That Me 163 idea sounds interesting, but I should warn you about adding a larger rocket motor in the back of the Me 163 could bring the CG too far back and make it wildly unstable. And if you add nose weight to balance the larger rocket motor it might fly good when under power but after the propellent is gone the extra nose weight will make the plane nose heavy and the glide angle will be very steep and result in a very hard landing.
If you decide to add a micro R/C unit to your Me 163 it could increase the wing loading so much that the flying quality of the plane will suffer.
Also you should consider where the antenna for the radio will be placed and the elevons should be sealed to prevent control surface flutter during the power phase of the flight.
Good luck with it!
A rocket powered Me 163… Interesting… Whoever though up that idea? [:D] Is it going to be an RC Komet, or more like a model rocket (straight up, straight down/glide down)? Whatever it is, good luck!
frostygirl- Very nice cockpit! It looks like you did a lot with very little. The result is very good.
matrixone- Good to hear you’ve started something. Hopefully I’ll be able to begin my project as soon as I get back from vacation!
I did some more thinking on the power source for my Zwilling, and came up with something that could work, even though it will involve a little more work. Here’s the deal-
First off, I plan to use some pager buzzer motors that only pull about 1.5 volts each. That’s the least amount of voltage I could find, and besides, the motors are tiny. (Less than a half inch long!) I figure, once all 8 are wired up (in series) they’ll pull a total of 12 volts- three more than a 9 volt battery. I thought I could get away with this, but some tests with other motors told me I couldn’t. So, where to get three extra volts…
Solution!
When it’s all said and done, I’m going to end up wiring two seperate curcuits. Six motors (pulling a total of 9 volts) will be connected to the 9 volt, hidden inside one fuselage inside a fuel tank. The remaining two motors will be wired seperatly to a couple of AA batteries (which give 1.5 volts each. Convienient.) which will be hidden in the other fuselage. This mean I’ll have to flip two switches to turn on alll 8 motors, but I’ll live with it.
After today, I’ll be gone for three weeks, so I obviously won’t be posting anything. Until I get back- play nice, have fun, etc., etc., etc…
Thanks for the input, maxitrone. I should have mentioned that you can also use solid propellant rockets - apparently they fly really well on the Rapier L2 rockets, which are about 4cm long, 1.1 cm in diameter and weigh a few grams. Yes, I will have to add weight to get the G of C correct; I think this can be mitigated by placing the micro transmitter slightly more forward; I have seen micro servos as well - in fact there is a micro indoor r/c scale modelling enthusiast group, so I think this is doable - but I have to do LOTS of research. There is also the additional problem of only having one set of ailerons for total control - up down, and left and right turns, this is dealt with by having a transmitter capable of what is known as mixing. Yes, lots of research is needed here. I am also going to get a proper trainer and learn to fly first!!!
Ahem, sorry this wasa bit OT for this GB. I should open a new thread when the real build gets underway!!
I have many years of experience designing, buiding, and flying all kinds of R/C airplanes and the best advice I can give you is to get a trainer airplane and find someone that is experienced in teaching others to fly to help you.
Many times I have seen people try to learn how to fly on their own without accepting help and they ALWAYS destroyed an airplane or two before they understand that flying R/C airplanes is not as easy as it looks.
Make sure whatever radio you install is able handle the flight loads of a high speed airplane, the indoor R/C servos might be too weak for the powered phase of the flight of an aircraft like the Me 163.
On such a small airframe adding any weight at all will increase the wing loading enough to make the glide down quick and the landing speed very high. No problem if you are landing into a strong breeze or landing in tall grass.
No worries - I’m already looking at a trainer model, (hehehe another build project) and I’m going to join a club first [^]
There’s no way I’d try to teach myself! I’ve read about peeps trying to teach themselves and it always ends in disaster. I’m not going down that road!
I’m not in any hurry either; I like taking my time - after all, building is where half the fun is! I’m just intensely curious as to wether it’ll work or not! [:D]
Some technical info: these size Rapier rockets weigh 6.5 grams and have a mean thrust of 91nM, with a peak thrust of 135nM and a burn time of 23 seconds.
Howdy! I decided to pop back in real quick before I leave. Hm… Yep, a whole bunch of stuff I know nothing about! [(-D] I’ve never had the courage to try RC flying. I’d destroy too many planes to count! Okay, that answer’s my question…
In the couple hours between posts, I had another idea how to wire the 290 that will work. Keeping with the seperate curcuits idea, I might wire the two banks of four engines with a 9 volt each. That’d leave 3 volts extra for each. I don’t know. We’ll see.
Good luck on the Komet! And good luck for everyone else!
Here is a couple of pictures of my progress so far on the two models I am working on for the group build, a Monogram 1/48 scale Do 335 and ProModeler Fw 190 D-11.
The Focke-Wulf is not being built OOB, I am converting it into a very late war D-12 or D-13 prototype that is pictured in a Russian book that was given to me years ago. The Focke-Wulf was photographed after the Russian army captured an airfield at or near the end of the war, this Fw 190 D is an unknown type that has the Ta 152 style tail and big air scoop and paddle blade prop, racks for air to ground rockets are seen under the wings. The book has no English text, it is all in Russian so the book is no help in telling me where the photos were taken or any details about the things in the photos. I know of only two other Fw 190 D aircraft that had the Ta 152 style tail installed so my book has photos of a very rare aircraft that should qualify for this group build.
The pictures above show my 1/48 scale ‘‘helpers’’ hard at work building my new models for me.
Well I’m finally making progress on the little DFS.
Cockpit has been painted and installed. I replaced the kit control stick with one from the spares box. There’s not a great deal to the cockpit, and I resisted the urge to add anymore as I have no pictures of the real aircraft’s cockpit. Just left it at adding masking tape belts.
I’ve finally managed to load the software for my new digicam, just need to sort out photo hosting, and then I’ll post some pictures.
Matrixone, that 190 sounds very interesting, can’t wait to see the build.
Really nice job on your Arado!
Of all the Luft 46 bombers the Arado 555 is the coolest looking design the Germans came up with.
It would be great if Revell of Germany would produce a kit of the Ju 287 A-1.
BTW, is that Kubelwagon the Tamiya kit? Whatever kit it is made from it looks great also.
matrixone:
i think i’ll have 2 have the canopy closed…
the clear part is very thickly molded, so i don’t want
2 show the edge at all. looks like PM Models didn’t
make any improvements between the day fighter &
this one… doesn’t mean we can’t, tho’ ! [:D]
can’t wait 2 see that FW190 !
norite:
i actually did use thin strips of masking tape 4 the
seat harnesses, w/ a dab of dimensional fabric
paint 4 the buckles… i thought they came out
pretty well 4 the first time trying, glad u like 'em !
KJ200:
thanx 4 sharing the pix of ur Ar555, it is a fantastic looking
build of a fantastic looking plane. nice work in 1/72…[tup][tup]
now i want one myself… except i get the feeling it’s
a lot bigger than the Ho 229 !
how’s the DFS coming ?
Lucien:
re: R/C flying, someone once said “it’s not IF u crash, it’s WHEN u crash…”[;)]
hope ur having a good time wherever u may b,
hope u find the kit(s) u need 4 ur build
& good luck figuring out ur circuitry dilemma…
i’m sure u r busy working out schematics even now…NOT ! [:D]
Instead of using the kit canopy on your Ho 229 have you considered making your own canopy by heating a clear plastic sheet and draping the heated clear sheet over the stock canopy until it cools enough to retain the desired form?
This way you will still have the option of having the canopy open so all the extra detailing you did can still be seen after the model is finished.
I looked at my kit of the Ho 229 V7 nightfighter and there is some improvement in the quality of the parts over the day fighter version, the intakes on the engines are more rounded and the canopy is much better. I think the day fighter version was one of the first kits produced by PM, they have improved some of their kits since that time.
The worst kit I ever built was the Ta 154 made by PM, avoid that one for sure!
The late war Fw 190 D prototype and Do 335 are turning out just fine so far, but the Fw 190 is an ex-Dragon mold so there are some slight fit problems at times. Dry fitting is a must.
Frosty the Ar isn’t too big in 1/72, as the base it’s sitting on is only a foot square, which gives you some idea.
Matrixone, the Kubelwage is Academy’s in 1/72, it’s only about an inch long!!!
Hopefully I’ll be able to post some pictures later this weekend, as the fusalage halves are together, I just need to clean up the joints. Then it’s on with the wings, which I’ve dry fitted, so I know know filler is required.
Must say, I’m quite surprised at the fit on this little PM kit. I’ts gone together really well.
The seams still need a little work, and some rescribing is required as well.
The squares on the cutting mat are 1 inch, which gives some impression of how small this kit is.
All the parts left to fit are shown in the picture!!! So, at the rate at which I work, that’s about another 2 months work.[;)]
Frosty, Huma make a Ju287 in 1/72. This is a nice kit but quite expensive. There’s a review on www.modelingmadness.com, which shows how little you get in the box!
Your DFS is looking good!
These kits that PM produces are sometimes rather basic but at least PM has interesting subjects that the mainstream kit makers will probably never produce. I have a few kits produced by PM and if they do another production run of the Ta 183 I will buy several more of them since they are low priced and with some putty work and sanding they look good when finished.
Below is a pic of a PM Ta 183 in front of my new hanger.
My plan is to have several of the PM 1/72 scale Ta 183s in the background or inside the hanger while the larger better detailed Amtech Ta 183 will be placed nearest the camera for some of my new pictures.
I don’t have any good pictures of the Academy 1/72 scale Kubelwagon left, they were all deleted. Below on the extreme left hand side of the picture is a blurry picture of my Kublwagon from the Academy kit, the one that is in focus is the Tamiya 1/48 scale kit.
When my new planes for the group build are done I will have a couple pics taken that will include the Academy Kubelwagon.
Matrixone, I know what you mean about the PM kits.
What is the Ta183 like? I’ve been looking at building one for a while, but don’t fancy the Dragon kit due to the fit problems you always seem to get with kits from this manufacturer.
The Ta 183 kit produced by PM is very good value for the money, next time I have a chance to buy a couple more of those kits I will snap them up quickly!
This kit is very easy to build, my only complaint was the wing to fuselage join was not very good, putty and sanding required there.
If you wanted to detail the cockpit area it would be easy to use Fw 190 cockpit parts, they could be made to fit without too much trouble.
I can’t remember how the kits decals were since I don’t like using decals from any kit if I have other options, it would be a wise decision to have other decals available if you are thinking of building any of the PM or Huma kits.
That late war Fw 190 D that I am building is from a Dragon mold, and there are many small fit problems with it so far. The worst is the wing root area near the trailing edge of wing, there is a BIG gap where it is supposed match up with the fuselage. I added a spreader bar inside the fuselage to cure this problem but there is still a small gap to fill and sand.
These Dragon kits are a hassle to make but they do look good when finished, I have read that many of the expert modelers think that Dragon kits are actually better detailed than Tamiya and Hasegawa kits of the same aircraft. I think I would rather build a good fitting model than one that is slightly more accurate, that way I can get to my favorite part of modeling which happens to be painting.
Matrixone, think I might give that PM Ta183 a go from what you’ve said. I’ve got a spare 190 cockpit from my current project, and I’m sure I can spare £4.25 for a kit.
Decals shouldn’t be a problem as I’m steadily building up a supply of 1/72 decals, both as spares, and AM sheets.
If that’s a 1/48 190D, then I bought the same model, reboxed by Revell, a while back. So far it’s been the only kit I have binned. I’ve heard a few people say that Dragon kits are more detailed as well, but like you say the fit is awful. I think I’ll just get myself Academy’s 190D in 1/72, and junk the decals.
When I said Fw 190 cockpit parts could be used in the PM Ta 183 I should mention that I never tried to do that on the one that I built, it looked like Fw 190 parts could be made to fit with some changes made to them.
Yes the 1/48 190 D that I am trying to build is the Revell kit, it looked great in the box but is not going together as well as I wanted. Because of the putty and sanding that is needed some of the fine detail on the parts will be erased.
