Anyone know where I can get one of these things…preferably from the jet age, as I have a 1/72 a-6 intruder, and I want to hang them together in my son’s room, but historical accuracy is not a major thing…
Fujimi made a KA-6D tamker in 1/72 (H-15), way back in the 80’s.
It was one of their mid-80’s “A-6” family kits, nicely moulded with recessed lines.
It includes both the internal hose unit and a “buddy pack” HDU, but in both cases, the refuelling gear is in the stowed position. No hoses or drogues provided.
This probably best suits what you’re looking for, but may be extremely difficult to find.
Hiya–
How old are we talking about here? If you’re referring to an earlier A-6A model, for example, then youre in luck, because Hasegawa did issue a 1/72 A-3B Skywarrior. Not sure offhand if their kit has the fairing for the refueling basket that mounts on the underside, but if it doesnt, I dont think it would be that hard to replicate something that looks the part. If your model is that of an early A-6E, then it is still feasible, because the -E first came out in 1970, and the EKA-3B was the primary Navy tanker aircraft through 1970.
You could also use an A-4 skyhawk or a KA-6D tanker variant–both of those undoubtedly would have passed gas to intruders on a regular basis. Here’s an odd combination–the RA-5C Vigilante was also occasionally used as a buddy tanker, it could apparently carry the buddy store, although this was not the preferred use of that plane. If you wanted to use the A-4, there are numerous kits in this scale. The KA-6D was issued in 1/72 by Italeri, but I do not have any info on the quality of the kit. Also, Cobra Company did issue a conversion set to make an A-6 into the KA-6D variant, and I am pretty certain that they offered this conversion set in 1/72 too. The RA-5C was offered in 1/72 by, I believe, Revell, Hasegawa, and also more recently by Trumpeter. If none of these work for you, you could also use an A-7 Corsair–the Navy did attach buddy stores to them too. Sorry for the big post, hopefully there is something here that will help you. If you want the traditional “big tanker plane refuels little attack plane” then the KA-3 is your best bet.
If you are refering to any refueler, in the 90’s I had a kit of a KC135 that I think was 1/72. I don’t remember the brand though.
Italeri has a KC-135R in 1/72, but I don’t know if it contains the probe and drogue kit that is used for USN aircraft. The AF uses a flying boom for refueling their aircraft.
Didn’t someone make a refueling set for the C-130 that included a probe and drouge? If you can’t find a KC-135, a HC-130 or a KC-130 will do.
HOLY CRAP! wow, I have so much information to process…and I got itquickly too!
well, I was thinking big jet refuels little jet, but I dont know now…
Thank you all for the “food for thought”
Justin
Food for thought.
Fujimi’s A-6 series is still in production,we get them from Cyber Hobby,it takes a few weeks to get here, though
if you find a C-130 and it’s not a KC aircraft, you can get a conversion from Falcon (also still in production, although reported to be OOP in posts a lot of times)
for the KC-130, KA-6D or Hasegawa KA-3B models, you’ll still need to scratch your own hose and basket, though,D-704 aircraft, also
I recall Amt/Ertl releasing several variants of the C-135 including the ‘K’ version some time ago. They did a bunch of other “Big” planes including several versions of the B-52 and the XB-70 Valkerie (I have this one). I don’t remember if they did the KC-10 (military version of the DC-10) or not. The KC-10A Extender is able to refuel Airforce, Navy and Marine aircraft as it is equiped with both boom and “hose-and-drogue” set ups. I thought saw a picture once one refueling several aircraft at once for a photo op. The KC-135 can also be equiped with a hose and drogue at the end of the boom if needed.
Here I found a photo of a KC-135 actually refueling a KC-10:
(My mistake I think…that might be a KC-767 in the front there-hard for me to tell from this angle…)
AMTalso marketed a very fine XB-39/40, and an E3. My favorite tanker in my stash is the Academy KC-97, and built; the Victor K. So off topic though. The KA-3 is a great subject- I’m going to look that up.
The US Navy also rigged out the S-3 Viking for tanking duties. Airfix/MPC had a 1/72 kit years ago as did Hasegawa. They are both long in the tooth models but the Hasegawa one has been reissued in the past few years I think. I’m not sure if either kit came with tanking pods though.
Italeri has a 1/72 KA-6D kit that is generally well regarded and is likely easier to find, and a probably a good bit cheaper than the above mentioned Fujimi kit.
Italeri has a 1/72 KC-135R that DOES have a drogue pod for at least one of the wings… I have the kit on my shelf if you need more information.
I believe the Italeri kit is a reboxing of the aforementioned AMT/ERTL kit.
Could be… But I remember building the AMT kit in my youth and I don’t remember the drogue kit or the French markings… So there might have been modifications.
There is also the Handley Page Victor tanker kit from Revell/Matchbox. Not sure if the drogues are compatible with US probes… But they might be… I have that kit on my shelf too (I am about to go on a 1/72 tanker kick as soon as the room I am going to hang them in is vacated)
Basically any 1/72 KC-135 variant you see is going to be a re-release or a modification of the AMT kit. So, those CFM-56 engines and French markings are (IIRC) Heller’s version. Now the molds belong to Italeri, so no telling what you’ll get… [;)]
I don’t think there’s been a 1/72 scale KC-10 from anyone, altho I’m sure I’ve seen 1/144 and 1/200 kits, with the 1/200 being from Hasegawa (again, IIRC).
You can have a 1/72 KC-10 if you can get a hold of the long out of production Aircraft in Miniature vac formed DC-10-30 kit and the KC-10 conversion kit they made available for it.
I have a spare C-130 if you want to go with that airframe.
Hasegawa made a KA-3B. Everything is stowed though.
I am planning on building at least my Victor with the drogues deployed… I was probably going to go with some wire as the hose and either build a drogue, or steal a spare out of my KC-135s… Which do come with hose and drogue attachments for the boom as well as drogue pods for both wings.
Aircraft in Miniature are in current production of a 1/72 KC-10 with resin additions to the previous set, also a separate release of the DC-10.