on the first page of the forum ! Visibility is great and i don't even have to update the posts myself to keep them up the list ! I always appreciate free help !
　
Stephane
Stratosphere Models
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr

 

[Orionblamblam]

What 'considerable amount of money and effort invested in a product' ??

Time is money.

Like the time it'll take to resize it for accurate dimensions...

Anything you say without a graphic picture or drawing to prove what you say...

Shazam!
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1615.msg139323.html#msg139323

 

[Desert Dawn]

Exactly like i said before.

Keep wasting your time. Anything you say without a graphic picture or drawing to prove what you say is just dust in the wind, and until you can prove any of what you pretend, it remains empty words. I don't believe in words my friend. I believe what i can see when it comes to aircrafts.

(What's also hilarious is that you 'think' you know the dimensions of my kit yet you are not one of my clients... (remote viewing perhaps ?).

'Time' ? Boy, some people must be so slow builders. A few clicks of a mouse is all i need.

By the way, thank you again for putting my ad at the top of the page

Stephane.
Stratosphere Models
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr

 

[bobbymike]

What 'considerable amount of money and effort invested in a product' ??

Time is money.

Like the time it'll take to resize it for accurate dimensions...

As my background is in Economics OBB is exactly right you have to factor in the opportunity cost of producing this model as opposed to other economic activity you could be doing. Just using a simple $20/hour probably equates to your model costing hundreds of dollars not just the $50 in material.

 

[Desert Dawn]

Hi,

and as my background is in Industrial Design and model kit design, i beg to differ on this one, so i would say in this specific case, not at all.

You are surely aware that any good businessman worth his salt have read Sun Tzu, or any similar inspirational material about strategy and the art of war, all of which applies to the world of business (thus the reason why most MBA students read it). What you see about what i am doing publicly does not necessarily reflect what is actually going on, meaning, to know what is the real plan here you would have to actually be me in front of this computer or in the workshop and then you would understand. So to shed a bit of light on this one because the MRCC is no secret project of mine (as it is already in the open), i am not calculating the time worked on this one because, it is relative.. Different people value things in different ways, there is no definite standard model to measure and calculate the exact value of something or a product, altough i know a lot of people who try (see the exemple of people buying the clothes of celebrities like the Beattles or Michael Jackson for insane amounts of money, people purchase these things not necessarily because those clothes were special or originally had a high price tag but because they put a high emotional value on these items and are ready to spend a fortune on them while others (like me) see no reason to spend any money on these such items (everything is relative like i said).

Another exemple would be the value people, including economists in Wall Street gave to the Tech Bubble. We all know what happened to it and the billions that volatilized themselves... So again, the real value of all things is relative. In this case, i worked at a fast but leasurely pace (for me) on this project because i initially viewed it more as a personal project to please myself that i wanted to make since years. Now if you want to talk about absolute numbers, if say company so and so wanted to make an injected mold of it and i sold the tooling to that co. so they could make their injected product, i would sell it well over 10K, but then, it is also totally relative as the market for said model might be only 2 to 3 kits as the subject in question is totally unknown to the general public and even to fans of secret projects here (it is even more obscure than many other 'secret projects' airplanes shown on this forum), thus the final value of said work might be valued at way less than this because it is not well known nor does it have a real market. Thus things like the million dollar clothes that are worth peanuts but get sold for a crazy price just because a celebrity is associated to them. Perhaps i should have the MRCC associated to one of Lady Gaga's dresses, it might spike and get an increased value (though i'm not really into fashion design). But again, i am using mirrors. Am i telling the truth to the competition, or some truth, or a mix of both ? Who knows.. So basically, have a look at Sun Tzu. Nobody in the competition knows what is going on in Stéphane's product development lab, and that's the way i want it.

Like Ben Rich once said: "Let them think that".

Stéphane 'think Decoy'
Stratosphere Models
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr

(note: anyway the last 4 entries are totally beside the point, the point is someone tries to say i don't know how to measure things, while i say it is an optometry problem of the earlier poster, who only needs to look at the drawing on the previous page to get his answer... Though it seems to also be a case of 'the more i say it the more people will believe me'.. I say: post your CLEAR drawings as proof or else you are going nowhere).

What 'considerable amount of money and effort invested in a product' ??

Time is money.

Like the time it'll take to resize it for accurate dimensions...

As my background is in Economics OBB is exactly right you have to factor in the opportunity cost of producing this model as opposed to other economic activity you could be doing. Just using a simple $20/hour probably equates to your model costing hundreds of dollars not just the $50 in material.

 

[Desert Dawn]

Aren't edit features useful, Eh ?

What you call 'drawing' here i call fly scribblings, the same fly scribblings you posted years ago. Until you post real lisible drawings that show what you said (and no cheating, i know there are several different versions (one seat, two seat, no jet engine fairings, all rocket, different wings, additional boosters with SRB, no additional boosters with SRB, etc), so just one of them drawings would not prove anything. Put your cards down so we can compare to my version, otherwise, again, it's just talk... or rather, playing on versions... because you know there many.

Oh, by the way, the title of the technical paper is: Multi Role Common Core Aerospacecraft Concept.

Thank you.

Now where's my contact adress for the resource person for the North-American inter-libraries network. Here we go... micro-fiche, little micro-fiche.

By the way, it's not like i needed it, even a teenager can draw the cross-sections for the MRCC from the top and side view that i posted a long while ago and get exact dimensions from the SRB Space Shuttle booster, but i am always curious about little technical trivia and history. The multi stacks of small rockets were not the best launch option though... too much risk of one of them going CATO on take off... The SRB however was the real, serious launcher.

Stephane
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr

 

[Desert Dawn]

And now back to real modelling:

Look !! An almost carbon copy of my resin model kit !

Many thanks to Flateric for finding this picture of a wind test tunnel model.

Except for the wings that are almost horizontal on this version of wind test tunnel which seem to indicate it is a AAP from NASA (a different study that was done After the Rockwell USAF TAV project) that was not yet completely the AAP from NASA that we have seen before and which itself was yet more different from the MRCC TAV from Rockwell (the AAP was basically NASA playing with shapes from the USAF as usual and trying various studies on it for their own purpose and for general aerodynamic science), and the jet engine fairings that are a little bit shorter, though it still is a quasi carbon copy from my model which i made from the official blueprints drawings from Rockwell to represent the better known Rockwell TAV MRCC version shown in the artist illustrations.

Below i show the comparison of my model kit without wings to have a better look, and with its typical canted up wings. The later studies of Nasa's AAP had mostly horizontal wings of a different shape than the actual Rockwell MRCC USAF TAV.

Stephane
Stratosphere Models
Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels
Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr