McDonnell Douglas Alternative Harrier Replacement.

[kitnut617]

Well, I've got some deep thinking to do now, my initial plan is going to need a bit of refinement as it's not going quite to plan  

Does anyone know if there's a 1/65 or 1/75 F-15 produced, the 1/100 scale ones might be a tad small --- 

[SinUnNombre]

1/72 is a popular scale, so you may be able to find what you need there.

Jon

[kitnut617]

1/72 is a popular scale, so you may be able to find what you need there.

Jon

Um! I'm building in 1/72 scale Jon ---  

EDIT:

Just had a look in the PAK-20 book, a company called 'Big One' produced a 1/87th one --- now where can I get one of those ---

[SinUnNombre]

1/72 is a popular scale, so you may be able to find what you need there.

Jon

Um! I'm building in 1/72 scale Jon --- 

EDIT:

Just had a look in the PAK-20 book, a company called 'Big One' produced a 1/87th one --- now where can I get one of those ---

Oh. Putting that on my list of new things learned today.

Jon

[kitnut617]

I think for the front end I need to start with the fan front, this will determine where everything else will go.

So first thing was to work out a new intake duct for the bigger fan front so I made a small square-to-round (technically it's an offset rectangle to round   )



Then glueing the halves together you can see how it's supposed to go, the last pic shows how the inlets will be orientated, there will be a center streamlined bit going in between them eventually.






Unfortunately, the fan blades are getting a bit wacked around and breaking off   

[pyro-manic]

...so I made a small square-to-round...

Ok, HOW did you do this!? I have just such an issue for a planned build, and I've been dreading wet-sculpting the trunking out of milliput. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Looking great so far, by the way - I love the way you joined the Eagle and Tornado parts.

[kitnut617]

Ok, HOW did you do this!? I have just such an issue for a planned build, and I've been dreading wet-sculpting the trunking out of milliput. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Alun ---  I worked it out in my AutoCad but I did find this on the internet which is really quick (and neat) --
http://www.sheetmetalguy.com/transition.htm

Just follow the instructions and it will spit out a development for you.  When the save menu pops up, browse for a directory that you have on your computer and save it there. Then change the *.txt to *.dxf.
Once you've done that send it to me (by PM) and I'll convert it into a jpeg using my autocad program.  Or just tell me what the sizes are and I'll quickly do it for you.

Basically, what you do is work out a flat development like this



Then after cutting the shape out, carefully bend along the lines in the corners using some long nose plyers. Like this --



BTW, the more segments in the corners (that's all the lines) the smoother the corner becomes, so less sanding.

Robert

[Supertom]

Y'know, after all this is said and done you might want to build up a Yak-141 as a comparison.

[kitnut617]

Y'know, after all this is said and done you might want to build up a Yak-141 as a comparison.

I might -- but probably won't.  As I don't really like Russian aircraft (or German, or Japanese, or Italian, or ---)   

[kitnut617]

Here's a comparison between the GR.5/7 fan front and duct with the one I'm building,



Quite a bit bigger, which is what I was expecting considering that the GR.5 had 23,500 lbs of thrust and this MD one would have 40,000 lbs+.

I decided to cut the wings off the 1/100 F-15 just to see what I'm up against, and I don't think I have to look anywhere else for wings, they actually look about right.



And the aircraft won't be much bigger than a Harrier ---

[Pablo1965]

even more interesting

[Old Wombat]

Hope you have/can-make another set of fan blades!

This is looking great & I'd hate to see knackered fans spoil the look.

[kitnut617]

Hope you have/can-make another set of fan blades!

This is looking great & I'd hate to see knackered fans spoil the look.

I know I have another around somewhere (IIRC they're a Braz 1/144 fan fronts for a 777) but do you think I can find it -- 

But I think if I strategically place the broken ones in certain areas, you'll have a hard time seeing them (that's as long as I don't break anymore I guess ---    )

[Captain Canada]

That's alot of parts to make one aeroplane.....I like it !

[Silverfox]

Amazing stuff! I'll be watching this closely, especially for ideas on how to model things in future!
Love the work you've done so far, and the concept behind it too.