mung
Sr Member
This project has come about after being given a reject resin print of a part from a Babylon five Starfury model a few years ago. The top wing section looked like it was scaled wrongly in one dimension so it didn't fit the rest of the printed parts. For some time I have been thinking about how to incorporate it into a project and just recently an idea bubbled up, the stars aligned and the project became a possibility.
On the Hobby link Japan website I stumbled across a 1/20th scale Macross fighter nose section model kit that I thought I could get a decent sized cockpit and canopy from.
With that in mind I did a thumbnail sketch that incorporated the resin printed reject wing. I thought this design with a flat upper surface showed some promise and was worth pursuing a bit further.
I was considering how to make the fuselage shape and decided to see if I had anything in my plastic shapes stash that might fit the bill.
I dug out a rocket toy which I believe was some sort of Pocket Polly doll toy hence the name of the project. The rocket shape was combined with a acrylic wine glass at the rear and a small toy snow globe at the front (both of which were a charity shop finds) with the wing section and it all seemed to come together with pleasing proportions.
The acrylic wineglass had its stem sawed off and then the nub sanded smooth. It later got a hole drilled through for a rear rod mount.
The cockpit surround was cut down and a flat sheet made up for the top of the fuselage. The top sheet of 2mm styrene is made slightly oversize and will be sanded back once permanently glued in place.
Before getting too carried away I made up three blocks of PVC which were drilled and tapped M12 for a front, rear and bottom mounting point. These were secured with layers of baking soda and thin superglue making a pretty rigid structural support system.
Next up was the installation of wiring and power connectors for the engine and cockpit lighting.
I put one DC power socket at the rear and two towards the front, one on each side. The engine lights will be the usual 12 volt MR16 LED downlights with ceramic two pin connectors. I modified the cockpit kit's instrument panel/screen so I could back light it with a single white LED. In the picture below you can see the 680 ohm resistor on the positive lead that goes to that instrument panel LED so it can happily run on the 12 volt supply.
Here's a picture showing the LED in position behind the panel followed by the backlit screen. The graphics on the screen came with the kit.
The other part I am using from the Macross nose donor kit is the wheel well and eventually the nose wheel landing gear. The plan is to make two sets of doors, one in the closed position and one set open that can be plugged in and out as required. Same for the landing gear plugged in for landed and removed for flight. I still have to work out a way of plugging these in, possibly tiny magnets, not sure yet.
To be continued...
On the Hobby link Japan website I stumbled across a 1/20th scale Macross fighter nose section model kit that I thought I could get a decent sized cockpit and canopy from.
With that in mind I did a thumbnail sketch that incorporated the resin printed reject wing. I thought this design with a flat upper surface showed some promise and was worth pursuing a bit further.
I was considering how to make the fuselage shape and decided to see if I had anything in my plastic shapes stash that might fit the bill.
I dug out a rocket toy which I believe was some sort of Pocket Polly doll toy hence the name of the project. The rocket shape was combined with a acrylic wine glass at the rear and a small toy snow globe at the front (both of which were a charity shop finds) with the wing section and it all seemed to come together with pleasing proportions.
The acrylic wineglass had its stem sawed off and then the nub sanded smooth. It later got a hole drilled through for a rear rod mount.
The cockpit surround was cut down and a flat sheet made up for the top of the fuselage. The top sheet of 2mm styrene is made slightly oversize and will be sanded back once permanently glued in place.
Before getting too carried away I made up three blocks of PVC which were drilled and tapped M12 for a front, rear and bottom mounting point. These were secured with layers of baking soda and thin superglue making a pretty rigid structural support system.
Next up was the installation of wiring and power connectors for the engine and cockpit lighting.
I put one DC power socket at the rear and two towards the front, one on each side. The engine lights will be the usual 12 volt MR16 LED downlights with ceramic two pin connectors. I modified the cockpit kit's instrument panel/screen so I could back light it with a single white LED. In the picture below you can see the 680 ohm resistor on the positive lead that goes to that instrument panel LED so it can happily run on the 12 volt supply.
Here's a picture showing the LED in position behind the panel followed by the backlit screen. The graphics on the screen came with the kit.
The other part I am using from the Macross nose donor kit is the wheel well and eventually the nose wheel landing gear. The plan is to make two sets of doors, one in the closed position and one set open that can be plugged in and out as required. Same for the landing gear plugged in for landed and removed for flight. I still have to work out a way of plugging these in, possibly tiny magnets, not sure yet.
To be continued...
