ES-3A Shadow - scratchprinted.

[Starfighter]

Yeah, I know. There are other projects to be finished first... but the urge to finally have an ES-3A in my collection was too big. I need to do more research to finish the Vigilante (don't have enough photos and/or drawings of the ejection seats), so I decided to start yet another new project. I did a lot of research for my scratchbuilt Viking a few years ago which came in handy this time. 

 

The beginning does not look very spectacular. We need a top view, a side view and some formers to stretch the surfaces into the desired shape.

 

 

 

The basic shape is almost complete. As you can see, quite a few sketches are needed to guide the surfaces between the formers in order to obtain the correct shape. 

 

 

The transition between fuselage and wings was an area which already caused me a massive headache building it the classic way, and doing it digitally was no different. It took many attempts and a lot of time to get this area more or less right. 

 

 

 

 

Once the general shape of the fuselage was done, I started adding surface detail. A very, very tedious process but it's the time a model comes alive.  

 

 

 

Looks bit like a Viking already, doesn't it?Stay tuned for more... 

 

[LSP_Kevin]

Fantastic stuff, Ben!

 

Kev

[Neo]

Nice, we really are missing the S-3 in 1/32 and 1/48(the ones that exist should not)

 

Going to get some popcorn 

[Markjames1968]

What cad program are you using?

[Thomas Lund]

Can you elaborate how you "add surface detail" - something that gives me a lot of trouble

 

[Thomas Lund]

Beautiful work BTW

[chaos07]

Outstanding, another masterpiece in the making!

 

[Dekon]

Bravo!

[scvrobeson]

Woohoo, another cool project to follow!  For the Viking neophytes, is the basic airframe the same between an S-3 and an ES-3?



Matt 

[Starfighter]

11 hours ago, Markjames1968 said:

What cad program are you using?

 

Fusion 360.

 

10 hours ago, Thomas Lund said:

Can you elaborate how you "add surface detail" - something that gives me a lot of trouble

 

 

Depends on what you would like to do - for groove lines, I first draw them onto a plane next to the model. Just lines, no need to add thickness. These lines are then projected onto the model. A plane is placed along the path (the projected line on the model) onto which I draw a rectangle with the desired width and depth (I use 0,15mm width and a depth of 0,3mm). This rectangle is then lofted along the projected lines, which then "carves" the groove lines into the surfaces. The same method can be used to do raised surface detail as well. 

 

3 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

Woohoo, another cool project to follow!  For the Viking neophytes, is the basic airframe the same between an S-3 and an ES-3?



Matt 

 

Yes, it is. The 16 ES-3As were converted from existing airframes. 

[Starfighter]

More surface detail. It feels like a never ending process - and it is still not finished.The cutouts for landing gear bays and weapons bays have been added as well. 

 

 

 

 

To become a Shadow, more lumps and bumps were needed. I have to revise the radomes again as the seem to be a bit too small in diameter. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Thomas Lund]

4 hours ago, Starfighter said:

Depends on what you would like to do - for groove lines, I first draw them onto a plane next to the model. Just lines, no need to add thickness. These lines are then projected onto the model. A plane is placed along the path (the projected line on the model) onto which I draw a rectangle with the desired width and depth (I use 0,15mm width and a depth of 0,3mm). This rectangle is then lofted along the projected lines, which then "carves" the groove lines into the surfaces. The same method can be used to do raised surface detail as well. 

 

 

OK I get that for panel lines and it's the step beyond what I've tried earlier so I'm confident I'll get there, but - sorry for being a PITA - rivets are what bugs me the most... how do you get a pattern with consistant pattern and depth ?

[Oldbaldguy]

I must apologize for being technology deprived, but all of this is way, way beyond me.  It seems to me that, to do this voodoo you do, you must have some basis as a starting point.  How do you find the points in computer space that allow you to begin to create an accurate model in 3D?  Do you start from accurate 2D drawings or some other image or do you just pull the thing out of your butt and manipulate it until it looks right to you?  I can draw an airplane on paper and make it look like whatever it is supposed to be, but the idea of coercing ones and zeros into an image then pushing a button and have it pop out of a toaster leaves me dumbfounded.  And the accuracy you guys are achieving increases exponentially every day!!  One last question:  We’ve watched you many times beat a traditional kit into submission with jaw dropping results. Is creating a model in this “new” way as much fun or as rewarding as more traditional modeling?

[HerculesPA_2]

Que trabalho lindo, meu amigo. 

Estou acompanhando atentamente daqui do Brasil.

Parabéns!!

 

Abraços

Hercules de Araujo

[Starfighter]

1 hour ago, Thomas Lund said:

 

OK I get that for panel lines and it's the step beyond what I've tried earlier so I'm confident I'll get there, but - sorry for being a PITA - rivets are what bugs me the most... how do you get a pattern with consistant pattern and depth ?

 

The rivet is projected onto the surface again. This circle is then used as a dividing tool - so you divide the surface in question with the circle that is to become the rivet. The surface of the rivet can then be pushed or pulled outwards or inwards. This rivet can then be duplicated along a path. I'm very sorry, but my interface is in German, so I don't know all the exact English names for the Fusion functions. 

 

18 minutes ago, Oldbaldguy said:

I must apologize for being technology deprived, but all of this is way, way beyond me.  It seems to me that, to do this voodoo you do, you must have some basis as a starting point.  How do you find the points in computer space that allow you to begin to create an accurate model in 3D?  Do you start from accurate 2D drawings or some other image or do you just pull the thing out of your butt and manipulate it until it looks right to you?  I can draw an airplane on paper and make it look like whatever it is supposed to be, but the idea of coercing ones and zeros into an image then pushing a button and have it pop out of a toaster leaves me dumbfounded.  And the accuracy you guys are achieving increases exponentially every day!!  One last question:  We’ve watched you many times beat a traditional kit into submission with jaw dropping results. Is creating a model in this “new” way as much fun or as rewarding as more traditional modeling?

 

You need accurate side, top bottom and front views. Plus, if possible, fuselage formers and wing profiles. However, some of this can be constructed from the existing views. At our university, this was called descriptive geometry. From this, you construct a kind of virtual wireframe model, over which virtual surfaces are "pulled". This basis in combination with a lot of photos and a sense of proportion hopefully leads to a formally coherent model. I want to build models that no one else or as few other modellers as possible have in their collection. CAD and 3D printing are simply tools for me to achieve this goal. Finishing a self-constructed model is just as satisfying for me as a scratch-built model and is actually always much more rewarding than building a kit. Which of course is still huge fun!