JT Fox Beta Build Request

**JT Fox** · #1 01-13-2009, 06:42 AM

I thought I'd make my first completed design available to ecardmodels.com customers for free.

Before I do I'd like someone other than me to have a go at building it.

Information about the design can be found here.

http://ecardmodels.com/forum/index.php?topic=180.0

Thanks in advance.

**cgutzmer** · #2 01-13-2009, 12:16 PM

question for ya

just want it to be free to CUSTOMERS? I can email them all a link wherever I decide to put it. Or do you want it free for any visitors? I can put it up in the shop as a freebie.
Thanks!
Chris

**JT Fox** · #3 01-14-2009, 01:34 AM

I was thinking of either a B&W or ecardmodels version for free and then have a few re-colours for sale

But to answer your question.

Free models are a great way of getting people to visit the site.

But, I thought it might help sales if we had a few buy one get one free type of thing or three for the price of two bundles.

Cheers JTF

**cgutzmer** · #4 01-14-2009, 06:47 AM

Yep, bundles are good and of course I like the ecardmodels design for free

Dont offer up a full blown colored one for free though unless its something really simple without much texture work... otherwise there is no point buying the model

Buy one get one free is kinda hard to work out so bundles are my preference.
Chris

**JT Fox** · #5 01-15-2009, 04:09 AM

Zot:

Have emailed the model and a build guide. Looking forward to your comments.

Chris:

Hopefully the feedback from Zot will be positive and any issues with the model's design can be rectified.

If that's the case I'll re-colour a ecardmodels.com version which you can pass on for free.

I'll also produce three historical versions which I guess would sell for $2.50 each. I'll also go down the bundle route and go for the buy two get one free. So all three together would be $5.00

Cheers JTF

**zot** · #6 01-21-2009, 07:21 AM

I've been sending JTF some sporatic reports about my build. Now, I will start to share them with the forum. I hope you like it.

JTF BF-108 Taifun...Take 1

I started by constructing the main part of the fuselage

. It went together well but I ended up with a 1/16th inch gap between Former C and the bottom of the fuselage :(. I then moved to the fromt end of the plane by attaching the top portion of the engine cowling and adding Former B

. After closing up the bottom, I realized that something didn't look right. When I glued Former B, i failed to get it properly aligned. The top was tweaked about 3 degrees off center. Due to my error, the canopy wouldn't line up straight and the wing fillers wouldn't fit properly :'(. I decided to start again...this is why I need digital kits :-[ .

**zot** · #7 01-21-2009, 07:50 AM

JTF BF-108 Taifun...Take 2.

I spent most of my Sunday morning cutting out the new parts for my second attempt. One modification that I made was cutting Former C at the horizontal midpoint line and added a 1/16th inch strip. This improved the fit but I still had a little overlap at the bottom although I couldn' understand why. I thought I had worked everything out ???
I continued gluing up the fuselage. As I was working my way to the rear, my seams towards the front started to pop loose :

. I got everything glued back in place...not pretty...but solid...and decided to give the fuselage a rest and moved to the wings (seen partially rolled in the first picture). Fortunately no porblems there ;D.
When I started to test fit the wings, it then dawned on me why I had the overlap below Former C. I forgot to add the wing's rear joining strip between the former and the fuselage >:(. Oh well, here we go again :

. Sorry JTF, I didn't know how to break it to you.

BTW: I left my fuselage from the first attempt in the shot. I know that it doesn't look too bad, but trust me...it is.

**zot** · #8 01-21-2009, 09:03 AM

I just thought I would add one last pic of my firsy fuselage, My 7 year-old son has taken it over and designed fire and smoke for his crash scene. I think it has a date with some of the monster truck toys that he got at Burger King.

**JT Fox** · #9 01-21-2009, 12:32 PM

Thanks for the update Zot.

It is my intention to increase the "C" former by 5%. This will add a small amount of width as well as height so as to take up any slack.

I am currently test building the fuselage of my next aircraft design project and my seams also popped.

Is this a design fault or just rushing the build?

Cheers JTF

**zot** · #10 01-21-2009, 02:58 PM

I think we're just rushing the build. So far, I think the design is pretty strong. A lot of my problem is me just getting ahead of myself. I have done some more work on the second fuselage to try a couple of things. I think that Former B is a little tall and needs more radius at the top. On my first one, I had trouble getting the canopy to fit up front. I thought that was a result of my misaligned former but I had the same problem with my second build and I was very careful of alignment. I think that your idea of a center former to aid in alignment is a good idea too.
It could just be me though. On both builds I glued the engine cowling to one side while it was still lying flat then gluing it to the other side before I added the former, closing the nose up at the bottom. I'm thinking maybe that I should start from the bottom working my way up to see what happens.