RQ-4B Global Hawk (1:48 SkunkModel)

[Mike]

While writing the review for this one, here, I didn't think it'd be long before I succumbed and built my second UAV following an enjoyable build of the Bronco Predator back in April this year.

I cut the fuselage halves from their sprues and test fitted them and the underside "tray" in place, which revealed a couple of places where some fettling will be needed behind the wing. There's an area of rough tooling where the underside bulges out to meet the fuselage sides. I fitted the engine bay inspection covers, which can go in either way, but from photos, I found that the smaller rivets go toward the back of the airframe. I scraped the mating surface to ensure a good level fit, as there's not much in the way of raised panels on the real thing, and flooded the joint with liquid glue from behind, applying pressure to help with the fit. I slapped a bit of putty on the sink marks under the fuselage, at the rear of the exhaust area, and finally around the thick upper edge of the intake lip. Again, those will be sanded smooth tomorrow (all being well).

The intake/exhaust parts are very usefully made, and construction and painting will be a doddle because of this. I will paint the engine faces separately, the intake trunking will have a rough coat of Lifecolor dark grey (FS36118), which will be blended into the outer coat when final painting takes place. The exhaust sits within a shroud for most of its length, with only a little poking out at the rear. That will be painted, then masked over to protect it from the main paintjob. The brass rod you can see on the exhaust is a replacement for the plastic rod that fell off when I cut the part from the sprue. I must remember to be more careful

Next I broke out one of the wings, and test fitted that together. There's a little gap under the wing root where the lower is slightly shorter than the upper, so I bonded a strip of styrene sheet with a good dose of liquid glue and some pressure. I'll sand those down in the morning once the glue has cured. The attachment tabs were attacked with a Dremel, making the holes into slots, and it sanded so that they were a snug friction fit. A test installation showed that they fit nicely, and without any droop, other than that engineered into them by the Skunkmodels people. Looks like it'll be easier to store than I initially thought

[AnthonyWan]

Watching this one carefully...Thought about buying the kit but I'll wait til I see what you make of it

-AW

[Antony Robertson]

I'm watching this with interest, i was very tempted when i read the review recently

Antony

[Mike]

Thought about buying the kit but I'll wait til I see what you make of it

I'm planning on building a Global Hawk from it actually

I'm watching this with interest, i was very tempted when i read the review recently

Succumb!

[Howard of Effingham]

this kit is large enough in 1/72 scale......

and too large for me in 1/48.

still i will be interested to see how you get on with it.

trevor

Edited November 1, 2010 by Howard of Effingham

[Shar2]

What's the wingspan on this Mike?

[Mike]

What's the wingspan on this Mike?

83cm! The cutting of the slots in the wings makes the job so much easier though - you could even display it with one wing off to save a bit of space

[Shar2]

83cm! The cutting of the slots in the wings makes the job so much easier though - you could even display it with one wing off to save a bit of space

Flippn' heck, that's bigger than the Scharnhorst

[Mike]

Same span as a Herc

[daz greenwood]

Nice review Mike.

I have a couple of pics of the Global Hawk taken at RIAT a few years ago.

[AnthonyWan]

Heard a rumor somewhere that someone was going to do an engine bay/avionics bay for this kit?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Global_Hawk.jpg

[Julien]

Heard a rumor somewhere that someone was going to do an engine bay/avionics bay for this kit?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...Global_Hawk.jpg

I hear you can also use the Predator cockpit for this one

Julien

Edited November 1, 2010 by Julien

[Mike]

Good find Julien - how much would that run me? Is it even real?

[Julien]

Good find Julien - how much would that run me? Is it even real?

Mike,

I think someone is taking the piddle!

Julien

[AnthonyWan]

That looks soooooo fake

[Mike]

I thought I'd do a test tape-up of the fuselage while the wingtips were setting up, after fixing a few seamlines on the underside "tray".

Big old bird, ain't she?

[woody37]

The body looks like something off the back shelf from Anne Summers !!!!

Looking forward to this, although part of me wants to spit at pilotless aircraft !

[AnthonyWan]

That is quite large...I'd consider displaying it on a base with some figures for scale comparison..

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...obal_Hawk_3.jpg

[crookedmouth]

That is quite large...I'd consider displaying it on a base with some figures for scale comparison..

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...obal_Hawk_3.jpg

It makes you wonder why they didn't just stick a pilot in her and have done! Impressive mode too Mike, but what's happened t the Albatross?

[Mike]

It makes you wonder why they didn't just stick a pilot in her and have done! Impressive mode too Mike, but what's happened t the Albatross?

I'm not sure many pilots would relish flying round in circles for 35 hours... They might get a bit tired. The Albatros is still ongoing, don't worry

[crookedmouth]

I'm not sure many pilots would relish flying round in circles for 35 hours... They might get a bit tired.

Two hours on EasyJet is bad enough, I suppose...

[Mike]

Two hours on EasyJet is bad enough, I suppose...

Having travelled to the US twice now, I couldn't bear any more than 7 hours sat in a seat. Even the trip back when I got a free upgrade to business class*, I was still jonesing to be somewhere else by the time we crossed the coast of Blighty.

* An upgrade I'd been offered at check-in for $500, so I was well chuffed

[Mike]

I've been looking at the fuselage parts and comparing them with the pics available on t'internet. Although the gross outline seems to have been captured pretty well, there seem to be a few panel lines that are either missing or in the wrong place.

The red squiggles are where a line needs removing, and the green ones are where I need to add a line. The raised area on the underside behind the wingroot also extends too far aft, so in an ideal world could do with adjusting, but as it's a complex shape and intersects with a large sensor blister, I think I might have to leave it

[ReccePhreak]

Great build review!

I plan on getting one, as soon as they are released in the "colonies".

Drones sure have come a long way, compared to the recce Firebees I worked on at Davis-Monthan AFB in '72-'73.

Larry

[Mike]

The fuselage has been built and the panel lines removed and adapted as per the above (although I've yet to rescribe one - see if you can spot it ). I've been working on the seams, as the smooth finish will really show them up once painting begins. I've also painted the intake & exhaust, protecting it all with screwed up tissue and tape until the painting is over. The pic shows a layer of putty along the seam between the intake lip and the intake trunking, as this part is seamless too - I guess it must be made from carbon-composite with a fancy shape like that