Kolywopter

[outersketcher]

Thank you Triop! I appreciate your taking to the time to look at my artwork... it means a lot to us artists. We are a vain bunch. : )

As for the Kolywopter, I've built the cabin completly. Will post pictures of the build this weekend. I was concerned that it would be too difficult to sandwich a sheet of clear acetate between both the interior and the exterior of the cabin hull. But it turned out to be very easy to.

[outersketcher]

Some assembly of parts and some note taking.... In my haste to assemble the parts I didn't bother to color the edges nor did I take care to avoid getting glue prints on the glass. The construction of the cabin is a little sloppy, yes, but what's important is that IT WORKS!

cool man...

You can see the door opened on it's paper hinge. I did discover several minor problems in the parts sheet artwork that I'll rectify in the Illustrator files.

Some of the parts are very tiny... I may have to eliminate them as separate entities.

You can see that the cabin itself is a laminate of paper over a thin sheet of clear film. I got the stuff at a local art store. Comes in pads. I simply lay the acetate film over the clear parts sheet and cut out the parts I need. However, one could also just print out the clear parts sheet onto clear sheets specially designed for a printer or a copy machine. I have both types and frankly, they all work just fine. I just prefer the sheet acetate since I can buy it in different thicknesses.

The main cabin is constructed by gluing the green, interior side to the acetate sheet so that the sheet ends will meet in the middle of the strongest area of the paper interior piece. Then the two parts are rolled into a circle and the other half of the interior is glued to the other end of the clear part so that we now have a completed cylinder. Finally, the outer, exterior part of the cabin is glued to the outside of the cylinder. At this point, due to the differences in the shapes of the parts, the cabin cannot hold itself in cylindrical shape. However, once the door frame assemblies are installed, the cabin becomes a strong, cylindrical shape just fine thank you.

The door and the doorframe consist of several layers of paper. This is important because the doors and their frames will be visible from all sides and will also have to help support the structure of the cabin itself. I also wanted the door to "feel" like it fit into the structure of the frame.

Once the door frame assembly is attached to the main cabin body, A strip of "steel" is wrapped around the glue tabs along the body and a final, cover circle of rivets is applied to the door frame itself.

I cut the many circular holes out of the floor struts using curved, wood carving gouges. I've attached a picture of the set I'm using. Think I got them at my local craft shop.

Note: the Olfa circle cutter was a big help. : )

[redhorse]

This keeps getting better and better every time! I like the wood gouge idea too.

[B-Manic]

Looks great - what scale would you say it is?

[outersketcher]

Well... it's as big as I could possible get the largest parts to fit within the space of an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. I figured the bigger the better so as to preserve as much detail as possible. And the modeler could than scale the print-outs to whatever scale size they choose by using the inches and meter legend I built into each parts sheet.

However, would you all prefer the parts sheets at a specific scale instead?

[cjwalas]

Originally Posted by outersketcher

Well... it's as big as I could possible get the largest parts to fit within the space of an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. I figured the bigger the better so as to preserve as much detail as possible. And the modeler could than scale the print-outs to whatever scale size they choose by using the inches and meter legend I built into each parts sheet.

However, would you all prefer the parts sheets at a specific scale instead?

YES! As big as possible!!!:D:D:D:D
This continues to look great!
Chris

[outersketcher]

Here's a shot of one of the parts sheets with the notes I've had to make. For instance, I've discovered that the instrument gauge console is still very small and nearly impossible to assemble as one piece with fold lines and tiny tabs... I'll make it a little "chubbier" to allow me to be able to assemble it with my fumbling fingers.

Don't worry, I'll still make sure to retain as much grace in the original design as possible.

My intent is to convey the feeling of.... say... an iron dragonfly. Graceful in it's irony rivetnousness. ; )

David

[B-Manic]

Originally Posted by outersketcher

Well... it's as big as I could possible get the largest parts to fit within the space of an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper. I figured the bigger the better so as to preserve as much detail as possible. And the modeler could than scale the print-outs to whatever scale size they choose by using the inches and meter legend I built into each parts sheet.

However, would you all prefer the parts sheets at a specific scale instead?

Not at all David. I was just curious as the cockpit looked large to me. I like your bigger is better philosophy. BTW the first thing I thought of when I saw your initial drawings was 'dragonfly'. Keep up the excellent work. I look forward to it becoming available in the fullness of time.

~cheers

[willygoat]

This contraption looks soooo cool. I can't wait for it to be finished. It's so neat seeing it come together, because it's always a surprise. Thanks for modeling something that's never been thought of (literally).

[SCEtoAUX]

Yep, that kolywotpter is looking very good so far. Some neat design features and the final product is going to be quite a conversation piece. Just think of all the stories you could come up with about it.
"Yes it is a real aircraft, from the infancy of powered flight." :p