wellsprop Posted August 19, 2020 Share Posted August 19, 2020 Hi all, Following my unexpected 1/48 Fairey IIIF CAD build and 3D print, I'm confident that I am able to design and print model planes! 🛩️ I've always been a fan of the Dh Training aircraft and the Dh Chipmunk is on my "trainer collection" build list - however, there is no kit - so, guess what? It sort of looks right. I bet Airfix will release a 1/48 Chipmunk next year, after I've managed to build my own Watch this space 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 I must admit, I'm feeling a little proud of myself this morning... I played around with the wing last night and came up with a main wing I'm happy with, however, I couldn't manage to get the awfully complex blend into the fuselage and rear gull wing correct - see the image below, uploaded to the walkaround by @Julien After an hour or so of projecting compound curves onto a surface extruded from a compound curve, I think I've managed to get something which looks about right. I can live with that. The horizontal tail is far too fat at the moment, I'll get round to sorting that out shortly. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Now this is looking promising, please keep up the good work. 👍🏻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 Bit of work over my lunch break Getting somewhere, the the wing root fillets are a nightmare! Can't get them in properly. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kushan_Farsight Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 great progress. You'll be printing trial parts by the weekend at this rate! I was surprised how this gentle trainer was used in some quite risky ways! Low level convoy escort and secret reconnaissance over Berlin. pretty cool! http://octanescalemodels.com/model-archive/gatow-chipmunk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 7 hours ago, Kushan_Farsight said: great progress. You'll be printing trial parts by the weekend at this rate! I was surprised how this gentle trainer was used in some quite risky ways! Low level convoy escort and secret reconnaissance over Berlin. pretty cool! http://octanescalemodels.com/model-archive/gatow-chipmunk/ I've always wanted to do this scheme, don't know what to do for this kit.... Fantastic history though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 Ok, so I'm feeling even more smug now.... After putting in the little fillet on hte trailing edge of the wing, I was unable to get CATIA to blend the wing root join as it should be. So I gave up trying to get CATIA to do it and instead did all through surface modelling by projecting the profile onto the fuselage then creating a multi-section surface in the shape of a fillet. It's not perfect, it does go a little bit wobbly at about 2/3 chord, but it'll do! Ben 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 I went to the De Havilland museum yesterday, a 300 mile (6 hour) round trip from here in rural Somerset, but well worth the trip! THREE (YES THREE!) Mosquitos, and, pre-lockdown, they opened a brand new hangar housing mainly some of the civilian aircraft - it was excellent, highly recommended I got a good look over the Chipmunk and Tiger Moth too - I also never realised the Chipmunk was a designed in Canada (although the UK version was manufactured under license)! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 A little more work this morning... I played around with the fuselage wing fillets a little more, I don't think I'm able to get them any better now. I'm happy that the overall design is complete now, however I have a lot of detailing to do; Panel lines, Anti-spin strakes, Intakes, Undercarriage, Control surface lines, Cockpit, Prop. The good news is, I've got the hand of building these now and it's only taken me 10 hours so far. Hopefully I will have everything else complete within another 20 hours. Ben 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qn30jEkPz7 Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 Anti spin strakes? Nice potential market as so many on here will have flown in this as their first flight experience with the AEF 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 4 hours ago, LostCosmonauts said: Anti spin strakes? Nice potential market as so many on here will have flown in this as their first flight experience with the AEF Oops, forgot to say I was working on those. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 22, 2020 Author Share Posted August 22, 2020 A little more work this evening... Added the anti-spin strakes, main air intake, cylinders and one of the smaller air intake bulges. A few more detailing bits to go and then the panel lines (I'm not looking forward to the panel lines... Ben 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 24, 2020 Author Share Posted August 24, 2020 I managed a little work yesterday evening and early this morning... Intakes and anti-spin strakes complete. The main undercarriage is mostly complete (aside from a landing lamp), the tail and and all the wheels need completing. The larger jobs left are; panel lines, cockpit, canopy, prop. Ben 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flarpen Posted August 25, 2020 Share Posted August 25, 2020 About panel lines, I've always wondered how the best way is to do that. Do you have any good receipt? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 37 minutes ago, flarpen said: About panel lines, I've always wondered how the best way is to do that. Do you have any good receipt? There are a few ways I use, depending on which is most convenient for the geometry. Method 1; I create new planes, set away from the model's surfaces (imagine the model is in a box, the faces of the box are the new planes). I then sketch the panel lines onto the planes before extruding/padding them onto the surface and I apply a 0.3mm limiter (so the pad extends 0.3mm into the model's surface). I then use a Boolean subtract to remove the panel lines from the model. Method 2; I take the fuselage surfaces and offset them by 0.3mm (so I have a smaller fuselage) before turning this into a solid and then hiding it (we'll come back to it later). I take the solid fuselage (not the offset one!) and cut panel lines right the way through the model,. Following this, I simply add the offset fuselage to the normal fuselage which has had all the panel lines cut into it. Method 3: I create planes and sketches as in method 1, but I then project them onto the surface of the model and either extrude them into the model, or use them as guide curves for grooves (created by sketching the panel line normal to the end of the guide curve). 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 A bit more work done this morning, it's hard to get enough time on this whilst working... I'm happy with the external look, although I still have to complete the tail-wheel, add a small intake at the front and complete the wing tip lights. I have added the undercarriage, landing lamp, prop and control surface lines - I might add a few more details, like the fuel filler caps. Getting there slowly... I need to complete the cockpit and do a fair amount of work on the canopy (I'm going to use it as a vacform mold). Ben 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 25, 2020 Author Share Posted August 25, 2020 Cockpit detail added, wingtip lights added, and that strange very slightly raised wing panel (I think it's for a fuel tank) added To be honest, I'm satisfied that it is now ready for printing - I don;t intend to make any changes to the main aircraft. Only cockpit seats/sticks and the tail-wheel to go... Oh, and building a vacform machine and completing the canopy (I've got a vacuum cleaner, some sheets of wood and some bulldog clips - that'll do). Ben 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Thompson Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 Very interesting. Just one small point, there is actually a kit, but now hard to find - Aeroclub did an injection moulded plastic one with white metal detail parts and a nice decal sheet. Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 4 hours ago, Paul Thompson said: Very interesting. Just one small point, there is actually a kit, but now hard to find - Aeroclub did an injection moulded plastic one with white metal detail parts and a nice decal sheet. Paul. As did Heritage Aviation Models - I've had them on ebay alerts, as well as checking the usual places, for about 6 months but haven't found one yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Thompson Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 1 hour ago, wellsprop said: As did Heritage Aviation Models - I've had them on ebay alerts, as well as checking the usual places, for about 6 months but haven't found one yet! Aaagh. Clean forgot that one (but then, I never had one, while I do have the Aeroclub kit). Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 Ok, the test print is ready to go in The biggest hold up at the moment is the printer workload, it's been going almost non-stop since I got it working a week and a half ago! I intend to only use two print files for this, the first prints the entire airframe, whilst the second prints the cockpit and undercarriage. Hopefully about this time tomorrow, I'll have a complete Chipmunk airframe test print. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis95 Posted August 26, 2020 Share Posted August 26, 2020 Looking forward to how this one turns out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellsprop Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 I'm calling this one done! Yes, the fuselage is lacking a little surface detail, but I'm afraid I'm not going to model every rivet! I may, over time, see if I can add some panel lines - the trouble is, the real aircraft doesn't have particularly distinctive panel lines... As with my Fairey IIIF - I intend to offer this as a limited production kit for those who are interested (still need to sort out a vacform canopy!). It's intended for the fairly dedicated builder who can provide decals, and doesn't mind putting in a bit of effort - I'm an amateur after all and these are literally made in my garage. Ben 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petetasker Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 19 hours ago, wellsprop said: As did Heritage Aviation Models - I've had them on ebay alerts, as well as checking the usual places, for about 6 months but haven't found one yet! Hi there The Heritage kits been reissued by Coastal Craft Models. They don’t have a website but you can contact them at [email protected] 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flarpen Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 This looks really good, I might be interested in getting one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now