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So I see a few of the ongoing B-17 build threads are getting bumped back into the forums, which is a good thing, but it's finally given me the incentive to "get my B-17 on!" There's some very talented people some some great work on these awesome kits and it does seem they have to potential to overwhelm you very easily if you aren't careful. So clearly I'm not, so here's the plan. Take one HK B-17G and with some fairly major surgery, attempt to turn it into something resembling a D. Yes, I know a lot of you right now are questioning my sanity in wanting to cut up a fairly expensive kit with little to no guarantee of success, but isn't that what modelling's all about? The way I look at it is this. HK did an exceptional job in making the dream a reality, but I for one have always been bothered about the shape of the fuselage, especially around the nose. I know this has been talked about practically to death and a few people have got pretty wound up over the topic. I'm not a rivet counter, so to me if it looks right, then it is. I'm doing this purely for my own enjoyment and to see if it can actually be done, as to my knowledge no one else has tried this, and I very much doubt HK is going to bring out a shark tail anytime soon! I also thought that with the other builds being G's and maybe one or two F's getting a run when they finally come on the scene, it would be nice to see something a bit different. This will certainly be the ultimate test of my not very considerable modelling skills at the moment. So here's the plan: I have the Koster 1/48 conversion, which I think together with the old monogram G, is definitely the closest thing to capturing the true lines of the fort so that's what I'm basing my conversion on. Using his instructions on what bits to remove where, I'm pretty much doing the same thing, just upscaling to 1/32. At the end of the day, I will still have to scratch build the entire rear fuselage and for the most part the nose, not only to get the right contours but also due to it being shorter. Because I don't understand CAD, here's the grand plan on paper...... Yep, pretty inspiring isn't it! Actually, despite how it looks, I'm pretty happy with the outline I've come up with, referencing it back to the monogram offering, and this is where most of my dimensions will come from. It may not be accurate, but as I said, at least it SHOULD look like a D! The other thing I had to start doing, to get a clearer picture of the difference in dimensions, was to start cutting some of the plastic (gulp). I'm sure most of you are aware of the size, but in case you aren't, check this out... Yep, she's a big girl! The first cut was to separate the upper turtle deck into left and right halves, so they could be attached to the rest of the fuselage so I had a proper indication of the overall height. Then, as alluded to in Koster's drawings, as the nose is some 14.3mm shorter than the G, so too the cockpit will have to allow for this (and due to the extra glazing and seats) so I separated it before it changed cross section. With the remainder of the turtle deck glued on, I now put on marks where I was going to cut the forward and rear fuselage. The centre section thankfully remained pretty much unchanged in terms of shape and the wings are the same too (otherwise it definitely would've been in the "too hard" basket!). From here it'll be a case of remove the extra, then construct solid patterns of the fuselage to vacuum form over the top of. As with all the other B-17 builds, this will be slow, but the first cut has been done so I'm well on my way. I hope you'll join me on this journey Thanks for looking, Craig P.S. Sorry about the pics, I thought photo bucket had rotated them for me.... I'll do better next time

Next project is a Tigger vacuform F11F Tiger built as a Blue Angels airplane. For this WIP I'll start with some basic vacuform techniques. Later I'll get into the 3D printed parts, then finally the painting. OK, first the obligatory "start of project" shot: All I've done so far is cut out the wheel wells. I made a template based on the drawings and photo references, then traced around the template with pencil and extra-fine tip marker. I cut out the wells using a Trumpeter scribing tool and lengths of Dymo labeling tape. This preserves the door and gives me the option of using that part later if I decide I don't want to print one instead. Later I'll have to cut out the openings for the cockpit, intakes, cannons and exhaust. I might cut out the NACA scoops as well, as I did with the Honey Badger project. Before I get too far here's my setup for removing the parts from their sheets. I've clamped a piece of MDF board (a thick one so it's nice and flat) to my bench. I duct-taped a sheet of 220 grit sand paper to the board. First step is to draw around the parts with a black marker. I use a Sharpie fine point marker. Second step is to cut around each part. I use a box cutter with a sharp new blade. Be careful here! Leave about a 1/4 inch brim around each part. For most parts it helps to make a handle out of duct tape. For the fuselage I made two handles since it's a long part. This just helps prevent sanding off the ends of your fingers. A close-up of the part ready to be sanded: NOTE: The part has to be extricated in this tedious way. DO NOT try to cut the part out instead. If you do it'll be the wrong size and won't fit right. Sand the part down. Circular motions are best. After a while you'll start seeing the black ink showing through the UNDERSIDE of the brim. Use this as a gauge to ensure you're sanding the part down evenly. Periodically check the underside of the brim, and if you see some of it is whiter than the rest then that means you need to press harder there. Eventually the brim will get very thin and will either fall off or can be easily peeled off. Thick objects, like fuselages, come out pretty straight, right-sized, and ready for action. Some thin parts, like fighter jet wings and tails, can be too thick for scale. In that case you'll either need to shape it with more sanding or 3D print a replacement. In this case the vertical tail looks usable (I'll 3D print a new rudder for it), but the horizontal tails will be easier to 3D print. This airplane has very thin wings, and I have't decided yet if I'll be using the vac parts or printing my own. One thing to consider here is that the parts printed on a resin printer will be heavier than the plastic parts. The weight will add up and eventually you'll have to worry about the strength of the landing gear which will also be printed. -- Dave

I've thought about doing an OV-10BZ for some time, but have been busy with other projects. Today I thought I'd dive in and 3D print a prototype jet engine pod for the ICM 1/48 OV-10A kit, with an eye towards making all the conversion parts needed for the OV-10BZ. First print looks promising. I'll make some adjustments when I get some free time.

Hello there. Maybe you know this phenomenon. I have several more or less unfinished models lying around. And then, something completely new comes to mind. Some months ago, I was thrilled by the idea of a 1/32 Marauder, and despite my other builds, I started to work on a 3d-model. I already printed some major parts. I now have some days of leave of absence, and hope to make some progress (as well with my other unfinished projects). But who knows when I get distracted with something completely new again Propellers and engines are lent from a free 3d-model for visual demonstration only. Here is a picture of an early stage, where you can see how the wings are made of several segments: The main fuselage is divided into three sections due to the maximum build-volume of my 3d-printer (about 20 cm). The left and right halves are 0,5 mm apart, with a recessed line in the middle. The three sections are first glued together. This approach helps to keep alignment. Otherwise, gluing six separately printed fuselage parts together while keeping alignment would be a nightmare. On the fuselage, I already scribed the panel-lines, with the drawing in the Warpaint book as a reference. The fuselage is now more or less ready to be sawed apart into left and right halves to get access into the interior. The most important "tool" when doing this kind of modelling: Cheers Alex

A couple years ago I spotted this airplane at the Nellis AFB airshow. Obviously someone has to build one! It's an L-159 operated by Draken International. Draken calls it the Honey Badger. Tigger has a vacuform model of an L-39 in 1/32 scale, and that's close enough to a Honey Badger to be the basis for a conversion. This is my first vacuform build, so it's going to be a wild ride. The Tigger L-39 parts: Not shown here are the two copies of the canopy. The barrel looking bit at bottom right is both left and right engine inlets. The fuselage almost ready to glue together: I applied some bondo to the rudder to thicken that part up. When I sand the rudder down to give it a sharp trailing edge I want to have some material there to keep from making a hole. I'm not going to build inlet ducting, but I did add a thin inner wall that will simulate the ducting. I also (later) painted the inside of the fuselage black from there back to keep inquisitive eyes from seeing what's not there. I added a cradle to hold up the front end of the tailpipe which will be made from 3/4 inch thin plastic tube. Also added are tabs on both halves of the fuselage for gluing. I've already cut the nose off in preparation for measuring the section shape so I can 3D print a new nose. Fuselage halves joined today. I've printed up two fuel tanks, two pylons for the right wing, and an ejection seat. I plan on loading the airplane with two fuel tanks, an AIM-9M and a TCTS pod, so the outermost pylons won't be needed. I don't plan on making a centerline pylon either. There is still a lot of designing and printing to do: landing gear, nose, tip tanks, and cockpit bits. Fortunately the printed parts sit ahead of the CG, so the heavy resin parts will help keep the nose down. I already made one mistake today. I painted the seat beige as was shown in the one photo I've found of the whole seat. I think the Draken airplanes have grey seats. And speaking of the seat, does anyone know who makes the seat and whether there are any aftermarket seat belts that would fit it? Shown are the colors I'm planning to use, Vallejo 71.074 Beige, 71.125 USAF Brown, 71.056 Panzer Dk. Grey. The decals are going to be a challenge

Hello all, I always start my next build before I wrap up whatever the current build is. So I have begun cutting plastic on my new WIP. There are at least 3 build logs that I have read on how to produce an F-16XL in 1:32 scale. Mine will be a little different. My build will combine the Kangman XL boondoggle and the old Minicraft F-16. The Kangman kit will not allow you to produce an XL that is anywhere near accurate, The Kangman kit takes a standard F-16 kit and crams on some wrong, wrong, wrong squashed wings. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. This kit is just wrong and should never be purchased. It is a poor copy of the Minicraft kit, and poorly molded at that. However...............By using both kit fuselages and cutting them up in such a way as to extend the fuselage to the correct length I hope to be able to produce an acceptable fuselage onto which I will add 3d printed wings. Yes I am doing this to myself again. But I have wanted a Large scale XL for years, so off I go. The actual F-16XL's had 2 fuselage plugs, one behind the main landing gear well and one in front of the gun bay. I enlarged some 3 view plans and have cut plastic. Here is the Kangman kit with the extended fuselage. Instead of 2 separate cuts I have decided to add all of the necessary extension in one gulp on the top of the fuselage. This may or may not be the best way to go but, oh well. The 2 lines of putty demark the extension. When the fuselage was extended it changed the relative postions of several components, of course it did. So I will be re-positioning the gun bay. It will need to be moved aft, see the black line. The bottom fuselage will be where the most work will need to be done to accommodate the stretched fuselage. Yes, it is a mess. And a little work on the Minicraft cockpit. Working on the intake. Thanks for looking. Dan

After starting to learn how to use CAD the hard way, I figured I’d try a new project. The Bushmaster is a mine protected vehicle designed & built in Australia, and has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Mali (Dutch service), & Lebanon (Fijian service). Over thirty have been destroyed whilst deployed, with no fatalities recorded. After some mucking around with the CAD, this is what I came up with. Due to the size of the printer bed, I had to slice up the model into workable pieces, such as this. After a little of bit of time, clean up, & assembly, I was left with this: A little later: Lots of work still to do.

Good evening all, Time to start a new WIP, and to (at last) live by my chosen monicker and deal with a ... racer ! The Travel Air Mystery Ship created created quite a stir when it was unveiled in 1929. Developed in great secret with the support of the CEO of Travel air Walter Beech, it was built to win the National Air Races, which up to then had been dominated by the fast Army and Navy Curtiss thoroughbreds.` It featured two characteristics that were to mark durably the design of racers and, beyond that, that of American fighters : a big powerful radial engine (the Wright J6-9 Whirlwind) and the then newly developed NACA cowling, which had demonstrated its tremendous aerodynamic benefits. The Travel Air type R, dubbed "Mystery Ship" by the Press wondering what was being secretly "cooked" behind veils by the firm, sporting a gleaming beautiful red color with black scalops edged by a green trim line, went on to win the 1929 Thompson trophy, at an average speed above 200 Mph. I have always loved the stubby little racer, and always wondered why Williams Bros had never released an IM kit of it. I was tempted to scratchbuild one in 1/32, but was held up by the color scheme: not sure if I could manage the green trim line along the black scalops. Needless to say I was overjoyed when I learnt that Lone Star Models had planned one in 1/32 resin. The waiting lasted somewhat, as the kit was announced in 2013, to be released for the Nats in 2014, when it was not really ready, Mike West, LSM's owner, struggling with the decals apparently. I placed my order as soon as it was available, in October 2014, together with the then forthcoming Bugatti racer. LSM is a one-man operation, typical old style "cottage industry", and my order lingered on for some time - but no worry. I was regularly in touch with Mike, and given my kit ouput and the size of my stash, I could wait and knew it would come. The box finally arrived this week. And, pronto, rather than store in the stash, I have decided to tackle it immediately. This fist post will constitute a review of what you get. The review The kit is a fairly simple one : two fuselage halves, two plain wings, two stabilators, a one-pîece fin and rudder, two plain wheel spats and wheels, a two-part cowling, 4 parts for the cockpit (floor, dashboard, seat and rear bulkhead), 11 parts for the engine (crankcase, and 10 - one extra - cylinder) a vac-form windshield, a propeller, and 7 white metal parts, 6 for the landing gear structure and one for the tail skid. The instructions mention a piece of Plastruct streamlined rod to cut the 4 wing to fuselage struts. Mine did not have any, but this is a porduct I have plenty of in my set of modeling aids. So no problem here, for me at least. Add to that 6 pages of instructions and pictures, and a magnificent decal sheet, incorporating all the black scalops, with the green trim line. This decal sheet is the highlight of the kit, and alone justifies buying it IMHO. Btw, I had a double decal sheet in my box. I think it's not wanted, but it means I can make mistakes with little consequences . The resin is typical LSM beige, bubble-free, with little flash and significant pour stubs. The surface detail is restraint and rather fine. The Mystery ship was a very smooth airframe, the wings and fuselage being plywood-covered, with just the cowling, psts, and fuselage from the engine mount to the instrumenrt panle metal covered. The kit should present no problem reproducing this smooth glinting surface. The fin and stabilators display a nice rendering of the fabric-covered surfaces The shape appears good overall, with some caveats described below. The dimensions are good, without any impact of potential resin shrinkage. the wingspan is spot-on for the "long" wing which was brought the wingspan to 29'2", i.e. 27.8 cms. The Travel Air in the 1929 Thompson had a short wing (27'8") which should not be a problem to carve out of the one-piece outer wings. The adjustments of the two fuselage halves are OK, and again, whilst not up to the latest Sliver Wings or Fisher products are a fair effort. TBC next post ...

Well i figured i better jump in here, I assume this is the right place to post, it's not an airplane but it is large! I thought i would post some pic's of my 3D Printed V-1. About 90% is printed and the other 10% is by hand, She measure's a tic over 21". I generally don't Doc my build since most are for private request(I need there permission), But i guess i could start doing it for my personal builds. Any questions feel free to ask!

Ok, soooooo.... I have recently started working with a digital sculptor, and the test figure below shows the digital artwork, the raw 3d test print (minus supports), and a quickly painted 'finished' figure. It represents a typical 18th -19th century ordinary seaman, done in 28mm size. This was done on a desktop DLP/SLA type 3d printer. A successful test, and the shape of things to come...! -Joe