MQ-9 42 ATKS Build

1
August 23, 2025
All the sprues and aftermarket layed down. Compared do pretty much all other builds I had so far, this is not a lot of plastic - and there is also not a lot of aftermarket for an airplane that does not have many details anyway.
All in all, a good thing if you're looking for a rather quick build and finish.
Except if you're like me and want to spend more time on detailing and correcting..
2
August 23, 2025
Let us get started with the main problem/inaccuracy of the build: the main landing gear bays. For whatever reason Skunkmodels screwed that up big. Perhaps there were no good references available at the time? Still, the true landing gear bay has a noticeably different outer shape. Furthermore, the inside of the bays is also wrong, as Skunkmodels/Kinetic has you glue down two seperate bays, though you can clearly see in the reference picture that they are connected.
3
August 23, 2025
Luckily, that is not a very hard thing to fix. Technically, one could do this oneself with cutting out the openings from a self-made template and scratch-building the interior.
However, BAM models has a nice correction set with a resin piece for the interior (which I will show later) and thick, pre-cut tape to help with cutting out the correct shape.
4
August 23, 2025
The adhesive is very nice and holds to the plastic quite well - with the exception of the small pieces on the upper side of the landing gear bay openings. Also, BAM provides cut-outs in the adhesive mask for the two refueling ports also missed by Skunkmodels, alongside resin add-ons.
5
August 23, 2025
Cutting out the correct shape is not very difficult, but one has to be patient. I moved slowly by first scraping in the shape with a pin-wise and then using a razor saw and a knife to slowly and carefully cut out the plastic. Afterwards I finished by sanding the openings into shape. The refueling port openings were drilled out.

In addition, I deepened rivets and panel lines and added two additional panels that are claimed to be there based on a YouTube build I am using for partial reference as well.
6
August 23, 2025
To get the resin piece in, these locator holes have to be removed as they would otherwise get in the way.
7
September 19, 2025
In the meantime I have found more reference pictures. This one is quite nice as it a) shows the variety of surface details Kinetic forgot to add and b) actually displays the exact same bird I want to build.
8
September 19, 2025
I have highlighted most of the panels and other things that I needed to scribe and add.
9
September 19, 2025
After some time, this is the result of the underside which is finished as of now.
10
September 19, 2025
There aren't any good photos of the nose landing gear bay. Hence, I took the creative liverty to add some panels and wires to the area (though not too much as the Reaper seems to be quite simplistic overall).
11
September 19, 2025
One detail needed to be redone. There is this oval panel between the main landing gear, but Kinetic molded it too small. Thus, I had to fill it with putty and sand it away, then scribe the correctly-sized one. Also, I removed the sensor unit or lamp or whatever this is inside the panel and will replace it with something more in scale. There are also going to be raised rivets but I will add those later in the build.
12
September 19, 2025
In the back I scribed some more panels. There are also some inlet covers that are above the triangular inlets here (I forgot what those are again..). I think they are a newer addition to the MQ-9, so not sure if I will add them or not.

Comments

10 23 August, 21:13

Alexander Author
While I am still busy with my first armor model, I am of course thinking of my in-progress A-10 waiting patiently for me. However, since it has been some time since I was working on a plane, I decided I would "warm-up" with a much simpler kit first.
I am not sure how many heard, but BAM models was about to close down earlier this year (he is back now but with some change of the future for his shop). Hence I was looking what aftermarket to buy before it would be gone, and alongside some long-sought add-ons for my Rafale found a correction set for the MQ-9 Reaper.

So then I thought to make this little bird. There is no much aftermarket available, so I mainly bought some resin Hellfires. However, I was diligently looking for one of the two Caracal sheets that allowed to depict a combat machine used in Afghanistan or Syria. After a long time, I found one still in stock in an Italian model shop.

So with that, here I am starting with the build and progressing quite quickly since there is not much plastic to assemble anyway.

23 August, 21:42

Alexander Author
I am also using a nice build for reference to add some more surface detail among other things.

Youtube Video

1 23 August, 21:42

CaptGPF
👀 Can't wait to see this build!

1 25 August, 02:15

Alexander Author
Thank you CaptGPF!

Progress is a bit slower than anticipated - but that is because I found some more reference pictures of the underside showing some panels that Skunkworks missed and Kinetic didn't bother to redo..

25 August, 09:39

bughunter
Watching!

1 25 August, 09:48

Alexander Author
I have (almost) finished the underside of the fuselage, the only things left are some surface details to add later, antennas and sensors to be attached at the end, and technically the landing gear.
As I am focusing on my Armata currently, this will be on hold for the next weeks until I have time to continue here.

20 September, 00:06

Project info

MQ-9 Reaper 42nd ATKS in Afghanistan

12 images

1:48

On hold

1:48 AGM-114K Hellfire II missiles (ResKit RS48-0329)

1:48 M310 - 2 Rail Launcher for Hellfire missiles (ResKit RS48-0318)

General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper

US Air Force (1947-now)
42 ATKS, 432 WG 07-0032
2013 - Creech AFB, NV
FS36375 FS36176 FS36314

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