Jump to content

Rutan Voyager, A-model, 1/72


Recommended Posts

Started a while ago with this one:

 

151915-11104-pristine.jpg

 

The Rutan Voyager, first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world in 80 9 days. The idea to do this start in 1981, and Burt Rutan (Rutan Aircraft Company) designed the first layout on a napkin. The project was mainly build by volunteers, and the flight started December 14th 1986 and lasted till December 23rd (9d, 3m, 44s)

 

for those of you that know A-model, you'll know what to expect: crude parts and lots of flash

amodel_72_voyager-01_parts_s.jpg

 

I've started sanding the wing parts:

463c0028cb8778aad7e29aaf81fa4e7d.jpg

 

Then assembling the booms

8b86d1ec455eb80852d95276922bf916.jpg

 

even got some delamination of the plastic, hence the extra filler at the tail

d6bd7b8efe27f00373d2acb9ea7ad00e.jpg

 

and basic hull:

2455ddaa436e390a55505276b5fee0e2.jpg

 

Now I've started uniting the hull and booms, canards haven't been glued yet to avoid bending by stress while drying:

a8646e9e2f416ad622de7237ebcef874.jpg

 

29852b2b1fa0f82f2537cab29b8542f3.jpg

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hull is completely glued:
I used some electric wire to keep everything at its place while drying... nice, no, but it did the job:
a1282c678f019b5ee2d934fbfc8bce74.jpg

07eadd735042599625636d3aed8c2af6.jpg
 

Looks good, after measuring everything was parallel
Further a lot of sanding:
Main wing assembled and sanded:
031370b03a98e11211c38bddb9d77e49.jpg

7df1acf203340be58fdb53f445f1b797.jpg

exhausts in the kit are placed at the bottom of the hull, in reality they are at the sides for the front engine, and on top for the rear engine:
b50db1726061e675e173b2278e4bfa59.jpg

closed the holes with sprue, and filed the seams between the wings and the hull and booms..:
46a3b20fd3de08d0fd6888848f612e9a.jpg


Rear is also different:
7752e8121129ca97ff4ef22bf2db5d3d.jpg

9370880c606205ab4f7dca7560f11a3c.jpg

811135ee32c9926517f5c72489f74b71.jpg

(the bulges at the end are the exhaust manifolds, still need to make these)
I had to remove the props and landing gear from the sprue with a saw... but these are very brittle, so they broke anyway... The props have a little extra plastic to them are are completely wrong shaped...
a735657659f67bbe2c25f2b551c82276.jpg

a bit of sanding later
206fcc5f757a976d857339a828b1c346.jpg

da5fda12b39164034ee0a1ee84c93ac9.jpg

Not perfect, but a bit better I hope

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

I'm excited to see this build, I've been very disappointed more copies of this kit haven't been built. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to your progress.

 

I learned about Voyager as a child thanks to the BBC's fantastic documentary series Reaching For The Skies. Voyager was in the first episode, and whenever I see a photo - or model - of it the music they use for takeoff comes straight into my head.

https://youtu.be/A_x3H-sH9JA?t=50m25s

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you for the movie, seems you needed some real nerve to fly this thing... Looks very flimsy

 

Some progress:

Original nose section:
ef9c5cbb6cd09ad0bea45330a3d96bc3.jpg

 

98bdb29d77d92a936a8828ea321b7624.jpg

 

And then I've found this PIC:

df13247fe4c637051bcc6d879cf77da8.jpg

 

Some sanding:
c2bb3ec94c2dfe7efa0727e34b0e82df.jpg

 

Recreating the details:
b11987ba59bf322c69c52680e0bd8162.jpg

 

The front and rear exhausts have been changed:

6376d532d468d7a3f06656de8b95ebc3.jpg

 

19babf1ec63156501eb24fed676ccb75.jpg

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

thx, hopefully the last details like the trim, wiring for the rudder, antenna's, some attempt to make birdslicers on the front wings and some extra cowlings that I found... Still a lot to do, but hey, christmas holidays are coming, so hopefully I can finish this one...

Edited by Silenoz
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thx,

 

Scratched the extra trim and the vortexgenerators:

db044240a9d5c72a9a3cea42057c7a45.jpg

 

Normally these are other types in V-shape, but... these are already 0,5*0.8mm

Then an extra exhaust and some antennas.

75707645d8175b99bc3d022bc5ed50d3.jpg

 

Finally I added the wings top, pretty big model in the end:

6ff2e4f56664b13b8bfd4b42ec75155a.jpg

 

 

Edited by Silenoz
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

While drying during painting the ct threw the model from the table, resul: a tailfin broken off completely, canards ripped from the booms, paint damaged (broke off in flakes for some reason)...

The reparation is almost complete, need to check for discolorations
the ripped of tail just after reglueing:
828f5fb9c88e9e2afeb163e440c0e595.jpg

Tried to glue it with tamiya extra thin, and then fill the crack with some paint. didn't work out, so I used (a bit) more glue and used that as a filler, then some slight sanding and retouching the zone with a brush
f13f374b8fd69601963e1c979b0406c4.jpg

Maybe one more layer..

Where the paint came off in flakes, I sprayed several cotes on top of eachother, then sanding repeating till there was no more difference in thickness..
The underside of the wings was "unpainted", to save weight, so I added a grey, then I hope to fade it more with white oilpaints. underside of the rudders was bare honeycomb material
7251a57430dbbe14d44a962b30e33b23.jpg

d8abd14c00d11de30d5d06cd62f63c3e.jpg

Landinggear and propellors mounted:
988a2f7bccc5b3e3412ac3cc16d7dbff.jpg

e42deb99f95dd74c145d8a38a61645cd.jpg

 

On to the landing gear doors, fading and decals...

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thx, it's a nice kit eventually, but it needs a lot of TLC... 

@Trojan Thunder: thx for the compliment, it always nice if someone uses your build as a reference.

 

Started decalling yesterday, took 3h to apply (puzzle is more correct) 12 decals that shattered when made wet, and broke into more pieces when trying to slide them on their place...

Also, the decals on the hull-sides are too long, and not a bit:

 

a3645d875caabc62b472cc11491f4973.jpg

 

92654261326b56133d2be53b7f8302c4.jpg

But it's getting there:

2123789bba1b5eff599472234414c195.jpg

 

Still a few to go...

Edited by Silenoz
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...