NZEOD

I want to make a team of Heavy hitters out of some VF-1Ds and need to gauge opinions on some of the mad planes. VE-1G is a Growler style EW plane. Lots of extra aerials and pods along with 2 Dual mount HARM Missiles (or ALARM British ones) and a pair of 3 pack AMMs or 3 pack IRIS-T missiles (just cause they can engage a plane behind the Growler with a 60G, 60°/sec turn rate!) VF-1F is a Gun fighter in the literal sense with two short barrel 55mm carbine cannons instead of the single long rifle cannon and AMM or UMM packs. VF-1P is a Gun fighter with a single rifle backed up by 2 hip mounted 30mm gun pods - GEPOD-30 Pod mounted Warthog cannons (Engine mounted in fighter mode) and the usual Missile packs or 3 Packs of Brimstone AGMs. Switching out all VF-1D twin head laser cannons for quad head cannons Too much? Not enough? The Super pack versions will mount dual Twin Beam cannons instead of the single Twin Beams

you use those coloured chalk bars to weather things with I take it?

....and a courier has just walked into my office with a package for me... its my super rare Two Bobs Decal pack for Casper and his Bandit Ghosts! These things are insanely detailed too!!! They are the USN/Marines F/A-18 Aggressor Squadron with the unique paint jobs.

I know have 3 of the models wired up and in major assemblies. The last one was the VF-1D and I wish I hadn't picked this one up. I really like it and now want to build a pile of them as UN Navy and UN Marine Growler and Multirole units. Just picked up on one of each of the Hasegawa Weapons Packs so will mess arouns with Targetting and ECM pods for a VF-1G 2 Seater Growler variant and also try out the SUU-23a and GEPOD-30 cannon pods to add some more firepower to one of the 1Ds as a gunship

Just be aware the Rafale has the wing control surfaces in the upward position on takeoff, and not down like flaps on a non Delta wing plane...

Where did you get the decals done?

Been raining here and we cant be bothered going Motocrossing so been spending the free time this weekend working on the next one, a VF-11B. Engines are drilled out and fitted with lenses and a Neopixel unit each. Instrument panel has been machined out to just leave the frame only, then the space refilled with clear resin, the dash decal applied and an RGB LED fitted behind the panel to light through it. The Wing Landing lights have been carved out and fitted with a pair of sanded down RGB LEDs in each side. Landing gear has the lacquered wire fitting and a strand running down each leg like a brake line. These will slide into a socket hidden under the Carrier deck and will be how the lighting and effects on the plane are powered and controlled. Nose leg is the Adruino Data In line, left leg is the +5V feed and right leg is the Ground. Lessons learnt... Watch the chuck on a Dremel... if it touched the model it will chew it in the blink of an eye... Watch the amount of heat you apply to a mounted LED... too much and it was deform the models plastic... Watch the damn Soldering Iron tip! It will carve up the models plastic like a Lightsaber!!! All easily fixed luckily.

So I was slicing up wings on VF-11s to seperate the control surfaces when I thought I'd check out Carrier launch vids while I did it - to get the control surfaces set up right on the displays. Thats when I noticed 2 weird things... No.1... the Rudders on the F/A-18s are set up to go full deflection in and I couldn't work out why this would be. http://theaviationist.com/2009/10/25/f-18-rudders-during-take-off/ The above provides the answer... and if you want to do some accurate modelling of VFs it's semi relevant as they also use angled tail fins. "That position of the rudders is common to all the Hornets, not only those departing from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier: the rudders are deflected to help the nose raising as the aircraft leaves the ship. Since the vertical fins are angled outwards, deflecting both rudders inwards gives a downward component of lift, which acts behind the center of gravity generating a momentum that assists the elevators." Wierd thing no.2... I went looking for Canard fighters on carriers to see if anything was done with the forward planes on launch and found a video of Rafales taking off on the USS Harry S Truman... Most planes go full flaps down to get off a carrier, the Delta wings appear to go full wing controls up (due to no tail so no tail elevator), with leading edges full down and canards fairly neutral. The VF-0D I'm modelling is a Delta... Lesson learnt. One other thing thats a bit of a sticking point for modelling a catapult launch is that they preload the front leg on the catapult. So the plane appears to crouch and is lower at the nose than on a runway takeoff. Its an issue with VFs because of the underslung cannon and the electronics on the Elint model. They are already super low to the ground... But without the preloaded stance they just dont look right...

Dont forget even alot of Modern fighters arent flyable without computer control assistance. So making a scale model version to fly without that assistance in flight, liberties have to be taken.

WOW... the guy that did the SV51 project is on to upgrading it and ALSO.... building a Yukikaze FRX-99 RAFE!

The 19s cheat alittle in that the canards are enlarged and on a horizontal plane now instead of the smaller 45deg ones on the lineup and kitsets

So... Tie Fighters now have turrets? Nice! Latest trailer shows a Tie being tailed by an X-Wing pulling out from the island base fight and firing the to rear on the chasing X-Wing

only speculation while you dont build it.... summer projects?

the VF19 will be alot harder as there is a lot of airframe forward of the wing roots and the front canards are small and canted upwards. Getting the C/G right will be even harder on that airframe. YOu'll notice the stall speed on these VF1s is REALLY high too! A VF-0D on the other hand.... I used to build and fly alot before my time in the military and thats one of the things that got me into working with and operating the IEDD Robots. These are some really good looking airframes in the air and roll at a believable rate.

http://www.reneltbelicdesign.com.au/

A few more lessons learned over the weekend. 1. Toslink Fibre Optic cable is NOT the one to use as modelling optics. Its a glass based strand same as what we use for direct link comms on the IEDD Robots so I have quite the talent for handling, splicing and repairing these type cables when ever I run over one with the Bomb robot! However.... I hates a tight turn so the confines of a 1/72 model. any tiny nick in the glass surface will become a weak point and will cause the strand to snap at the point from just looking at it! avoiding nicks is INCREDIBLY hard to do when you need to strip off the inner liner. And it loves to break off after being set up, fitted and epoxied into place. I'm sure it possess and evil form of sentience. For modelling, just use the cheaper plastic stuff. 2. After epoxying in Nanopixel Neo LED units make all your solder connections VERY quickly and do one at a time with a break to let the unit cool off. Crystal Clear Epoxy resin appears to melt at a low temp and the Pixel units conduct heat SUPER rapidly! SO the careful epoxy fitting and lens that you make for the Neopixel goes all to hell as you solder - like melted toffee! On a plus note though, it doesn't discolour so you can easily modify the lens while its still soft and repair it with more epoxy without any evidence. The Carrier deck section now has the launch lights fitted and running, the Jet Blast Deflector (JBD) servo fitting and mechanically working - still need to work on programming for this - and the two orange Ramp Raising/Lowering hazard lights fitting and running. I'll try to sort a short video tonight.

Fading... blending. Its easier with a double action BUT it can be done with a single by controlling the distance from the item to be sprayed and the amount of product flow to begin with. I have a Badger Double for doing all my Operational Weapon and Kit camoing (I get crap for how well they look in the desert or jungle) and an Alclad II Single Action for modelling You can make your own booth out of Card boxing and PC Fans. For a filter you can use Fishtank filter Elements and Plumping PVC drain pipe connectors for the outlet and filter holder. You can buy the Filter material in bulk sheets for cheaper than the precut filter elements in most good pet stores. For fans use the $10 120mm PC chassis fans running as exhaust (sucking out through the filter) and mount it in the bottom of the booth . PVC Fittings like above can be used to make a filter element holder and mount to the fan or fans and booth. PC Fans run on 5V so any old repurposed 1A plus wall charger for a Cell phone or even a USB power supply will run it. USB to 3 and 4 pin fan adaptor cable Shower ceiling fan piping is good for the exhaust pipe as you can run it out your bedroom window then pack it away like a slinky when you are done. Pretty straight forward and fun project for you.

Get the Airbrush! You'll love it

I have some Toslink optic cables I'm slicing up to use.

Last nights Madness Base layer for the Digicam laid down. Model Masters RLM Grun 72 Next was tinting the canopy to represent the Gold Anti Radiation coating... this was interesting. Mixing up some Long Life Floor Acrylic (Kiwi Version Future but with a cloudy appearance as a liquid) with yellow food colouring I flooded the inside of the canopy then wicked off the excess. Next I added 3ml of Model Master Gold and flooded it again with this mix. Worked really well! Ended up with a yellow tint with a golden glint but still totally transparent!

Oh, I'm not giving up on it. I'll fix all the screw ups. Just thought it was funny the steady hand of the Bomb Technician still makes mistakes!

definitely keen to build a 3 barrel rotary Airsoft version now!

So glad I chose to make a test model first! Mistakes made over the weekend include ... Assembling the engine assemlies beyond the point I could fit a small panel... that I forgot to fit! Have a plan to sort that though. Finding out the Tamiya putty sets in zero secs flat and goes like concrete! Letting a run of cement get on the canopy!!! This ones a problem and I may have to polish it out! Spraying Alclad on too high a PSI... its basically looking like matt black paint and not burnt metal at all. Knocking over the $20NZD bottle of uncapped Alclad II Gun Metal while spraying the Hand Cannon. ... idiot. Tamiya TS Spray Can Flat White is crap at covering. Using it on the rear of the Jet Blaster Deflectors and its like water. Instrument display panel decals are bigger than the display they are meant to go on. Brilliant. On a brighter note the its otherwise looking good. Jet Blast deflectors raise and lower nicely and the VF19A is all assembled and awaiting airframe base paint.

MWO is alittle slow and clunky. I gave my account to my sister Keira and shes been tearing it up having fun.