ruzlkampf

Speaking of going FAST. I took one of my 1/1 scale model cars out to the desert today. (rainy on the coast where I live, snow in the mountains, cool 'n clear out in the desert on the other side) I built this car last year on a "design whim". I wanted to put an aluminum Chevy 350 C.I. crate motor V-8 in a mid-engined configuration for handling, in the smallest package aerodynamically possible, with the bigest brakes I could stuff into it. (I don't just put bigger motors into, and modify plastic model airplanes. )
16" rims, with Porsche 911 front suspension(it bolted right on) and brakes, 944 Porshe rear calipers, 4-speed trans-axle outta a Turbo 930(4-speed matches the HP and torque of the V-8 perfectly instead of the 5-speed), Momo seats/steering wheel/5-point harness, aluminum radiator in the front trunk, blah blah. It's quite the little go-cart. Only weighs a little over 2000 pounds, with 300hp, gets 28+ mpg, and I don't have to smog it. Exhaust system is not even 3ft long. heh heh.
My daily driver is a perfectly restored 1961 40hp, 6 volt VW beetle, and I envy no man when I'm driving it....but this is my 'get out of town and cruise' vehicle. It's fun! This was this morning outside Gila Bend, Arizona as I was getting it filled up for the ride back to SD.
 

I'm not trying to steal your thread, but I wanted to show you what these actually look like put on the model. This is before I sprayed a green(or brown, can't remember) squiggle over the top to darken it up a bit. I think your version of a brown wing top would be super cool looking, and can't wait to see how it turns out!
 
 

I actually found a spare set of decals that I used on my build. Here they are compared to what I had left over from the original kit decals for a size/font comparison. If you're interested, I can send these to you free. I want to see this model built as 'red 12'! Whoohoo!
 
 
 

Aaaaand, last pic of this series. Lotsa fun,.....but time to move onto something else for a change.
 
 
 

View of the undersides. Ya'll can tell by my 'faded' black that I was planning on having it a bit more weathered than I'd like it now. I'll be misting a bit more black to make it a little less 'patchy'.
 

I took these pics right before I put the decals on, and started weathering, so it's pretty glossy. Makes it hard to show what the true colors are under these bright lights,...but ya'll get the idea methinks. I'll be finishing this tomorrow, but as I'm one day behind posting pics, the next progress report will show the decals on, and weathering.(with the radar installed). Should have my 'final pics' ready for the gallery on Monday. More stuff tomorrow after I get up and get motivated! later, Russ
 

Got this box outta the closet, and took the shrink-wrap off tonight. If I open a new model box, and look inside....I gotta play with it! Sooo....first thing I gotta do is take some pics to show it's un-started, eh?! Date on the box says 2007, so I'm good to go. Whoohoo! Haven't built a German AC in awhile now, so this is a good excuse to keep my paints all stirred up.
Here's what I'm starting with;
 

Here's the air-crew in their office. Works for me.
 

 
View from the rear. You can just make out the PE harnesses going to the seat. Whoohoo! (just trying a little 'smoke 'n mirrors there Matt! heh heh.)
 

Not used to drinking coffee. I'm going to go pass out now. More pics as things transmorgrify. Whatever that means.
 
 

Ooooooooh, yeah.
 
 

Hmmmmm, now that's starting to look interesting.
 
 

Nuther view.
 
 

Nose gear well made up, and backbone slapped on.
 

End of Day-2; I'm calling it a night. Talking like a robot,...so it's time for a nap. Pics of the start of the 'Operation Bulkhead'. Notched and starting to stack em up like a row of dominoes. My usual crappy pics. heh heh.
 
 

Think I'll start on the former that is directly in front of the wing and work my way forward towards the cockpit first. I've gotta have more structure around the pit before I start hacking it out. Gotta go get some coffee now, and get all wound up for a bulkhead cutting party I'll be on for most of the night. I'll post some more pics before I crash for the night. Squawk at ya'll then!!! Later, Russ
 

Whoohoo! Time to step back and take another look. A lot is going to be chopped off what you see here, it's just on there to further line stuff up. Now that the wheel wells and cockpit internals have been figured out....it's time to start whittling on some formers to get a 3-D shape gong on.
 

Those center-lines get to be pretty critical eh? That's why I have all those red 'strategically placed lines' all over my plans. Ooooh, I can't wait to get started on getting those formers all lined up and eyeballed smooth. That's what this is all about.
 

Okay, back to reality. When I posted the pic of the slab-sided mock-up earlier, I was afraid that everybody would assume that I was just going to cover some basic shapes with styrene and call it good. No way man. This model will have at least 50 bulkheads, all different. (not counting the 15 or so that go across the mid-fuse area that are basically identical.) That's why it took me so long to line everything up in the beginning. I've only got about 1-2mm of 'squiggle room' in the entire planform of this entire aircraft.
Here's an example of why the datum-lines and geometry are so critical. My 'gatorboard' is right at 5mm thick, and the wing is not much more than that.(about 7mm?) A TON has to line up correctly, from the leading edges of the wings to the fuse chines....to the incidence on the wing versus the angle-of-attack on the engine nacelles. That's the entire reason I'm building this thing....the challenge and fun of pulling it off. Here's an example of some of the tolerances I'll be dealing with just on the wing. Even though what I have now is just a slab,....it's going to be COVERED with varying sized formers to get the right 'swoop' and look. Hey, I got a lot of people looking over my shoulder on this one and I want to get it right. If somebody like 'Scotsman' (who knows probably every line on this plane) looks at this and says, "yeah, alright spuds"....I'll be one happy little knucklhead.
Here's some pics of what will be on top of this slab-like wing before it's all over with, and how tight it's going to be.
 

Forgive me for showing yet another view. I like pilots. I'm planning on having the infamous orange pressure suits on these guys.(after I work on them...a lot.)
 

I'm a 'pilot-freak', so I just HAD to put them in place for a gander. Good enough for basics right now.
 

Now, most of that nose is going to be cut away because of the cockpit cavity that I'm going to be grinding into it. I just left it on there for now to help with the visualization thing whilst I show ya'll pics of this in progress. As can be seen, thee won't be much left. I'm waiting until I start putting bulkheads 'n stuff on it before I start the 'destruction-before-construction' phase.
Because I'm still at the 'basics' right now.....I gotta have a shape to work with for a cockpit in the future. Another cut-out from some interior plans to the rescue! See those plans under the fuse? That's what I enlarged to get what I'm using as patterns here! heh heh. Also got my 'lumps-that-are-passing for-pilots-for-now' out to see how they stack up. Sweetness!, They're basically the correct scale. whew!
 
 

Here's what I got;
 
 

Okay, now time to waddle on over to the nose gear well. Here's some plans cut out of another profile and set on top of my 'basic-overview' plans. (that have all my 'strategic markings' all over them.....yeah, right. ) This is what I need.
 

Hah hah! Yes indeed Loic, that's what them things are for! Glad you stopped in to say howdy pardner....always a pleasure to hear from ya. This ones for you dude!
 
Day 2; So it begins. Yep, it's going to be a long 2 weeks Derek. heh heh.
 
 

Okay, enough playing with paper! Because I'm a lazy sack of potatoes, I decided not to do any tracing onto my 'gatorboard'.....but just tape it in place and start whacking. I like that. Now these 2 pieces won't be doing anything but giving me a 'cruciform' foundation to glop, er....I mean apply my formers to. Oh yeah, I'll be cutting out the wheel-well bays while I'm at it.
Actually already have these cut out,....and the operation went just fine. I'm such a happy toad! I'm going to leave things here for tonight , and post more progress pics tomorrow. This is enough stuff to show for my first official day of this build. Time to line up at the trough and eat, so I gotta split. See ya'll tomorrow! Later, Russ