New 1/60 Fan Liner

[Jasonc]

I've began on a new design project. As the title says, I decided to work on a 1/60 scale fan liner. The reason being, is that the only versions I see available on any .stl sites are very thin, or aren't really designed to be too functional. By functional, I'm referring to landing gear opening and closing, as well as spinning fans and opening canopy windows. while I've seen one with opening canopy windows, I believe the design of this can still be better, and with a large 6K resin printer on the way, I should be able to get the detail I need to create a very accurate design with those functions. While I am not planning on selling any pieces (no recasts after I make my copy as of yet), I do plan on selling the .stl file of it through one or more of the websites. It's looking like it's going to have a number of pieces, but they'll all fit very nice and clean. If I decide to recast it, I will announce that in this thread. Until then, here's the early process of it. I'll try to update as I move along on it when I can.

[Goodman Models]

Cool! Could it be done in 48th scale?

[Jasonc]

41 minutes ago, Goodman Models said:

Cool! Could it be done in 48th scale?

It can probably be upscaled without any problems with it. Once the .stl is finished, if you use your own printer, or use a service, you can change the size. The thickness for the body pieces in general are in the 2+ mm range, so increasing the size will also increase the thickness of walls.

[MechTech]

It will be great to see this in 1/60! I might be game! I miss my old 1/200 one 😁 - MT

[Knight26]

Looking forward to this one.  I actually based one of my senior conceptual Aero-Engr designs on the Fan-Liner, just put my own design spin on it.

[Jasonc]

Thanks, guys. Here's some more detail of the work so far. I was able to put in the trench from the line art of the underside of the tail section. While I don't know exactly what it is for, I assume is was either a sort of a small vernier type of system (which I'd ask why you need so many) or maybe a way to vent heat. either way, that is done. I've also added a bit of adjustments to the fan setup, so that a cap will now need to be glued after the fans are put on, so that it can be plugged into the front of the body. This will give it a thicker surface to hold onto the main body, and it will allow the fans to slide in nice and clean. The last update, is that I added some aesthetic dressing inside the rear main cone leading to the fans on the inside. They may not be seen much, if at all, but it will allow some sort of detail to it. There is not line art of what it looks like between the main fans and that rear conical body piece. I also adjusted the width of the discs the fans are attached to, since I didn't like the smaller thickness. I think the wheel that holds the fans is supposed to be fairly large and almost match up the rear of the main body. In any case, smaller adjustments will be made as I move along with the design process. Hope you like it. Any constructive criticism is welcome, or if there is something anyone knows of the design that may not be in the lineart, or that I miss, please let me know. I've been looking for complete vertical and front line art to match to the profile view, but if anyone has any, please let me know. Otherwise, I can calculate the distances from what little I do have.

[MechTech]

That looks great! I'd guess those "bumps" are for exhaust pipes. There's 8 of them. A V-8 would be ample power for that aircraft - especially with "new technology". - MT

[derex3592]

I'm all in for one or two of these! Very cool! 

[Benson13]

Count me in for one. 

[Xigfrid]

That’s nice!

[Jasonc]

Thanks everyone. So here's a bit of an update. I've been doing a lot of measurement based on the line art versus the size comparison to the Macross Chronicle, and it looks like the Chronicle book has it way off from what a real world size for a 2 seat jet of this design would actually be. That said, I'm also measuring it to the size of the Hikaru Fan racer pilot, and I think I have it right (maybe a couple 100s off if anything). In any case, most of the cockpit detail is done, save for some small cleanup, but next I will be working on some detail for the rear seat area, as well as doing the loft for the bottom curvature. You can't see it, but the nose cone is a separate piece so that I can cut the main body in half to allow for landing gear and canopy hinges. It's coming along, but it is going to take some time, as I have a lot of things coming up the next couple weeks, but I'll keep updating as I get things done.

I'm hoping I won't have to scrap the idea of being able to open and close landing gear. I may need to play with some of the line art to make it functional, but I know for the front landing gear, the wheel will have to rotate 90 degrees to leave enough space for it to fit. I'm still not great at Solidworks, but I've gotten good enough to make this project, so I'm looking forward to having this be my first project I can print on the new giant 6K printer. Both fans will also turn as well, so it's looking like it'll work quite well so far.

[MechTech]

That's looking beautiful! - MT

[Knight26]

Looking nice.  That canopy rail looks a tad thick, but if that is for modelling/printing/casting purposes I totally get it.

[Jasonc]

2 hours ago, Knight26 said:

Looking nice.  That canopy rail looks a tad thick, but if that is for modelling/printing/casting purposes I totally get it.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. I haven't thinned it out yet on the inside, but it does need some extra thickness, as the front part of it will need to hook the "glass" canopy. It is also a bit offset in thickness from the front and back. Once I get to that part, the fine details and engineering will go into it.

[Chronocidal]

On 4/18/2022 at 11:18 PM, Jasonc said:

... That said, I'm also measuring it to the size of the Hikaru Fan racer pilot, and I think I have it right (maybe a couple 100s off if anything)...

 

Just out of curiosity, Hikaru Fan Racer pilot are you scaling it to?  Because despite what it says on the box, Bandai's and Yamato's Fan Racers are both about 1/60.

[Jasonc]

On 4/20/2022 at 9:22 PM, Chronocidal said:

Just out of curiosity, Hikaru Fan Racer pilot are you scaling it to?  Because despite what it says on the box, Bandai's and Yamato's Fan Racers are both about 1/60.

Yeah, I took measurements of both and the Bandai is actually shorter in length. I don't think there's any real measurements of the line art, so all anyone can really do, is take a guess based on what there is. Unfortunately in Macross Chronicle #58, there's a picture of it next to the VF-1, which doesn't seem realistic based on the fact that it seats two, and by other images that show the room available in the line art. I am basing this on the figure of the 1/60 figure for the Yamato fan racer, but in looking at the Bandai figure (which is the same size roughly, I'm hoping I can make both figures fit smoothly and have some space in it that will secure the both of them.

Here's where I'm at as of today. I have started working on the front canopy, and will be using a 1mm pin for securing it in place. If it loosens over time, the pin can always be popped out and the canopy can be thickened by whatever method you prefer. If I have it just snap into a bar, with the material, I don't think it will look as well, and may not hold up as well in the long run. I also did the lower curve of the main air frame. Of course, once I get these done, I am looking at cutting the main air frame in half, to that I can try to engineer landing gear. There are worries about it, but it may be possible, and I at least want to give it a good honest try. Same will go for the landing gear on the wings.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Jasonc

[no3Ljm]

Looks gorgeous!   

 

[Knight26]

Gorgeous work

[MechTech]

It's looking great! You can leave the main body whole without a seam and just do a "drop-in" landing gear box. It may be easier for pre-and post production of the model. - MT

[Jasonc]

2 hours ago, MechTech said:

It's looking great! You can leave the main body whole without a seam and just do a "drop-in" landing gear box. It may be easier for pre-and post production of the model. - MT

Yeah, that, I think works better. It'll hide and ease a lot of work.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Jasonc

[Jasonc]

I finally have both of the canopy glass done, as well as a couple other things I'm going to try on the project. for the front glass, you can't see it, but there will be a slot on the main body for the front canopy to fit in. It is angled, so once it is in, it should stay locked until a fingernail gets under to open it. On the rear glass, there is a small tab overhang (shown) that the rear canopy should fit under to keep it locked in place. The next step is to start working on the front landing gear, before I start on the wings/tail. I have it calculated out, so I can begin on that probably Friday, as I have a lot of homework for a class I'm taking. In the modeling, I can see some imperfections with the shape of the glass, but they are literally 100ths of mm off, and a light 600 grit sandpaper or even lighter will fix them. I could go back and fix them, but I'd have to roll back hours and hours of work. Anyways, hope you like it so far. The final product is what will really tell in the end, but calculations show the front and rear canopies should work just fine with extra space.

[Jasonc]

Actually, in looking at the canopy, I'll probably edit it out, as I'm not liking the front view. I think it'll pretty easy to do, but I'm going to come back to it later.

[MechTech]

It's looking GREAT so far! - MT

[arbit]

@Jasonc Great work!  Awesome to see you 3D modeling. What software are you using? You seem pretty advanced.

I like your organic lines in the design.  Have you seen this version up on Thingiverse? 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4920434

  

[Goodman Models]

looks great! I think I'd be interested as well!

 

[MechTech]

@arbit It looks cool! There are some differences between the lineart and this version I see. Namely the cockpit shape and bulges around the nose area. - MT

[Jasonc]

On 4/28/2022 at 10:45 AM, arbit said:

@Jasonc Great work!  Awesome to see you 3D modeling. What software are you using? You seem pretty advanced.

I like your organic lines in the design.  Have you seen this version up on Thingiverse? 

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4920434

  

Yes, I have seen that version. I printed a version of it, and it is way too thin even when enlarging it to 1/60 scale. I'm also not big on the design of the main body, but for a free design, if anyone wanted to print it, it'll do the job. I'm not advanced at all, but the software I'm using is Solidworks 2022 version. I can't really take any credit for any of the design aspect, as I'm basically tracing and projecting. Of course, I do have to take some liberties in some areas, but that is due to the fact that even in some of this line art that I'm using, there is some "anime magic" that is present, and it doesn't work so well.

That said, I am going to do away with the collapsible landing gear in the front. Unfortunately, There is no way to get the wheel and tires in there, unless I make it to where the tire is able to rotate 45 degrees to fit in there. I can print that to work, but the problem is that resin printers aren't that strong. There are a few resins that have some ABS qualities, but in general, the parts would still be very thin, and I'd have to redesign it from how it looks on the line art. I'm not sure what I want to do with it yet, but one of the options is to have a part of the bottom pull out, and be able to just plug in the landing gear. I'm definitely open to any ideas if anybody wants to put in any.

It shouldn't be a problem to make it work for the wings, but until I get there, I won't know for certain. I'll have some updates this weekend, but most of them are very minimal.

[Knight26]

At that scale I see no issue with making the landing gear swap in, especially for a 3D printable design.

[arbit]

14 hours ago, Jasonc said:

one of the options is to have a part of the bottom pull out, and be able to just plug in the landing gear.

Retractable landing gears may be more trouble than they are worth.  The design will need to be very exact to work, and they will be thin and fragile, especially in resin.  I would go with plug in wheels.

[derex3592]

Plug in gear like HMR's would be fine IMHO. 

[Xigfrid]

Hum, I have tried plug in gears and it generally ease a lot the 3D model. But I have never been 100% satisfied because you have landing gears lying in your display. So making them retractable will always give you a sensation of ‘satisfaction’.

But if it looks really impossible, you can try to have a storage place to put the gears inside your model, that way you don’t have landing gears all around your display  (that’s the case for my KF-40 and I like it)

 

[Jasonc]

On 4/30/2022 at 1:03 PM, arbit said:

Retractable landing gears may be more trouble than they are worth.  The design will need to be very exact to work, and they will be thin and fragile, especially in resin.  I would go with plug in wheels.

I tried again to make it work, and while I technically could, you are exactly right in that the resin would not hold up well to the task. Even mixing resin with some that have other properties isn't ideal in this case.

On 4/30/2022 at 7:54 PM, derex3592 said:

Plug in gear like HMR's would be fine IMHO. 

I agree. They aren't the worst thing, and the fact that neither Yamato, nor Bandai put landing gear on the Fan Racer, it leads me to believe they came up with the same conclusion.

On 5/1/2022 at 3:38 AM, Xigfrid said:

Hum, I have tried plug in gears and it generally ease a lot the 3D model. But I have never been 100% satisfied because you have landing gears lying in your display. So making them retractable will always give you a sensation of ‘satisfaction’.

But if it looks really impossible, you can try to have a storage place to put the gears inside your model, that way you don’t have landing gears all around your display  (that’s the case for my KF-40 and I like it)

 

I'd love to make it work, and if I upscaled it, I probably could make it work well, but as stated above, I'm sure this is why neither Yamato nor Bandai made retractable landing gear for their fan racers respectively. Nevertheless, I have a good solution as shown below...

So, I feel like I am now done with inside the cockpit. While I could go on for a long time making it look much more detailed, I have to keep telling myself that this is going to be a kit to build, and extra detail beyond a certain point ends up being problematic. That said, I am now working on the flight stick, and that will be a piece that simply will get glued into the cockpit. As stated in my previous post, I cannot make the front landing gear come down, and work well, with a lot of structural integrity issues, so I decided to make replaceable connectors that can be put in to keep it in flight, or landed options. I have made these, to where each option will have 2 1mm x 3mm magnets lined up to the main body. Aside from a couple of nubs on both that will help the pieces to stay inserted, the magnets will ensure that the pieces don't fall out, and between both aspects, should make it secure.

This actually concludes the main body, and I will now start on the wing/tail assembly. I hope you all like it.

 

[MechTech]

That is looking great! The optional pieces are a good idea too! - MT

[Xigfrid]

There are a lot of details, I am eager to see your Fan liner finished!

[Jasonc]

I finally started on the wing sections. It was a little tricky working off of a rounded and curved, but I was able to get them looking pretty good. I'll need to do a test run to see how it looks printed, but so far, it looks alright. I have the little flight stick ready to go as well. The flight stick doesn't have a lot of detail, but once printed and painted, one won't see it anyways. I gotta think of a way to connect the tail fin bars to the fan housing, and I may do that by making pegs that connect them both. In any case, I'll create good long slots for the wings, and see about the landing gear. Anyways, here's the update.