Blackadder's Scratchbuilt Thunderhawk

[SotonShades]

Wings are looking epic! Keep up the good, albeit sleep deprived, work! I know a few of my favourite models have come out of that state of mind... natural instinct takes over because my brain can't be bothered to make conscious decisions by that point. Did lose me a tournament recently though. Might have been the hallucinations though.

Either way, a little negative dihedral (also known as anhedrel) on a combat aircraft isn't the end of the world. Just look at the Harrier Jump Jet

[Porty1119]

That is some seriously high-quality work!! My hat goes off to you for some very good plasticard skills!!

[Blackadder]

Thanks for the replies:

Wings are looking epic! Keep up the good, albeit sleep deprived, work! I know a few of my favourite models have come out of that state of mind... natural instinct takes over because my brain can't be bothered to make conscious decisions by that point. Did lose me a tournament recently though. Might have been the hallucinations though.

Either way, a little negative dihedral (also known as anhedrel) on a combat aircraft isn't the end of the world. Just look at the Harrier Jump Jet

According to the 3D images I am following the T'hawk has no dihedral whatsoever.
Its just that the wings are temporarily affixed with a couple of screws that they droop a little but after all this time I needed to see this thing in one piece because my fervent fear in spite of repeated measuring was that the wings would be too short; they looked so small compared to the overall length of the model but as it turned out the model ATM is 660mm long and the wings without the tip stingers are 600mm tip to tip. very much in keeping with currently designed aircraft.

Whew!

[Blackadder]

As familiar as I am with current jet engines I'm stymied by the drum-like affairs surrounding the compressor housing and exhaust turbines on these engines. There are two above and two below and they seem to be vented with louvers fore and aft. My guess is they augment the intake air in the rarefied partial vacuum of orbital space but why they are needed on the rear as well is a mystery. After burner maybe?

Anywho here are the bits components of the basic engine rough cut and ready for final shaping and assembly.


[url]http://i.imgur.com/7sKjo.jpg[/url]


[url]http://i.imgur.com/oCskQ.jpg[/url]


[url]http://i.imgur.com/AnHC8.jpg[/url]

[Blackadder]

Taking the rough cut crescent pieces, I tacked them together with a couple of dots of ambroid and sanded them to the final shape. Then separating them more or less in the middle I reversed the two pieces to see how well they conform to their mirror inages. Then I compared the ends to the middle. Happily they matched up pretty good.


[url]http://i.imgur.com/7yJuv.jpg[/url]


[url]http://i.imgur.com/vN1A4.jpg[/url]


[url]http://i.imgur.com/5h7Yh.jpg[/url]

[DrLove42]

As someone with a masters degree in aerospace engineering i think i can answer. Admittadly fw engineering rarely matches up with real engineering.

The closest reality is a bypass ratio. its an aorflow around the combjstion area that increases the efficiency of the engine. in modern jets the ratio is very small, but modern transport and civil aviation is a much larger ratio, up to 20 to 1.

[Blackadder]

As someone with a masters degree in aerospace engineering i think i can answer. Admittadly fw engineering rarely matches up with real engineering.

The closest reality is a bypass ratio. its an aorflow around the combjstion area that increases the efficiency of the engine. in modern jets the ratio is very small, but modern transport and civil aviation is a much larger ratio, up to 20 to 1.

You're talking about a bifurcate duct and admittedly commercial jet liners get up to 80 to 90% of their thrust from turbo fans but all of the fans I've experience with are round, unless there are two small fans one above and one below the intake. I fail to see how they can revolve but thanks for the reply; there is not much I enjoy more than a technical discourse 'septin' mebbe doing the nasty.

[Blackadder]

The whatever it is cowling for the engine basic construction. The first two I made just for practice and are 23 mm long and the base flairs slightly. They will be abbreviated and used on the belly engine. The next set will be for the wing engines now that I have the specs down and will be 22 mm in length.


[url]http://i.imgur.com/0OwBu.jpg[/url]


[url]http://i.imgur.com/MGAFA.jpg[/url]


[url]http://i.imgur.com/bpVYu.jpg[/url]

Only eight more to do, I do so hate repetition!

[Blackadder]

Have a look at the prototype. This will be used on the middle engine below the hull and was practice to get the spacing down right.

I bought a sleeve of half round dowels when I was building Lucie and haven't had a use for them until now.

Never throw anything away is my credo,


[url]http://i.imgur.com/knLJq.jpg[/url]


[url]http://i.imgur.com/INxSa.jpg[/url]


[url]http://i.imgur.com/qqz9A.jpg[/url]

[SotonShades]

Looks pretty spot on to me