Colani Co-141 Asymer

Tophe · November 14, 2009, 12:47:10 AM

I have received as a gift, from a German friend, the Colani C-309 Racer (1/72) Unicraft kit.

See http://www.unicraft.biz/on/colani/colani.htm
As usual, this project is what-if enough (and beautiful) in itself, but my hobby is what-ifing aircraft, not building perfectly what-if models as "from the box directions".

So, my plan (for 2010) is turning it asymmetric, into an asymmetric C-141

(or Co-141, the Starlifter having stolen the C-141 code before I was born

). Well not "turn only" as I want it to stand by itself with no need of (fragile) undercarriage:

PR19_Kit · November 14, 2009, 03:57:09 AM

Now THAT is seriously weird even before you get at it Tophe!

The mind boggles at what it will be like afterward..........

Tophe · November 14, 2009, 06:50:45 AM

I hesitate...

Another (asymmetric) possibility would have been to install one half-wing from another kit (spare box), but that would require undercarriage to stand properly.
Still another possibility is installing the C-309 as central pod on the Junkers J-1000 I will build after:

Tophe · November 27, 2009, 12:37:39 AM

Here are the parts as basis (I will not use the thermoformed clear canopy, I am not good - or even worse - with such parts):

PR19_Kit · November 27, 2009, 01:15:04 AM

Tophe,

The parts you have look MUCH worse than the ones shown on the Unicraft site, but I guess that's only to be expected.....

More power to your elbow, I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Tophe · November 28, 2009, 08:28:18 AM

on her way to be a model:

noxioux · November 28, 2009, 06:54:41 PM

That thing is both beautiful and odd at the same time. Did it actually fly???

Tophe · November 28, 2009, 10:09:16 PM

Quote from: noxioux on November 28, 2009, 06:54:41 PM
Did it actually fly???

I have found that (below) thanks to Google. It seems the designer said "let's make it fly and break the record" while investors reply has been, alas, "no thanks"... So JMNs

can hate such airplane, "unreal" (which is an insult for them) while we, dreamers, may love it...

Brian da Basher · November 29, 2009, 05:35:28 PM

It looks like you're off to a nice start, mon ami, although I hope you have plenty of sandpaper!

I'm really looking forward to your next update!

Brian da Basher

Tophe · December 09, 2009, 08:27:04 AM

The little beauty (engine less) is ready to receive ~~paint~~ make up

Brian da Basher · December 09, 2009, 12:30:18 PM

A little beauty she is indeed, Tophe! Impressive PSR work. I'm looking forward to her "debut"!

Brian da Basher

CAO 700 · December 09, 2009, 03:07:35 PM

Good work! With Unicraft, it's not very easy...

Tophe · December 12, 2009, 06:09:58 AM

Quote from: CAO 700 on December 09, 2009, 03:07:35 PM
it's not very easy...

Not easy to be successfully realistic as you do (congratulations again for your ACA)... but for my crazy raw fantasy, this is perfect.
The final result:

PR19_Kit · December 12, 2009, 08:39:57 AM

Tophe,

Are you sure that's not a World Land Speed Record car?

Tophe · December 12, 2009, 12:18:06 PM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on December 12, 2009, 08:39:57 AM
Are you sure that's not a World Land Speed Record car?

I am not sure. This is not a flying machine but a desk model, you know...
If there would have been a scale 1 equivalent to this "1/144" model (from 1/72 basis), this could have been either a car, an airplane, a merry-go-round seat for chidren, etc.

For the airplane hypothesis, there is not much lifting area but you know: the F-104 did fly... Well, an asymmetric F-104 with a single half wing would have been another challenge, and here we are (maybe)