mgbooyv8 Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Hi Russ, And the voices said: "May the Force be with you" Go go go! So you finally gonna make the SR-71 from scratch. Awesome. You'll keep us all hooked to your thread! Cheers, Peter mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted August 21, 2009 Share Posted August 21, 2009 Awesome Russ! I'm really looking forward to follow this build! Cheers, Håkan mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mschoo Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 OK, this has just become the "Main Event"! I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing this in progress! mike (Oh, and if your "source" has good MiG 25-31 plans as well, drop me a line ) mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 OK, this has just become the "Main Event"! I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing this in progress!mike (Oh, and if your "source" has good MiG 25-31 plans as well, drop me a line ) Make that two please? Thanks Derek mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Egads!!!! I was actually expecting to be pelted by rocks and heckled/booed off the stage for even having the cheek to ATTEMPT this subject!! Thanks so much everybody for the vote of confidence,....very, very nice of ya'll. Guess I'll have to cross my eyes and dot my 'T's' (no wait a minute, that's not how it goes ) and get this 1/2-way right, eh?! As I've been reminded by PM, the words "The voices made me do it" were spoken by Joan 'D Arc (spelling?), and she was burned alive at the stake. gulp. (thanks Nick) heh heh. Not sure how to respond to all the kind comments, there are so many and I'd like to take the time to individually answer every one. My 'chicken-pecking' keyboard style would take all night though. Besides, ya'll don't want to hear me flap my gums, and bore you with all the drivel that I am capable of spewing.....you want to see how I'll bumble thru building a model of this hot-rod, eh? Okay, first I must admit that I haven't got a clue on how I'm going to do this. Never stopped me before anyway, as I'm going to make it up as I go along. That's 1/2 the FUN! Now the first impasse I ran into was in looking at the plans.(the first set ya'll saw cut out previously) Notice in those 'general 3-views' there is no way to see what the profile of the fuse is behind those engine nacelles? Or even at what angle or profile the wing is? That's where my other 2 sets of plans I got out of a reference book come in. Rule #1 for scratch-building; if you've got decent plans, you can build anything. Here's a pic. Profile on top is the original set of plans with bulkhead markings and thrust-line layed out. If you've got a crooked foundation, it'll be a crooked house....so it's important to get the basics tight. Also you can see I've sprayed adhesive onto my bulkhead profiles and stuck them onto some heavy cardboard. They're ready for cutting out, and the stiffer paper will make tracing these onto something else a snap. Center profile is another set of plans and bulkheads. I ALWAYS double-check plans against as many others as I can. Why? There is always a certain amount of 'artistic license' in ANY drawing. Pick the one that looks 'right' to you, and go with it. These match up OK (a miracle) so that was a relief and confidence builder. Center plans have the fuse profile I'm looking for that's blocked off in the first set of plans, and a 'double-darn-sure check' of the correct bulkhead profiles. Bottom set of plans is actually an A-12, but it has the wing profile and angle-of-attack that I need. A-12 is 4ft. shorter than an SR-71, and the extreme rear fuse doesn't stick out past the trailing edge of the wing.(so I can't just lay it over my upper plans to figure out where the wing actually goes) That's OK, I can still line up those main wheel-well housings and everythings golden. Here's a look over my shoulder as it were; check it out. mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Oooooh yes, I just DO happen to have some excellent Mig-25 AND 31 plans!! I'll PM ya'll when I get the chance; you don't want to distract me right now....I wander easily! Heey Derek! I've been meaning to tell you what you should do with your tube. I'd drill 8 holes in it, with a slit for a mouthpiece, and make a bass flute outta it. OR, this SR-71 has a diameter of just at 50mm(a wee bit too small to use it for a structural part of the fuse. ( I had to check it out.) Keep in touch buddy, I'll be "Dereking the hell" out f this before it's all over. But I digress. (see, I told you?) OK, where was I? Ah, the fuse. Here's a different view of the plans so ya'll can see the AOA of the wing in the bottom profile. LOTS of little subtle angles and such on this AC, which is 1/2 the coolness to me and why I want to build it. (and just to spite Derek, cuz he said the XB-70 would be easier....and he's right. ) I know this is probably boring everybody to tears, but the first cuts are crucial to having everything line up. I want all my wheels to sit flat on the ground. Having a blended fuse/wing AC is deceptively difficult to get right. Those engine nacelles will be pointing slightly in and down also, so it's imperative to line everything up at the beginning. An SR-71 is all about those sensuous lines. This is where I left off last night, with 3 sets of plans to give me all the info I need to get the wing on right. I'll post some more pics later on tonight after I actually start 'cutting metal' on this critter. Should get a fair amount done in the next few days because it's the WEEKEND! Hurray! Another view; mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vvwse4 Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Yeah another trip thrue Russville. Like that a lot. Wonder if you will let it leak fuel when it is on the ground............... Go buddy go!! Rick. mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Hey dude, "Doc Psycho" just called: he wants you back to hospital right now! Wow, this is one hell of a project my dear friend! Can not wait to see you progress through this very ambitious project and as the other chaps said, if someone can do it, it has to be you. GO dude, GO!!! Cheers, Loic mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Whaaaaahaaah!, Well heeeey there Monsieur Loic!!!! Where the heck you been hiding yourself dude?! I've been missing your 'crazy loco chicken' avatar for too long now. VERY glad to see you back. Hey buddy, I'm surprised YOU didn't beat me to building one of these contraptions. From the man who makes Tempests out of Spitfires, and Kates out of Zeros, heck,.....you could probably make one of these Blackbirds out of a Mirage III standing on your tippy-toes and whistling the French national anthem?! Bwhahahaha! Rick, the only thing leaking on this build so far, is the drool I've been slathering trying to figure out how to actually do it! Been cracking my knuckles and slapping myself on the noggin trying to figure out how they got eyes into this stump I call a head. But I digress once again; Rule #2 for scratch-building, make sure you have more than one set of plans. Why? Because you're going to chop up at least 2 sets just making patterns.(unless you're an omnipotent builder like Loic, who just sticks out his thumb and eyeballs everything to exactness. ) I made up 3 sets of everything I got,...and I might only just squeek by. Okay. Got all my formers for the fuse cut out, and just had to stack them to make double-darn-sure they were going to line up. Check it out; ooooh, can you smell what Russ is cooking? mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Check out those angles on the engine nacelles. Cool huh? Can't wait to see how I'm going to pull that off. Heh heh, meh...I guess if I put enough putty on it, it'll eventually sand to shape. Here's what I was talking about the engine nacelles blocking my fuse profile. Snip snip. All better now. mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 Without getting the plethora of reasons I did this, here it what my wing 'blank' is going to look like. This will slide into the fuse profile slot that I'll be making, giving me the correct wing incidence to the thrust line. In theory. Whoohoo! I had to do a lot of visualizing in 3-D to come to this conclusion. That hurt. mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 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 mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Hey buddy, "Where the heck you been hiding yourself dude?! " I was not really hidden my friend. I have been caught into a premium project led by my boss and called "let see if Loic can handle 2 jobs in parallele".... Sooooo I spent most of the time in my office trying to do a 2 men job on my own. In some way, I have been promoted but that kills most of my free time " I've been missing your 'crazy loco chicken' avatar for too long now. " Hey, I like this avatar too " VERY glad to see you back " Me too but my vacations end up tomorrow so... will see what happen next plus. This said, I have comitted to build a Me109 within the birthday GB... " Hey buddy, I'm surprised YOU didn't beat me to building one of these contraptions. From the man who makes Tempests out of Spitfires, and Kates out of Zeros, heck,.....you could probably make one of these Blackbirds out of a Mirage III standing on your tippy-toes and whistling the French national anthem?! Bwhahahaha! " I would have love to beat you on that one but I think this can only be a Russ project " unless you're an omnipotent builder like Loic, who just sticks out his thumb and eyeballs everything to exactness. " Isn't this what micrometric thumbs are ment for? Cheers, loic mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruzlkampf Posted August 22, 2009 Author Share Posted August 22, 2009 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. mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 Looking awesome dude! 'Geometry' is definately the key word with this build. Even though the fuselage is area ruled, that will give you relatively little few problems compared to the wings and engines themselves. The SR-71 Black Bird is an incredibly complex shaped aeroplane (as is the Northrop B.2). I expect that you will probably find - like the Spitfire - that its chord will change continually from root to tip (I would not be in the least suprised to if you were to find that the the engine thrust line is at a completely different angle of incidence to that the wing root in every-which way! (other than the very obvious negative angle to the horizontal fuselage datum) - it shall be very interesting to see how you handle the very distinctive wing tip wash-out ). Once you overcome those major hurdles, you then have the surface finish to consider - the fuselage may be flush riveted and smooth, but the wing surfaces exhibit corrugated panels. I am about to order my extra-large family sized bucket of popcorn for this build (give me a shout if you need any help or advice buddy). Cheers Derek mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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