4' (AKA 5 foot) Falcon build

[TDahl]

Any suggestions on bending plastic tube without kinks?

I have a set of small-diameter tube benders similar to this from Micromark which are tightly coiled wire formed into hollow tubes that are 5 ro 6 inches long, with one flared end (to allow easy insertion of the tube material ti be bent). The idea is that the tube to be bent is inserted into the coiled form and then bent. The coils surrounding the tube to be bent prevent the tube from expanding at a kink point. I have not tried them on plastic, but they might work if the plastic has been pre-warmed on hot water.

 

[Treadwell]

I think I've read that if you put something inside, like a bendable soft metal rod or wire, it helps prevent that. And it can then be removed.

 

[RealDaveWinter]

I think I've read that if you put something inside, like a bendable soft metal rod or wire, it helps prevent that. And it can then be removed.

Yes, I've already tried that.

 

[TazMan2000]

I managed to make larger diameter bends on my 1/16 Y-wing ( Large scale Y-Wing ) by using a little of what joberg suggested and what Treadwell suggested. You're not going to get a 1D bend without problems, as you know the tubing will crunch up in the inside and stretch on the outside. But you can make a series of relief cuts so the outside will fan-out and the inside will seal up with 'pie" cuts. Use filler to fill in the gaps and sand.

Model kit sprue which comes in different diameters depending on the model size is a great way to get different diameters of sprue, sometimes with the proper diameter bend already formed, and those bend easily with a little heat from a candle. I've also used Evergreen tubing with a diameter of brass rod equal to the internal diameter of the tubing and I slowly bent it to shape.

Plastruct.com has butyrate tubings and fittings for larger diameter piping, which is what I used on the Death Star trench display base. Catalog

TazMan2000

 

[Treadwell]

Can you use styrene rod instead of tubing? I've had some success that way.

 

[RealDaveWinter]

Finally completed my first mechanical pit last night. Bottom Starboard. It was fun because there are not many kits required, and I had all of them on hand. I could just pull them off the shelf and not have to wait a month for something to show up in the post. The photo above is from the Chronicles book, and so I do not know why that Pay Hauler frame is on its side in the photo. Other references show it upright as I have it.

Bending rod is far easier to bending tube, so where required, I've just stuffed tube with ever smaller tube and rod until I get a solid rod the diameter I need.

This is probably not 100% perfect, I'm sure things are off by a mm or two here and there, but I think I got it really close.

The Chronicles photo and built up Bandai kit parts are shown as reference.

 

[Media Man]

Looks stunning, great work!

 

[joberg]

Looking sharp for sure

 

[manugu]

Perfect, great job!

(Here for completeness a link where the payhauler beam is also discussed by 3Dsf in his superb collection of notes)

 

[RealDaveWinter]

The upper-forward-starboard mechanical pit. This was fairly straight forward too as, again, I had all the kits required and it was just a case of figuring out where the cuts are.

Under the Centurion part at the top, there's a part I couldn't ID, but the more I looked the more I felt it was just plastic card. So that's what I went with. Once it's installed, you can't see that far back anyway.

 

[joberg]

L.O.V.E.L.Y.

 

[manugu]

The upper-forward-starboard mechanical pit. This was fairly straight forward too as, again, I had all the kits required and it was just a case of figuring out where the cuts are.

Under the Centurion part at the top, there's a part I couldn't ID, but the more I looked the more I felt it was just plastic card. So that's what I went with. Once it's installed, you can't see that far back anyway.

View attachment 1825461

Just an idea, but as the configuration of the Sherman parts on the Centurion is the same as on the 8Rad plate used all over the Falcon, maybe this group used in that pit is also just a piece of a 8Rad plate casting. The plate under the centurion might then be just that, a remainder of the casting plate?

 

[RealDaveWinter]

Oh yeah... maybe. Certainly possible. When I get to building that mechanical pit I'll take a closer look. I can swap those parts out easily enough.

 

[RealDaveWinter]

Small update on this project. Not very much done over the past couple of weeks but I have managed to do a layout of the "JagdPanther" pit. A few of the parts are fixed to the tank hull, but everything surrounding it is just placed there. None of the pipes have been created yet. The 8rad tunnel section is too long. That will be cut to fit once everything is inside the hull. The same with the I beam that goes over the right hand side. That will be put in place, but the final height will need to wait until everything is being put into the hull.

The pit itself was originally directly scaled up from the Bandai kit part, but after I started fitting the interior parts, I realized that the Bandai pit wasn't deep enough in the back. So I reworked it to extend the back to match references photos. I don't know if the real model is open back there, or how it blocks out, but this will work well enough I think. I created a lot of castings of my 1:24 Panther G parts rather than try to source another full kit.

 

[JimmyB]

On styrene pipe bending, this guy uses a soldering iron and the results look pretty good.

 

[RealDaveWinter]

Yep, I use the same technique. I get more control with the soldering iron and it's not an open flame.

 

[joberg]

Thank you for that JimmyB...another trick to make our life easier

 

[RealDaveWinter]

A little slow still on this build. I've taken a position with the Air Force looking after some of its flight simulators so my building time has been cut back a bit.

But I have managed to acquire a couple of key kits, including the ISE so I can finally finish the radar dish area.

And thanks to GTMill, I corrected a small error in one my mechanical pit builds and thanks to the other kit I needed, the Nichimo JagdTiger, I was also able to finish this portion of the build and have it ready for casting.

So that's where I am at the moment.

 

[GTMill]

Great progress on the plate Dave

 

[Studio Kitbash]

Nice plate -- in addition to the Falcon, that's the plate they cut up to make a whole bunch of the Y-Wing subassemblies.