Has anyone done a HL-10 Lifting body?

[feek61]

IMO, the problem with those kits are that the model is so small at about 5". What I would love would be a 1/24 kit which would be about 10" long. These things were very small compared to a military jet so all of the available kits are extremly small. If anyone is going to do these PLEASE consider 1/24 scale.


Will

 

[modeleers]

Ideleted

 

[feek61]

If that's the scale you want then go with the kit. No need to further discuss this if that's all you want since they are already available. I think we are looking for a larger kit (well at least I am hoping for a larger kit). I don't think that 1/24 is absurd but 1/6 is not realistic.


Take care,
Will

 

[madrobot]

If someone else is willing to produce it, I would be willing to do the work to make the original.

I love this kind of stuff, and after having fabricated some large scale stuff recently, would think that a 1/12, or 1/6th version of any of these would be neat to do.

 

[feek61]

I might be able to handle 1/12th but I would be limited to anything bigger due to display space (what I mean is my wife would kill me)




Will

 

[madrobot]

I guess then how many people would be interested in a 1/12th scale piece?

 

[DarkHelmet]

As much as I would love a 1:12 scale, I think it might be too big for me to display anywhere.

What would a ballpark estimate be on the size compared to a 1:24? About 11"??

 

[feek61]

1/24 is between 10" and 11" so 1/12 would be about 20" or 21" (which I too think is too big, IMO). It would be nice to have the lifting body collection (as in all of the vehicles) in 1/12 scale.



Will

 

[DarkHelmet]

just want to keep this alive...

 

[Thermalized Plastics]

Steve Austin, A man barely alive! We can rebuild him…Make him better then he was! I would like to see how this turns out.

Thermal:lol

 

[feek61]

I don't want to see this one die either. These little aircraft are so cool and have been an obsession of mine as much as sci-fi. Here are a few more photos:

And of course the classic:

 

[feek61]

Not sure if this is common knowledge to everyone but the first flight of the HL-10 was nearly a disaster. There was a divergent flow across the rear of the vehicle making it practically impossible to control. After 1 flight it was grounded for a year while the engineers tried to figure out what was wrong. They eventually fitted the back of the vehicle and the leading edges of the outboard stabilizers with a fiberglass glove that changed the airfoil. In the two top photos in the post above you see that there is only the aluminum body; these are before the glove was attached. After that the rear of the vehicle was always white which was the fiberglass glove (and paint). Strangely enough the pilot that miraculously made the landing was Bruce Peterson who was also the same guy who crashed the M2-F2 (which is the footage seen in the Six Million Dollar Man).

The photo below is a screen-grab from the first flight after the modifications. If you look closely you can see a camera mounted to the central fin pointed to the outboard stabilizer. They were filming tuffs of yarn that were glued to the body and wing so they could see the airflow. I have film someplace of the yarn patterns. Pretty cool really.

Here is a better view of the back with the glove installed. Sorry for the poor photo but these are screen-grabs.

 

[madrobot]

I am finishing up some film stuff but could devote a month to this in February.

 

[feek61]

That sounds good!!!!! Really looking forward to a nice scale accurate version. Here are a few more photos:

Check out the angle of attack at landing. That's why the front was all glass (so the pilot could see the ground!).

 

[DarkHelmet]

I would like to use a variation of one of these designs for my stopmotion project.

Somehow combine the overall body with the nose/cockpit of a Mi-24 (Hind).
​

 

[madrobot]

I guess we will have to come to a consensus on overall finished size.

If someone can find me some scaled drawings that are dead on, I will happily make the original.

I don't do casting anymore so we'd have to find someone capable.

 

[feek61]

I vote for 1/24 scale (which is a little over 10 inches as said before). Any one else chime in! As far as the drawings go I can probably help out there when we decide on scale. Thanks for offering to make this a reality :love


Will

 

[madrobot]

Like I said, I'm happy to make the original, but you guys gotta find someone else to cast it.

 

[DarkHelmet]

I like the 1:24 scale too.

Madrobot...when you start this, could you please post pics (if possible) of your progress.

How do you plan on creating the master? Clay?

 

[madrobot]

I like the 1:24 scale too.

Madrobot...when you start this, could you please post pics (if possible) of your progress.

How do you plan on creating the master? Clay?

It will depend on what scale it ends up being. I will post progress shots, but I won't actually be able to start on this until the first week of February. I just wrapped up a few things, and need to take some time to recharge.