scjh

Hi Martin, Thank you for checking in. This Eagle is resting comfortably in the display case. Since the last posting I added more 3d printed clamps to hold the center of the cages (in addition to the sides) to the spine. My original plan was to prime and paint this, but I am liking the current look, and might keep it as is while planning on design improvements and alternative filament materials. I purchased more K&S tubings and filaments last Black Friday to build more at this scale. Will need more display space around the house. :-)

Thanks Bruce and geedubelyer! No new prints, just wanted to share the happy fun time I am having making panel lines in the rear fuselage. Not only are the access doors different left and right, the heat shield areas are also slightly different left and right. On top of that, the F/RF-101A heat shield upper boundary is also ever so slightly different than the F/RF-101C. The one single slope upper boundary connecting the upper and lower regions of the heat shield areas on the C is broken up with a horizontal step on the A. I have not seen this difference represented by any existing Voodoo kits or conversion sets. (Please let me know otherwise.) There are other small differences between C and A versions I will be documenting if there is enough interest. I've mentioned before the small vertical tail LE inlet, the 4 engine vents on each side of the rear nacelles, and Type IIa vs Type IIb intakes. (Although a few of the RF-101As in ROCAF service will break some of these rules.) Work in progress panel lines, not completely correct yet. Take a look at Akira Watanabe's Voodoo walk around photos here: http://nabe3saviation.web.fc2.com/waRF101.html This one in particular http://nabe3saviation.web.fc2.com/images6/waF101-221.jpg RF-101C panel lines over photogrammetry RF-101A. Note the extra horizontal step. RF-101C panel lines over photograph of RF-101A with rough camera placement. SC

A small update as I'm workingon adding surface details to the 3d model. In the last few sets of HIPS prints, there were some indentations around the panel line details that were not in my earlier tests prints. I think it may be related to new printer slicer configuration or printer firmware changes, as I had been using the same "0.2mm normal" setting. Now using the "0.1mm quality" setting seems to elimnate the artifact. This shouldn't be an issue for resin prints as all the details are done with optical images and not mechanical as with FDM where the print head has to do a quick direction change around the details. In the photo below, the far one was printed in "0.2mm normal" with older model/software version and had no indentations (it has a coat of primer), the center one was printed in "0.2mm normal" that had the indentations, and the bottom one is a new print at "0.1mm quality" without indentations. Old print at 0.2mm indentations with "0.2mm normal" setting after software/firmware change no large indentation at "0.1mm quality" another view comparing the prints Hopefully with a coat of primer and slight surface smoothing it would be good enough for further finishing. SC

Can't wait to see this turned into another masterpiece with the dandiego magic! SC

Hi wunwinglow, thanks for the awesome tip! Can't wait to try it. These are my preivous attempts. SC

New set of work in progress prints. At the top of the screen further away from the camera is an older design printed in PLA, and the lower one is the latest print in HIPS after a few fixes and details/panel lines added. There are a few extra engine vents on the engine nacelle that are only applicable to the F-101A/RF-101A in the PLA print. An air inlet on the leading edge of the vertical tail fin is only applicable to the F-101C/RF-101C, and a few of the RF-101As that served in the ROCAF. These are raw prints, and should look better with some primer and sanding (or printed in resin ultimately). There is a set of piano hinges on the two sides of the center fuselage. Some details on the lower forward fuselage.

Hi wunwinglow, Definitely agree on HIPS! I've been doing lots of print tests with HIPS for the large fuselage and wing parts! Still trying to dial in my printer settings. Also need to adjust the model to help with printing. My control surface trailing edges are too thin now to print nicely. SC

Thank you Jari, great references. I believe these are photos of the two YRF-101As (4149 and 4150) with Type II intakes. They'll be fitted with Type IIa intakes later like the rest of the 35 RF-101As, while the RF-101Cs used Type IIb intakes. More on that later. Thanks Steve! Thank you Tony. I hope to do it justice. Hi Bruce, I have seen photos of your build at the NASM. It's an inspiration. I would very much like the photos of the actual photo bay. PM inbound. No new progress to show at the moment. Hopefully soon. SC

Simple single seater cockpit and ejection seat. SC

Hi Timmy! I bought a license for 3D Flow Zephyr Lite https://www.3dflow.net/3df-zephyr-photogrammetry-software/ and mainly used that. There was a limit of 500 photos, which I think has been since lifted in the new version. An expert once told me this was a close second to another program, maybe EPIC Game's CaptureReality or UnrealEngine's RealityScan? I like Zephyr's masking feature, which is useful when there is cloud in the sky that could really mess up the scale. I also like the fact that no "cloud" (as in external server) is involved. Computation is done locally on my PC. Before that I played with Autodesk's offering, I think it's called ReCap now. Also dabbled with AliceVision/Meshroom, which is free. If you have a recent iPhone Pro with LIDAR sensor, there are photogrammetry apps as well. SC

Thank you all for your comments and interests! The RF-101A/C is the best looking Voodoo version in my opinion as well. But you never know.... ;-) The family resemblence with the Phantom is undeniable. I took a break from the Voodoo to work on the Phantom family a few years back. Since it was getting so much attention from real model companies, I put it aside, but may return to it one day. Here's the 3D Printed Phantom thread. Hi geedubelyer, This build is just for myself at this time. I'm hoping to carry it over the finish line with help and encouragements from you all. That being said, there may be collaborations in the future and parts of this project may be of help to LSP friends' builds. Hi Steve, Braver, or ... Hi Timmy, Welcome to the "when you can't buy what you want to build" club. Good luck on your journey. Hopefully you pick an easier road than I did. SC

Thank you Jack and Hans! Thank you Grunticus! There are so many great schemes to choose from. I will probably start with this ROCAF RF-101A Block 25 54-1503/652, with Sun Run record setters and SEA schemes possibly in the future. Hi Quang, I still remember the howls of a pair of F-104s flying overhead when I was in elementary school. By the way, I followed your KH RF-101C build on Britmodellers. What an inspiration! As you probably already know, accurate drawing of these historical aircrafts are hard to come by. Even with manufacturer drawings, one has to be careful of image warping, distortions, obsolete designs, typos, etc. This model has been refined over the years, based on historical drawings and a few hundred photos. In order to help verify drawings, I started using photogrammetry. I took over 400 photos of the RF-101A 54-1506/5658 (over 200 from the front). Also a few fellow modelers helped with photos of the RF-101Cs at Pima and Warner Robins. So while not prefect and completed yet, the shape of the photo nose fuselage should be pretty good. Major fuselage and wing cross sections also were constructed with information from historical documents. The ONLY drawing of the photonose I've come across that is accurate is Loft Sheet #20-1/#20-2. This is a screenshot of the photogrammetry software I used. The little blue camera icons are the re-constructed camera positions. I had to stay outside of the rope around the display. This was my setup. And a few comparision of of 1/48 kit and conversions sets. From the top, C&H, Kitty Hawk, Koster, and mine. SC

From 1999, back to 1953.

Comparison of 1/32 and 1/48 prints with the Haseagaw 1/72. Comparison of the 1/48 print with the Kitty Hawk 1/48 RF-101A/C.

Hello LSP, The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo seems to be a popular aircraft subject. However, with multiple versions with their different roles (fighter/bomber, photo reconnaissance, interceptor), one's favorite Voodoo may be different from the next person's. To me, the definitive Voodoo is the RF-101A/C with the elongated wedge photo nose. It is the only version that saw actual combat, and the version flown by the ROCAF. This project started back in 2018, mostly as a shape study of accuracy of existing kits. I built the ancient Hasegawa 1/72 RF-101C kit and started on the Koster/Monogram 1/48 conversion many years ago. When the Kitty Hawk 1/48 Voodoo kits came out in 2014 and 2018, I was disappointed to learn about the various issue of the kits (kudos to all those who overcame the problems). I set out to see what I can model with the help of historical and walk-around photos of the RF-101A/C (special thanks to Akira, Jennings, phantom, Patrick, and Clarence), factory drawings from Ron Downing's Aviation Archives blog, and numerous books. The exploration also involved photogrammetry, using multiple photos to recontruct 3D models. The large parts are 3D Printed in FDM and small details parts may be printed in resin. The design will evolve over the build, as the model is more developed in some areas over others. The intakes/wing root is roughed in at this stage. Hopefully there is enough to build a decent represenation of the RF-101A/C. SC

Thank you Ben and Dan! SC

Thank you LSP_Ray, Kev, thierry, and Madhatter. I've only ventured into FDM printing for now. Resin prints will definitely be higher quality and smoother. As for the size, I had to look for a display cabinet wide enough for it (Ikea Milsbo short cabinet). Please pay no attention to the shelf above the Eagle, for now. SC

The major construction is done. It might be a while before I get to painting. This has been quite a journey. I have tried new things, and learned much. There is definitely room for improvement in some of the part designs, and someday I may attempt the 1/24 studio scale. Overall I am very happy with the result. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have enjoyed the process. SC

Some updates. I added Passenger Pod windows with black inserts from the inside and printed clear pieces to simulate clear perspex sheets painted black underneath. The effect isn't quite as good since the printed clear pieces are rather frosty. For the windshields I glued 20 thou PETG sheets cut to shape onto thin printed frames. For the spine and cages, I printed clamps with PETG. This is sort of a workaround since the non-functionting clamps have already been printed along with the cages and reprinting the cages would take too long. Hopefully they don't look too obtrusive. Tapes and temporary metal clamps are off. One of the landing gear part broke off. The replacement part was easily installed thanks to the modular design of the original Eagle model. SC

The Passenger Pod bottom is done. Spine clamps and clear pieces are next. SC

Thank you Paul!

Thanks Maxim61! Hi Dan, Thanks! I am not sure about other shows, but for Space: 1999, the largest of the Eagle filming miniatures (44") borrowed the astronauts from the Revell 1/24 Gemini kit, so I guess that makes it 1/24. They also built half and quater sizes for different scenes. There were live action sets for the interior (cockpit and passenger pod), but they don't necessarily scale with the miniatures. I took some liberty there for my simple interior. SC

Since this is a WIP thread, I would like to present some background information and some in progress photos. This model was based on David Sisson's Eagle One restoration (http://davidsissonmodels.co.uk/eagle1.htm), the excellent series of Eagle Transporter models released by MPC/Round2, as well as information from many Space: 1999 fan sites and other Eagle builders. The original filming models were built as sub-assemblies, either friction fit together or attached with small metal screws/clamps. I tried to follow the similar breakdown, but have taken the liberty to simplify details (mostly greebles on the walkway boxes) and materials. The spine and cages, for example, are 3d printed plastic instead of brass tubing welded together. In my first 1/48 attempt, everything was printed, including non-articulating landing gear legs, and simply glued together with Elmer's glue. In this new 1/32 version, I tried to use different color filaments, more metal hardware, brass tubings for the spine, and metal parts for the articulating landing gear mechanisms. The hope is the same design can be applied to a 44" version. There are many repeated and symmetrical elements, so I could prototype and refine one module, and then duplicate/mirror the other parts. Here are a the top and bottom views of the 22" eagle. The new larger versions started with prototypes of the landing gear and pad in 1/32 and 1/24. The struts are metal straws or parts from a sink dish rack from Daiso. I tried a few different springs to get the right compression. Command modules of different sizes were next. In order to handle the additional weight, I used K&S brass tubings along the length of the spine. Cages, walkway boxes, and walkway shelves followed. The shoulder pods took a few iterations. Standing on legs. Various engine bells. Passenger Pod For the Command Module anti-glare and side thruster blast shield panels, I printed thin sheets of matte black. The combustion chambers and sphereical tanks and pipings were printed in one piece. Passenger pod attached to the spine with connectors and screws. And this is the progress so far. Hopefully the passenger pod floor and bottom will go smoothly. I plan to prime and paint the model after all the parts are done. SC

Hi Kev, Yes, you must get back to it! This has been a challenging project for me with many trial and error, failed prints, design changes, etc. Thanks to the modular design of the original filming models, I could work on sub-assemblies knowing they'll fit together at the end. Also re-watching the episodes along with the build made it more fun. Hi Thierry, Glad to hear you loved the TV show. I am a fan of many Gerry Anderson shows. Sharp eye spotting the Voodoo. That's my other reason for getting into 3D printing. The one in the background on the left is a 1/48 scale. The one on the right..... ;-) I will post in a separate thread hopefully in the near future. SC

Hello LSP, One of the reasons I got into 3D Printing was to create my own Space 1999: Eagle Transporters. Earlier this year I built a 22" (1/48) version, printed in PLA and PETG, simply glued together with Elmer's white glue. Recently I started building a 1/32 verssion (about 32 7/16" in length), with more refinments on how parts fit together. Metal parts and hardware are used for strength to handle the additional weight. The landing gears are fully articulated with springs. The ultimate goal is to build a 44" studio scale (1/24). It is work in progress but close to the finish line with the bottom of the passenger pod and spine/cage clamps left to go. But most likely I may change some designs and reprint some parts as I go along. The main spine and cages are temporarily clamped together until I sort out the small clamps. I have not done any post processing, opting to use different filament colors and materials for now. I understand resin printing would yield much smoother prints, but probably at a higher cost and print times. This is a tribute to the iconic Brian Johnson design. I hope you like it. SC Yes, those are 1 inch grids. Simple interior in the Command Module Size comparision with the 22" Eagle (1/48). Command modules and landing gears in three sizes (1/24, 1/32, and 1/48).