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1:48 Scale Matra 155 SNEB rocket pods


Flying Badger

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Recently developed 3D model of these armaments. I developed them for the Hawker Hunter model but this is a common rocket pod for many aircraft types from Puma helicopters to Harrier GR3s 

 

20230112_075058.jpg20230112_075519.jpg

(The live fire version after printing (left); view through open rocket tubes inside tail cone (right))

 

The pods come in one of three variants (just tell me which you want)

  1. Live Fire Pods fully loaded with SNEB 68mm rockets (open nosecone, rockets in the body and a tail cone)
  2. Live Fire Pods empty (post sortie or for dioramas being loaded etc) (open nosecone, body with open tubes all the way through, and a tail cone)
  3. Dummy pods for training or display (nose fitted with fairings in the rocket tubes, body with rocket tubes only open at rear, and a tail cone) 

 

20230112_075402.jpg

(prototypes of the final parts showing all the different available parts)

 

20230112_075143.jpg

 

The pods are all printed with fine details including panel lines and rivets. Atop the main body is a pair of attachment loops included only for dioramas and unmounted depictions (these are very fragile and don't survive wash and cure every time. As they are probably unwanted if you are mounting these on an aircraft this is not an issue most of the time. However if you are doing an unmounted depiction or diorama please let me know and I will make sure to pack ones with good brackets.

 

Cost for 1 pair of pods £3 + postage DM me to order and also tell me which variant you want.

 

If you want them in a different scale, please get in touch to discuss what's possible.

 

In the near future I'll be working on a set of pylons to mount these to the Academy Hawker Hunter and I'll add them to this information when they are ready.

 

Flying Badger.

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On 1/15/2023 at 5:28 PM, wellsprop said:

These are cracking!

Thanks very much. I had fun 3D modelling them. 

I still have a minor edit to make for the final print / sale version incorporating some information supplied by user Selwyn about the lever that safes the rockets on the ground but otherwise they are ready to go.

 

Cracking indeed, although in more ways than one... the v2 batch of these as I was developing the design were left too long in the alcohol wash (I'm using water washable resin but it gets a final dunk in IPA to pop the details and speed up drying time). As the alcohol dried rapidly it caused the main body of the live but empty version to crack along the length at it's thinnest point. 😬

 

Now they are fully dry the crack closed back together and a touch of glue would have sorted it, but for the final version I've been more careful about slowing the drying process down to avoid this!

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

More upgrades to this aftermarket weapon set....

 

Added in some missing surface detail and also some alignment pins / holes for the tail and nose pieces - these should now only fit one way up and centred.

 

Latest print straight off the printer (hence still covered in liquid resin ready to be washed off in the wash station):

20230302_181448.jpg

 

Some of these will go to my first customer! 🙂

 

Too much liquid resin remaining on the parts is a waste so I made a drip hanger for the print bed - hangs the print bed at an angle over the vat so most of the excess can drip off into the vat. 

I originally bought one from etsy but it was poorly designed and hung the print bed off to one side so the printer cover no longer fitted. Having made my own design in Fusion 360 I've printed it out and it works great. I'll be offering those for sale too once I can iron out the support issues to get a perfect print.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A few messages requesting to buy these spurred me to deal with the issues with the first batch (too many supports led to filled in alignment holes etc.

Also decided to give my bottle of 8K standard resin a go to maximise the detail quality (the ABS like resin in the previous post was OK but lost a tiny bit of detail)

 

Here is the final production version.... live but empty pods on the left, two rows of dummy/display version in the middle and the live with rockets version on the right:

20230313_183107.jpg

 

Quite happy with the detail level now. Also you can see the house outline shaped alignment plug on the top of the main body of this one:

20230313_183206.jpg#

 

The tail cone has a similar alignment plug and the rear of the body and the rear of the nose both have corresponding shaped holes:

20230313_183304.jpg20230313_183322.jpg

 

All that adds up to a nicely aligned set of parts with groups of rivets on the nose that represent the internal latch bracket on the real thing:

20230313_183421.jpg

 

This is a dry fit with no preparation. In reality the flat join surfaces need a very gentle sand to take down the tiny irregularities where the support structure attached. Those joint surfaces are never seen again once joined so a gentle sand without needing to polish them to a shine is all that's needed.

Also you can see that whilst the mounting loops printed well... they're just a tad fragile at this scale. 99% of people aren't going to want them as they'll be mounting these pods to a wing pylon etc. but I included them to show off and because someone might just want to do a weapons loading diorama. 

 

If you are interested the introductory offer of £3 per pair of pods +P&P will last until this batch of final production ones are done. After that the price will go up a little to account for paypal fees etc (forgot to take those into account for this first batch of parts... oops!). 

 

I also have the previous batch of slight 2nds where the alignment holes in the dummy nose got filled in a bit when printing so the noses need to be manually aligned after the body's front peg is sanded off. They're printed in ABS like resin and the rivets don't show as well on those. They still look good, just not as good as the full detail ones. So if anyone wants any of them get in touch with a suggested offer as they are just sitting on the shelf.

FB

 

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6 hours ago, PeteH1969 said:

They are very nice.

 

What would you want to print them in 32nd?

 

Pete

Hi Pete,

 

 Not sure.

 

 I modelled them at 1:1 and applied a scale factor in Lychee slicer so there is no reason they won't go straight to 1:32... However I had to simplify the detail of the latches for 1:48 as there just wasn't the size to resolve any details and at that size it's fine. But at 1:32 there is a lot more space to resolve better detail so I'd want to add that back. 

A quick scale in Lychee says its about 5 1/2 hour print time in the current files at 1:32. 


The reskit versions sell for about £19 a set of 4 which seems OK if a little high. The reskit ones are rather a work of imagination... far too many rivets etc. compared to the real appearance of the things, but it does highlight some details mine are unable to reproduce at 1:48 which would be easy enough to incorporate at 1:32 given a couple of weeks to work on the design.

 

I'd say £7.50 a pair of rockets + P&P as an initial estimate but assuming I can get the design to work well.

 

FB

 

 

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I got my delivery of these the other day.

They are great.

Very very sharp details and the dry fit goes together better than similar type resin weapons from well established large suppliers.

Because the cold weather has affected my compressor I'll have a delay before I work on them, I want thin applications to keep the details.

Going to be great on Hawk/Harrier/Buc etc

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3 hours ago, Westie7 said:

I got my delivery of these the other day.

Glad they got there safe. Thanks for the kind words and let me know how they go. 

 

I meant to message you last night with some additional notes as I haven't had chance to put together some instructions documents to be dispatched with these yet......

 

You may already be aware but... as they are not injection moulded plastic, standard plastic kit glue won't work well (e.g. Tamiya extra thin cement) as that stuff works as a solvent chemically melting adjacent plastic surfaces and fusing them together and this material doesn't respond the same as the polystyrene of injection moulded kits. 

Instead you'll need to use a traditional style glue or epoxy (CA glue or epoxy both work well on printed resin).

That and I'd recommend a gentle sand on the mating surfaces to remove any residual micro bumps from the printing support (especially on the back of the nose cones) there is a panel line at the nose to body and tail to body join point so a slight gap will look entirely fine.

 

FB

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23 minutes ago, Flying Badger said:

Glad they got there safe. Thanks for the kind words and let me know how they go. 

 

I meant to message you last night with some additional notes as I haven't had chance to put together some instructions documents to be dispatched with these yet......

 

You may already be aware but... as they are not injection moulded plastic, standard plastic kit glue won't work well (e.g. Tamiya extra thin cement) as that stuff works as a solvent chemically melting adjacent plastic surfaces and fusing them together and this material doesn't respond the same as the polystyrene of injection moulded kits. 

Instead you'll need to use a traditional style glue or epoxy (CA glue or epoxy both work well on printed resin).

That and I'd recommend a gentle sand on the mating surfaces to remove any residual micro bumps from the printing support (especially on the back of the nose cones) there is a panel line at the nose to body and tail to body join point so a slight gap will look entirely fine.

 

FB

 

Cheers for the heads up.

I expected to have to do a bit more sanding before mating, but this is very close first time and only needs a bit of fettling. Def not as much as the last bunch of BSU-86 tails I made up ;)

I plan on doing Mr surfacer dark base then the bright finish. I've no doubt it will be fine 

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On 1/12/2023 at 1:59 PM, Flying Badger said:

Recently developed 3D model of these armaments. I developed them for the Hawker Hunter model but this is a common rocket pod for many aircraft types from Puma helicopters to Harrier GR3s 

 

20230112_075058.jpg20230112_075519.jpg

(The live fire version after printing (left); view through open rocket tubes inside tail cone (right))

 

The pods come in one of three variants (just tell me which you want)

  1. Live Fire Pods fully loaded with SNEB 68mm rockets (open nosecone, rockets in the body and a tail cone)
  2. Live Fire Pods empty (post sortie or for dioramas being loaded etc) (open nosecone, body with open tubes all the way through, and a tail cone)
  3. Dummy pods for training or display (nose fitted with fairings in the rocket tubes, body with rocket tubes only open at rear, and a tail cone) 

 

20230112_075402.jpg

(prototypes of the final parts showing all the different available parts)

 

20230112_075143.jpg

 

The pods are all printed with fine details including panel lines and rivets. Atop the main body is a pair of attachment loops included only for dioramas and unmounted depictions (these are very fragile and don't survive wash and cure every time. As they are probably unwanted if you are mounting these on an aircraft this is not an issue most of the time. However if you are doing an unmounted depiction or diorama please let me know and I will make sure to pack ones with good brackets.

 

Cost for 1 pair of pods £3 + postage DM me to order and also tell me which variant you want.

 

If you want them in a different scale, please get in touch to discuss what's possible.

 

In the near future I'll be working on a set of pylons to mount these to the Academy Hawker Hunter and I'll add them to this information when they are ready.

 

Flying Badger.

Don't know where you got your pod descriptions from but they are dead wrong!

 They are; 

!. Rocket pod filled with High Explosive anti tank rockets (HEAT) rockets. Fitted with heat shields on the nose.

2.Rocket pods filled with smoke heads  open nose tubes. (Smoke heads would break on the heat shield if fitted)

3. Empty /fired rocket pods empty tubes.

There were no Dummy pods for training or display in the RAF. empty pods were used.

 Please note when fitted with the heat shield the nose is slightly larger in diameter as the heat shield is trapped between the nose and a thin metal fairing.

spacer.png

You need to add the pop out safety brake  to the rear of the pod bodies at the 8 0'clock position.(viewed from front)

 

https://milinme.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/lafpum-01.jpg

 

Selwyn

 

 

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Hi Selwyn,

 

  Thanks for the feedback. I added the panel lines to represent the safety brake following your kind help and advice a few weeks ago. However it is modelled in the "live" position not popped out "safe" position, as at this scale it is tiny. I'll make a note to provide instructions on how to scratch the brake from a thin bit of brass or plastic and so users can model it in the "safe" position for on the ground if they choose. 

 

As for the names, I had assumed there was an empty dummy version but it seems obvious now you say it that they'd just use the empty ones with the shields on place for practice and display. At 1:48 the thickness difference of the added metal fairing & shield is almost impossible to perceive. So the model parts as they are should be fine , I'll just update my descriptions. However that does rather solve a problem for me... my "dummy" body had no tubes at the front of the part but still had them at the back. On the printer that was causing the circumference of body at the back to bulge very very slightly where it attached to the print supports on some prints which was annoying. It doesn't happen at all on the empty tubes and rockets inside versions so I'll retire the dummy body part and supply the empty tubes version with the shielded nose as a better representation and avoid the bulging print issue. 

 

Again thanks for the invaluable advice and knowledge. 

 

FB

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14 hours ago, Flying Badger said:

Hi Selwyn,

 

  Thanks for the feedback. I added the panel lines to represent the safety brake following your kind help and advice a few weeks ago. However it is modelled in the "live" position not popped out "safe" position, as at this scale it is tiny. I'll make a note to provide instructions on how to scratch the brake from a thin bit of brass or plastic and so users can model it in the "safe" position for on the ground if they choose. 

 

As for the names, I had assumed there was an empty dummy version but it seems obvious now you say it that they'd just use the empty ones with the shields on place for practice and display. At 1:48 the thickness difference of the added metal fairing & shield is almost impossible to perceive. So the model parts as they are should be fine , I'll just update my descriptions. However that does rather solve a problem for me... my "dummy" body had no tubes at the front of the part but still had them at the back. On the printer that was causing the circumference of body at the back to bulge very very slightly where it attached to the print supports on some prints which was annoying. It doesn't happen at all on the empty tubes and rockets inside versions so I'll retire the dummy body part and supply the empty tubes version with the shielded nose as a better representation and avoid the bulging print issue. 

 

Again thanks for the invaluable advice and knowledge. 

 

FB

my pleasure, couldn't see the safety break on you images.

 

Selwyn

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  • 2 months later...

The first batch of these are now all gone. Some great feedback and it's really satisfying to see what you ate all doing with them. 

 

I originally reduced the price for the first batch whilst I learned how to sell them and to get feedback etc.

 

Now I'm happy they work, I know what cut PayPal will take and I've made some adjustments to the model files themselves, the batches from now on will be at the regular price of £5 per pair plus P&P. 

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  • 3 months later...

Hi James,

 

 I don't yet...  I do all CAD modelling at 1:1 scale whenever possible and then scale the resulting STL models in the slicer software down to the scale I want to print at. But that means I have to take into account panel line thicknesses and other detailing and make them sufficiently large enough that they will appear when scaled down - e.g. if you make your 1:1 CAD have panel lines that are 100% accurate (e.g. 3mm gap) that gets scaled to 62.5 microns at 1:48... my printer gets a great 35micron resolution but that 3mm gap still ends up less than 2 pixels on the screen (X-Y) and 2 layers in height (z direction). That is not enough to resolve the detail. So you have to make the panel gaps much bigger than reality so they appear right at 1:48.  If you then scale the same model to a different scale then the panel lines and other details will appear either too big (at 1:32 or 1:24 for example) or not be big enough to resolve detail (e.g. at 1:72) hence the need to redo any CAD modelling to be scale specific.

That being said I've done much of the hard work doing the background research and reverse engineering from what I can find to get the shapes and proportions right so adapting to get the right scale features isn't too onerous to create so I was planning to make them for larger scales - primarily 1:32 as that's not much higher in detail level than the 1:48 scale I have.

 

Not sure about 1:72 as that is very tiny and the detail would be hard to reproduce to make them worthwhile on the resin. Might be worth an experiment. 

1:24 and they'd need some more detailing as at that scale my rivet, panel line and other details would look too crude.

 

F/B Andy

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