AAV Drop Ship

Re; Wheel/Tyres size ..., Much better !!:devil::p

Looks like I passed the first barrier.:whistle:

Here's a little progress.
Making a bubble canopy.
Oh, sorry, I forgot to take a pic of the preparation and process I did.
So, I'm gonna memo here what I thought and did along the build.
I hope it will be a little help for you.

1. I've cut the wooden mold of bubble canopy along the line with a hand saw.

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2. Then I found out a pair of a half foot long 2 x 2 inches square lumber and graved a 2 mm wide an inch deep slit with a table saw to set and hold the 2 mm thick acrylic sheet. These lumber will be a good handle when you press on the mold.

3. Set the acrylic sheet between the wooden lumbers and secure with some screws. Because the shape of the canopy at this time is a bit more complicated and have a depth, I pressed the sheet in two parts. Front half and aft half.

4. Combine the cut up two part of wooden canopy mold again and secure with screws. Then set it with screws on the top of a foot long 2 x 4 inches square lumber which was screwed on the half inch thick 1 foot square plywood base.

5. Heat up and press. This time I heated up the acrylic sheets directly on a gas stove. I thought it might be rather easier to control the temperature. That was worked. I used a hand gas burner torch for additional heating after I put the sheets on the wooden mold.

6. Take off the shaped acrylic sheet from the strut together with the molds. Put out the lower wooden mold and mark the cut line on the shaped sheet along the bottom of the upper mold.

7. Here comes a pair of bubble canopies. One is shaped with the front of the mold the other one is a rear. Cut off each unnecessary part and combine them.

8. I don't think you boys gonna read this rather long lines but all this is came out from my good will.

Whatever.:unsure:

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As you see, I've fixed the wing pivot fairing.


This time I got a good results on this.
Good shaping and transparency.
So that I can go for building the canopy frames and open/close mechanisms.

Thank you very much for looking and ah... reading.:rolleyes:

katsu
 
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Looking pretty bloody sweet mate !
Glad you sensibly went with the bubble canopy....., that’s 2 for 2 now !:devil::lol:

Katsu-san, I really appreciate you taking the time and patience to share the process you went through in creating that wonderful canopy.

Honestly, any way you decide to share these builds is utterly & totally ‘ COOL ‘!!!
40C+ degrees, here today - and only 1/2 way through summer !:confused:

Keep up the exceptional ( so far ) work !;)
 
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Looking pretty bloody sweet mate !
Glad you sensibly went with the bubble canopy....., that’s 2 for 2 now !:devil::lol:

Katsu-san, I really appreciate you taking the time and patience to share the process you went through in creating that wonderful canopy.

Honestly, any way you decide to share these builds is utterly & totally ‘ COOL ‘!!!
40C+ degrees, here today - and only 1/2 way through summer !:confused:

Keep up the exceptional ( so far ) work !;)

Thank you, my friend, Ged-san.

I forgot to take pics of this progress because I was a bit nervous when I did this. :p
I was thinking at the first place that I might build this canopy with a easy method which is made of several faceted glasses like that of X-wing or snow speeder. But I thought it is a wrong idea. I thought I wanted this model has a bubble canopy.
And I remembered one of the rule of mine that I often forget.
'Imagine the shape you want to make at the first place, and then you think about how to make it for real. Never do it in a reverse way'
Don't you think it's the good way to enjoy this hobby?

40c+ !! It's too hot for enjoy skiing!

Take care, mate!

katsu
 
...'Imagine the shape you want to make at the first place, and then you think about how to make it for real. Never do it in a reverse way'
Don't you think it's the good way to enjoy this hobby?

40c+ !! It's too hot for enjoy skiing!

Take care, mate!

katsu

That is the best way to enjoy the hobby!

It has been a warm winter here as well. Funny thing is, in the southern part of the US they have been getting much colder than usual weather. So much so that cold blooded iguanas in Florida are falling out of the tries as they go dormant


Rossby Waves are all screwed up which can contribute to it being warmer in Alaska than Florida
 
The bubble canopy looks great! Your explanation of how you made it was perfect and not a long read at all. (y)(y)

Thank you very much, stevielewis-san.

I certainly learn from your "behind the scenes" pictures and explanations.

A very wise philosophy.

Thank you so much,Tom-san!

That is the best way to enjoy the hobby!

It has been a warm winter here as well. Funny thing is, in the southern part of the US they have been getting much colder than usual weather. So much so that cold blooded iguanas in Florida are falling out of the tries as they go dormant


Rossby Waves are all screwed up which can contribute to it being warmer in Alaska than Florida

Oh, I saw a news about the iguanas Yesterday. They are so cute. I want one of them. We are also having a warm winter here. I personally don't believe the global warming concept but warm winter is good for me. Especially, for the gas/oil fee is remarkably low this winter. As you know, those things a very expensive here in Japan. We usually spend $250 to $300 each month in my place. It's a half of it now. Which means a low CO2 exhausting.o_O:p

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He looks comfortable. (He is getting bigger inch by inch everyday. Being a very naughty boy also!)
 
Looks like someone has moved in and taken over the house!
I like your canopy method. I've tried that a couple times with much smaller scales, never anything as large as your project! I call it "heat and smash" method. This entire project looks more awesome every day!
 
I was in late about reading your WIP Katsu-san. So I just read the loss of your cat.
I'm so sorry for your whole family, for your daughter who saw him passing away. Such a difficult moment as it happens, such a difficult moment for a long time after that.
Sincere thoughts to all of yours
 
He looks like he is in heaven

;)

Looks like someone has moved in and taken over the house!
I like your canopy method. I've tried that a couple times with much smaller scales, never anything as large as your project! I call it "heat and smash" method. This entire project looks more awesome every day!

Thank you,Ken-san!

"heat and smash" I will remember that!
I thought the vacuum forming is not appropriate this time because I used a 2 mm rather thick acrylic transparent sheet. I thought the suction power of usual home vacuum cleaner is too weak for this material. The acrylic sheet goes flexible in the heat but also it becomes very elastic like a rubber sheet. If you heat it up too much, it's bubbling inside. It's no good for the transparent canopy. So I did heat smashing in two parts and used a gas burner torch for additional heating and wet towel to cool it down quickly to stay in shape.


I was in late about reading your WIP Katsu-san. So I just read the loss of your cat.
I'm so sorry for your whole family, for your daughter who saw him passing away. Such a difficult moment as it happens, such a difficult moment for a long time after that.
Sincere thoughts to all of yours

Bonjour, et merci beaucoup pour les mots aimables. Merci d'être venu.

Doumo arigatou, thank you very much. Our new little family member heals us a lot now.

Katsuhiko,
 
 
Awww, Cute kitty.
We've had a pretty warm winter here in west Idaho as well...although this week has actually gotten pretty cold....finally. It actually snowed ALL day today, then tonight turned to rain, kinda weird. Sure going to be super muddy after all this. Glad I took the next 4 days off work. Job sites I deliver to can get pretty messy.
 
Awww, Cute kitty.
We've had a pretty warm winter here in west Idaho as well...although this week has actually gotten pretty cold....finally. It actually snowed ALL day today, then tonight turned to rain, kinda weird. Sure going to be super muddy after all this. Glad I took the next 4 days off work. Job sites I deliver to can get pretty messy.
Oh, Idaho, state of jewel. Rockey mountains must be beautiful in the winter! I know Idaho is 3/4 size of our whole land. :O Here we got a coldest morning in this winter. -2c. No big deal at all. XD Take care and have a good holydays!
 
Yeah. It can be very beautiful here. Some of the best sun rises and sets I've seen.
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Here I was delivering some building supplies to this house they are building in the mountains just north of Boise, Idaho. Nice view. Bet these houses cost a ton of money.
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OMG! What a beautiful scenery!!
There is very little in Japan that can be compared with such magnificent scenery!Sky is vast like universe!
Thanks for sharing the pics, Michael-san!:love:


Started to build the nose external fuselage with shivering myself in my refrigerating shack.
Using 0.5 mm sheet aluminum.

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The nose cap is a temporary attached spray can cap.
I wanted to see how it looks like.

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Today, this is it.

Thank you for looking!:eek::eek: I AM COLD!!
 
Its coming together very nicely.
I know your last few builds have been this metal. Would you ever go back to using styrene again, or another type of material?
 
Its coming together very nicely.
I know your last few builds have been this metal. Would you ever go back to using styrene again, or another type of material?

Thanks,
Oh, I am not gonna stick to aluminum. I will choose whatever it will be appropriate for the purpose. But so far, I like this material and want to seek out the possibility.
 
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