AAV Drop Ship

SmilingOtter · May 1, 2019

Beautiful pictures.

This was at last year's Young Astronaut Day at our nearby Air Force museum. They invited the 501st Legion to participate. The Rebels never would have won if the Empire had Warthogs.

CyberGolem · May 1, 2019

Great thread and I can't wait to see the final reveal on this dropship Yuumi-san. You're combining many of my favorite subjects, so I have mixed emotions of delight, inspiration —and admittedly—some envy. Mostly because your skill level is off the hook. It's not even finished and this is already amazing to see. I'm sure this will be an amazing piece once finished.

By the way, my son is an Egress Specialist in the US Air Force. He's trained to maintain the the U2, F-16 and the A-10. I'll pass along your (as well as this groups') enthusiasm about the Warthog. What I find most incredible about his job is that these were planes I grew up loving as a kid, and I'm no spring chicken. If you would've asked me 35 years ago if anyone today would even know what these were, I'd emphatically would've said "no". But here they are, and all three still in active service. Then for lunch, I'd get into my flying car and head to Seoul, Korea from LA for some authentic kalbi. Funny how some things change and others don't. Anyway, I'm mostly happy that the art of modelling is still alive and well. If anything, it's even stronger than when I was a kid.

yuumi2891103 · May 1, 2019

SmilingOtter said:
Beautiful pictures.

This was at last year's Young Astronaut Day at our nearby Air Force museum. They invited the 501st Legion to participate. The Rebels never would have won if the Empire had Warthogs.

View attachment 1014992

Wow, it's so cool. And I envy you. You have many AFB and Air Force/Aircraft museum there.
Hey Tom-san, check that rivets, panel line and winkled panels! it's so realistic!....... of course it's realistic...

CyberGolem said:
Great thread and I can't wait to see the final reveal on this dropship Yuumi-san. You're combining many of my favorite subjects, so I have mixed emotions of delight, inspiration —and admittedly—some envy. Mostly because your skill level is off the hook. It's not even finished and this is already amazing to see. I'm sure this will be an amazing piece once finished.

By the way, my son is an Egress Specialist in the US Air Force. He's trained to maintain the the U2, F-16 and the A-10. I'll pass along your (as well as this groups') enthusiasm about the Warthog. What I find most incredible about his job is that these were planes I grew up loving as a kid, and I'm no spring chicken. If you would've asked me 35 years ago if anyone today would even know what these were, I'd emphatically would've said "no". But here they are, and all three still in active service. Then for lunch, I'd get into my flying car and head to Seoul, Korea from LA for some authentic kalbi. Funny how some things change and others don't. Anyway, I'm mostly happy that the art of modelling is still alive and well. If anything, it's even stronger than when I was a kid.

CyberGolem-san,

Thank you very much for kind comment. And I really envy your proud son. That kind of job is my dream.
I was so disappointed when the SR-71 has been retired. That is still the state of art. I still can't make me understand that super craft had developed for more than 50 years ago. Recently I heard that the USAF will have a upgraded F-15X in their arsenal. U-2, F-16, F-18, F-15. A-10 and AH-64, you even have a B-52 BAFF and C-130 Hercy bird. And I'm not gonna be surprised if I see them in action 25 years later. They are the superv.
...... wait a minute, I might have to see them from 'that world'.

Analyzer · May 1, 2019

They try to retire the A-10s lots of times, but they keep proving their usefulness. Not too long ago they extended their life again buy passing approval to fit the fleet with new wings instead of retiring them

One of my favorite things to watch at the demonstration they used to do was the combined forces exercise. Sure they used cheesy ground pyrotechnics, but it was neat watching them line up the run, fire off the front gun (blanks of course), then peel off. Then the F-18 would come screaming in for a bombing/missile strike run

I got some pics of one of those demos at the last few airshows they had before closing the base

They also had a Harrier (AVB8?) I guess that your drop-ship would probably be above maneuver in much the same way

and a flyover by this guy

And speaking of transports, they had one of these you could walk through. I think the third pic has some great examples of weathering for an aircraft

SmilingOtter · May 2, 2019

yuumi2891103 said:
I was so disappointed when the SR-71 has been retired. That is still the state of art. I still can't make me understand that super craft had developed for more than 50 years ago. Recently I heard that the USAF will have a upgraded F-15X in their arsenal. U-2, F-16, F-18, F-15. A-10 and AH-64, you even have a B-52 BAFF and C-130 Hercy bird. And I'm not gonna be surprised if I see them in action 25 years later. They are the superv.
...... wait a minute, I might have to see them from 'that world'.

I for one would love to see your versions of those planes - your H&K fighter was fantastic.

yuumi2891103 · May 2, 2019

Analyzer said:
They try to retire the A-10s lots of times, but they keep proving their usefulness. Not too long ago they extended their life again buy passing approval to fit the fleet with new wings instead of retiring them

One of my favorite things to watch at the demonstration they used to do was the combined forces exercise. Sure they used cheesy ground pyrotechnics, but it was neat watching them line up the run, fire off the front gun (blanks of course), then peel off. Then the F-18 would come screaming in for a bombing/missile strike run

I got some pics of one of those demos at the last few airshows they had before closing the base

View attachment 1015295 View attachment 1015283 View attachment 1015284 View attachment 1015285
View attachment 1015288 View attachment 1015294
They also had a Harrier (AVB8?) I guess that your drop-ship would probably be above maneuver in much the same way
View attachment 1015286
and a flyover by this guy
View attachment 1015291 View attachment 1015292

And speaking of transports, they had one of these you could walk through. I think the third pic has some great examples of weathering for an aircraft
View attachment 1015296 View attachment 1015297 View attachment 1015298

Very exciting moment you got. Not so often but I had seen a few air show here in Japan. US Naval base and US Air Force base near by.
When I saw the real A-10, The big gen on the nose is very impressive. I've never imagined before I actually see it.
I'm always so happy if I can hear the sound of high speed pass with full afterburner. As you say, it's the sound of freedom. A few years ago, I've seen a Glove Mater 2 flown from Hawaii at USAF Airbase in Yokota, Japan. I was surplised that ship was happened to be a same one appeared in a movie we've seen 'Aloha'、That was a comedy movie with Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone.

SmilingOtter said:
I for one would love to see your versions of those planes - your H&K fighter was fantastic.

Thank you, Tom-san !

Katsu

yuumi2891103 · May 4, 2019

Here is a few pics of progress.
I'm working on a engine nacelle and I don't know how to say but something like rectifying vanes before the turbine fan blades.

The pic below is showing the making of engine nacelle.
I was gonna use vacuum forming to make housings.
But I found the good looking plastic dish of plant pot at a garden things section in a DIY store.
I've cut out the 5 inches diameter circle.
Also attached 0.5 mm aluminum sheet for inside wall. And glued pair of dishes.

And making vanes.

Almost there.

I will build totally 8 rectifying vanes assemblies.
And a pair of vane assembly will sandwich the main turbine blade.

Thanks for looking,

katsu.

Belugawrx · May 4, 2019

.... ya kno,... this kinda scratch building , always leads me to believe,.. that I am in the right place...
to learn...

yuumi2891103 · May 4, 2019

Thanks!

Analyzer · May 6, 2019

Wow! Looks great!

Is that a motor in there? Are the turbines actually going to be motorized?

SmilingOtter · May 6, 2019

If I was going to make an engine assembly like that, I don't know how I would have attached the vanes to the hub, but I can promise you it wouldn't have been nearly as creative or elegant as the way you did it. The "T" shapes and slots are a beautiful idea.

yuumi2891103 · May 6, 2019

Analyzer said:
Wow! Looks great!

Is that a motor in there? Are the turbines actually going to be motorized?

Thank you for looking, Analyzer-san.
Yes, I'm try to rotate those 4 turbine blades with a small motor.
I bought a boxfull of motor for about 10 dollar.

This motor fits the inner diameter of the engine nacelle tube.

I remember when I was a kid. Every kit model of tanks, sports cars and subs used had these small motor inside the box. ' Battery not included'

I started to build the kit model at age 5. Of course, my father used to build for me. I was on his knees and looking him build. When it's finished- that was a US Nuclear sub Nautilus. He told me, 'You can't play with this until the glue would dried.'　Of course, quickly I took it to the public bath near by and dip it into the hot water. It was instantly disintegrated and I cried. Very later on, I knew that was a very first plastic model manufactured in japan.

SmilingOtter said:
If I was going to make an engine assembly like that, I don't know how I would have attached the vanes to the hub, but I can promise you it wouldn't have been nearly as creative or elegant as the way you did it. The "T" shapes and slots are a beautiful idea.

Thank you very much, Tom-san.
I had been thinking the way to build those vanes. I took this way because it may has a tolerance to adjust when I set them to the nacelles and fix it.
As you understand, there's always a big difference in between drawing a plans and make it with a real materials.

As you see the second one (brown one) is a bit better than the first white one.

Thanks for looking,

katsu

korben44 · May 7, 2019

Beautiful work and amazing ingenuity!

Analyzer · May 7, 2019

Batteries are never included

As a kid there was nothing worse than getting a toy for a present only find out you need batteries and then you can't find any batteries around the house

I always make sure when giving presents to include the batteries if they are needed

When I was younger I helped build a few motorized ship model kits with my Grandfather (ok, I watched it being built more than actually built it). After a few days we would stick them in one of those kiddie pools to watch them go. Sometimes they would just flop over and sink though

Also those plant pots make perfect housings!

yuumi2891103 · May 7, 2019

korben44 said:
Beautiful work and amazing ingenuity!

Thank you !

Analyzer said:
Batteries are never included

As a kid there was nothing worse than getting a toy for a present only find out you need batteries and then you can't find any batteries around the house

I always make sure when giving presents to include the batteries if they are needed

When I was younger I helped build a few motorized ship model kits with my Grandfather (ok, I watched it being built more than actually built it). After a few days we would stick them in one of those kiddie pools to watch them go. Sometimes they would just flop over and sink though

Also those plant pots make perfect housings!

Thanks!

For more than 50 years ago, the main event for the boys in a Summer vacation was let this mini sub sinking in a kids pool, any streams or ponds. I guess there still a lot of this mini subs are remain in the bottom of those water place. This sub was running by rubber band propulsion. I remember this was 100 yen. That was a time when 1 dollar = 360 yen.

About 10 years ago, I bought this revival version kit. That was 2000 yen.

When I finished these vanes section, I have to think about making a fan blade section.
I think it may needs at least 20 fan blades in a disk.

The pic shows a pair of fan sections but I will build only 1.

Thank you very much,

katsu

yuumi2891103 · May 8, 2019

Here's a little progress.
I've finish to build the upper side vane section of each four engines..
Then I started to thinking about the fan section.
As I have to plant so many fan blade on a axis, this build might need a little more precise work.
So, I made up a very simple jig to chop many slot to plant fan blade.

This is a cheap drill stand. I set this strut horizontally to use this as a circle saw arm.

I put the rotating pedestal. I don't know what this mechanical parts were. My wife snatched it from the junk yard of her company and brought to me years ago.

Looking good.

And planted fan blades directly.

This is just a test build. Maybe I should think about the appropriate procedure for better result.

Thanks for watching.

katsu

Duncanator · May 8, 2019

Beautiful work as usual! You never fail to impress with your details.

Analyzer · May 9, 2019

That's going to be a lot of tedious work twisting those fan blades, but it will be worth it!

JediMichael · May 9, 2019

Keep forgetting to check in here. As always, fantastic work. When we think you've done your best, you come and do it even better.

yuumi2891103 · May 9, 2019

Duncanator said:
Beautiful work as usual! You never fail to impress with your details.

Thank you so much for your support, Duncanator-san.

Analyzer said:
That's going to be a lot of tedious work twisting those fan blades, but it will be worth it!

Thank you Analyzer-san, Compare to the build of links of long track I made before, this is happier by far.

JediMichael said:
Keep forgetting to check in here. As always, fantastic work. When we think you've done your best, you come and do it even better.

Hi! Michael-san, thank you so much.

There is the series of work for the first bunch of fan blade.

I made a cutting pattern template for the fan blade.