#11
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Fairchild Wings
One of the most common difficulties with paper model aircraft is accurately rendering curved and tapered wing tips. The simpler way to understand this is when you crush a tin can, the flattened part becomes a great deal wider than the original circumference. While not that obvious on some models, once you see the flattening you see it all the time! As wings become wider and the scale larger the effect becomes more pronounced. The other thing with curved wing tips is that the tips flatten.
An unwritten principle of paper model design is to minimise obvious cuts as much as possible. After some experimentation we inserted a dart on the underside of the wing to eliminate the 'spooning' effect. We also inserted a dart on the upper surface of the wing tip, in line with the wing ribs, to give more curvature to the wing tip and eliminate the flattening. As well we put an extra rib in the wing tip to give it a more accurate shape overall. An important design aspect was to insert a card semi-circle in the tip and by shaping the very end of the upper wing tip curve by using carefully placed microdarts, blend the leading edge of the wing into the tip. The wing tip in situ (see attached) is reasonably small at around 48mm wide. The wings do take a bit of work but the result is a vastly improved appearance and with making paper high wing monoplanes and aircraft in general the wing tips are a highly visible aspect of the whole. Terry
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www.byairclassique.com Art Deco paper models, prints and cards. Models from Contour Creative Studio available here...http://www.ecardmodels.com/index.php...anufacturer=26 |
#12
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That a great technique, Terry...will have to take your word that the darts are there as they are so fine my eyes can not pick them out...
Simon
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Please critique my posts honestly i.e. say what you think so I can learn and improve... The World According to Me |
#13
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Quote:
The Fairchild has proven a fruitful subject for some new techniques which we will be incorporating into future designs. Terry
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www.byairclassique.com Art Deco paper models, prints and cards. Models from Contour Creative Studio available here...http://www.ecardmodels.com/index.php...anufacturer=26 |
#14
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Very interesting technique. Always a lot to learn about from you, Terry. About aviation history and about paper modeling techniques.
Don |
#15
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Looking forward to the next Contour masterpiece!
Wyvern |
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#16
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Wow! I Waiting FC-2 with great anxious! Is a perfect piece to place on the side of my Curtiss Condor...
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#17
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My PayPal account is always at the ready for your great designs, Terry! WW! and the inter-war years are my favorite aircraft eras and your designs are as much art as they are models. Keep 'em coming!
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2.6% Neanderthal DNA YB (Currently pondering the next build) |
#18
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Elegant solution for the wingtips. Look forward to seeing more civil aviation from the between wars period.
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#19
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Fairchild FC-2 Construction
I’ve passed on your kind comments to Rosie and they are much appreciated. In terms of ‘Art’ there is a great deal that could be said about that and worthy of some more thoughtful commentary and probably some essay work! Given the maturity of the ‘art’ and certainly the substantial number of people worldwide this could be forum topic perhaps? But in terms of our work a very, very long time ago I was captured by the aesthetics of the 1920s and 30s art deco airport and the TERMINUS project was conceived.
What is generally not appreciated by the layperson is that these exotic looking aircraft and art deco buildings existed for only a few years, before being completely superceded by the next generation. The TERMINUS concept is to create a range of different art deco airport backgrounds and airport facades in front of which different aircraft of the time could be displayed. The idea was to create an activity that offered something of the dynamic charm of Railway sets. Different aircraft could be displayed with figures, at different angles, with the view to desktop photography and from that, a pictorial and even competitive art? TERMINUS necessitated, we originally thought, working in small scale and a great deal of work was put into 1/144 scale (see unreleased Croydon Model w Goliath) and then 1/72 scale. However we subsequently opted for 1/48 where better engineering and detail could be achieved with the option of downscaling both more accurate and physically easier to realise. So back to the work to hand. The interior of the Fairchild Fc-2 wings incorporates ribs fitted over 3 hollow triangular spars. A solid triangular cardboard spar is created with the dihedral required and glued to the centre section of the fuselage and the ends of this spar inserted into the respective hollow spars. The result is a very strong accurate wing. Another refinement is with the trailing edge of the wings where the upper wing slightly overlaps the lower. This gives a finer appearance than a 2-ply trailing edge. The nose of the subject required a lot of origami fiddling but translates extremely well to paper. As always you pick up little refinements and adjustments as you work through the design and these are incorporated. One other thing to note is the treatment we have adopted for windows. I don’t really know why there is so much persistence with blue windows as most glazing features internal shadows and reflected light. The illustration on the windows uses gray, beige, and light blue. As a rule we add a percentage of more blue to gray (metal) coloured subjects as the tone provides a bit of lift for the subject. As well all our designs have been constructed so clear plastic can be inserted in the two ply fuselage wall. Terry
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www.byairclassique.com Art Deco paper models, prints and cards. Models from Contour Creative Studio available here...http://www.ecardmodels.com/index.php...anufacturer=26 |
#20
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TERMINUS = brilliant concept.
It was indeed a very brief moment of history, and some ugly things were going on in the world at the time, but these buildings, automobiles, aircraft, and the contemporary ships and trains (just to mention physical artifacts) were, to my eye, of unsurpassed beauty. It was a time of exceptional creativity. For helping to preserve the appearance and history of these wonderful objects, you and Rosie are World treasures. Don |
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