AW 171 'Quarrel'

[Dr. YoKai]

 Not truly started yet, but I have laid out the enlarged plans ( it'll be approximately 1/48, shown here
 with a couple of my shop assistants. )

 

 The notion is that, a universe or two over, a subtle difference or two in the laws of physics showed
 the aerodynamics of the original 171 to be superb, and development ensued. Slight changes
 to the ship will be somewhat larger engines. I'm going to build this out of epoxy putty ( Aves )
 over a styrofoam core. I'll also be using this thread to demonstrate some of my foam building
 techniques, so I expect it'll be a little more picture heavy than my usual. Expect to start in earnest
 in about a week, once Beyond '46 is over.

 EDIT: 'Quarrel' in the sense of a crossbow bolt, by the way.

[GTX_Admin]

This is going to be great!!!

[Buzzbomb]

Yes.. and good to see you have your design committee standing by as well.

[Modelling_Mushi]

Ah, do I detect pogo sytle landing gear indicating a VTOL aircraft?
Looking forwards to seeing this progress.

[Dr. YoKai]

Ah, do I detect pogo sytle landing gear indicating a VTOL aircraft?
Looking forwards to seeing this progress.

 Good eye. That set of louveres indicated in the top view ( which I amsooo looking forward to
 modeling... ) cover five pairs! of lift engines. I may have to invest in a little RTV & resin. I have
 some fans and exhausts that would work, but I'll need multiples of them. Fortunately, Hobby Lobby,
 a local craft chain, carries a sort of 'beginners casting set' from Aluminalite which would probably be
 adequate for my purposes. We'll see.

[Dr. YoKai]

I have gotten back working on this, though I got sidetracked by another project. The next few images outline the basic techniques employed -


The basic cuts with a hot wire.


The basic laminations. The profile is only slightly thicker than a singel sheet of foam.
The open box in the center is for the lift engines - It also gives a handy reference
point for getting the carving symmetrical.



Slathered in Elmers wood putty. Not as cheap as it used to be, but still a nontoxic
way of surfacing the foam once some of the gross sanding has been done.



I neglected to take some shots of the sanding forms - I'll get to that next time.
And hopefully this will prompt me to start the engine nacelles. I have a technique
in mind, as my original plan, using a couple of pods from a 1/48 B-58, won't work as
the things are a bit too big.

I kinda doubt I'm going to get this finished by the deadline, but I'll keep plugging.

EDIT: Nope, not a chance. I've done some more grinding, and put on a coat of primer,
          but I've got to trot out the contour gage and do up some templates to get the
          fuselage symmetrical. To say nothing of starting the engine nacelles. Brian, if you could
          this to the regular build forum when you get a chance, I'd appreciate it.