XC-142A V/STOL Transport in 1/72 scale

SinoSoldier said:

Do you know why it was ultimately cancelled? If it was due to budget concerns, then it would be quite unfornuate...

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At the time, with the Vietnam War really beginning to build up in 1966 with men, material, and spending...and with the US Navy not wanting the type of downdraft a four engine vertical landing would necessitate...they simply decided not to go with a VSTOL aircraft at the time.

I personally believe they missed out on an opportunity (and in retrospect I believe that feeling is borne out)...but at the time that type of opportunity was just not very high on the priority list.

The Build - Pivoting wing, canopy, painting aircraft, cockpit - May 1, 20155

I began this session by attaching the pivoting wing to the aircraft so that it will be able to travel through its motion once the aircraft is complete. The wing had a spar on it that fits into a groove to allow for this. I then began painting the aircraft in the various colors it was seen in as a prototype. This started with the white.

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While the white paint was drying, I decided to mask off and paint the canopy. This canopy is rather involved with lots of different panes.

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I then painted the canopy and while it dried I went back to the fuselage to paint the other colors found in the prototype color scheme. The tail, wing tips, half od the horizontal stabilizers, and the area under the cockpit to the nose are all in insignia red. The leading edges of the wings are in black as is the nose of the aircraft just forward of the canopy.

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The canopy was dry fitted in the one picture above because I had not done the cockpit yet. I did so now.

This included the cockpit floor, the two flight seats, the control panel and two sticks for piloting the aircraft.

Nothing real fancy about this cockpit, but it is all in place and went together well.

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I then added the front cover panel for the wing, which covers the forward part of the wing when it is in the full horizontal position, but opens to allow the wing to travers into the vertical.

Once that was on, it was time to glue canopy over the cockpit...and take a couple of pictures of those in place.

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She's looking pretty good at this point.

In the next session I hope to add the landing gear and the decals and complete the model.

The Build - Landing gear, fairings, decals, completing the aircraft - May 4, 2015

I started this session by adding the landing gear to the aircraft. These needed to be painted and then glued together. Care had to be taken, particularly on the long main gear struts. But they came together alright.


Then it was time to glue the fairings on each wing's underside. There were three to the side, and they were well marked and went together nicely.

With this done it was time to assemble the props for the four main engines and for the tail stabilizer rotor.

I found that the kit only included a total of 13 of a total of 16 required main prop blades. There were three too many propellers for the tail rotor, so I figured that is where the mistake was made.

I ended up hand fabricating the three additional props. I took left over props from a spare part 1/72 scale helicopter and cut them down to size and formed them appropriately, approximating the shape of the included blades. I then then painted and added them to the prop hubs like the rest, and then glued each assembly to the respective engines.. I think they turned out pretty good.


Then it was time to add the decals to the model. There are not that many, but they are very distinctive. This marking scheme is for the first prototype aircraft, numbered 25921, which is marked on each side of the vertical stabilizer. The number "1" is on each side of the aircraft fuselage, behind the cockpit. NASA had its own distinctive markings and paint scheme, but I am building the aircraft for the military configurations as seen during the testing.

With that complete, it was time for the final touch up paint work, the dull coats, and then the final pictures.

First the standard views of the aircraft. I placed some of them with the wing rotated down for horizontal flight, and some with it rotated into the full vertical position for VTOL.

...and then several photos of various positions and details of the aircraft:


There you have it. The Vought XC-142A Prototype, Tri-Service aircraft. Dad, if you are looking on from above...this one's for you.