rtwpsom2 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 (edited) Hi guys, I've been working on a CAD model of the Merlin engine for a couple of years now. I haven't made a ton of progress until recently when I lost my job. But I have picked up the pace a little to both keep myself busy and put my work out there in case anyone who is in the market might see it and decide to hire me. Anyway, I am currently working on the upper crankcase, the engine block in layman's terms, which I started last December. I've probably put 4 weeks of dedicated work (if we were counting 8 hour days) into it. At least of week of that was just adding fillets. In CAD the parts are modeled with straight edges then rounded over at the end using the fillet command (pronounced fil it instead of fi lay). Here's a few of the latest images of the progress. Modeling and rendering are done in SolidWorks. Those two were done a week ago, I've since added in a ton of holes and changed things up a little so the new work would stand out going forward. The gray areas denote the original "casting" while the blue areas denote the "machining" features. I've still got a ways to go on it but I'll try to keep you guys up to date on it. Edited December 9, 2020 by rtwpsom2 Forgot to mention which CAD I'm using Fanes, Kobus, GMK and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Do it!, Bro. The Packard V-1650-7 Merlin is near and dear to my heart. I did a lot of studying to scratch-build engine parts to the Tamiya Mustang in my signature. Sincerely, Mark rtwpsom2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtwpsom2 Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 There is some desire to print some parts for modelers once I am done, but I think it will be a ways off before I am ready to do that. Landrotten Highlander and Rockie Yarwood 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockie Yarwood Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 Looks awesome! Will follow along with interest. Cheers, Rockie rtwpsom2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotsman Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 A beautiful piece of work , I used to support CAD users in the days of AutoCad in the 80s , so I have a idea of the level of workmanship evident here , best of luck job hunting! rtwpsom2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMK Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Wow! That is some amazing work you’ve done there! I’ve only being using CAD since March, so you’ve given me a level of skill to aim for. Thanks! rtwpsom2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtwpsom2 Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 WOOHOO!!!! The crankcase is done!!!! After about a billion holes and a lot of other machining the part is complete. I decided to do a couple of renders to celebrate. I also played around with the materials in a few renders, but here's what I settled on. I did a little work on the BOM as well, so it looks like next up I will be doing several of the main bearing cap studs. scvrobeson, Brett M, Trak-Tor and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodgem37 Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 Mit reflective presentation surface. Good show. Are you using Packard/Merlin blueprints as a build reference? If so, from where? Thank you. Sincerely, Mark rtwpsom2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtwpsom2 Posted December 14, 2020 Author Share Posted December 14, 2020 (edited) Yes, they are available on aircorpslibrary.com. On another note, since I'm posting, I might as well add that I've posted a new page to my blog just now. Oh yeah, I've also updated my grabcad page with the finished model of the crankcase casting. I've included an STL file this time because that format is more accessible to most non-cad users. Edited December 14, 2020 by rtwpsom2 Landrotten Highlander 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenshb Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 A lot of work to almost "reverse engineer" this, but as a design engineer and Solidworks user myself I find it quite interesting. rtwpsom2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee in Texas Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 If you use this to make a 3D print, sign me up for one...or more. One of these in a 1/18 P-51 would be awesome. A pair of them in a 1/8 tractor puller...wow. Old school power boat. The possibilities are mind boggling. rtwpsom2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted December 16, 2020 Share Posted December 16, 2020 That is truely incredible. I still don't get how to render things (I use Rhino BTW). I can appreciate the huge amount of work in those drawings. If you ever decided to do a griffon I'd love one as they're rather lacking in the 1/32 world! Craig rtwpsom2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aircommando130 Posted December 17, 2020 Share Posted December 17, 2020 3D print a Torque wrench to get the bolts right too! Awesome work! Cheers...Ron rtwpsom2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtwpsom2 Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 HEY STUDS!!! Landrotten Highlander 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtwpsom2 Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 Woohoo!!! I've finished the Crankcase assembly! You can read a little more about it on the blog and it's available for download on GrabCAD. dodgem37, Rockie Yarwood, Landrotten Highlander and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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