Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Aero-space => Topic started by: Frank3k on July 20, 2022, 11:41:28 AM
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I like the look of the various Soviet WWII aerosans but they just seem useless during the fraction of the year that isn't covered in snow and ice - and a waste of potential with their small, serviceable aircraft engines.
I've already made a Gaz-98 (https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=4439.msg71838#msg71838) based swamp boat, so why not turn an aerosan into an airplane or helicopter?
I started with the idea of turning the Trumpeter NKL-6 Aerosan (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/trumpeter-02355-nkl-6-aerosan--1257682) into an airplane:
(https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/6/8/2/1257682-27767-16-pristine.jpg)
and even went as far as tracing the wings of the Monogram Piper Tri-Pacer (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/monogram-pa199-piper-tri-pacer--234351) (which is listed at 1/32 but based on the figures, might be closer to 1/35), and printing them out. Placing them on the NKL-6, it was clear that they would work best shoulder mounted and it would be an easy modification.... but what about the tail? I would have to make a couple of tail booms far apart enough ti clear the prop and support them from the main wings. The more I thought about it, the less interested I was in the project (at least for now).
I also have the much smaller KM-4 Aerosan (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/trumpeter-02356-aerosan-km-4--1381685):
(https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/6/8/5/1381685-27767-89-pristine.jpg)
What about turning it into a small helicopter? After some futzing around, I found some of the bits from an old Revell 1/35 Bell H-13H (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/revell-4334-bell-h-13h-helicopter--969638) so I went ahead and printed an engine/gear head cover for the rotor. I used the engine section of the Mil Mi-1 for inspiration. Fresh from curing and having the supports removed:
(https://i.imgur.com/oYZLjtU.jpg)
Here's where it is at the moment, all taped up. The French guy and the bored guy at the computer (I modified his legs) should give a sense of how small this helicopter is. I removed the original engine section from the kit's roof and added the 3D printed part The tail section is the rear half of a 1/200 B-52 and the angled rotor support is one of the tail booms from an old Heller 1/72 J-21. The tail rotor is from a Hasegawa Hughes egg helicopter kit:
(https://i.imgur.com/xjJiDTI.jpg)
The tail rotor may be on the wrong side - it's easy to rotate it to the other side. I've been tempted to make the roof completely in 3D, but I don't want to add any extra transparencies. The kit part fits poorly; the KM-4 body is flimsy,so it's hard to line everything up. I may leave it as is.
I scratchbuilt a copy of the seat from a Tamiya Schwimmwagen in white styrene; I also designed a similar seat and printed it. I think I'll use the styrene seat for the pilot and one or two of the 3D printed chairs for the passengers.
As for the original NKL-6, I'll turn it into a coaxial helicopter, similar to some of the early Kamov coaxial helicopters - flip the engine pod around, remove the prop, make a gear head cover then add a drive shaft from the engine.
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Great idea Frank!
I had visions of a twin-boom with wings and tail arrangement like that one car from the bond movies (Man with the golden gun?) when you were describing your idea to convert the Aerosan to a flying vehicle.
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Cool idea! Looking good so far.
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Much coolness.
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Much coolness.
Indeed. This is fantastically inventive Frank :smiley:
Also looking forward to your coax NKL-6 :D
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:smiley:
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I'm thinking a twin fin like a Kamov Ka25B “Hormone” for the NKL-6 version ?
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Similar. I was thinking more like the Yakovlev EG (https://sites.google.com/site/stingrayslistofrotorcraft/yakovlev-eg--sh--yak-m11fr-1) (from the link):
(https://sites.google.com/site/stingraysphotoarchive2/_/rsrc/1339207381464/home/%D0%AD%D0%93-21_edit.tif)
In fact, it uses almost the same engine.
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I've spent days just dealing with the windows on the KM-4. The kit windows are attached to a clear plastic strip that gets pushed into the window openings. It looks awful. I thought that I could saw the windows out of the carrier strip, but each window has an odd step-down in the middle - the edges are supposed to represent the window seal, but they take up about 1/3 of the clear area... not that the windows are all that clear. So I went with plan B and vacuformed copies of the windows and trimmed them to fit. All good except for the windshield. It has a main clear area and two smaller side windows. Getting all three to stay in - and even with the front - was impossible. So I cut out the two frames that defined the side windows, cut some clear plastic to match and I was done. There's some clear glue that I have to remove but all I have to do now is mask it:
(https://i.imgur.com/VKaif36.jpg)
With that out of the way, I painted the interior with a turquoise similar to Russian interior green and I added a kit part seen behind the pilot's seat, a scratchbuilt pilot's seat control stick from a Hasegawa egg helicopter and 3D printed pedals, passenger seat and collective stick/side control panel. The back wall is from a Trumpeter CH-47 interior kit - always handy for parts:
(https://i.imgur.com/cYFjqsp.jpg)
The silver tube is supposed to represent conduit for control lines, cables, whatever. It's just some styrene rod:
(https://i.imgur.com/b61JJFZ.jpg)
Also visible above is the control panel. I found artwork online depicting the control panel for a Robinson R44 helicopter. I printed two copies on my color laser printer - I used one to represent the instruments, then punched holes in the other where the instruments were. I painted superglue on the back of the paper instrument panel parts and when dry, I used Gator Glue (just a nice PVA style glue) to sandwich a thin clear sheet between the two instrument panel parts. I then glued everything to a sheet of styrene and cut to shape. It sounds complicated, but it couldn't have taken more than 30 minutes to complete.
The panel looks OK from a distance (and inside the cockpit) but close up, you can see that it was printed on paper:
(https://i.imgur.com/Bn6bYBu.jpg)
I could probably get better results printing on glossy or photo paper.
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Nice work on the windscreen and I have to say that the first image looks like a face with a frown :)
The interior details are looking great. Nice reuse of the Chinook bulkhead for a better purpose.
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Bigger windscreen looks better, anyway, Frank! :smiley:
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Great job on the IP.
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Model problems getting some ingenious solutions. Well done!
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Looking good
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Thanks guys - this is moving along. The cabin floor has raised plugs for the passenger chairs (which seem to be child sized). Since I'm only adding two adult sized seats, I had to do something about the extra chair positions. I cut a rectangle of lined styrene and gave it a distressed wood finish, with some old stains. I also made some lap belts for the pilot and passenger, added some hold-down straps to the wall and dirtied up the cabin floor:
(https://i.imgur.com/A9RHRk9.jpg)
The two remaining chair plugs will be covered either by a small fuel tank or a beer/vodka bottle crate.
I found a wooden box from Value Gear that would fit perfectly in the "cargo area" - I painted it red, gave it some extensive weathering and strapped it in place:
(https://i.imgur.com/kaT2UHY.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Hc4e2m3.jpg)
I don't know if this aerosan was very small or if this is another example of a Trumpeter scaling issue; there are few Trumpeter kits without at least one major screw-up on their part. I couldn't find dimensions for this particular aerosan, but the passengers would have been crammed in like sardines. Here's the driver from the Tamiya Quad for a size comparison. He doesn't hit his head on the cabin roof on, but getting in (or out) would require some contortions:
(https://i.imgur.com/6Gyc1sz.jpg)
Next is putting the windows in, then the upper components.
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Similar. I was thinking more like the Yakovlev EG (https://sites.google.com/site/stingrayslistofrotorcraft/yakovlev-eg--sh--yak-m11fr-1) (from the link):
(https://sites.google.com/site/stingraysphotoarchive2/_/rsrc/1339207381464/home/%D0%AD%D0%93-21_edit.tif)
In fact, it uses almost the same engine.
The nose on that reminds me of the cool version of the Bell Model 30!
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This helicopter project is dragging. I spent a couple of days cutting out and installing the vacuformed windows for this project and the kit windows for the NKL-6 project. The KM-4 kit windows, with their ridiculous frames, are just unusable. The NKL-6 windows have a plastic frame that I removed.
I used liquid mask for the windows and sealed everything up. I used the Microsol masking liquid for the front windscreen and the Gunze masking liquid for everything else. It does look kinda cool:
(https://i.imgur.com/XwCchu6.jpg)
I decided to use the old H-13 tail boom as Phill from WhatIf suggested. It looks ugly, but in a good way. One advantage is that the open boom reduces the weight past the CG, so it sits firmly on all three wheels with the main rotor fore and aft. I used the kit's ski mounts for the main landing gear - I just extended them with a white styrene tube. The wheels and the front landing gear strut are from an old ESCI 1/48 HS-129. The main rotor and tail look droopy here, but they're just held in place. I can (and will) adjust the tail boom droop to level everything out. It's starting to look like a helicopter. Maybe for children or midgets, though. The figure is 1/35 scale. I'm wondering if the scale is the patented Trumpeter Screwup for this kit :
(https://i.imgur.com/TPnXBV6.jpg)
Hopefully I can start priming - and maybe even painting - tomorrow.
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:smiley:
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Wow! For a moment I thought I was looking at a Bristol Sycamore :)
I would imagine the pilot would be a bit inconvenienced with the lack of visibility but it definitely looks like a helicopter.
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Brilliant internal detail this is looking really good :smiley: :smiley:
Mog
>^-.-^<
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The KM-4A Vertolet is almost done. Taking the masks off the windows peeled some paint and one of the windows popped out, but the damage is minor. Both the rotors and the tail section are just held in place. The tail section is sturdy enough that I won't have to glue it on:
(https://i.imgur.com/kBvnQaB.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/1FXqQZ5.jpg)
Next up is fixing some of the paint issues, repair the side window, add the exhaust and some bits to both the main body and the tail section. I think I'll keep the weathering to a minimum.
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it just works Frank. Terrific work
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8)
Yep, any more than absolute minimum weathering would spoil the look. :smiley:
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:smiley:
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Thanks, guys. The date code on the tail looks like a US Navy style number (white "shadow") but it was a printing error. It looked interesting, so I went with it.
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The KM-4 Vertolet is finished.
Looks like a helicopter...
(https://i.imgur.com/5nDRk0l.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/G826UXM.jpg)
I added one of the Aerosan's lights to act as a spotlight. I also added a pitot tube where the original headlight would have gone:
(https://i.imgur.com/IT9xIMm.jpg)
Getting ready to transport important supplies. I added a small radio antenna and braced the rear skid:
(https://i.imgur.com/Ng1JrLO.jpg)
Obviously very important cargo in addition to the supplies in the box. Vodka (or beer):
(https://i.imgur.com/nyycyoQ.jpg)
Next up is the second aerosan.
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Sweet finish, Frank! 8)
Boris/Yuri/Pavel is starting to look pretty good, too, especially his T-shirt! :smiley:
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Inspired!
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Oooh, Me Likey Dat !!
Just looks so right . . . :smiley:
Taking the masks off the windows peeled some paint and one of the windows popped out
You probably know this already, but when I'm masking onto a painted surface, I reduce the tack of the tape by pressing it onto a piece of cloth, aka my trousers, before putting it on the model . . .
cheers,
Robin.
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Thanks, guys!
Guy- I think Boris/Yuri/Pavel (or FRB as he's listed on the Reed Oak page) is due for a paint job; he's been in limbo for a while.
Robin - I used a liquid mask this time and it did its job a little too well.
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<snip>
Obviously very important cargo in addition to the supplies in the box. Vodka (or beer):
(https://i.imgur.com/nyycyoQ.jpg)
<snip>
Has to be beer in the crate. The Vodka would be transported in much larger containers and labeled as "De-Icing Fluid" :smiley:
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Could be pivo/beer. But beer was considered a soft drink until recently.
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I finished the figure - it's the 1/35 Modern civilian in jeans and T-shirt (FRB) (http://reedoak.com/#!/1-35-Modern-civilian-in-jeans-and-T-shirt-FRB/p/62231454/category=13308143) from Reed Oak. Dressed in the standard uniform of "the yoots today" - jeans and a white t-shirt.
The closeups show that he needs some paint cleanup, especially between the t-shirt and the arms:
(https://i.imgur.com/EUUZ6ei.jpg)
The eyes are decals from Archer Fine Transfers (https://www.archertransfers.com/AR99056.html). They're tiny, tiny, tiny... but better than the alternatives:
(https://i.imgur.com/5sSzJr3.jpg)
But at a normal viewing distance, he looks OK:
(https://i.imgur.com/3KsAOpE.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VCQg0FK.jpg)
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Vladimir's punk little brother, Blutomir, methinks...
Splendid finish, Frank-it reminds me of a slightly sleeker, far less comfortable version of the Sikorsky H-5.
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He does look a bit like Vova's little brother.
Funny thing - I've always wanted to make a 1/35 version of the H-5 and even have the Fiddler's Green paper model for it.
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The painting on that figure is amazing, a skill that is beyond me at the moment but certainly something to aspire too.
Nice one !
:smiley: :smiley: :smiley:
Mog
>^-.-^<
PS the aerosan is pretty good as well ;D
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This is the second aerosan helicopter, based on the NKL-6.
I decided to make it a coaxial, similar to the Yakovlev EG (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_EG):
(https://sites.google.com/site/stingraysphotoarchive2/_/rsrc/1339207381464/home/%D0%AD%D0%93-21_edit.tif)
I was dreading either scratchbuilding in plastic or designing the rotor assembly in 3D - but in the end it was relatively easy.
Using that picture of the Yak EG and a side-view line drawing, I made a coaxial rotor assembly that's similar. I printed the parts out today:
(https://i.imgur.com/mETupiQ.jpg)
Some of the support arms for the main rotor mast stuck to the supports used to print the assembly, so I replaced them with styrene rod. The balance disks on the rotor arms also suffered some distortion from lack of support during printing, but since they all came out with the same error... I decided to call it a "design feature" and not a bug. Here it is assembled:
(https://i.imgur.com/Gir0HhS.jpg)
The top rotor turns as well:
(https://i.imgur.com/IRYRzvA.jpg)
Overall, it came out OK. There are some issues, but not enough to beg a reprint. The blades themselves will be made of either styrene or paper. 3D printing them in resin or in ABS on the FDM printer is probably more trouble than it's worth.
I'm pretty far along with the interior and the large radial engine - a Shvetsov M-11 - which is the same engine used on the Yak-EG. The pilot's seat is just putty. I figured the pilot would need something more comfortable than wooden slats to sit on. I also added a plastic rod as a fuel line:
(https://i.imgur.com/LPiiTYz.jpg)
Here's the engine close up. I may add ignition wires but the kit engine is pretty nice OOB:
(https://i.imgur.com/MxclPWm.jpg)
I mocked up the engine and rotor placement. I still need to come up with an engine mount and a transmission for the rotors:
(https://i.imgur.com/YzUTBNk.jpg)
The windows in this kit aren't as bad as in the KM-4:
(https://i.imgur.com/W24uBrZ.jpg)
Still, I cut them out and glued them in place.
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Wooden bench seats with cushions for the pilot (passengers are BYO) is just so Soviet! ;D ;D
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I guess it makes sense for the aerosan - the passengers will be bundled up against the sub zero temps, so their clothing provides an adequate cushion. I just hope the don't drop anything between the slats - the only way to recover them would be by taking out the seats.
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I wonder what dried fish smells like after a few weeks sitting under a seat? ??? :-X
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Probably about the same! The odor would have to compete with fuel smells, body odor and stale cigarette smoke.
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I like :smiley:
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I spent way too much time making the rotors. I wanted to make them by gently folding a sheet of plastic and gluing the long edges together (giving the rotor an airfoil shape) but the plastic I was using was too thick and it split. Plan B was to make the rotors out of paper (like I did with the AirJeep (https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=4331.msg69884#msg69884)) but these rotors are much longer and they twisted as the paper dried. Plan C was to 3D print them in ABS and use the print as the core for a paper (or plastic) skin. That failed, in part because the resulting rotor was too heavy.
Finally, I cut strips of 0.020" plastic sheet for the rotor surfaces and glued a 1.5mm half round rod to one edge (to make the leading edge). I glued a 1mm half round rod directly behind the leading edge rod to provide support, then glued the other surface. I used some 1mm half round rod for the rotor tips, sanded to shape. Just to make things more visually interesting, I scored the inside surfaces to give a faint impression of ribs.
The rotors are pretty light, but they still pulled the rotor assemblies apart. So I drilled everything and threaded a copper rod from one rotor to the other.
The rotors are scaled to be slightly longer than the Yak-EG's rotors and in 1/35 scale they're pretty big. The whole assembly is just tacked down with poster putty:
(https://i.imgur.com/3vmTIUv.jpg)
Here's a closeup of the rotor head:
(https://i.imgur.com/zZ9Pzfn.jpg)
Next is to figure out a way to mount the rotor gear head/transmission and the engine placement. It didn't occur to me to check the clearance between the bottom rotor and the engine. It's going to be a pretty tight fit.
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Sounds like its fighting you every inch of the way Frank. Good problem-solving thought and the outcome so far is a danged nice-looking bit of scale engineering :smiley:
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Thanks - many of the problems/issues have been self inflicted. I could just put the transmission/gearing inside the cabin and plop the engine in the rear and call it a day, but I don't want to lose what little cabin room there is. It may come to that if the transmission I'm building looks too weird.
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I was looking at other early helicopter designs and I found the Polish GIL BŻ-4 Żuk (http://"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIL_B%C5%BB-4_%C5%BBuk"), which I'd never seen before yesterday. It looks familiar:
(http://muzeumlotnictwa.pl/katalog/foto_galeria/249c.jpg)
Cousin?
(https://i.imgur.com/kBvnQaB.jpg)
Here's a video (in Polish, with English subtitles) about the BZ-4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_WxYLLosHc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_WxYLLosHc)
His channel has other interesting aircraft, including a jet powered AN-2
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:smiley:
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Almost done with the NKL-6 Helicopter- I just need to fix some paint and weathering issues and add a mailbag and some gear.
It's hard to get the body of the helicopter and the full span of the rotors in one shot:
(https://i.imgur.com/uxlFMNz.jpg)
The rotor head transmission is a random part from what looks like an old Tamiya tank. I used some styrene to match the curve of the roof. On the main landing gear, I extended the range of the former ski struts by adding a styrene rods to the pistons and connectors. The wheels/tires are from some ancient, anonymous 1/72 aircraft kit. The nose gear is from an old 1/48 Monogram Me-262, mated to the nose ski attachment. It rides a lot higher now. The external cargo area at the end, under the engine is just some lined styrene sheet and PE mesh. I figure it could be used to hold tools, oil cans, etc. :
(https://i.imgur.com/6hbtuRx.jpg)
I may add a step since the door is a pretty far off the ground:
(https://i.imgur.com/R3iREAA.jpg)
The instrument panel is basically the same R44 helicopter IP that I used on the KM-4 helicopter:
(https://i.imgur.com/lQymkX8.jpg)
More pictures tomorrow in sunlight.
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That looks fantastic
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Blessed St. Kamov! That came out splendid! The rotor assembly is really fine.
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Thanks, Craig! The blades were actually harder to build than the rotor mast was to CAD and print. It is delicate, though.
I think I'm done. It was 95F/35C on the patio - and breezy - so I took the pictures quickly before the blades windmilled off the model or it (or my feet) melted to the floor.
Our bored French friend with the NKL-6 Aerosani Vertolet:
(https://i.imgur.com/9BpBEdw.jpg)
The landing gear gives it a bit of height, but I like the look:
(https://i.imgur.com/vXJ3wTJ.jpg)
Barely visible are spare fuel and oil cans in the rear bin:
(https://i.imgur.com/EzIQI3s.jpg)
Joined by the slightly wobbly inspector, who seems to have lost his book. Too much vodka:
(https://i.imgur.com/4zLhLTL.jpg)
"I'll be fine. Just inspecting the nose gear":
(https://i.imgur.com/JdCkoGS.jpg)
Now I have to go back out and look for that drunk guy's book.
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Once again, a real gem to add to your display cabinet.
I could have helped with the rotor blades if I had known you were in need. Had several types in a bag taking up space that could have been repurposed for your project.
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Tremendous imagineering and building. Landing gear height is right, lower don't work. Wears color scheme perfect, would not change. 8)
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Very nice build Frank!
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Thanks guys! Both helicopter conversions (and the French guy) came out pretty much according to plan. I thought the first one (the KM-4) would be the easiest, since it had fewer parts to build, scratchbuild or print but the NKL-6 ended up being easier, even with the radial engine and the rotor mast. Getting the blades just right too 40-50% of the build time.
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"I'll be fine. Just inspecting the nose gear":
(https://i.imgur.com/JdCkoGS.jpg)
From my friends in PNG who work with Russian aircraft mechanics, I understand that this is the standard position & state of Russian mechanics ::)
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Terrific job as always. Very interesting subject with the contra-rotating blades.
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Brilliant work, Frank!
Another aerosan helicopter masterpiece!
:smiley: :smiley: 8) :icon_alabanza:
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Well that came out well. :-* :-* :-*
It's a " I wish I had thought of that" sort of build ;D
Mog
>^-.-^<
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The tall gear just screams "hinterlands rough terrain landings are my jam."
The body color is *chef's kiss* just right.
The counter-rotors are just as amazing.
This is a tour-de-force.
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Thanks! The landing gear ended taller than the default ski position because it would have otherwise been a Russian lowrider. I was thinking this would be a good mail delivery helicopter for Siberia and mushy tundra. Plus with relatively poor downward visibility, landings might be a bit rough.
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Nailed it.
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Thanks! Good to see you posting again, Doc. Daryl
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Damn, but those two are cool! 8)