Blackadder Thunderhawk Project, A Work in Progress

    Rivets Gaah!


    Rivets, the bane of scratch building but it has to be done so heres my relatively painless method of applying rivets.


    I chose 0.035 inch/0,88 mm styrene rod for my cowl rivets and securing the rivets with Ambroid PROWELD thin liquid cement.


    All the tools necessary are visible in the image below and I cannot stress too much to use a NEW # 11 blade in your 1/4 inch Xacto handle.


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


    After you have scribed a pencil line on the work Use your chisel blade to cut a supply of rivet disk (usually 10 or 15 pieces)


    Using the tip of the # 11 blade pick up the rivet and while holding the ready rivet take your cement brush and put a dot of cement on the work piece and slightly press the rivet disk to the work holding it in place for a few seconds.


    Continue procedure ad nauseam.


    After the glue is dried use the steel emery board to dress the rivets to the required height.

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Vertical Stabilizer At Last


    A bit of departure from my usual building technique; I could conceive of no reason to make the tail as a separate modular assembly I probably won't be removing it for any reason and it is a simple assembly.


    I'm starting from a light weight but sturdy framework slightly modifying where it attaches to the engine exhaust due to my taking what I consider the best ideas of the two 3D versions I am working from.


    Although I intend to add a movable rudder (not present in the background wallpaper) and taper the control surface to the trailing edge. but the first order is to get the proportion correct.


    http://i.imgur.com/jmisk1V.jpg

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Vertical Stabilizer Interior


    This seems like a good way to build a rudder system. At any rate its rather strong and with the exo-armour should withstand regular usage.


    The extra long rod is the rudder hinge axis and the cut out forward of the rod will house the counterweight hinge extensions.


    http://i.imgur.com/7ivZ50x.jpg


    The rear angle looks good but the front appears to be more extreme


    http://i.imgur.com/KKlcXA2.jpg

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Vertical Stabilizer Sheeted


    I sheeted the vertical stabilizer with 0.030 inch styrene because I want to add an airfoil to the surface. The notches are cut out and framed and the rudder axis threaded through the bushings.


    http://i.imgur.com/2Hrrb7t.jpg


    Next I cut out the superfluous material I used for a trueness guide to insure the slots were parallel and would not bind when the rudder went through its travel extremes:


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


    The final step of the sheathing and dressing the slots for homogeneity and I was ready to build the rudder core


    http://i.imgur.com/oR1XPKE.jpg

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    The Rudder Core


    The vertical stabilizer and the rudder are heavily armoured for some reason which predisposes the need for counterweights I suppose.


    Therefor to make the rudder not appear too bulky requires a thin and strong internal structure.


    I opted for a center 5/32 inch tube for the rudder axis with a 0.080 inch rod for the axle. This gave me a strong hinge point to build on. I reinforced the axis with a styrene "I" beam and affixed a 0.250 X 0.060 inch strip for the basic structure.


    I then sheathed the ruder with 0.030 inch styrene for the < shape and overall rudder lateral length.


    So the entire rudder core is only 5/32 inch thick and extremely strong for the base material.


    I did pretty much the same for the leading edge counterweight extensions and clamped them so they all were on the same parallel to the rudder core.


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

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    The Rudder Fitting


    So as you can see the rudder is very thin at this point and once the armour sheathing is installed there will be the core sandwiched between layers of external skin elimating weak glue joints in critical axle areas........ (I hope)


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


    Once dried the rudder is mounted for fit and the tolerances are very tight through the extreme movement of the rudder travel.


    http://i.imgur.com/lcnNb7f.jpg


    http://i.imgur.com/6d0Jroq.jpg

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Thanks,


    Armour Detail on Tail:


    about half done on the vertical stabilizer detail. Things are starting to shape up. The rudder has about fifteen to twenty degrees of arc left stop to right stop so that should be adequate. I hope to be installing the rear vents and panels tomorrow.


    http://i.imgur.com/O6bUR5C.jpg


    In this above view you may be able to discern that the stabilizer tapers slightly towards the leading edge.


    http://i.imgur.com/BHEUfQ1.jpg

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Vertical Stabilizer Assembly


    Is pretty much done. Rivets are outsized yeah I know it but they go with the clunky motif of the model.


    In the foreground of the image below is the rudder assembly that shows the multiple layers of construction:


    http://i.imgur.com/WJBeC0j.jpg


    Rudder mounted and at full right rudder position:


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

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    The Interminable Thunderhawk Vents


    Its not that I have forgotten the Thunderhawk but the tedium of making the vent grills is wearing me down and I needed the Reaver diversion to keep intact what little sanity is left to me.


    http://i.imgur.com/REu0C7Z.jpg


    http://i.imgur.com/qU5rbLL.jpg


    Bibblebibblebibblebibblebibble........................

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Blackadder will be down with knee surgery for the next few days. I was led to believe I would be up and about in a matter of hours. NOT!

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Vents Finally Done


    After a week of knee surgery convalescence I finally got my groove back and finished the vent slats. Not up to my usual standard but they are in a position that I can readily replace them if I get ambitious.


    The main gun superstructure should go together quickly now that these labor intense objects are completed.


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

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Superstructure Continues:


    If there is a roundabout way to do things leave it to the Blackadder to pursue that course.


    The superstructure seems a straightforward trapezoidal structure with nothing out of the ordinary to complicate building it until I decided the perpendicular sides should cant in a few degrees at the top and the three armour plates on either side likewise. This adds a taper to the structure's sides much as the columns curve slightly on the Parthenon to give a better illusion of straightness. Were the sides perfectly perpendicular they would appear to flair at the top.


    I also changed the angle of the rear vent panel because my T'hawk is much longer than the original and therefore can be more streamline...... (? Really, Streamline?)


    The overall effect is longer, lower and wider than the FW model and even the 3D rendering is slightly blockier.


    I hope I don't come to regret these departures.........



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



    http://i.imgur.com/d9Ekz6j.jpg

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Simple Trunnion Mount for Cannon


    For those of us with childish bents that have to have moving parts on their models a simple trunnion mount for the main cannon on the T'hawk.


    Starting with a reinforced 7/16 tube with an 3/8 tube sleeve inserted for strength I bored a 3/16th diameter hole through the exact dead center of the tube to mount the barrel core.


    http://i.imgur.com/DzsSh0s.jpg


    Using 2 x 6 mm scrap strips for the trunnion mounts in the superstructure clamped in place with clothes pins overnight gave me a strong base to mount the trunnions.


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


    With the barrel mount trunnions in place in the slot I'm ready to seal the forward end of the mount to capture the elevation assembly for a simple and effective cannon mount elevation system.


    http://i.imgur.com/jfO9HW2.jpg

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Green Stuff, Certainly Not!


    When I make a bad seam as I have just done I feel its important to demonstrate how I remedy the mistake.


    http://i.imgur.com/FXw7EYx.jpg


    Now Green Stuff I understand is unreasonable costly and I have never purchased a tube and styrene is readily repairable; first I clean the bad seam so an inlay can be inserted:


    http://i.imgur.com/rusfoJ5.jpg


    I then take a wisp of scrap styrene (Sorry for the blurred image) and slide it into the seam:


    http://i.imgur.com/aq8pTx2.jpg


    Apply a drop of liquid styrene cement (I use Ambroid ProWeld Thin Cement) and allow to dry for a minute.


    File off the excess and you're done:


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

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Range Finder Component


    I guess the rectangular box on top of the superstructure is some sort of range finder and since the ones included with the sponson mounted lascannons on the Landraider are physically too small I had to scratch a larger one.


    Fortunately the Leman Russ fenders are approximately the size required so I used the smallest for the 'Finder.


    http://i.imgur.com/diH9vs8.jpg


    I used a Jerry can for the interior and a set of binoculars for the range lenses and am dressing the skin to simulate the surface of the item in the 3D image below


    http://i.imgur.com/FXw7EYx.jpg

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    The Risk of Too Much Coverage


    The Main gun superstructure was surprisingly easy to build considering how much I put off building it......... Jeez Blackadder that main cannon looks awfully tiny?


    Right now the above wing armour is sketched in which should give a bit of a boost to the verisimilitude of the project.


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

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Hull Armour


    Heavier and Heavier, this model has slabs of simulated armour that causes serious doubt on the ability to actually remain in the air. Engines powerful as they may be eventually reach a point of diminishing returns. Slabs of armour 4 cm thick and covering 10's of square meters of coverage. That said the new armour surely looks cool.


    http://i.imgur.com/ey73N3i.jpg


    I vacillate on liking this model to incredulity whether it has any chance of airworthiness


    http://i.imgur.com/7LnDZqx.jpg

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    Free Raised Letters for Your Models


    I scraped these off the mouthwash caps when I built the T'hawk's exhaust cones.


    Perfect raised letters (excuse the shaking of the camera in the photo); I cut these off with the chisel tool in the picture but a razor would do as well.


    Of course you are limited to the common letters embossed on the caps of products and prescription drug containers but with judicious editing names etc can be worked out.......


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

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    The Flying Turbo Laser Spar


    The hull trunnion mounts are simple now that I have addressed myself to the fabrication. The only problem is that the wing as I have it situated is about 13 mm too far forward. A simple matter to correct but a good learning experience for me. Don't apply detail until all the basic structure is completed.


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



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


    The most amazing thing about this mistake is it brings the wing trailing edge back to the original projected position when I first laid out the model.

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."

    The Flying Laser Spar:


    Now that the hinge points are established on the hull I can make an estimate on the placement of the Turbo Laser flying spar mount. This structure was added to the FW design to no doubt support the heavy moment of the wing as no amount of gluing could prevent the wings from falling off or drooping on the FW model. Even my wings lightly built as they are suffer from excessive tip droop with my temporary attach screws.


    Anyway I guessed at the placement of the wings on the fuselage and for some reason doubted my placement and mounted them 13 mm further than my original guess. Now I have to reposition them further back the same 13 mm.


    The Flying Spar core structure I guesstimated to be 145 mm long from hinge point to wing cradle the excess being cut off when the Lasers are manufactured. I placed the width at 35 mm which seems a judicious size to build on and 2.5 mm thick which gives me a nice slot to mount the Turbolasers.


    http://i.imgur.com/ck138sv.jpg


    All this will begin to make more sense once the spars are mounted on the hinge trunnion, least wise I hope as I am totally making this up as I proceed.......... :D

    "It is easier to deceive people than it is to convince them that they have been deceived."