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Blackadder's Scratchbuilt Thunderhawk


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Is this project still ongoing?

 

Would love to see how it turns out

 

It's only been a couple of months since I last worked on this. Right now I am on a roll with the Warlord

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...p;#entry3058454

 

and I want to get the legs complete before my son gets home from college. I'll be picking up the T'hawk again in June.

 

Thanks for the interest I have some interesting ideas regarding this model.

  • 2 months later...

Wow BlackAdder That is awesome work. I'm beginning to embark on a project to scratch build my own thunder hawk and in preparation for it I was searching through the forum seeking out threads on the Gunship and happened upon yours... Happened upon? Did I really just make that sound like it was a chance find? Anyway. I found your thread. First let me say: Outstandingly awesome work! The huge amount of documentation you have has provided some great insight into your construction process so far and I've learned a ton by reading your thread.

 

Now having said that, I'm wondering if you would mind if I pick your brain a little. Don't worry I'll be careful with the needle and you should come out of it still knowing math. But I'm wondering if you could provide me any advice or pearls of wisdom gleaned from experience in working with styrene when it comes to construction of such a beast. Like right now, my biggest question as to do with the tubing and piping you installed in your thunderhawk. More specifically how did you get the bends in the piping? I was considering heating the rod over a burner of some sort until it becomes pliable then bending it into the angle I need and then cooling it to solidify it. But if you have another method, it's obviously been successful.

 

Now having said all of this I do want to explain that while I greatly admire your work on your thunderhawk, it is your thunderhawk. While I looking at it for inspiration, I do not wish to copy it. Some parts of it I love and would like to emulate. Other things I'm not personally keen on. But has I said, it is your model. So I'm simple interested in your knowledge of working with Styrene.

I always solicit questions on all my threads because much as they may seem an excursion into, "look what I did" they are meant to inform and exchange ideas on construction.

 

There is nothing in your question that would necessitate an PM and a public posing of the question may be of benefit to others with similar problems in construction. Another thing is my T'hawk thread is drifting slowly back from the first page and a reply will bring it back to current. I plan to resume work on my 'hawk soon but I need to complete the basic structure on the Warlord so I can detail them together.

 

To answer your question mainly on the T'hawk I bent various sized rod up to 1/8th inch. Styrene is so flexible it can be bent by hand alone no heating necessary. To make a 90° bend you have to bend slowly way passed 100° so when the styrene springs back it has fatigued into the correct/desired angle. The trick is to bend slowly and evenly otherwise the rod will flatten on the outside of the bend. All round stock has what is called a "minimum bend angle radius" which causes flattening or breaking at the bend if exceeded. You must be careful not to exceed the radius for the above reason and it will look wrong as well.

 

Try making your bend before you cut your stock to size. It's easier to bend a long piece of rod than short piece as there is more stock to hold onto and apply pressure until the heat of the bending dissipates and the bend sets.

 

Bending tubing is more difficult as the tube tends to flatten easier than solid rod. The bend angle radius for tubing requires a much more gradual bend. If you need to bend tubing try inserting a rod or wire inside the tube to resist the tendency for the tube to collapse. Once you get up to tubing a quarter inch in diameter there ar relatively cheap tube bending spring sets available at Lowes and Home Depot that slide over the tube and prevent the tube from collapsing when you bend it.

 

Always remember that the tube collapses because the bend is too extreme and even if you succeed bending it, it will look wrong.

Part of the problem of a construction of this type and magnitude is keeping the upper works light enough that it won't be top heavy. In particular the ruddy great guns stuck out a foot/0.3 meters from the CG imparting a tipping arm that can be measured in a substantial fraction of a pound/kilo. I have stated previously that PVC tubing will be too much mass for stability but to make a sturdy enough tube is difficult.

 

I have now what I believe to be the solution.

 

Starting with a full sheet of 'Evergreen 0.5 mm styrene I divided it into 6 equal parts of 50 mm width. The reason for this is that while bending a 50 mm wide strip tightly around a PVC tube is well within my capacity bending evenly a 150 mm sheet is not; you may prove better than I at that endeavor.

 

http://i.imgur.com/QWafC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QWafCl.jpg

 

Once I have a proper overlap wound and cemented I opted to glue the remaining tail of the strip on as well for seam reinforcement.

 

I now had 6, 50 mm long tubes of the required diameter.

 

http://i.imgur.com/xzn0f.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/xzn0fl.jpg

 

Sliding the relatively near perfect tubes back onto the PVC tube and mating the seams I applied a liberal amount of cement on the periphery of the seam I pushed the segments together until tiny beads of plastic oozed from the seam and allowed to dry the result being an extremely light near perfectly round 150 mm styrene tube to build my gun barrels around.

  • 7 months later...

There is a lot of speculation in the Яussian community about a release of a Plastic Thunderhawk.

This photo is in the latest issue of WD.

http://cs313121.vk.me/v313121329/a5/MBHgvzh4ta0.jpg

Can anyone post a larger image?

Anyway Eventually I shall have to resume building my over-sized T'hawk just to complete it as it is already in a fairly advanced state.

http://i.imgur.com/30Wgy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/30Wgyl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/hkgm3.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/hkgm3l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/O94R1.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/O94R1l.jpg

and now I am about to be upstaged by GW but wait?

There are significant similarities between that GW T'hawk and mine.....

Could I get them on © infringements? XD

First we'll start with where I am on the overall T'hawk. It's been a year since I worked on this so it will take me a bit of time to come up to speed. 
 
 

http://i.imgur.com/KiICIfS.jpg
 

http://i.imgur.com/KiICIfSl.jpg
 
http://i.imgur.com/uDhEYKIl.jpg
 
As I recall I was working on the retractable landing gear so that will be a good place to start.................

After a concentrated search I found this image also from WD I believe which shows a very pristine looking model with extremely crisp lines ( no moulded in warping) a different volcano cannon than the FW production model, no Aquila on the cockpit which I believe was moulded in. Not that I am anxious for a plastic T'hawk which renders my project moot but there seem ample evidence for the suspicion that one is forthcoming.

http://i.imgur.com/XNkco1b.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/XNkco1bl.jpg


RETRACTABLE NOSE LANDING GEAR

Started on the nose gear retractable landing gear today. I want a fully movable gear that retracts and extends and there is a very limited space between the gear bay and the floor of the cargo bay. The big issue is the collapsible oleo strut which acts as a shock absorber when the aircraft lands. I lost a couple of hours sleep the past few nights coming up with a workable design.

We'll see how it works out.........................

http://i.imgur.com/DXEJoqL.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DXEJoqLl.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/M6BLTGj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/M6BLTGjl.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/GZNXRuZ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GZNXRuZl.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/DdRGWVj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/DdRGWVjl.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/7BE7gdz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/7BE7gdzl.jpg

.......................................... I'm glad to see that you're picking this project back up, but wouldn't this take away from the Titan?

I hope not, I'm just about finished with the titan and need a bit of a break I've been working on it steady for a year, from about the time I put aside the T'hawk and I always had it in the back of my mind to resume the T'hawk after a year. I just didn't realize how far I would progress with the Warlord.

 

Anyway I need to regroup before I tackle the electronics.........

There you see I've come back to this refreshed with new ideas and a firmer grasp on modeling techniques and not afraid to go 'where' a year ago I would have feared to tread..............
 

http://i.imgur.com/568HB4O.jpg
 

http://i.imgur.com/568HB4Ol.jpg
 
 
http://i.imgur.com/5t0yd9ml.jpg
 
This may actually work!

That picture is still a Forge World Thunderhawk.

 

The kit comes with two cannon options, and the Aquila on the cockpit is optional.

 

EDIT: Or at least, the recent discussion on Faeit 212 opines so. I'm inclined to agree, but that doesn't hold too much weight.

Oh Kay, I wasn't aware of that. :blush:

 

The Retractable Nose Gear Cylinder Shock Strut Mechanism
 
Below is the system I came up with to allow the nose gear to retract and still compress when the weight of the model is on the extended foot plate.
 
This will allow the foot plate to extend forward to act as the nose gear bay door as in the original model but still be the landing foot pad when the gear is deployed. 
 
The mechanism works but I still need to get the length right and I may need weaker springs. I'll have to see when the gear is installed in the model.
 
The components manufactured................

http://i.imgur.com/UHAqKgB.jpg
 

http://i.imgur.com/UHAqKgBl.jpg
 
the components partially assembled................
http://i.imgur.com/zAshg9il.jpg
 
The shock strut in full extention.............
http://i.imgur.com/xUUvXWBl.jpg
 
Compressing the shock strut allows 1.5 cm of travel...........
http://i.imgur.com/X5sPaE5l.jpg

The strut I am working on right now is the landing shock absorber. Where I am using springs, on a real aircraft the cylinder would contain hydraulic fluid and compressed air. My piston lock mechanism is similar but simpler than that which is used on an actual aircraft.

 

The boxlike structure is the landing gear recess called the 'bay'.

 

To the end of the shock strut will attach the 'landing foot pad' which will also act as the nose gear 'bay' door when the gear is retracted.

 

I hope!

 

Next, The 'landing gear retract cylinder assembly'............. 

After a concentrated search I found this image also from WD I believe which shows a very pristine looking model with extremely crisp lines ( no moulded in warping) a different volcano cannon than the FW production model, no Aquila on the cockpit which I believe was moulded in. Not that I am anxious for a plastic T'hawk which renders my project moot but there seem ample evidence for the suspicion that one is forthcoming.

 

http://i.imgur.com/XNkco1b.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XNkco1bl.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 There are windows on the side of the thunderhawk on this pictues witch do not appear on the forgeworld model and an antenna, unless these are optional too...

 

Truly great work on your project blackadder

Nose Gear Installed Temporary
 

The nose gear mount plate is temporarily taped in place to see what the gear extension looks like. The foot plate is just attached with loose fitting plastic bushings.........
 
In the side view below the gear strut is canted forward but it can be set to vertical, I still ambivalent about that, I should have taken a vertical image position.
 
http://i.imgur.com/qQafiEFl.jpg
 
Dang! the bushing slipped out when I was setting the pose. There is too much gear well showing in the cargo bay. I'll have to shim up the exterior reinforcement plate.
 
http://i.imgur.com/WLkfaDwl.jpg
 
A quarter view just because it looked good to me. Note the negative dihedral to the wings. The attach bolts are loose...............
 
http://i.imgur.com/Qe0lnjCl.jpg 
 
Now that the gear is satisfactory I disassemble it to show the components.........

Below is the nose landing gear removed from the gear well shown in the completely collapsed condition. The shock strut (oleo strut) is completely compressed so it will fit into the well. I am in the process of adding the gear well detail at the moment. Where does the time go.............

 
 

http://i.imgur.com/SmISksz.jpg
 

http://i.imgur.com/SmISkszl.jpg
 
Here we see all the nose gear components including the foot pad and gear well reinforcement panels on the left. The lock pin forward of the foot pad, the gear well itself at the right rear. Forward of that is the shock strut and retract cylinder with their associate trunnion pins.
 
http://i.imgur.com/NsCl05ll.jpg
 
Here is the assembled nose gear showing the shock strut in collapsed position and the exterior of the well showing the axle sleeves for the trunnion pins that lock the gear trunions in place but allow them to swivel.
 
http://i.imgur.com/8QcmyX2l.jpg
 
Front view of the nose gear assembled with the shock strut in full extension and the retract cylinder in full extension and foot pad attached.
 
http://i.imgur.com/IfYIiRgl.jpg

http://dace.me/548805

Below is the nose landing gear removed from the gear well shown in the completely collapsed condition. The shock strut (oleo strut) is completely compressed so it will fit into the well. I am in the process of adding the gear well detail at the moment. Where does the time go.............


http://i.imgur.com/SmISksz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/SmISkszl.jpg

Here we see all the nose gear components including the foot pad and gear well reinforcement panels on the left. The lock pin forward of the foot pad, the gear well itself at the right rear. Forward of that is the shock strut and retract cylinder with their associate trunnion pins.

http://i.imgur.com/NsCl05l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/NsCl05ll.jpg

Here is the assembled nose gear showing the shock strut in collapsed position and the exterior of the well showing the axle sleeves for the trunnion pins that lock the gear trunions in place but allow them to swivel.

http://i.imgur.com/8QcmyX2.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8QcmyX2l.jpg

Front view of the nose gear assembled with the shock strut in full extension and the retract cylinder in full extension and foot pad attached.
 
http://i.imgur.com/IfYIiRg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/IfYIiRgl.jpg

No it's definitely not scratch and it looks tiny. Is the FW T'hawk that small?

 

 

Barely had room for the light module bitz on the foot pad although everything else fitted with room to spare. still have so detailing to do on th top surface of the landing pad and the tread on the underside. but I am winding down for today and considered it time for an update. 
http://i.imgur.com/qatEePo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qatEePol.jpg

Still can't make up my mind whether to cant the gear forward or make it vertical. 
http://i.imgur.com/k4tFtCO.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/k4tFtCOl.jpg
 
The detail inside the gear well is pretty much complete but I still need rivets etc on the reinforcing framework.

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