Drone Carrier C-130A by David Aungst (Testors/Italeri 1/48)

Drone Carrier C-130

by David W. Aungst

Testors/Italeri DC-130A Hercules
1/72 Scale, Stock Number 690

Six images covering this model.

D e s c r i p t i o n a n d M o d e l

The C-130 is one of the "jack of all trades" aircraft types that just keep finding new and varied things to do. In the case of the C-130, it most of them exceptionally well. From humble beginnings as a simple cargo aircraft, the type currently flies missions ranging from ground attack to electronic warfare to command-and-control to airborne rescue, just to name a few. One of the missions that provided for some extremely colorful aircraft was that of airborne drone launch and control platform.

When Testors (Italeri) released the DC-130A in 1/72nd scale, it was a natural for me to buy it. While not as glamorous as the fast jets, the C-130 holds a high spot in my favorite aircraft list. I found the colorful markings to be one of the intriguing things for building this model. For construction, I kept it simple and mostly out-of-the-box, doing only the following things to the stock kit.

I swapped the engine nacelles and propellers from an AC-130A kit to get the correct three-blade style of propellers for the aircraft. The DC-130 kit from Testors provides the four bladed propellers, which many C-130A aircraft (drone carrier and otherwise) were upgraded to use, but the US Navy aircraft that is the subject of the kit decals was not one of the aircraft to get upgraded.
I added the line antennas stretching from the fuselage to the tail top.

Project Statistics

Completion Date:

August 1988

Total Building Time:

40.0

Research:

1.0

Construction:

14.0

Painting:

21.0

Decals / Markings:

4.0

Extra Detailing / Conversion:

0.0

I used all Model Master enamel paints. The entire model was primed in white prior to applying the yellow and red portions. Learning how to apply Day-Glo red on the Firebee drones was a challenge.

The markings are taken from the kit decal sheet, although I back-dated them to markings worn by the aircraft at a time when the black "cheat line" on the fuselage was very thin and the tail had simple black block letters without the yellow sash provided in the kit decals.

I weathered the model using diluted enamel paint washes and shading done with an airbrush. I left the entire aircraft in a gloss finish, except for the walkways on top of the wings. The walkways were painted with a clear flat paint, masking off the lettering and insignia so these would stay glossy.

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Models, Description and Images Copyright © 1999 by David Aungst Page Created 28 June, 1999 Last Updated 26 July, 2007

Models, Description and Images Copyright © 1999 by David Aungst
Page Created 28 June, 1999
Last Updated 26 July, 2007