I found myself with some time off work this week and a heavy duty airframe from an unknown origin (56 mm OD, 51 mm ID) so I figured it’s time to move up from LPR to the world of MPR/HPR. Since my kids are just getting into Star Wars, I showed them Lakeroadster’s X-Wing build thread and they were super excited. I decided to go all out and make a bigger version of one. This one is slightly different because the kids wanted it to be Luke’s X-Wing.
I started out by filling the tube and cutting some rather sad-looking fin slots, but a bit of sanding and fillets will work wonders in the final model.
The tube was a bit rough still and sanding only made it fuzzy, so I made a mixture of wood glue and water (50/50), added a couple coats and sanded it down to get a fairly smooth result.
Next, cut some fins out of 1/8” birch plywood. They’ll still need some touch up and sanding still.
The nose cone is custom turned out of 4 layers of pink foam. Carved with some rough sandpaper to get the general shape, then refined with some 220 grit. The shoulder is a section of the body tube, cut down to an inside tube coupler and then epoxied in place.
While I was cutting out the foam, I went ahead and cut out a cockpit. Those front points get a bit flimsy so this was only as far as I was willing to take the sanding without anything else to strengthen it. I will just finish it with some filler and more sanding once it’s affixed to the body where it will have more support.
And last thing I’ve done this week is work on the winged-motors and mounts. These are only for show on this bird as it’s intended to fly on a single 29 mm motor.
I took two TP rolls and cut them in half to form the large fronts of the engines. Heavy duty card stock was used to create the support structure, and plain card stock was then added as a half circle to fill in the rest of the length of the support structure. Right now, it’s just tacked together with some CA, but white glue or wood glue will be used to bond it all together. An Estes BT-5 tube will serve to attach a BT-20 tube section (not pictured) as the aft part of the engine.
This bird will fly out at my local club launch site, which is in the desert with a rock hard ground. As such, I’ve elected not to extend the motors aft of the fin/wing as it will just break off on landing.
I’m ordering some custom cut centering rings from the local rocket shop (I suck at cutting circles) and a motor mount tube. So once those get in, I can begin some real assembly. In the meantime, gonna look for some good material for an R2 unit.
Some fun dry fit photos of the pieces coming together.
I started out by filling the tube and cutting some rather sad-looking fin slots, but a bit of sanding and fillets will work wonders in the final model.
The tube was a bit rough still and sanding only made it fuzzy, so I made a mixture of wood glue and water (50/50), added a couple coats and sanded it down to get a fairly smooth result.
Next, cut some fins out of 1/8” birch plywood. They’ll still need some touch up and sanding still.
The nose cone is custom turned out of 4 layers of pink foam. Carved with some rough sandpaper to get the general shape, then refined with some 220 grit. The shoulder is a section of the body tube, cut down to an inside tube coupler and then epoxied in place.
While I was cutting out the foam, I went ahead and cut out a cockpit. Those front points get a bit flimsy so this was only as far as I was willing to take the sanding without anything else to strengthen it. I will just finish it with some filler and more sanding once it’s affixed to the body where it will have more support.
And last thing I’ve done this week is work on the winged-motors and mounts. These are only for show on this bird as it’s intended to fly on a single 29 mm motor.
I took two TP rolls and cut them in half to form the large fronts of the engines. Heavy duty card stock was used to create the support structure, and plain card stock was then added as a half circle to fill in the rest of the length of the support structure. Right now, it’s just tacked together with some CA, but white glue or wood glue will be used to bond it all together. An Estes BT-5 tube will serve to attach a BT-20 tube section (not pictured) as the aft part of the engine.
This bird will fly out at my local club launch site, which is in the desert with a rock hard ground. As such, I’ve elected not to extend the motors aft of the fin/wing as it will just break off on landing.
I’m ordering some custom cut centering rings from the local rocket shop (I suck at cutting circles) and a motor mount tube. So once those get in, I can begin some real assembly. In the meantime, gonna look for some good material for an R2 unit.
Some fun dry fit photos of the pieces coming together.
