X30 Conquest
"Conquer the skies with the X-30! G.I.Joe is primarily a special operations force with heavy ground vehicles for support, but it is in a unique position to also include some rotary wing and, most recently, fixed wing combat aircraft. Highly maneuverable and capable of reaching past Mach 2, the X-30 Conquest multirole lightweight fighter gives G.I.Joe command over the battlefield from above.
Missions for the Conquest include strike, anti-armor, close air support, anti-shipping, and reconnaissance; but it shines most in air to air combat, which takes advantage of its speed and agility. A typical air-to-air warload includes four medium range AAMs and a pair of drop tanks for extra range. Until Cobra develops an advanced dedicated fighter of its own, G.I.Joe has the edge in the air, and therefore on the ground and at sea as well."
I've been wanting to build this one for a while. Finally, after numerous helicopters and a couple of ground attack planes, I've built my first fast jet in years. I got the original Conquest back in the day. The X-30 was perhaps not the best known of the G.I.Joe jets, but it was my favorite - big enough to feel like a "big toy", but not so big as to be unwieldy. It came in gray on the toyshelves, but it has often been depicted in white in the comic and cartoon, and I think it looks better this way.
www.yojoe.com/vehicles/86/conquest/
The X-30 was inspired by the real life X-29, which itself was based in no small part on the F-5. I wanted to capture the basic look, which includes most obviously the forward swept wings, but also a cockpit that is placed about a third of the way back.
The canards seem aerodynamically superfluous, and in fact do obstruct the pilot's view a little to the side, but they were part of the classic look, so I decided to leave them alone. I've kept it close to the original, but the fuselage is a little narrower and there are some slight revisions.
As a lightweight fighter, this thing is about the size of an F-16 or Grippen and it is wonderfully swooshable. The construction is a little complicated and fragile, especially in the nose/cockpit area, but is a good compromise between aesthetics, functionality, and structural integrity.
The nose landing gear went through several iterations and I stumbled on the final design (which is a wonderfully simple solution) by accident.
I had wanted to build this one for years, but only got started thanks to inspiration from Matt and Aleks.
X30 Conquest
"Conquer the skies with the X-30! G.I.Joe is primarily a special operations force with heavy ground vehicles for support, but it is in a unique position to also include some rotary wing and, most recently, fixed wing combat aircraft. Highly maneuverable and capable of reaching past Mach 2, the X-30 Conquest multirole lightweight fighter gives G.I.Joe command over the battlefield from above.
Missions for the Conquest include strike, anti-armor, close air support, anti-shipping, and reconnaissance; but it shines most in air to air combat, which takes advantage of its speed and agility. A typical air-to-air warload includes four medium range AAMs and a pair of drop tanks for extra range. Until Cobra develops an advanced dedicated fighter of its own, G.I.Joe has the edge in the air, and therefore on the ground and at sea as well."
I've been wanting to build this one for a while. Finally, after numerous helicopters and a couple of ground attack planes, I've built my first fast jet in years. I got the original Conquest back in the day. The X-30 was perhaps not the best known of the G.I.Joe jets, but it was my favorite - big enough to feel like a "big toy", but not so big as to be unwieldy. It came in gray on the toyshelves, but it has often been depicted in white in the comic and cartoon, and I think it looks better this way.
www.yojoe.com/vehicles/86/conquest/
The X-30 was inspired by the real life X-29, which itself was based in no small part on the F-5. I wanted to capture the basic look, which includes most obviously the forward swept wings, but also a cockpit that is placed about a third of the way back.
The canards seem aerodynamically superfluous, and in fact do obstruct the pilot's view a little to the side, but they were part of the classic look, so I decided to leave them alone. I've kept it close to the original, but the fuselage is a little narrower and there are some slight revisions.
As a lightweight fighter, this thing is about the size of an F-16 or Grippen and it is wonderfully swooshable. The construction is a little complicated and fragile, especially in the nose/cockpit area, but is a good compromise between aesthetics, functionality, and structural integrity.
The nose landing gear went through several iterations and I stumbled on the final design (which is a wonderfully simple solution) by accident.
I had wanted to build this one for years, but only got started thanks to inspiration from Matt and Aleks.