Dandiego

You don't know how right you are.......

So I was looking at how I would firmly attach the two forward fuselage sections. So I designed a connector plug that will slide under the cockpits and support the forward sections while joining them to the central fuselage. Here is the printed plug. The two holes will accept some stiff wire to add to the rigidity. I suppose I should get to work on cockpit details at some point. Dan

Both wings attached. Joints are being smoothed out. Dan

Thanks RC. Now comes the tedious part, getting both wings with a symmetrical anhedral. Some filing and shaving of the wing roots will be needed before glue and clamps. Dan

Big milestone, Port wing has been attached to the fuselage. I have done 90% of the scribing on the wings, fuselage and engine pods. The pegs have been installed and the wing epoxied to the fuselage. a few clamps hold everything in place. Join line will need some work but nothing too crazy. Second wing should be attached in a day or so. I will probably prime and paint the inboard engine pods before attaching to the wing. Should be easier that way. Next project to be worked on will be printing and installing all of the cockpit components. But first I need to design them. Dan

Working on getting the wings attached. I have printed out some hollow pegs that will accept a small nail to increase strength. Here you can see the peg with the nail inserted, pounded in. Here they are inserted into the wing. And a first fit test. Not too bad but some final adjustments will need to be done. There are 2 gaps that will need plastic shims to fill in holes. Dan

Here is the weapons pod, primed and with panel lines. And some scribed in panel lines on the wing. Dan

Here is the new weapons pod next to the original. The new one has the red putty. The contours of the two different components are more pronounced on the new one. Yes, bare feet again. Its hot and I am retired. Dan

Well said RC. Hubert, I have followed the same path when looking at stl files. Many possible purchases have been derailed by obvious shape errors. I have a few downloaded additional projects when time permits. An F-94 and an EA-6B. The Prowler would be a Mashup between some stl files and the Trumpeter Intruder. Dan

Hubert, the pods definitely have a "beer belly". And, I think, the pods, as designed, do reflect that. I will be going with the pods as designed as I am pretty far along and wouldn't know how to redesign them anyways. Here are the forward pods joined together with the intake spikes in place. One thing that I will be redoing is the 2 component pod. I don't think I got the shape right. I have designed a new one in Fusion and it is much more to my liking. The first print of the new part is printing now. Dan

Inland San Diego does get warm, contrary to popular belief. July, August and September are the warmest with daytime highs in the low 90's. We really don't complain until it hits 100. And even then the beach is only 15 minutes away. Shorts and bare feet are the uniform of the day. Dan " the beach" Diego

Finished 2 component pod, well almost. There will be 2 fins at the back end of the upper pod. Dan

Printed out the two Component Pod. 18 inches so far. The extreme aft end did not print properly. I will reprint tomorrow. Dan

Work is moving slowly. But some progress is being made. I realized that I needed something to hold the model up off of the workbench so I made a cradle out of wood. Hard to see here but a huge step in the Hustler construction. This is a dry fit of the port side. Tape, clothes pins and paint containers all help to get a view of major components. Here is the first of 4 parts of the two component pod. And some paint on the intakes. Dan

Not progress lately. Got distracted by other projects and I have decided on a full repaint. Don't like the digital camo. But it is still on the bench, so that's kinda encouraging. Dan