Author Topic: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet - FINISHED  (Read 7404 times)

Offline Frank3k

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1/72 Parasol Kaydet - FINISHED
« on: August 07, 2020, 01:50:55 AM »
The Nemeth Parasol plane flew, and flew well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIFyBU83kME

"Gabriel Stern" did his usual astounding scratchbuild of this plane which I'm using as an inspiration.

For some reason, the Nemeth Parasol never went beyond its initial prototype. In our divergent timeline, the design was adapted for low speed/low noise observation aircraft as well as a safe introduction to flight for new pilots. The Boeing Stearman Kaydet (Boeing-Stearman Model 75) fuselage is only slightly longer than the Nemeth prototype, although the Kaydet's engine had twice the horsepower.

I designed the wing in Rhino 3D, only to realize that the Special Hobby 1/72 Sack(of shit) AS-6 has a wing that is almost identical in size and shape to the Nemeth wing. My build of this kit was in my spares box, where it had been partially converted to a 1/144 fighter, before I abandoned it.

Here's where I am so far:



The AS-6 wing is in fairly poor shape after all the mods, then filling in of said modifications. The underside is worse, but it's almost flat, so it should be easy to replace.

The options so far are:
  • 3D print my Rhino design
  • "smash" the 3D design in Rhino and print out the design on paper and cut to shape, or cut out the shape in my Silhouette
  • vacuform the existing Sack AS-6 wing and work with that

I think the vacuforming will be the quickest.

There will be spats.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2020, 10:45:46 PM by Frank3k »

Offline Frank3k

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2020, 05:39:57 AM »
I went with the vacuform wing. The first pull was thin and the heat was deforming the thin plastic covering the holes in the AS-6 wing, so I vacuformed a new, thicker layer over the combo. This came out well - I glued a thin sheet of plastic to the bottom of the wing and it conformed to the airfoil shape. As soon as the glue is dry, I'll mark off the flap and ailerons.

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2020, 06:30:14 AM »
Nice stuff Frank.

Offline Frank3k

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2020, 10:32:05 AM »
Thanks, Brian.

Here's the progress for today:



The wing, which I thought would take the longest, was a quick affair. I only need to plan the strut positions and drill the holes and fold the flap (on the underside) down.
Most of the work was scratchbuilding the cockpit. I found some pictures of the Kaydet offices and I added some strips of styrene to mimic the interior walls and floor. I found a head-on picture of the instrument panel, printed them up and they'll be glued in place.
Tomorrow, once the glue is dry, I'll paint the interior and button up the fuselage. The lower wing will sacrifice its center section to close the gap.


Offline Robomog

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2020, 04:28:08 PM »
Impressive bit o' vacforming, watching this one  :smiley: :smiley:

Mog
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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2020, 10:36:43 AM »
Cool  8)  Watching with interest! After all, who doesn't like a 'Brolly Plane'?  :smiley:
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline Frank3k

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2020, 09:08:08 AM »
This must be struts week at BTS, because I had to make struts. I took the easy way out and glued a 1/2 round rod to a larger 1/4 rod and sanded to a roughly airfoil shape. It was quick and ok:



This is a weird looking plane. I tacked on the legs and engine to get an idea of the final look:



I have an Engines N' Things engine on the way from Canada, but I'm not sure it'll get here in time for this build.



Everything is tacked down right now. The struts are pretty much functional; The two shorter ones between the cockpit are similar to the ones on the Nemeth and they're pinned with brass pins. The forward struts are taking the place of the too-short Kaydet struts. The wider struts are to keep the wing level and prevent it from twisting. The single strut behind the rear cockpit adds some stability, although I still need to add the actuator for the giant flap:



I'll probably remove the tape panel lines when I finish and repaint the wing. They were coming off on their own and I don't think they add much:



This pane's upwards visibility is close to zero! With the low take-off and landing speeds, it would have been pretty useful on ships, as an artillery spotter or early warning for subs. 

Spats are printing now.

Offline ChernayaAkula

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2020, 09:17:18 AM »
That looks pretty wild already. Spats are gonna be the icing!  :-*
Cheers,
Moritz

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2020, 02:56:09 AM »
 :smiley:
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #9 on: August 13, 2020, 03:18:13 AM »
Looking good  :smiley:  And another clever technique for BtS Struts Week  :D
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline Buzzbomb

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #10 on: August 13, 2020, 06:55:20 AM »
Too cool.

Great work

Offline Frank3k

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #11 on: August 13, 2020, 10:34:48 AM »
This has been one of those projects where I had to redo the paint job multiple times. I think I ended up with 3 or 4 complete strip and repaint. The model came pretty close to ending up in the spares box, but I could just hear Brian's words of encouragement, spared the kit.

It's never going to be a great model - maybe a 6 footer....

The struts are pinned to the wing, but not glued. The engine is the kit engine and it came out OK; the spats are 3D printed. One is missing because the wheel on that side is twisted (since fixed/reglued):



The rudder was supposed to be light blue, but the light blue I had was more gray than blue. So I tried blue... which looks black. I was going to repaint it in red, bit decided not to.

I still need to add decals, the large wing flap and the windscreen. Plus some light rigging.


Offline finsrin

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #12 on: August 13, 2020, 05:12:31 PM »
Looking like Brian is doing building, has that character.  :smiley:

Offline Robomog

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #13 on: August 13, 2020, 05:32:14 PM »
Despite all the trepidation it's looking good.

The Basher is strong in you, young Jedi  ;)

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Offline Dr. YoKai

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #14 on: August 13, 2020, 11:14:58 PM »
 Another forgotten flyer long overdue for a model. Terrific work, Frank - especially the colors. It would look right at home on the cover of an issue of Air Wonder Stories

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #15 on: August 14, 2020, 03:54:46 AM »
Looking good !   :smiley:
Too many struts, though . . .   :o   ;)


cheers.
Robin.
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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #16 on: August 14, 2020, 08:41:30 AM »
Great stuff! And FWIW, I kinda like the Midnight Blue rudder  :smiley:
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline Frank3k

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #17 on: August 14, 2020, 08:46:13 AM »
Too many struts, though . . .   :o   ;)

Yeah, I know. All needed, too! But I thought you'd like that fact that I turned a biplane into a monoplane (of sorts)

@Dr. Yo - the Air Wonders cover idea is great! I think I'll try that once everything is finished.

Online apophenia

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #18 on: August 15, 2020, 05:01:10 AM »
... I turned a biplane into a monoplane (of sorts) ...

Its a One-Disc-Biplane  :smiley:
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Online robunos

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #19 on: August 15, 2020, 05:27:30 AM »
But I thought you'd like that fact that I turned a biplane into a monoplane (of sorts)


Me do likey, mucho . . .   :D


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Online robunos

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #20 on: August 15, 2020, 05:28:48 AM »
Its a One-Disc-Biplane  :smiley:
Hey! I've got copyright on that . . .  ;D


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline Frank3k

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #21 on: August 16, 2020, 09:00:09 AM »
I think this one's finished. With it's very low take-off and landing speeds and minimal landing strip length, this plane would have made a great U-Boat spotter or gun spotter on almost any naval vessel.

The brass pitot tube was glued in with Gator Glue... which wasn't quite set, so it's moved around as I photographed the plane:



The center metallic square with the red spot is supposed to represent an in-wing fuel tank.The NO STEP decals were from an ancient P-38 kit (Frong or Airfix) and had a small white strip on one edge. I'm surprised that they didn't fall apart:



In a dive... barely visible in these pictures are the small brass tubes near the engine - they're on the box top, so I added them:



Banking. I thought about adding the rigging to the tail section, but instead went with a support strut:



Right side:



Left side, with the Brian Da Basher avatar decal:



And thanks to Craig's idea, here it is on the cover of "Air Wonder Stories" April, 1930. Thanks Dr. Yo!:



Thanks for following along!
« Last Edit: August 16, 2020, 09:02:10 AM by Frank3k »

Offline Robomog

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #22 on: August 16, 2020, 09:28:21 AM »
Stunning!, totally exceded my expectations  :-* :-* :-*

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Offline Old Wombat

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #23 on: August 16, 2020, 11:18:56 AM »
Very, very good! 8)
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Offline finsrin

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Re: 1/72 Parasol Kaydet
« Reply #24 on: August 16, 2020, 12:06:02 PM »
So bright, so right.  Colors and their placement and configuration are perfecto.   And no need to fold wings.   :smiley:  8)  :-*