1/72 Big Wing F-20

[SinUnNombre]

Hey everyone. I had an Eddie moment last night(not unlike the one AeroDriver had in the Hunter thread) while thinking about reducing the wing loading of the F-20. You see, I bought a Revell 1/48 Blue Angels Hornet cheap at Wal-Mart with absolutely no direction. It donated a part here and there, and was languishing in my box of unbuilt kits. I had it out and was contemplating a hybrid with a Tonka(more on that later), and the vertical stabs seemed to say, "Woudln't I make a great wing for your Tigershark?". I taped them to the sides of the fuselage, and they look just about perfect. I need to cut a little bit from the wing root to reduce the length a hair and get the profile of the fuselage. After all that, the horizontal stabs looked a little pathetic. I had another "model whisperer" moment with the stabs from a Revell 1/72 A-7 also suffering at the bottom of the box missing a couple important pieces. After a quick mockup, they're going on the finished product. They will get a similar profile cut on the edge. Here's a quick mockup picture:


Stock parts are to port, mods to starbord. I'm going to clean up all the junk from the tips of the new wings to add ailerons, while most of the existing rudder will form the flap. I don't have a ton of progress made yet, got the intakes assembled and the interior done. I hope to get some more done and posted over the weekend. Thanks for any input, and sorry for the long-winded post.

Jon

[AeroplaneDriver]

Wow, the voices are busy tonight!  

I love the A-7 tail on it.  Cant wait to see the progress.

[elmayerle]

I'd suggest removing the Sidewinder rails from the F-20 wings and putting them on the tips of the new wings.  You might also consider moving the new wings aft a bit to get the quarter-chord lines to cross the aircraft centerline at the same point those of the original wings did, it makes for better stability and control of the aircraft - it also allows you to recycle the F-20's LERX with the new wing.

[SinUnNombre]

AeroDriver: Actually, my voices spoke Wednesday night. But you're right, they always do seem to be more active around the Christmas season.

Evan: Like I said in the ideas thread, those were both in my plans. I still need to figure out the main gear. In the fuse F-8 style, or in the wing like the original F-20. And should I change out the vertical tail?

Jon

[elmayerle]

I'd say to leave the vertical tail alone, I don't see that the increased wing area is going to require any growth there.  For the gear, I'd suggest keeping it in the wings so as to avoid any more redesign, and consequent cost growth, than absoluetely necessary.  Use the kit doors for templates for the wheel well openings in the wings and re-use the F-20 main landing gear.

[SinUnNombre]

I'd say to leave the vertical tail alone, I don't see that the increased wing area is going to require any growth there.  For the gear, I'd suggest keeping it in the wings so as to avoid any more redesign, and consequent cost growth, than absoluetely necessary.  Use the kit doors for templates for the wheel well openings in the wings and re-use the F-20 main landing gear.

Sounds simple enough, Evan. No progress to speak of tonight. Had a terrible day at work(I hate Fridays.), and now I have to go rescue my girlfriend who can't change a flat tire. Might post something up later as the folks are gone for the weekend(PARTY! WOO!)  ^_^

Jon

[noxioux]

Very interesting.  The heavier wing makes it look much less "delicate".  I wouldn't change this go-around, but an F-20 might look cool as a canarded delta, as well. . .

[Mike Wren]

but an F-20 might look cool as a canarded delta, as well. . .

I've got a set of old Mirage 2000 wings lying around for just such a project...    

[nev]

Big Wing F-20?

Didn't you know the Luftwaffe ordered them?

[SinUnNombre]

........an F-20 might look cool as a canarded delta, as well. . .

I LIKE that! One thing I want to say, for anyone trying to re-wing an F-20, buy an X-29. Because of the little strake they added aft of the wing, the wing root is a straight line the whole way down. Which would be a helluva lot easier than trying to taper the wing to the funky curve of the F-20, like I am. And you'd already have the canards. Just a couple quick cuts to reshape them.

Anyway...getting back on subject...I've done some more of the tedious work getting the kit parts together before I fit the wing. Just about to fit the fuselage together. Dunno if you guys want to see pics yet or not.

I have hit kind of a dilema though. You see, the Hasegawa F-20 has just a little square cut for a front gear well. And because I'm changing wings, I have no main wells. So I figure I'll do it in flight. But because of the way the canopy hinge fits, its impossible to model it closed. Do I just deal with the lack of gear wells(mount it to a base, no one will ever see...?), or try and cut the hinge to close the canopy and build it in-flight?

One last thing. Nev, I remember your Luftwaffe big wing F-20 from the ideas thread. Nice work! And I'd be lying if I said some inspiration didn't come from you.

Cheers

Jon

[SinUnNombre]

Well, poo-poo (with an english accent)! I just bodged up the wings trying to cut the edge straight with my new Stanley Mini-hacksaw. Those wings and the A-7 stabs are going to get tossed back into the parts bin while I find a good parts donor candidate for a canard-delta conversion. Or maybe a different set of big straight wings that are a little easier to fit. Til then...

Jon

[noxioux]

Jon,

You could always scratchbuild the wings from styrene.  I was pulling my hair out many moons ago on my F-16 FSW project, and in the end, it was much easier to cut and glue styrene "sandwiches" for the wings.  Just a thought. . .

[Shasper]

Dude, 2 words come to mind:


Think Gripen



Shas B)

[AeroplaneDriver]

When I was doing my Northrop/BAe Scorpion (X-29 conversion) I briefly considered doing a delta wing.  This is what I looked at with a Rafale wing.



Rafale wings with two F-16 tails



Rafale wings with single F-16 tail.


In the end I stayed with the X-29s forward swept wing, since someone pointed out that the delta would work just as well on an F-5/F-20.

I hope these give you some inspiration!

[SinUnNombre]

Dude, 2 words come to mind:


Think Gripen



Shas B)

The only thing about a Gripen wing is that, IMHO, the end product would look a lot like, well.....a Gripen. Both air frames use the same engine, the same intakes, the vertical stab is almost the same, the bubble top....see where I'm going with this? Not saying it's a bad idea or anything, just that it may not be the best solution for me. Now those Rafale wings.....

Jon