The ULTIMATE Model Kit--Ultimate Jets A-12 Oxcart Project!
03-06-2018, 04:17 PM
#1
Thread Starter
The ULTIMATE Model Kit--Ultimate Jets A-12 Oxcart Project!
Hello,
I am about to start construction on what I think is the most impressive model kit I've ever had in my hands--and by far the largest! In this day of huge jet models, we've become used to great, big models. This one, though, was a jaw-dropper for me.
I think you'll all be impressed with the quality of the layup, engineering, fit and finish of this kit. The thing you just can't get a sense of unless you touch it is the weight, though. I'll discuss that more later with measurements. My 12-year-old son can pick up the nose section (roughly 6' long with the scale nose unit installed) with only two thumbs and two forefingers
I'm still gathering the components (electronics and engines), but will start on the construction this week. In preparation for this, I've been doing a lot of reading on the history and heritage of the A-12, and learned that the specimen sitting at the San Diego Aerospace Museum a few miles from me has flown higher and faster (and in real-world hostile missions) than almost every other man-made airplane to take flight. I'm sure I'll be visiting that full-scale A-12 a few times before I'm done.
Regarding the pics, the first two are factory shots. The last one is the plane sitting in my spare bedroom. For reference, that room is 15'x18'
Feel free to chime in and enjoy this build with me!
I am about to start construction on what I think is the most impressive model kit I've ever had in my hands--and by far the largest! In this day of huge jet models, we've become used to great, big models. This one, though, was a jaw-dropper for me.
I think you'll all be impressed with the quality of the layup, engineering, fit and finish of this kit. The thing you just can't get a sense of unless you touch it is the weight, though. I'll discuss that more later with measurements. My 12-year-old son can pick up the nose section (roughly 6' long with the scale nose unit installed) with only two thumbs and two forefingers
I'm still gathering the components (electronics and engines), but will start on the construction this week. In preparation for this, I've been doing a lot of reading on the history and heritage of the A-12, and learned that the specimen sitting at the San Diego Aerospace Museum a few miles from me has flown higher and faster (and in real-world hostile missions) than almost every other man-made airplane to take flight. I'm sure I'll be visiting that full-scale A-12 a few times before I'm done.
Regarding the pics, the first two are factory shots. The last one is the plane sitting in my spare bedroom. For reference, that room is 15'x18'
Feel free to chime in and enjoy this build with me!
03-09-2018, 04:27 AM
#9
Thread Starter
Hello,
Here are a few better pics. 1. The first pic shows the fuel cells in their compartment. The cells are kevlar with some very nice caps, cap fittings and plumbing. I'll go into that in more depth later as I get them plumbed and installed. 2. This is a shot of the nose gear mount bulkhead. The gear are mounted to carbon flex-plates which are bolted to rigid mounts. 3. The nose gear unit gives an excellent canvas for the 'hyper-scale' type modeler, and I plan to really spend some time channeling my inner Paul Reese on these. 4. The molded detail of the 'corrugated' skin on the bird is evident here. 5. The left main gear unit. Again, the scale detail is astonishing. These struts are integrated into a Behotec pneumatic unit. Each wheel has its own pneumatic brake. These are also offered in electric, but I have always preferred pneumatic. 6. The engineers on the Archangel and Oxcart projects developed lots of ways to make all of this work in previously unknown or unchallenged flight environments, and these leading-edge triangular 'chines' were part of solving several problems. They're molded in, too. 7. The nose/fuse joint seen through the main hatch. There are carbon tubes inlaid perpendicular around the bulkheads, and carbon pins slide into those to brace the two parts. Then bolts seal the deal. 8. The right engine compartment with the hatch removed. You can also see the rear end of the intake cone. These engine mounts mate to custom bypass/pipe combos that are tailored to whatever engine you choose.
You can't appreciate the feather-light weight of the components through pictures, so I'll take some shots of some of these parts on a scale.
Here are a few better pics. 1. The first pic shows the fuel cells in their compartment. The cells are kevlar with some very nice caps, cap fittings and plumbing. I'll go into that in more depth later as I get them plumbed and installed. 2. This is a shot of the nose gear mount bulkhead. The gear are mounted to carbon flex-plates which are bolted to rigid mounts. 3. The nose gear unit gives an excellent canvas for the 'hyper-scale' type modeler, and I plan to really spend some time channeling my inner Paul Reese on these. 4. The molded detail of the 'corrugated' skin on the bird is evident here. 5. The left main gear unit. Again, the scale detail is astonishing. These struts are integrated into a Behotec pneumatic unit. Each wheel has its own pneumatic brake. These are also offered in electric, but I have always preferred pneumatic. 6. The engineers on the Archangel and Oxcart projects developed lots of ways to make all of this work in previously unknown or unchallenged flight environments, and these leading-edge triangular 'chines' were part of solving several problems. They're molded in, too. 7. The nose/fuse joint seen through the main hatch. There are carbon tubes inlaid perpendicular around the bulkheads, and carbon pins slide into those to brace the two parts. Then bolts seal the deal. 8. The right engine compartment with the hatch removed. You can also see the rear end of the intake cone. These engine mounts mate to custom bypass/pipe combos that are tailored to whatever engine you choose.
You can't appreciate the feather-light weight of the components through pictures, so I'll take some shots of some of these parts on a scale.
03-09-2018, 05:36 AM
#10
Good looking airframe.
Regards,
Regards,
03-17-2018, 09:39 AM
#11
Thread Starter
03-17-2018, 10:11 AM
#12
Thread Starter
MKS servos
Pretty robust metal arms!
Two of these MKS servos will be ganged together on the outboard ailevators.
ELECTRONICS
So for the first consideration to tackle on this build, I had to narrow down which electronics I would be using. I'm still on the fence regarding receivers, but I've selected the servos. I posted a while ago on another thread asking for peoples' input and experiences with different servo brands. When I first got into jets, JR electronics were all the rage. I'd been pretty happy with them over the years, but recently I've had several 8611's and 8711's be on the fritz right out of the box. In fairness, they'd been sitting for a long time, but never out of the box. With JR and Horizon calling it quits, I felt like I was left holding the bag on several really expensive servos so I went on the hunt for something new to try. I've had so-so luck with Hitec, so I took a look at a few brands like Savox, Spektrum and Align. They have some nice offerings, but Doug Cronkhite turned me onto MKS. I'm currently building an F-18 Twin for a fellow here in San Diego, and we ordered some for him. If you haven't seen or used these servos, they're pretty impressive! I talked to Thomas at MKS, and he was happy to spend a lot of time on the phone with me about what would suit my project best. I decided to go with their X6 series HBL 599 standar-sized servos. They have titanium-chrome allow gears, brushless motors and an operating voltage range of 3.5 to 8.4 volts. At roughly 500 inch-ounces of torque at 6.6 volts, they're pretty strong. I watched some Youtube of these servos in action on some pretty large aerobats with pretty large control surfaces slamming back and forth and was convinced.
The metal arms I ordered looked WAY smaller on their web-page. These things are the textbook definition of 'overkill', but that's what I want on a bird like this. I drilled and tapped them out for the 4mm studs that come with the hardware pack for this airplane and have the full-flying vertical stabs and the outboard ailevators connected.
04-10-2018, 06:40 AM
#13
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: , MA
Posts: 18
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Hello,
I am about to start construction on what I think is the most impressive model kit I've ever had in my hands--and by far the largest! In this day of huge jet models, we've become used to great, big models. This one, though, was a jaw-dropper for me.
I think you'll all be impressed with the quality of the layup, engineering, fit and finish of this kit. The thing you just can't get a sense of unless you touch it is the weight, though. I'll discuss that more later with measurements. My 12-year-old son can pick up the nose section (roughly 6' long with the scale nose unit installed) with only two thumbs and two forefingers
I'm still gathering the components (electronics and engines), but will start on the construction this week. In preparation for this, I've been doing a lot of reading on the history and heritage of the A-12, and learned that the specimen sitting at the San Diego Aerospace Museum a few miles from me has flown higher and faster (and in real-world hostile missions) than almost every other man-made airplane to take flight. I'm sure I'll be visiting that full-scale A-12 a few times before I'm done.
Regarding the pics, the first two are factory shots. The last one is the plane sitting in my spare bedroom. For reference, that room is 15'x18'
Feel free to chime in and enjoy this build with me!
I am about to start construction on what I think is the most impressive model kit I've ever had in my hands--and by far the largest! In this day of huge jet models, we've become used to great, big models. This one, though, was a jaw-dropper for me.
I think you'll all be impressed with the quality of the layup, engineering, fit and finish of this kit. The thing you just can't get a sense of unless you touch it is the weight, though. I'll discuss that more later with measurements. My 12-year-old son can pick up the nose section (roughly 6' long with the scale nose unit installed) with only two thumbs and two forefingers
I'm still gathering the components (electronics and engines), but will start on the construction this week. In preparation for this, I've been doing a lot of reading on the history and heritage of the A-12, and learned that the specimen sitting at the San Diego Aerospace Museum a few miles from me has flown higher and faster (and in real-world hostile missions) than almost every other man-made airplane to take flight. I'm sure I'll be visiting that full-scale A-12 a few times before I'm done.
Regarding the pics, the first two are factory shots. The last one is the plane sitting in my spare bedroom. For reference, that room is 15'x18'
Feel free to chime in and enjoy this build with me!
a great model!
I have almost completed the SR 71. The only change I have made is to strengthen the landing gear fixing plate.
Ciao.
Enry
ITALY
03-15-2019, 03:58 PM
#18
Hi,
While I'm waiting for RCU to help with the account thing, here's a preview pic. I can talk all day about how light this layup is, given its considerable strength and rigidity, but a picture is worth a thousand words they say. This is my 6-year-old daughter holding up the nose section. It's about 6' x 17", and has the big Behotec nose unit installed already. She's not on steroids or from Wakanda, either!
While I'm waiting for RCU to help with the account thing, here's a preview pic. I can talk all day about how light this layup is, given its considerable strength and rigidity, but a picture is worth a thousand words they say. This is my 6-year-old daughter holding up the nose section. It's about 6' x 17", and has the big Behotec nose unit installed already. She's not on steroids or from Wakanda, either!
03-17-2019, 03:30 AM
#21
03-17-2019, 05:44 AM
#22
Oh,
I'm sure. My 13-year-old used to be joined at my hip whenever it came to anything flight-related. My RC-buddy, my Cessna-buddy. He turns 14 next month, but last month he noticed girls. Suddenly he's busy texting girls and has less time to fly...
As for this little one, it seems she was in diapers yesterday. Now, she just saw this pic and wants me to point out she's holding that nose section with one hand.
