MQ-9 Reaper

[Wouwie]

The MQ-9 Reaper (originally the Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) for use by the United States Air Force, the United States Navy, and the Royal Air Force. The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance.

Build as an entry for the Lego Military Build Challenge 2: "Fire Support" on Flickr.

My version is armed with 4 Hellfire missiles and 2 laser guided bombs; JDAMs.

It was inspired by Ralph_s' MQ-1L Predator

More pictures

A final shot, the Reaper at work:

The background of this image is a Google Earth satellite picture of some mountains near the Pakistani/Afghan border.

Thanks for looking!

Edited July 5, 2011 by Rufus
Indexed

[BrickMonkeyMOCs]

I already commented on the weapons and front end at Flickr. But I'll add that the retractable undercarriage looks really good as well. Nice MOC.

[Wouwie]

Thanks! The retractable undercarriage was something I had to try. I saw it first on Ralph's MQ-1L, so I knew it could be done. I must say I cheated a bit with the connection pf the minifig hands and the axle.

[Captain Green Hair]

Looks just like the real thing.

The weapons and undercarriage look great. I bet those undercarriages are hard to make?

Only the air intake on the tail could do wit a bit more detail, to make it really look like an intake.

[Wouwie]

Late as always

But thanks! The undercarriages we'rent that hard to make, but making them retractable was.

I agree on the air intake... I think I'll improve it on the next version.

[Wouwie]

Marking update!

Kills and 42nd Attack Squadron markings

Kills, 432d Wing markings, USAF Roundels and tail markings

Tail markings

The decals were made by Captain Blackmoor, except the USAF roundels, they come from Google.

Thanks for looking!

[Captain Blackmoor]

It seems to be they turned out pretty nice!

The MQ-9 Reaper looks great, nice shapes!

[lightningtiger]

Interesting drone you have MOCed there 'Wouwie' !

The stickers finish it off - fantastic !

Great work 'Wouwie; - I'm a conformist! !

[Big Cam]

Not bad, it looks very similar to the real thing, great job!

I like the landing gear. Looks very functional. It is a little hard to determine the actual size of it from the pics, about how big is it?

[Wouwie]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you like it. I think I'll redo the markings on label paper, so that you won't see the tape anymore.

The landing gear was something I just had to try, because I knew it could be done at this scale.

It's about 38cm by 28cm.

[Ralph_S]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you like it. I think I'll redo the markings on label paper, so that you won't see the tape anymore.

The landing gear was something I just had to try, because I knew it could be done at this scale.

It's about 38cm by 28cm.

There aren't too many interesting details on the real plane, so the markings are important for the look and your model looks much more attractive with the stickers.

One of the things I wondered about when you told me that you were going to try to build a Reaper based on my was whether or not the landing gear could carry the weight. You see, on my model the minifig hands that hold the wheels sometimes slide upwards making the whole thing a bit wonky. Your model is larger and heavier than mine (as it should be) and yet you've used the same basic design for the landing gear. I do splay the legs a bit further than you seem to do, which puts extra stress on the thing I suppose, but how sturdy is yours?

Cheers,

Ralph

[Wouwie]

There aren't too many interesting details on the real plane, so the markings are important for the look and your model looks much more attractive with the stickers.

One of the things I wondered about when you told me that you were going to try to build a Reaper based on my was whether or not the landing gear could carry the weight. You see, on my model the minifig hands that hold the wheels sometimes slide upwards making the whole thing a bit wonky. Your model is larger and heavier than mine (as it should be) and yet you've used the same basic design for the landing gear. I do splay the legs a bit further than you seem to do, which puts extra stress on the thing I suppose, but how sturdy is yours?

Cheers,

Ralph

Thanks Ralph!

The landing gear can hold it, but the model is tail heavy (?), so if I would put it down on a flat surface the tail would be sitting on the ground. But I've cheated a bit on that point. You see, I've used some Pritt Sticky Tac (in the Netherlands they're called Pritt Poster Buddies) on the connection between the hands and the rods to stop them sliding upwards as you said. I've also used a little bit of them on the bottom of a 4x4 plate on which the black 1x1 Tap is connected. That way it can stand without falling on my desk. But if that wasn't there

But I'll hope to solve the to heavy tail in the future.

Greets,

Wouter

[Ralph_S]

Thanks Ralph!

The landing gear can hold it, but the model is tail heavy (?), so if I would put it down on a flat surface the tail would be sitting on the ground. But I've cheated a bit on that point. You see, I've used some Pritt Sticky Tac (in the Netherlands they're called Pritt Poster Buddies) on the connection between the hands and the rods to stop them sliding upwards as you said. I've also used a little bit of them on the bottom of a 4x4 plate on which the black 1x1 Tap is connected. That way it can stand without falling on my desk. But if that wasn't there

But I'll hope to solve the to heavy tail in the future.

Greets,

Wouter

I know the stuff you mean. In the UK they sell something similar called 'Blu Tack'. That explains your comment about 'cheating a little'. I wondering what you meant by that

Airplane models being tail heavy is a pretty common problem. I've struggled with it too. On some of my models I had to resort to building boat or train weights into the forward fuselage to keep them level. It is probably not an option on something as small as this, though. Fortunately it wasn't a problem for my Predator, probably because its aft fuselage is a lot slimmer than that of the Reaper.

Cheers,

Ralph