 Thu, Dec 23, 2004 |
 Thu, Dec 23, 2004 |
 Tue, Dec 21, 2004 |
 Thu, Aug 4, 2005 |
 Sun, Aug 7, 2005 |
| The original fuselage casting - comparing size with Halcyon APC kit. | next to 72nd scale halcyon kit | master, mould and cast of rocket pod front | ||
 Sun, Aug 7, 2005 |
 Tue, Aug 9, 2005 |
 Tue, Aug 9, 2005 |
 Mon, Dec 19, 2005 |
 Mon, Dec 19, 2005 |
| TSAM mould v2 with an AGM. | The master is symmetrical so only 1 half needed to be machined - then 2 silicone moulds made | a batch of missiles | rear rockpod proof of concept | rear rockepod aft |
 Mon, Dec 19, 2005 |
 Mon, Dec 19, 2005 |
 Thu, Dec 8, 2005 |
 Wed, Dec 28, 2005 |
 Wed, Dec 28, 2005 |
| center section of pod was milled out | closeup of nose and tailfin sections - these aren't accurate since the real filming miniature wasn't closed at the front and rear but this is a whole lot simpler than making 32 individual missiles :) | pilots and seats from 35th scale Apache kit | I decided it would be better to have separate missiles in the rear pods | exhaust flap master and cast |
 Thu, Dec 29, 2005 |
 Wed, Dec 28, 2005 |
 Wed, Dec 28, 2005 |
 Mon, Jan 2, 2006 |
 Mon, Jan 2, 2006 |
| VTOL duct master, mould and cast | harrier duct halves | harrier duct | test assembly | test assembly |
 Mon, Jan 2, 2006 |
 Mon, Jan 2, 2006 |
 Mon, Jan 2, 2006 |
 Mon, Jan 23, 2006 |
 Sun, Jan 29, 2006 |
| all pods hinged - rear pod attachment screws are temporary | Dremelled off the original intakes and rebuilt with more accurate shape. Mockup intake "ramps" will be rebuilt from acrylic sheet | another shot of the rear engine group. | new main engine exhausts and retooled vtol ducts | rebuilt bottom 2/3rd of pod from 2mm styrene sheet |
 Sun, Jan 29, 2006 |
 Sun, Feb 5, 2006 |
 Fri, Feb 10, 2006 |
 Fri, Feb 10, 2006 |
 Sun, Feb 12, 2006 |
| retains original resin top section | front vtol duct prototype | decided I needed more flexibility in homing in on an acceptable canopy shape and more elbow room for the pilots | 1mm plastic card reconstruction of the cockpit walls and canopy. I may end up moving the nose forward and up a bit as this doesn't feel right. | this sure is messy |
 Sat, Feb 18, 2006 |
 Sat, Feb 18, 2006 |
 Sat, Feb 18, 2006 |
 Wed, Feb 22, 2006 |
 Mon, Feb 27, 2006 |
| front pod missile mould | front pod missile cast - the brown area is from copper powder dusted into the mould. Copper seems to work better than talc for the small fins | Test lineup of the front pod missiles Mounting rails for the missiles are 1/4" plastruct I-beam. The pod walls have been thickened up with 2mm styrene. | first cast from a new mould - the flash is tissue paper thin and rubs off with a fingernail the aim-90 fins have a small sprue which needs to be carefully trimmed off | new exhaust flap master and mould |
 Tue, Mar 7, 2006 |
 Sun, Mar 12, 2006 |
 Sun, Dec 31, 2006 |
 Sat, Jan 6, 2007 |
 Sat, Jan 6, 2007 |
| 3D render of front skid | front skid master and cast (testing black tinted resin) | Halcyon APC will fit - but the resin DS walls are a bit thick. A solution would be to completely rebuild the middle box-section with 3mm acrylic leaving ample room for detailing the interior. | Starting on the rear skid. It's about 150mm (6") long | The main Y shaped strut need to be load bearing - might have to hand shape it from solid aluminium |