Tigger L-39 Conversion

[daveculp]

The acrylic rods arrived in the mail.  I now have enough 3/16 inch rod to build several hundred Honey Badgers.

 

 

 

 

After a couple hours of sanding I took a break and did some coloring instead:

 

 

 

 

Draken also uses a similar scheme to this one except with white/gray/black colors.  The pattern is the same.  I was fortunate to find enough photos on the internet to map out the pattern.

 

 

The flap/aileron piece needs to be scribed to mark out the edges of the flaps and ailerons.  Then the small area between the flaps and ailerons, and the small area at the outboard end of the aileron, need to have the gaps filled.  I also filled the gap at the leading edge of the ailerons with thin CA to keep any light from shining through.

 

 

 

 

[Citadelgrad]

Coming along nicely.  You probably already thought of this, but could you chuck that rod in a drill and sort of use it like a lathe?

[daveculp]

8 hours ago, Citadelgrad said:

Coming along nicely.  You probably already thought of this, but could you chuck that rod in a drill and sort of use it like a lathe?

 

I hadn't thought of that.  My plan was to glue first, then shape.  I suppose I could have done most of the shaping first, then glued it on for final shaping.  This is my first time shaping clear acrylic and I was worried that mechanized shaping could melt the material.  I don't know if this fear is warranted, but it caused me to do the shaping with a sanding stick using single direction strokes, as with a metal file.  This is why it took so long.

 

One other problem ( a real one) I ran into was knocking the piece off while sanding.  The rod is glued on with a simple butt joint, so there is no mechanical help holding it in place.  I also learned that the CA needs to cure for a full day to reach adequate strength.

[daveculp]

The tip tanks have been installed.  When I cut the original tip tanks off I got the angle wrong, so both wing tips angled inward a bit (i.e. toe-in, to use an automotive term).  Since the 3D-printed trailing edges were already installed the only way to get the proper toe-in for the tip tanks was to shim the leading edge out a bit.  The tanks are now aligned properly with the fuselage.  It's not a big deal, but I could have saved myself some trouble by waiting until the wing assembly was glued together before cutting off the original tip tanks.

 

One detail I discovered about the L-159 while looking at photos is that the tip tanks are not centered on the wing tips in the vertical direction.  They are mounted slightly below the centerline of the wing.

 

 

[Out2gtcha]

Looks good in primer! (or partial primer)

[daveculp]

I've got the first color laid down and clear coated.  This is the Mission Models MMP-010 Gelbbraun.  I had added a few drops of Vallejo colors to the bottle, but in retrospect it didn't change the appearance of the color so might as well shoot the Gelbbraun as is.

 

 

 

 

For the clear coat I used Vallejo Gloss Varnish cut with some Tamiya X-20A.  I'm still experimenting with acrylic paints and varnishes, and airbrushing in general.  This might take a few days to cure.  The entire painting process might take a month.

 

[daveculp]

While the paint is curing I started working on the landing gear.  First the main wheels and tires.  I designed the wheels and tires to be separate parts because I really dislike the process of painted them when they're a single part.  They turned out fine except for my math error that made them 50% too big      Fortunately the fix is a simple re-scale.  Does anyone need Honey Badger wheels in 1/21.33 scale?

 

 

[Out2gtcha]

They look good for sure.  3D printing is the future without a doubt. 

[daveculp]

2 hours ago, Out2gtcha said:

They look good for sure.  3D printing is the future without a doubt. 

 

 

I find it an especially good fit with vacuform modeling.  I've already ordered a couple more kits from Tigger, the F11F and the E-2C, both in 1/32 scale.  I think I may have found my niche.

 

Some of the part designs, like the wheels I just designed for instance, can be used on anyone's vac L-39/L-159 project.  Some of the parts, like the control surfaces, are a custom fit since nobody will cut out the vac wings/tails in exactly the same way.  In fact I couldn't even cut the top and bottom surfaces of the same wing to the same dimensions.

 

[daveculp]

Landing gear are done.  All printed from resin.

 

 

 

 

Second color is applied.  I was hoping this part would be easy, but I've already had to do some touch-ups.  At least the colors aren't pulling off with the tape which was my fear.  The clear coat is doing it's job.

 

 

 

 

I'm going to try making a mask for the registration number on the side of the fuselage.  This will be my first time using the Silhouette machine.  I have some Oramask 813 for this, and I hope it won't pull up the paint.

 

Another photo of the real Honey Badger from the Nellis air show:

 

 

[allthumbs]

Looking great Dave. I love the 3D printed parts!

Rich

[daveculp]

My first attempts at making a mask on the Silhouette machine failed, so I went ahead and started applying the third color to the airplane.  This is the "almost black" color, and I'm using Vallejo Panzer Dark Grey for it.  So far it's been a chore with overspray, paint lifting, and brush touch-ups here and there.  Eventually it will get done no matter how many iterations I need.  After the gloss coat is well cured I'll apply the "almost black" color to the wings and tip tanks.

 

 

[Out2gtcha]

Camo looks great!

[themongoose]

13 hours ago, daveculp said:

My first attempts at making a mask on the Silhouette machine failed, so I went ahead and started applying the third color to the airplane.  This is the "almost black" color, and I'm using Vallejo Panzer Dark Grey for it.  So far it's been a chore with overspray, paint lifting, and brush touch-ups here and there.  Eventually it will get done no matter how many iterations I need.  After the gloss coat is well cured I'll apply the "almost black" color to the wings and tip tanks.

 

 

To try and avoid the lifting did you try applying the mask to your arm a few times to take a little of the tackiness away first? Oramask is a little stretchy so not sure how this approach would work out. Tamiya or Kabuki tape aren’t as stretchy as the vinyl masks.

[themongoose]

“My first attempts at making a mask on the Silhouette machine failed” $. Dave I’ve got a silhouette machine and do lots of masks. Can I help in some way? PM me if you want to touch base via phone. This is a cool project and I’ve got a vac to do myself in the near future. Chris