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Blackadder's Scratchbuilt Thunderhawk

Blackadder

By Blackadder
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Blackadder Veteran

Blackadder

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Thanks for the replies, yes it will still have the nose and wing bolters.

 

The Effort We Make:

 
I seem to be putting too much effort into a model I'm not all that enthused of working on but I have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing this for my son. Ha! He started this over seven years ago when he had just entered High School and this year he will be graduating College. 
 
Anyway His kids might appreciate it.
 
Here is the T'hawk with Ball Turrets in place resting on it's nose gear
 
(Note the nose gear shock strut compressed with the gear deployed and the weight of the model resting on it.) I'm rather proud of that accomplishment. Actually, I'd forgotten I made that. :D
 
http://i.imgur.com/d0x5XIll.jpg
 
Here is the front view showing how much it protrudes from the side of the ship 
 
http://i.imgur.com/slMcDxJl.jpg
 
The temporary aligning straps are visible in this image but once the gun barrels are completed they will not be necessary.
 
Below we see a bottom view with the retractable landing gear exposed in the stowed position and the protrusion of the Ball Turret from the side is acceptable.
 
http://i.imgur.com/efvrSm4l.jpg
 
And again the retractable Landing gear this time in the deployed position with the landing pad (removed for clarity) in the foreground.
 
http://i.imgur.com/angCcgBl.jpg
 
Just for those readers inquiring about the landing gears.
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Blackadder Veteran

Blackadder

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Came The Dawning!

 
Let it not be said that Blackadder doesn't need a safe dropped on him.......
 
This morning I have come to the realization that "all the major components for the Thunderhawk are built!!!!!"
 
Sooooo all that is left is the 'dessert'; the detail if you will.
 
Now The Blackadder loves to do detail and the more obscure the better so therefore I shall be starting on the underbelly first. (The interior and the wheel wells being already done.
 
http://i.imgur.com/55J1jMxl.jpg
 
http://i.imgur.com/IC8sLnUl.jpg
 
The above images show the barren underbelly as I left it a year or so ago and whilst I am about it I also need to strengthen the wing mounting so they don't droop and incorporate the mount into the underbelly detail as well.
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SW1 Venerable Brother

SW1

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What sort of cost/volume do you buy in plasticard at?

 

What thicknesses do you find the best to use? I think you mentioned not going over 1.5mm in thickness to keep the cuts true.

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Blackadder

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Simple Round Louvered Vents:

 
A simple way to make the round louvered vents shown below.....
 
http://i.imgur.com/0RBhXN6.jpg
 
http://i.imgur.com/BeUYTOFl.jpg
 
1. Glue thin rods or square stock to a piece of scrap thin sheeting. in this case I need 12 louvered vents 3/8 inch dia. and I used 0.025 inch rod for the grill.
 
2. I used thin ProWeld cement to adhere the rods to the 0.015 scrap sheet; when the glue began to gell I separated the rods with my finger nail to achieve consistent spacing.
 
3. Once I had sufficient louvers (In this case six.) I gave the assembly a final dose of cement to insure the rods will not come loose during the subsequent operations.
 
4. I then cut the proper sized squares of grill in this case 5/16 inch squares and glued them on to 5/16 inch tubing.
 
5. Once dried I rough trimmed the square grills to a vaguely round shape with the nail clippers shown and finished rounding the grill (Still attached to the 5/16th tubing.) with the sanding block shown.
 
6. After rounding the grill I separated the grill from the tube with the utility knife shown.
 
7. I cut a slim disk of 3/8 inch tube for the outer rim of the vent with the razor saw shown and sanded the rough edges with the sanding block. Shown again....
 
http://i.imgur.com/Bj6DJ7Rl.jpg
 
8. I glued the grill disk into the 3/8 inch tube housing and allowed to dry. 
 
9. I glued the assembly to the precut fan panel for mounting on the underside of the T'hawk wing.
 
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Blackadder Veteran

Blackadder

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What sort of cost/volume do you buy in plasticard at?

 

What thicknesses do you find the best to use? I think you mentioned not going over 1.5mm in thickness to keep the cuts true.

 

I buy my rods, tube, and strips from my local hobby shop; expensive but convenient for me. Once you have a good stock it costs me about twenty bucks a month to maintain my inventory with plastic and glue,,,, cheaper than booze and cigarettes.

 

I make a run to the local (15 miles round trip) annually for my sheet styrene which runs about 12 buck a sheet  of 0.020,  0.030, and 0.040 inch thick industrial polystyrene, the three sheets are sufficient  to last for the year and then some. 

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SW1 Venerable Brother

SW1

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What sort of cost/volume do you buy in plasticard at?

 

What thicknesses do you find the best to use? I think you mentioned not going over 1.5mm in thickness to keep the cuts true.

I buy my rods, tube, and strips from my local hobby shop; expensive but convenient for me. Once you have a good stock it costs me about twenty bucks a month to maintain my inventory with plastic and glue,,,, cheaper than booze and cigarettes.

 

I make a run to the local (15 miles round trip) annually for my sheet styrene which runs about 12 buck a sheet of 0.020, 0.030, and 0.040 inch thick industrial polystyrene, the three sheets are sufficient to last for the year and then some.

Cheers for the info. Out of interest how big a sheet do you get. In the uk it's difficult to get it over A4 in size.

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Blackadder Veteran

Blackadder

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What sort of cost/volume do you buy in plasticard at?

 

What thicknesses do you find the best to use? I think you mentioned not going over 1.5mm in thickness to keep the cuts true.

I buy my rods, tube, and strips from my local hobby shop; expensive but convenient for me. Once you have a good stock it costs me about twenty bucks a month to maintain my inventory with plastic and glue,,,, cheaper than booze and cigarettes.

 

I make a run to the local (15 miles round trip) annually for my sheet styrene which runs about 12 buck a sheet of 0.020, 0.030, and 0.040 inch thick industrial polystyrene, the three sheets are sufficient to last for the year and then some.

Cheers for the info. Out of interest how big a sheet do you get. In the uk it's difficult to get it over A4 in size.

 

About 3 feet by 5 feet; I don't know how big A4 is?

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Blackadder

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Never Ending Rivets:

 
I hate starting rivets because then rivets need to be applied everywhere. Unfortunately copious skull sized rivets are part and parcel endemic to 40K vehicles.
 
http://i.imgur.com/Us4Cid7l.jpg
 
Now huge protruding rivets cannot help the minimally aerodynamic properties of any aircraft but I suppose what's a little more parasite drag to the flying (sic) brick called the Thunderhawk.
 
http://i.imgur.com/SshVWu5l.jpg
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Blackadder

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Thanks for the reply,

 

The Unlikely Weapon:

 
Once again I must acquiesce to convention and add the ungainly Volcano cannon to my model; after all what is a Thunderhawk without this unseemly appendage?
 
Starting with the largest diameter tubing I have 13 MM (Half inch) I found I was short 3 MM in diameter of the Shadow Sword cannon's 16,0 MM maximum diameter. 
 
Grabbing a page from my previous work on my scratchbuilt Warhound's ankles (Actually the 'instep' but we won't quibble,) I applied split half in sleeves to the basic core tubing to flesh out the diameter to 16,0 MM.
 
http://i.imgur.com/T378TNul.jpg
 
To  add interest to the overall barrel I opted to step the diameter toward the muzzle.
 
http://i.imgur.com/SYiSxZel.jpg
 
Naturally when sleeving the barrel there is produced a gap which I filled with inserts cut from scrap half inch tubing.
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Blackadder

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Just an FYI:

 
A progress report more than anything. 
 
I am frequently asked how the details are made for these models.
 
Plasticard comes in such a wealth of shapes and sizes that actual shaping is a rare event. 
 
 Breaking the subject down to basic components is the way to go in scratch building.

Here we have the basic gun barrel stepped down a bit more in my version than in the original about a quarter millimeter but it should n't be a problem.
 
Evergreen tubing has the marvelous property of snugly telescoping the various sizes. I'm not sure any other manufacturers have that capability.
 
http://i.imgur.com/TspW4aWl.jpg
 
Here the muzzle is just about complete and the breech will have to be built up with a few layers of 0.020 inch sheet styrene.
 
Note the sheet styrene glued to the breech ready to be wrapped and glued to bulk up the breech end.
 
The barrel bands were attached in a similar fashion.
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Tangamarine Venerable Brother

Tangamarine

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In relation to the tubing, I must ask; how do you get such thin slices while retaining the same thickness throughout? I always seem to struggle to get a perpendicular surface to the outside of the pipe, an always notice that the tubes end up a bit lopsided when glued on to something.

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Blackadder

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I'll answer that excellent question after this posting.......

 

Exposing Myself:

 
Before I get too far along I figured I'd better explain the processes that got me to this point. Of course if it all doesn't work out I will be just setting myself up for an embarrassing volte-face. 
 
Employing the telescoping ability of the 'Evergreen' tubing I made reasonable facsimiles of the complex muzzle components.   
 
http://i.imgur.com/UsBUgv0l.jpg
 
Right now I am in the process of duplicating the flash suppressor housing if that is what it is; naturally true to form I opted to make it 'inside out' or 'from the outside in' depending on your perspective.
 
http://i.imgur.com/sg2itP8l.jpg
 
Never the less, all so far seems to be going well. 
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Blackadder

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In relation to the tubing, I must ask; how do you get such thin slices while retaining the same thickness throughout? I always seem to struggle to get a perpendicular surface to the outside of the pipe, an always notice that the tubes end up a bit lopsided when glued on to something.

 

Regarding the rings if I understand your question correctly I cut the rings over-sized in thickness from the tube usually with a razor saw. I then sand the ring down to the desired thickness with either my sanding block or file. I check the thickness continually with my 'digital vernier calipers' These are quite cheap nowadays at outlets such as 'Harbor Freight':  

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=vernier+caliper

 

Now the trick of sanding the rings or the end of the tube perpendicular is how you move the file or block against the work. If you just sand back and forth it's very hard to get a perpendicular cut but if you sand in a rotating or orbital manner it's much easier to achieve a perpendicular end.

 

As I said; with rings while checking the thickness with your caliper also rotate the work between the jaws to see if there are high spots. If needs be mark the high spots with pencil until you get more experience. after practice a while the technique will get easier.

 

To check the perpendicular end of a tube use a combination square. Also a relatively inexpensive tool; top quality not being all that necessary.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=combination+square

 

I happen to have high quality machinist tools but that was a legacy acquisition; most run-of-the-mill tools are adequate for scratchbuilding.

 

Back to the tubing, rotate the tube on the rule edge of the square and see where there are high and low spots with the work against the head..... 

 

Back to sanding; you can use your index finger in the cavity of the ring to apply even pressure whilst sanding or filing in a rotating fashion but that does n't work too well when sand a tube end. You usually get tubes fresh fro the manufacturer with perfectly perpendicular ends. Slip the tube to be dressed into the next size larger tubing that still has the manufacturer's cut That will act as a guide for making your work square as well.

 

Let me know if I didn't cover anything.......

 

'Just checked my links and noted some really cheap tools; Avoid any tools made of plastic or having stamped rules; that's just too cheap. Ha!

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Blackadder

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Blackadder and the Lost Weekend:

 
In spite of unfortunate necessary commitments I still manages to cobble together a reasonable facsimile of a Volcano cannon although the photo image reveals some barely acceptable flaws that board on intolerable.
 
http://i.imgur.com/WwzSN64l.jpg
 
I'm rather pleased at the muzzle which was quite unnecessarily a cause for trepidation but the breech detail doesn't quite make the grade being too bulky and crude.
 
I'm hoping the addition of the rest of the appurtenances will bring the breech together and not promulge* a rebuild.
 
http://i.imgur.com/07f0BzYl.jpg
 
*I love it when I confound the 'Spell checker' Ha!
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Blackadder

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Fear of Flying:

 
I sometimes wonder when I embark on these projects what is my actual motivation.
 
Certainly I have great difficulty bringing each to completion. Granted Lucie is pretty much complete and the Warlord lacks only electronics and final painting.
 
The Tyranid army is going well, I have to practice more with my washes technique.
 
The Reaver project is stalled sadly because of lack of inspiration.
 
This Thunderhawk progress seems to be monopolizing all my work time this past week and I am greatly surprised and pleased with this my current work.
 
The Volcano Cannon has been a thorn in my side because I lacked the confidence to scratch build the fine detail. 
 
http://i.imgur.com/6uqRMhKl.jpg
 
Well today for the first time I installed the completed cannon on its carriage mount and it fits the role satisfactorily.
 
Although appearing slightly smaller than the FW T'hawk's gun I think it suits the scale better overall. (It is in point of fact slightly longer than the FW cannon.)
 
http://i.imgur.com/ut86H4ql.jpg
 
The trunnion mount affords a full range of elevation if that is actually necessary for a line of sight weapon.
 
http://i.imgur.com/MKxKfSTl.jpg
 
This side view shows the scale of the Volcano cannon in relation to my outsized Thunderhawk that I measured today at 750 MM / 29 inches; ten inches longer than the FW original.
 
http://i.imgur.com/Raixekzl.jpg
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Blackadder

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Look Ma, No Dihedral:

 
Ever since I started this model the one thing that has vexed me was the droopy wings. Unfortunately I could have nipped the problem in the bud by installing a proper wing spar in the first place as does virtually every aircraft since the dawn of aviation and considering my background in aviation you would think I would have known better. Alas No!
 
So finally over the weekend I addressed the issue since all the delicate detail work is done and liable to costly damage from an errant drill bit or slip. Let it never be said that The Blackadder has not cornered the market on outright stupidity.  
 
http://i.imgur.com/jCIeaQil.jpg
 
Anyway from the image above you can see everything went swimmingly and with only a few more grey hairs I now have installed a rugged wing spar that removes all the negative Dihedral from the model and ties the wings to the fusilage secure enough for active transport if needs be but also allows for disassembly should the occasion arise.
 
http://i.imgur.com/JIIwG5Ol.jpg
 
I have always maintained the the reason for the FW flying Lascannon struts were to support the wings from drooping on their T'hawk model because they also did not allow for the wing weight as well, so my stupidity is in good company.
 
http://i.imgur.com/fvWocZ5l.jpg
 
I need to install stops on my strut travel.
 
http://i.imgur.com/0tcGnuhl.jpg
 
Here we see the disassembled outer wings with the 1/4 inch aluminum rod installed to strengthen the wing structure. Drilling a twelve inch long contiguous hole through the wings and fuselage taxed all my limited abilities.
 
http://i.imgur.com/tQ4pkLsl.jpg
 
I really need to straighten up my work room!
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