flying tank

[kpnuts]

In early 1942 the British were made aware (by the Master spy Leopold Tepper) that the Russians were developing a flying tank. The A-40 Krylya. This information was was passed on to the MOD who hastily commissioned the design our own flying tank.
It was decided this tank should be able to take off and land under its own power and not,as a glider towed by another plane, just increasing the target size and not as useful.
The top designer, a young handsome genius by the name of K.P. Nuts was called in to do the job, his first request was to find the lightest, strongest materials available, it was discovered the MOD owned a patent on a product called Carbon fiber, invented by W. Watt, L.N. Phillips and W. J. Johnson.
The Grant M3 was the tank chosen to be used on the project. The turret and mantle would be made of carbon fiber and the middle set of wheels would be removed and carbon fiber skids added to replace them, reducing the weight from 30 US short tons to 19 US short tons.

I realise I've been a bit inventive with history carbon fiber was not invented till 1963 (at least as we know it today, they did have it in 1939 but was not useable for this type of thing)
I will be building the tank as normal to start with, to get the experience with washes and stuff, my first attempt was not very good.




as you can see very crude and no washes, but I hope to improve.

[kpnuts]

Well have started the Grant. please let me know about the weathering, (is it any good)its all watercolour so it will all come off if no good, also i have bought some filters how do I use those, it says nothing on the bottle.

[Old Wombat]

Washes are best done with a coat of gloss on the model, so the paint doesn't stick to it, & very thin, so you can layer them to the correct opacity. :)

[Brian da Basher]

If you think it's over-weathered, you can moisten a towel and scrub some of the watercolor off. Depending on the condition of the paint, you might have to use dish soap or alcohol instead of just water. When I've used this technique, I always try to remember to use the gentlest solvent and go easy at first, working my way up gradually as needed.

I hope this helps.

Brian da Basher

[kpnuts]

Thanks for the comments guys. I don't know whether it over or under weathered, that's what I need to know don't really know anything about tanks.

[Kerick]

Take a look at construction vehicles to get an idea of what gobs of mud and dirt on a machine look like. Don't forget that there is the nearly permanent dirt that covers an object and the mud and dirt that comes and goes with each turn of the wheel or track. rust comes in at least three colors. New rust can be very orange, thicker and older rust turns brown while really old rust can be almost black. Everything gets darker and turns shiny when wet.

[Rickshaw]

It's hard to "overweather" a  military vehicle.  Military vehicles rarely get washed when on campaign and go through some appalling conditions which leave copious quantities of mud, dust, grease, oil and other substances.  There is also a lot of wear and tear from vegetation and rocks and just soldier's boots which expose bare metal, particularly if the underlying paint has been applied thinly or with inappropriate materials or thinners.   Extemporised camouflage colours, often made up of oil and mud or even chalk (in one famous Panzer IV's pictures from the Eastern Front in late 1941) wear particularly quickly.   So, if someone says, "Oh, thats got too much weathering on it!"  Ask them, "How do you know where the vehicle was last week or even yesterday?"   

[kpnuts]

Thanks guys really helpful.

[Old Wombat]

Oh, I forgot to say that the gloss coat should be lacquer, with either water-based acrylics or oil-based paints used to create the weathering.

When working from clean it's best to start with paint chipping, wear & rust (add it before the gloss coat or add another gloss coat after, when you're happy with it, to protect it from the weathering), then gradually increase the amount of dust, paying particular attention to crevasses, angles & joins where it will accumulate, & add the goop in similar layers until you are satisfied (remember AFV's operating in the summer or in deserts rarely get covered in mud but an AFV operating in the tropical wet season or in winter or during spring thaw (in those regions where it snows) can have almost their entire lower half covered in mud & crud.

Have fun!

[kpnuts]

here is tonights update






Thanks for all the info folks, so much to remember but will keep trying

[kpnuts]

here is tonights update, I've tried an experiment and used pastels and water I think it looks quite good, but feel free to disagree, I want to improve.

[kpnuts]

hi all here is the latest progress.

[kpnuts]

And here is tonights tank progress.

[kpnuts]

well the tank is done






now all I have to do is make it fly.




The way I visualize this is another smaller wing above this one with a massive jet engine in it also a cockpit either in the smaller wing or the one you see here as i dont believe you could pilot it from within the tank, also I think it would be impossible to make all the cable controls detattchable with the wing then reattatch them when the tank was finished its job.also some big fuel tanks hung beneath the big wing or between the big and smaller wing.

[GTX_Admin]

Looking good!

[kpnuts]

hi all off to Scotland early in the morning father in laws 80th so not much to be done this weekend.
So what do you all think over the top, not big enough, all comments welcome.

[Old Wombat]

Well, since you asked ...

I would have gone with a straight winged arrangement because;
1. tanks aren't the most streamlined objects, so are unlikely to travel quickly in the air;
2. tanks are heavy (even if made of styrofoam & fibreglass) & the CoM* is kept over/near the CoL*;
3. it gives you more options (twin-boom [with/without engines in the booms], single fuselage shell [probably with two "keels" running along
     each side & room for internal fuel tanks], box-kite with multiple engine positioning options [top wing/lower wing either under-slung,
     over-wing or mid-wing, or suspended within the box-kite frame]; &
4. straight wings have a lower stall speed than deltas & tank tracks aren't optimal for fast running, so a lower landing speed is better suited to
     the vehicle.

Just my opinion ... & a bit of playing Devil's advocate.

It's your build, mate, do what you like & have fun! :)



(CoM = Centre of Mass, CoL = Centre of Lift)

[kpnuts]

Yes I see your point as I said earlier it will have another wing above the one you see now also it will have fuel tanks slung either under the top wing or under the lower one also I am planing on some stabilizing wings either side of the turret and at the lower front of the tank.

[kpnuts]

Hi all here is tonights installment





still a fair bit of filling to do, then the top wing, and landing gear and still have to decide which wing to put the cockpit in.

[kpnuts]

hi all got a fair bit done today





I have just placed the top wing on to see how it would look not sure I like it. What do you think

[GTX_Admin]

Wow!

[Gingie]

I see this as being dropped from a space assault ship in low orbit, beyond the horizon.

[sotoolslinger]

Looks cool. Nifty design and killer concept. Can you make the top wing bigger?  Flying a tank. You need all the lift and space ya can get.

[elmayerle]

Very nice!  Somewhat reminds me of the Mars Lander from Conquest of Space.

[jcf]

Cool, but I'm with Ron, you need a lot more wing. The CG of the current setup is also questionable.
How about a larger, straight not swept wing for the upper wing, but set forward over the tank to
balance the load? Perhaps something Payen-like.



http://truckivol.blogspot.com/p/decouverte-les-avions-payen.html


... or add a rotary wing like the Hafner Rotatank?

[kpnuts]

Hi all here is my revised top wing, not as dramatic but I like it







so what do you think. Still got to make the front more aerodynamic(not sure how yet) but I am sure it will come.

[kpnuts]

Hi all does this look like an operating jet engine.

[kpnuts]

Here is tonight update I have to say I think it is starting to look like it may just fly.



[ing]http://i.imgur.com/Lpo8qvG.jpg[/img]

so what do you think will it fly

[ChernayaAkula]

Nanaananananana...BAT TANK!

[Brian da Basher]

Nanaananananana...BAT TANK!

Did they even have a Bat Tank?

If not, they should have!

Brian da Basher
(only remembers the comic books)

[kpnuts]

nearly done now I've added a rudder and some flaps just the pilot and markings to go now.

[kpnuts]

Well I'm calling it finished, what do you think, air rifle target practice, or keep.

[finsrin]

Delightful in its ridiculousness 
Good job on difficult build :)

[Jacques Deguerre]

Oh wow! That is absolutely crazy but very cool.

Even if you decide not to keep it, I definitely wouldn't use it for target practice. The wing structure is really sleek and would also look great on a more conventional aircraft.

[GTX_Admin]

 :)

[elmayerle]

Looks delightful.  As I said, it still reminds me of that Mars lander.

[finsrin]

Like incongruence of slow much outdated M3 tank combined with modern jet wing. :)
Foreplane and winglet on turret are right on.
I tried the old-new combination with Slowy Jet
Love how you did it with flying tank and works in its own strange way

[kpnuts]

Just checked out slowy jet great work brill imagination top stuff.

[MaxHeadroom]

Looks awsome, but I'm not sure about the airworthyness because of the center of gravity.

Norbert

[kpnuts]

Hi all an update on a model I considered finished. people keep telling me it looks like a bat tank so..... (you must keep your public happy)



hope you like the change, I must say I am quite pleased with it.

[GTX_Admin]

  :)

[Brian da Basher]

Now THAT is truly inspired!

Well done, KP!

Brian da Basher

[Scooterman]

that looks better!