Arado Ar-234B2-JN wt Junkers Jumo 213C - 05/11 Major Update...finally

trickyrich · October 10, 2015, 01:37:51 AM

Ok time for another project, can't have the production studio sitting around ideal now can we!!

Ok this is a project I had talked about previously and more recently with Arnold (Arniec), and well once I get an idea in my head I just can't help myself.

I will do a background story for this but basically I'm taking the Arado Ar-234, which is one of my favourites and playing around with the design. Last time, well it's still in progress, I took it to one extreme; Turbo Prop/Swept Wings/P5 Nightfighter nose. All were planned for it at one stage but probably never together!!

Ok this time a wee bit more saner ,sort of! We're back to fitting props to her but this time the power plant is something less exotic...piston powered, though the Junker Jumo 213 was a pretty advanced engine.

Added to this I wanted a sort of simpler wooden body and wings...by some strange coincidence I had just purchased a Revell Focke-Wulf Ta-154 (the old Dragon one). This would become the donor for the engines and as I am a but lazy and didn't want to mess around wing engine/wing mounts, the supplier of the wings as well.

I also had lying around an Ally Cat conversion kit for the Ta-154 to turn it into a production A-1 version with the Jumo 213 engine. Plus I have some resiny bit coming as well.

This is the look I am going for, someone else has done this modification before so that is where the idea come from.

The really cool thing is the wings for both model do swap over fairly easily and they are a similar distance apart as well.

So I had all the bits ready so let make a mess!

Ok this time all the conversion work will be done in plastic that will make life so much easier. First off the wings were built up, I need to join these two together to give me a stable support as undercarriage is now in the engine pods!

I added extra bracing between the wings, which should help with this, once completely dry I check how strong they are and add more if necessary.

I want the wings to be pretty much flat with the top of the fuselage so I had to cut out the fuselage to match. The wings are attached to the upper section of the fuselage as it comes with this model which helps make the alignment process so much easier.

The RO station will be moved from behind the wings to behind the pilot (actually just behind the nose wheel well). Because the main landing gear is quite forward I needed to do this for weight distribution. Also the main gear has gone from the fuselage so bigger fuel tanks can be fitted, so no drop tanks.

So this is sort of how she will look. Because the 234 was a sleek bodied aircraft in the first place she looks like a high performance beast and those big engines seem to suit her.

So another build is on the way, not sure if it'll be as quick as the last two....just depends on how it all goes together.

Now I know what happened when I turned the lights off and where all that missing alcohol went!!

Oh and all the leftover bits?? An All-Metal Focke-Wulf Ta-154D2N with BMW 003 engines is on the way!!!!!

zenrat · October 10, 2015, 03:10:13 AM

Noice, different, unusual.

tc2324 · October 10, 2015, 03:39:58 AM

Ohhh, like that.

NARSES2 · October 10, 2015, 05:13:43 AM

This is going to be another good one

dumaniac · October 10, 2015, 04:30:54 PM

great concept. What is going to happen to the twin jumo's and wing in the background?

trickyrich · October 11, 2015, 01:18:19 PM

Well not too much to show but I have been quite busy today.

I will be fitting a resin cockpit to this build but it hasn't arrived yet. So the main task at hand is to finish work on the fuselage so I can close that up and then work in the wing/fuselage join.

As mentioned the rear RO's position will now be move forward of the wing, this will require a completely new section to be made. I had a couple of early attempts until I got the size of this section right, even still it's quite cramped, not made for us big people!

Even though not much will be seen in the end I made up some basic fuselage structure plus new porthole windows. Plus the new entry door/window, I'll refine the shape/size once the fuselage is closed.

Next up a basic RO's station. For this I used plastic card and raided bits from my PE box and an old Ar-234 model I have (it's a Gomex model which is similar to the Hobby Craft one which is so out of scale it really isn't any use but for parts and odd shapes!!!). After lots of fitting around I now have something that looks the part. Sorry I forgot to take photos along the way.

So a basic coat of RLM 66 then on to the detailing. I have lots of PE bits left over from other build, which I will use.

Plus I have started to fill in the old undercarriage doors and panel lines, this will probably take a few coats of filler to finish.

Not a lot to show but this took up most of the day, though I did start to do some work on the Ta-154 D2N as well, this will appear in a new thread shortly!! And yes that could be seen doing a sneaky photo-bomb in one og the photos!

Rick Lowe · October 11, 2015, 01:50:14 PM

Nice!

I have a plan to do much the same in 1/72, so I will be following this to see what (if any) issues need to be addressed.
(Where's the Popcorn Emoticon?)

Another Ar-234 from TrickyWerks... looking forward to seeing the completed craft.

Cheers

trickyrich · October 11, 2015, 02:19:48 PM

Quote from: Rick Lowe on October 11, 2015, 01:50:14 PM
Nice!
I have a plan to do much the same in 1/72, so I will be following this to see what (if any) issues need to be addressed.
(Where's the Popcorn Emoticon?)

Another Ar-234 from TrickyWerks... looking forward to seeing the completed craft.

Cheers

haha "TrickyWerks", I like that. I may have to start using that name for my production line!

KiwiZac · October 11, 2015, 07:36:46 PM

Niiiiiiiiice! This is looking great already Rich, bravo.

Rick Lowe · October 11, 2015, 08:21:22 PM

Quote from: trickyrich on October 11, 2015, 02:19:48 PM
Quote from: Rick Lowe on October 11, 2015, 01:50:14 PM
Nice!
I have a plan to do much the same in 1/72, so I will be following this to see what (if any) issues need to be addressed.
(Where's the Popcorn Emoticon?)

Another Ar-234 from TrickyWerks... looking forward to seeing the completed craft.

Cheers

haha "TrickyWerks", I like that. I may have to start using that name for my production line!

Happy to help - it's all yours.

tc2324 · October 12, 2015, 12:46:24 AM

Quote from: Rick Lowe on October 11, 2015, 08:21:22 PM
Quote from: trickyrich on October 11, 2015, 02:19:48 PM
Quote from: Rick Lowe on October 11, 2015, 01:50:14 PM
Nice!
I have a plan to do much the same in 1/72, so I will be following this to see what (if any) issues need to be addressed.
(Where's the Popcorn Emoticon?)

Another Ar-234 from TrickyWerks... looking forward to seeing the completed craft.

Cheers

haha "TrickyWerks", I like that. I may have to start using that name for my production line!

Happy to help - it's all yours.

trickyrich · October 27, 2015, 03:08:16 AM

sorry for the delay in updates, work unfortunately has eaten into a lot of my time, plus of cause GB's...STGB's this time!

Actually I haven't even had time to work on my new logo...have the basic design done...anyway.

Well not too much to report, have almost finished the RO's station. It looks quite small but when you compare the size (other than height) it's actually more spacious then a economy seat on one of our domestic airlines!! Probably get better service too!!!

Well the Aries resin cockpit finally arrived, so after washing and much grinding (so it and the RO's station will fit) and resin dust (plus some resin "snow angels" as well) it's got it first coat of aluminium on. That will be the base/undercoat, it looks really cool at the moment, photos next time.

But I really need to concentrate on finishing the RO's station, once that done I can close her up and start on the hard bit, fitting and blending the wings!

Oh and I haven't forgotten about the Turbo-Prop Arado either, updates (final???) coming soon.

Captain Canada · October 28, 2015, 06:51:45 AM

Wow...that really changes the look of her eh ? Great stuff. Love your work, always a treat to check in here !

trickyrich · April 11, 2016, 03:00:10 AM

Well after a few months and a couple of GB's later and I'm back to this beast. I hadn't forgotten about it at all just been so busy with other builds (think 5 completed and 2 as host!!).

Anyway this wasn't to be a quick build, so where am I up to...

First up the fuselages were closed up (in between updates I had finally finished the RO's station), the old aft RO's position will now hold 2 x 30mm cannons angle up @ ~65° in a "Schräge Musik" configuration. Then everything filled and sanded smooth, as I want this to be Plywood body and not all metal.

Next up I needed to check how it would sit on it undercarriage as I had some concerns. The kit U/C for the Ta-154 has issues as the main gear is moulded fully extended, most photos showed the main U/C sagging or completely deflated.

Even without fitting the nacelles the U.C already looks wrong.

It just sits up too high at the back, so mod time...

These were made for a Ta-154 and have been shorten, so I pretty much did the same mod again.

Even not fitted they look much better.

Now it looks and sits a bit better, I maybe could have dropped them a bit further, but will leave as is. (top original, bottom new)

A wee photo op with his cousin.

While I was at it I started work on the props and spinners.

Everything was give a coat 1000 surface finisher to show up any details that need sorting out, it came out pretty good with little touch-up work required.

I will try hopefully tomorrow to start detailing the cockpit.

NARSES2 · April 11, 2016, 07:19:05 AM

Glad it's back on the go