Stratospheremodels Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) And now for the FUN part :) An ALL NEW kit of the ASMP missile is available in 1/48th from Stratosphere Models ! Whooo-hooo ! For the MIRAGE 2000 N, MIRAGE - IV, RAFALE (and even for the Super-Etendard !). (For Heller, Kinetic, Italeri, Monogram kits). Isn't that the cutest, most aesthetically pleasing little nuclear missile you have ever seen ? While building it and looking at the renderings of the model, i had my own personal Doctor Strangelove moment. There are a lot of opportunities here for different colors and customization, there are a multitude of paint schemes and even details for the most recent version of the ASMP ramjet powered nuclear missile. I have seen all white ASMP, white color scheme with a black nose, white with a natural metal nose tip, or some that have a red nose tip with a white fuselage. These variants were carried both by the MIRAGE 2000 and the Rafale. For those who wonder why are the inlets covered, well, i have seen several photos showing the missile carried in flight with the inlets blanked off (this might have been for captive test flights), as well i have seen photos in flight showing the missile with the inlets not covered (though few photos show this clearly). However, when the plane is on the ground the ASMP inlets are always covered with a covers. I will make a version with inlets that are not covered as well (this will apply to an inflight aircraft or an aircraft that is moving on the tarmac or runaway). The kit is nearly 13 cm long and will come in two hollow parts, similar to precision injected plastic parts. (Actually even more precise than injection, i have checked and the thickness of my fins are right at the minimum thickness that can be safely printed with a high resolution 3D printer, so we are talking very fine realistic details). More accessories for the Mirage 2000 are coming soon, from STRATOSPHERE MODELS. These are some of the very first STRATO CAD PARTS kits from Stratosphere Models and they will be available for 3D printing from various sources soon. Stay tuned, because i will soon post the links where my new parts can be ordered and 3D printed. This missile model is Octopus Decoy approved, mollusc approved and 100% tentaculable. Just add champagne and Moulin Rouge girls. MOAIs and other giant stone idols will be filtered at the door. :banana: Stephane Stratosphere Models Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels All drawings are Copyright Stratosphere Models & Stephane Cochin. (Note, if you see some non-standard colors on some of my renderings, i made those both for fun and increased contrast (grey on grey or white on white model is a bit boring to look at). So, there are no real blue or yellow ASMP's, but there are definitely ASMP's with a red nose tip, black nose, or a bare metal nose). Also, white fuselages are a bit difficult to render well and tend to be too bright and hide details, so most of my renderings show the missile with a metal grey fuselage color). Edited February 8, 2015 by Stratospheremodels Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stratospheremodels Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) Here is a photo showing the ASMP-A variant with a red nose tip: More Rafale and Mirage 2000's carrying the ASMP-A ramjet nuclear missile: [/url Older variant of the ASMP: Les Cygognes, Whoo-Hooo ! La Gascogne, the land of D'Artagnan in the 3 Musketeers ! Edited February 8, 2015 by Stratospheremodels Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mingwin Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 that is, indeed, a cool thing! Bravo Stephane! a Nuke missile for french aircraft is a must! and that one looks awesome! i'll encourage you to continue your French-modern-aircraft related design business! ...i don't have much French jets in my stash right now (just 3, and two of them are Mirage 2000A), but i have plan in the future to build many...if not nearly every variant from Mirage III to the Rafale... so, i'll surely be a customer of your stuff, sooner or later... Cheers Simon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Deino Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 Nice ... but similar to the request in Your other tread ! We want images of the real deal ... no CGs ! That's not meant as an offence but simply a fact. Before I pay I would like to see what I get. Deino Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stratospheremodels Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) It's a ASMP-A, so never used with Mirage IV. Furthermore the armement pylon in the CADs is not good for the Rafale.... V.P. Thank you for your comment HomeBe :thumbsup:/> It is for modelers like you i am working (the discriminating ones). Yes, don't worry, i am aware of that, there is a 2nd version of my pylon i am working on which will be specific to the Rafale. Also, i plan to make the older ASMP variant available as well, already designed, i just need to add its specific pylon as well. Actually early on i started with the shorter ASMP variant but switched to the longer one and ended up choosing to release that one first (pics will follow). I am also aware of a variant of the ASMP-A which does not have those strakes or mini-canard at the front part of inlets (and that therre are 3 variant of tires for the Mirage 2000, with different number of grooves, smaller writings on the tires, etc, etc)(I love to do in depth research). Stephane Edited February 10, 2015 by Stratospheremodels Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stratospheremodels Posted February 10, 2015 Author Share Posted February 10, 2015 that is, indeed, a cool thing! Bravo Stephane! a Nuke missile for french aircraft is a must! and that one looks awesome! i'll encourage you to continue your French-modern-aircraft related design business! ...i don't have much French jets in my stash right now (just 3, and two of them are Mirage 2000A), but i have plan in the future to build many...if not nearly every variant from Mirage III to the Rafale... so, i'll surely be a customer of your stuff, sooner or later... Cheers Simon Hi, thank you Mingwin ! I agree with you that the Mirage family and in particular for me the Mirage 2000 is one of the most beautiful aircrafts in the world, such fluid shapes, beautiful aerodynamics. I am not going to be centered on the Mirage aicrafts only, it just happens that this one and the Rafale were on top of my stash, and i think those two kits have so much potential (in particular the Kinetic kit which have lots of good details, but i thought it is missing a number of things to make it so much better and more spectacular, so i decided to resolve that. The 1-48th Rafale on the other hand have very faithful shapes, it does not need much improvement (though i have not started to do very in depth research on it, but i will have a look at it as well, well, at least the ASMP-A is a start and was needed for the Rafale). Stephane Stratosphere Models Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr Website: http://www.picturetr...atospheremodels Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Solo Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Great news Stephane. Have you any idea when those missile will be available to purchase? I am building my Rafale right now, so it would be nice to have one for it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pookie Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Please stop posting computer image renderings for non existing parts. I can do the same! I have a full version of 2014 Solidworks in my desktop. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Solo Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I hope this is not true. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stratospheremodels Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) Hi Solo, By popular demand, here is the specific RAFALE PYLON for the ASMP-A missile ;) With the proper curve on the top part, slightly longer and i also took advantage of the redesign to check things up and i increased the lenght of the curved part of the leading and trailing edge for the pylon. The ASMP-A for the RAFALE is the first one that will come out, i am also going to add a version with the inlet covers already on. Right now the details on the pylon will stay to a strict minimum, i have spent time trying to get more info but the ASMP-A being classified, there is no way to obtain close up photos of the pylon (i have found that many images and videos on the web showing the aircraft carrying the missile are censored, with the pylon and missile completely blanked off. This is a bit strange given that there are other pictures showing the aircraft in flight and sometimes on the ground with the missile. So far i have only found 1 pic showing a close up but it only show the nose tip and the leading edge of the pylon. I will eventually update the kit when new pics will become available. As for the older variant for the ASMP and its specific pylon which i will also release, that one will have the full surface details on the pylon. The missile will also be hollow like injected kit parts I am concurrently working on several new complete kits (not aftermarket parts)(sorry, i cannot show you these ones as they will remain underwrap until they are completed), so it is taking me more time lately to handle everything at the same time, plus putting in a lot of research time (i already have a team of people scouring the world for those hard to get pictures and details on actual aircraft and they found very nice things). I will get more soon. Stephane Stratosphere Models Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels Now wait please, because i am about to upload more pictures showing updates, some people will probably better understand my parts after i will post these. Edited March 7, 2015 by Stratospheremodels Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stratospheremodels Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) And this is what the final parts will look like, properly hollowed out and with alignment pins: I used the already existing holes underneath the RAFALE kit for the fuselage centerline fuel tank and other types of pylons, so on my ASMP-A the pins do not match exactly where the actual fixations would be, but not a big deal since it won't be seen and you won't have to drill new holes either on the aircraft. Now what takes time is not designing the basic shapes, that's the easy job (though the more small details you add, the more you have to invest time also and double and triple check things). What takes time is cleaning up and checking for all the naked edges and any small problems that may be hidden and may have escaped your attention. For those who are not familiar with the term, naked edges are slight gaps between the surfaces that have to be closed down to make a file 'watertight' for 3D printing. There are several strategies that can be used to build 3D models, depending on what you are building and what methods are best adapted to it. You can compare the 3D job to that of constructing a new building. You will first "excavate and bulldoze", then you will build forms into which you will pour concrete or structures on which you will attach metal sheeting or stone, etc (lines, curves and points that form the "scafolding" allow you to build the structure). After you "pour concrete" (build surfaces) then you will go into sud-division work (building the rooms, piping, walls, etc, and finally the plastering and paint job (fine details and repairs). Then you must clean up the whole place and remove all the forms and scaffolds and end up with a pristine model. I am now at the stage of cleaning up and checking all to make sure everything fits and closing gaps. It can be tedious. For example, a few days ago i was working on 2 files. I spent most of the morning and afternoon trying to clean up one of the files that had some localized problems. I tried pretty much everything, nothing worked, puzzling me for a while (trust me, even seasoned engineers who build industrial parts make mistakes, you wouldn't believe the kind of files that get sent to prototyping bureaus for 3D printing or for CNC. Files that have not been cleaned up, bad meshes, files that have to be rebuilt nearly from scratch, problems of compatibility, the whole gamut. There are people out there who want me to repair files like that for industrial clients, i probably will once i finish this, and other models which i cannot show you which i am working on right now). Finally, after having tried everything and almost deciding to rebuild one section, i found a quick, clean solution, and then, Boom, boom, boom, deleted the bad section, got a clean section in seconds. Sometimes you can get lost in the forest trying to find the One tree that you are looking for when all trees look the same. One example again, when i created the fonts for the tires, some of them were non-standard, meaning i did not have an automatic font model to create them right away, so i had to design them by hand. I fiddled with them until they matched the letters on the real thing, scaling, deforming, etc. In the end, i found some tiny problem areas that caused persistent naked edges. Rather than bother trying to close them, i found it easier to redraw 1 of them and reposition the whole sets on each side of the tire to fix it. The other tire will get the same treatment since the same fonts were cloned. The model of the ASMP-A you see above won't look totally the same as the final version, while checking for naked edges i decided to rebuild nearly half of the inlet section because, while building the model, i initially started with the older ASMP version (which is shorter and a bit different), then i used the same model and modified it into the ASMP-A variant when i found the pictures about that one. Meaning i modified and stretched and cut parts of the inlet section, also widened them as i found more accurate info, all this ended up creating some localized small problem spots with naked edges that were hard to close, thus i did a partial redesign. The hollowed out parts you see above were done before that redesign. So the hollowing out is being redone and small details may change (on the inside). No details will change on the outside. You have to get maniacal about alignment when you build some shapes, it is often better to partially redo a section than try to fiddle with one that have "hidden" problem spots due to an accumulation of changes. Stephane Stratosphere Models Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels Edited March 9, 2015 by Stratospheremodels Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stratospheremodels Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) This is an .STL file exported into Meshlab. STL files are the final model that get sent to 3D printing machines (basically it is the version of the tooling that can be read by a 3D printer). This one have a very fine mesh, even though it is shown here in flat shading mode the surface looks smooth, meaning if the mesh was too coarse you would see facets under that lighting mode, but there are none, meaning the model will print with a smooth surface. Stephane Stratosphere Models Email: stratospheremodels@yahoo.fr Website: http://www.picturetrail.com/stratospheremodels Edited March 8, 2015 by Stratospheremodels Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Solo Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Hey - so when it will be available? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Deino Posted February 27, 2016 Share Posted February 27, 2016 (edited) I'm sure You will find my post again provocative or even annonying ... but like others here requested too: We want to see the real thing, parts in reality on no longer any of these - surely, that has to be admitted - nice CG's !! And honestly ... I really can't understand how one, who want to sell someting can so long ignore such posts ?? Show us the rael parts, show us them build up and mounted on a kit ... but IMO CG's are annoying. Deino Edited February 27, 2016 by Deino Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastian Haff Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Any clue as to when this will be available to buy? Thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Do you have any actual finished missiles that we can see that aren't renderings? Just one? John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fulcrum1 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I love this guy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vodnik Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 meaning the model will print with a smooth surface. Yeah, right... This is exactly what you get when you 3D print the curved shapes: smooth surface... ROTFL! Have you ever seen the actual 3D printed part? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phantom726 Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Any news on those fantastic superdetailed wheels announced ages ago? So far I've only seen CAD renderings. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darius at home Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Any news on those fantastic superdetailed wheels announced ages ago? So far I've only seen CAD renderings. I did a search on ARC and found that they were first announced with much pomp and ceremony (i.e. lots of CAD rendered images and plenty of text) in mid 2012 - almost 4 years ago. Some photos of actual 3D printed wheels did appear in mid 2015. They were strangely semi-transparent and looked ok if a little "frosty" on the surface. Despite being encouraged to spray some primer on them so that we could see the amazing detail, alas no further images of real parts have appeared on ARC. Looks like it is just more CAD and turgid prose for now. I had better watch out for that bulldozer now... Darius Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darius at home Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 (edited) The sad and, perhaps, ironic thing about this is that 3D printing does have the potential to produce very nicely detailed model parts. As the technology improves and becomes more accessible the cost of 3D printed models and parts for models will become competitive. I have a very nice 3D printed 1:48 scale model of a Sheridan Tank that I found on the Shapeways website. The surface texture was frosty in a fine sort of way but it looks fine with a coat of paint on it. If Stratosphere Models had posted about this more as an initiative to see what 3D printing could do, rather than proclaiming it as if it were a breakthrough for humanity, I suspect that he would have had a better reception on ARC. Darius Edited March 20, 2016 by Darius at home Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Deino Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 The sad and, perhaps, ironic thing about this is that 3D printing does have the potential to produce very nicely detailed model parts. As the technology improves and becomes more accessible the cost of 3D printed models and parts for models will become competitive. I have a very nice 3D printed 1:48 scale model of a Sheridan Tank that I found on the Shapeways website. The surface texture was frosty in a fine sort of way but it looks fine with a coat of paint on it. If Stratosphere Models had posted about this more as an initiative to see what 3D printing could do, rather than proclaiming it as if it were a breakthrough for humanity, I suspect that he would have had a better reception on ARC. Darius The ironic thing IMO is that so far we only have Seen these Nice cgs since years ... And Never any Real thing. Maybe there is simply nothing Real to show? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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