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Old 02-06-2024, 01:50 AM
ReynoldsSlumber's Avatar
ReynoldsSlumber ReynoldsSlumber is offline
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VC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion

This is a half-size downscale of the free 1/144 Paper Replika VC-25A. I have several 747s on my wish list, including another Paper Replika-based model, and this is my first widebody airliner model, so this model is a good trial build. The paper is Domtar Lynx 32 lb bond/118 gsm, which turned out to be short-lived as my new favorite paper, since it buckles easily and doesn't maintain its integrity when wetted with glue as well as I first thought. Ah well, the search continues.

Overall, as a medium-detailed model, the Paper Replika plan is pretty ideal for my purposes. I appreciate the fuselage's shape, structural formers, and graphics in particular. One tricky step is how to glue the fuselage sections together at the back of the 747's "hump," since the formers make it difficult to support the inside to squeeze the glue tabs. The one glaring inaccuracy in the plans, so far as I can tell, is in the airfoil profiles. Whew, those are atrocious. Good thing I was planning on changing them anyway, and assembly-wise changing airfoils didn't require much reconfiguration, other than leaving out the aft wing spar.

Wingspan is 8.15"/20.7cm; mass came out a lot heftier than I'd like at 8.4 grams. Admittedly I kind of slathered on the glue when attaching the wing-body fairing to the fuselage. I thought the perimeter tabs per the plan would help minimize glue usage, but it seems not, and they also made the perimeter edge more visually prominent.
VC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-2.jpg

I made a bit of a hash out of the starboard wing root join. On the real thing, there is a narrow fairing that covers that area, though it's unlikely I'll add it. Meanwhile I thought the little flap track fairings would be trouble, but after some cutting and folding effort, they actually took shape quite handily.

Modifications for aesthetics:
  • Metal foil tape: This really makes the model pop. It took printing sacrificial patterns, using them to cut the tape to shape, and then carefully aligning the tape on the actual cardstock parts. On the engine inlets, the tape couldn't negotiate the turn inside-out onto the inner lip, as I've done when using cardstock on some other models via an origami technique, so instead I cut slits in the tape to make it lay down on the inner lip.
    VC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-1.jpgVC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-3.jpg
  • Added details: I printed and added the auxiliary power unit tail exhaust, defensive infrared flashers, and some of the antennas. I didn't want to add the entire "antenna farm," given how tiny and fragile the bits would be, and likewise I regrettably had to refrain from adding the wingtip and horizontal stabilizer tip stinger probes, which would've looked pretty cool.
Modifications for flight:
  • Wing airfoil: Just the forward stub spar was used; the aft spar and airfoil profile formers were omitted. I tried just gluing the trailing edge using tabs per the plan and then forming it into a thin aft section undercambered airfoil, but that method didn't give me enough control over the airfoil shape, and the wing still ended up taking on a slight "gull wing" curvature spanwise. Part of the problem is how to precisely align the trailing edges, since once in contact, they're not really repositionable. Also, I am trying to form the existing pattern into a shape that it wasn't meant to take. If I ever try out designing a model that's shaped to fly from the start, perhaps having the right pattern would make wing assembly easier.
  • Stabilizer airfoils: Thin aft portions per usual, spar omitted.
  • Nose: I couldn't bear to put a foam "clown nose" on this beauty, so instead I lined the inside of the paper with sheet craft foam, hoping that would make for reinforcement that would bounce back after a hit. So far, so good.
  • Nose weight: After balancing the plane with 0.5g of brass wire, when I peeled off the blue tape that held the nose on temporarily, it delaminated the paper a little. Some touch-up with a color pencil mostly took care of it.
    VC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-4.jpg
  • Clear plastic finger grip: Per usual.
  • Hollow engines: It didn't work at this small size to use centering rings to hold the engine core exhausts inside the nacelle cowlings, and that would've been draggy anyway, so instead I used "stator vanes." Looks pretty cool, especially next to that shiny foil tape on the cores.
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Old 02-06-2024, 02:18 AM
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ReynoldsSlumber ReynoldsSlumber is offline
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Completed model and flight characteristics

From a short distance, between the 747-200 shape, color scheme, and foil tape, the model looks pretty majestic, both on display and in the air. Gotta love the classic paint scheme, originally designed for the 707-based Air Force One by Raymond Loewy and President John and Jacqueline Kennedy. I'm so glad that the new 747-8-based VC-25B Air Force One (actually two planes) won't be getting the soulless black, white, and dark red scheme that was the plan a few years ago. Instead it'll get the classic scheme again.

The wing loading on this model is higher than on the A-4 Skyhawk I made! I wouldn't go so far as to say that it flies like a freight train; maybe call it a passenger train. By no means is it floaty, but given the relatively slender wings, it carries through the air more slowly and gracefully than the A-4. It's touchy in roll, to the point where if the wing dihedral gets too flattened out it'll roll off to the side in a hurry. As you can imagine, the engine nacelles are vulnerable to hard landings. I've already had to re-attach an inboard one and reinforce an outboard one. But overall it's holding up well. It definitely commands attention in flight.

VC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-11.jpgVC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-14.jpgVC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-13.jpgVC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-12.jpgVC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-21.jpg

Last edited by ReynoldsSlumber; 02-06-2024 at 02:27 PM.
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Old 02-06-2024, 05:49 AM
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Texman Texman is offline
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That's an impressive glider. A lot of work, and it turned out very nice.
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Old 02-07-2024, 02:49 PM
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ReynoldsSlumber ReynoldsSlumber is offline
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Thanks Texman! Was realizing that, with the thought of saving drive space, the image resolution was a little too low for showing full detail, so here's a sharper one.
VC-25A Air Force One 1/288 indoor glider conversion-vc-25a-35.jpg

Also was realizing why roll stability is touchy: on the real thing, the weight of the engines puts the center of gravity lower, and the dihedral angle is based on that. So, on models of airliners with underwing engines like this, I really should be upping the dihedral angle by a few degrees.
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Old 02-16-2024, 09:51 PM
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It's a beauty!

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