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P38 Lightning!

Discussion in 'WarBirds' started by tvcasualty, Dec 16, 2008.

  1. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    looking at the time stamps on my threads, I estimate about 10 hours... Even still a bunch of time was wasted getting things "right." Like most cad work, you gain major ground in design time as you get more familiar with it. It is possible to turn out a simple plane in a few hours time, you just have to know what you are doing.

    Honestly, I'm still in a learning phase with sketchup, end result wont get much better, only faster. Ie, I spent at least double this amount of time on the corsair, and most of that time was on the wings. With a few tricks I picked up on the forums I cut hours off my design time.
     
  2. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    Pics of the wing!
    Learned a little bit more from this endeavor,...
    If you put tape on the part you are trying to bend at a sharp angle it will keep the foam from breaking at the corner. The first half of the wing I didn't do that with and it popped at the LE. I was able to glue it back together, but it was a pain. The other side I taped and had no problem at all.


    Off the printer... should have mentioned 1/16th bit, NOT the 1/8, for the g-code I uploaded.

    Formers laying in place...


    and now...
    I'm on hold, I need more foam! -and I need some motors!
    So I'm gonna work on that MiG some more today... and some other projects my wife wants done before Christmas! Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  3. firetrappe

    firetrappe Member

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    Great work TV :eek: . Thanks for digging the camera out to take some piccys, it looks like it fits together perfectly! You must be really pleased.
    Is there any reason that you didn't cut any fold-lines on the inside of the LE?

    Can't wait to see the fus...someone give the man some more foam! lol
     
  4. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    Yes! There is, I only cut the very LE fold, if the others are cut it makes the fold pretty easy, but the entire wing loses that smooth appearance, ends up looking corrugated or something... lol I really did have to dig it out btw! ;)

    Thanks!
    When I was cutting this out my z zero was malfed up again, so I stopped it an punched out the elevator, with out opening the lid, I fixed the z and re-ran the code... Would you believe the pp went along the EXACT path over again? I wish I would have had video, it would have been great PR to see it moving that accurate! The pp just keeps impressing me.
     
  5. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    Just for fun...
     
  6. firetrappe

    firetrappe Member

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    Thanks TV, the single LE fold makes sense now. I've never used FFF, so i'm not sure how easily it bends.

    Funny that you mention the accuracy of the PP, I had a similar experience when I was doing some test cuts on EPP with a new 1.5mm bit I was trying. I was cutting some 1" diameter circles out and realised that the bit wasn't coming through the foam quite far enough. I fixed the Z and re-ran the code without any issues. Like you say, it followed the exact same path and I didn't lose any parts. The more I use mine, the more impressed I am.
     
  7. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    What kind of foam did you do that "firetrappe" engraving on? That looked like pretty high qualty stuff! I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't get the blue FFF anymore.
     
  8. firetrappe

    firetrappe Member

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    That was done on some 6mm green Depron. I used to be able to buy a pack of 10 sheets for £10 ($15) from the local hardware store, but they discontinued it a few months ago. There's no such thing as 'cheap foam' here in the UK unfortunately.
     
  9. Taoweiji

    Taoweiji New Member

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    That is awesome!

    Where can I learn to use Sketchup like that? Are there more tutorials that show you how to turn the flat 2d image in to the 3d formers etc?

    I have some projects I would like to get into ,like the Q400 and Denel Cheetah.
     
  10. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    Taoweiji, I've got a few years of CAD under my belt from here and there... Kram's got some nice starter vids up on what to do with a 3-view, I use most of those steps before adding that extra dimension...

    Anyway, I've got an update on this!

    What a bear to unfold, this took weeks! No lie, it was very tedious, and I spent an hour here and there until I've got it to this point... Next week I'll spend my time adding tabs to this! lol!

    I plan to add some template for the roundels and some squadron letters before I actually cut the foam, but I've got to clean off the spot were my pp goes so I can start cutting anyhow. Attached files [​IMG]
     
  11. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    Looking great tvcasualty
    Can't wait
    Mark
     
  12. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    Still got a long way to go on this one, hardware mounting is gonna take some creativity....
    Then there is the issue that I still need some parts before I can mount anything.

    But I think it's lookin' good so far!
    Seems each one of these I build has a special challenge to it, the booms on this one were actually very difficult to form, especially that second one, I think my hot glue was a bit too hot, the seams just didn't want to hold. Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  13. 3DMON

    3DMON Moderator Staff Member

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    Nice looking plane TV!
    I have the same problem with the glue gun getting too hot. I've been thinking about building a dimmer controlled outlet box to tame my hot glue gun down a bit. The box would work nice for the soldering iron as well.
     
  14. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    !!! Great idea 3DMON !!!

    In fact I've got a solder iron dimmer, just never thought of using it w/ my hot glue gun!
    This will be a major help on future builds, as the glue gun sometimes is 'ok' when it's cold out, but when the temp starts to warm up, it needs less juice!

    A quick search turns up:
    http://www.instructables.com/id/10ish_D ... ontroller/
     
  15. Jnida63

    Jnida63 Member

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    Totally wicked, that is my favorite plane of all time
     
  16. i-fly-any-and-all

    i-fly-any-and-all New Member

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    uh my royal b-17 is better! lol
     
  17. i-fly-any-and-all

    i-fly-any-and-all New Member

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    hey hope your not going to put kiddie toys (electrics) in there!
     
  18. kyyu

    kyyu Active Member

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    I built one, like this, a few years back for my soldering iron. I can use it for my hot wire cutter, too, but it has worked fine so far without any adjustment. I've even used it on my drill press. You can't do fine control like this on a drill press. But I think the min rpm, on mine, is like 600 rpm and I can get the speed to drop by half. Sometime, you have to wait for it to wind up, but it spins fine once it gets going. Here is a pic:

    Attached files [​IMG]
     
  19. 3DMON

    3DMON Moderator Staff Member

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    This would work good for variable speed on the dremels in our machines too.
    Nice work Kwok!
     
  20. kyyu

    kyyu Active Member

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    I thought the same thing, but it doesn't work with a dremel. You turn it down a little bit and the dremel stutters and shut off. You got to wonder how, a dremel is actually wired up?

    -Kwok
     
  21. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    lol link me!

    I can only afford kiddy toys!
     
  22. rcav8r

    rcav8r Moderator Staff Member

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    May want to be careful using a dimmer on an A/C motor (i.e dremel) as it chops up the wave, and most of these "cheap" AC motors don't like this and over heat.
     
  23. tvcasualty

    tvcasualty New Member

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    Alright, I've gotta confess, I'm temporally shelving this awasome plane.
    Here are my reasons:
    #1 I still lack proper motors.
    #2 Even if I had them, I'm at a real loss on how to mount 3 servos in her to make everything work well.
    -Which brings me back to #1

    The best solution is just to up the servo count.
    -But then I start getting really worried about the ESC burning up at about 4 servos.
    So that would need an additional power supply.
    -But then I worry about the plane being too dense!

    The real solution? Build BIGGER!
    I'm thinking two 3S A123 2300 packs, running TWO BH 2820-06 motors...
    I'm gonna have to work out the size on all that, but now I talking about running two 11-12" props, which would have to counter rotate for me (and that's another problem for down the line :D).

    That bring me to reason #3 this guy is going to be pushed off until at least next year, it will make way for a few other projects I have the parts for right now.

    But don't worry too much, I will end up doing something with the foam P-38 I have now, it WILL NOT go into the trash, but I thought everyone would like the update.
     
  24. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

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    :eek: Next Year!
    :D JK Sound like its going to be a huge plane, it going to look so cool. I also can't wait to see what you have going on for your next projects TV good to hear from you again and thanks for the update
    Mark
     
  25. xtremeRCpilot

    xtremeRCpilot Member

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    WOW TV, your work is above and beyond my Friend, I hope to get there someday :D
    Looking forward to the flight log!!

    John
     

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