Airbus A350 1/60 Laser Cut Scratch Build

[William_Conway]

Hello everyone!

As the title may suggest, I'm currently in progress of building 1/60 scale Airbus A350-900XWB.

This is my first commercial Airliner Scratch build, so i can almost guarantee there will be a very high fail/success ratio.
I'm a part of the Newmarket, Ontario, Canada Makerspace, which means I have access to a 75w laser cutter, 3D printers, CNC machines, as well as a variety of other power tools.

I've been fascinated with this plane since it was unveiled, just because of it's smooth curves, short nose, and how much it integrates everything great about aircraft travel.

I have no plans, and everything is made from my own homemade CorelDraw files. I've looked at pictures, as well as airbus' 3 View drawings for airport planning.

Let's see how this goes!

 

[shermanhartman]

Awesome. I wish i had a makerspace local to me. Can't wait to see the build.

 

[William_Conway]

Quick Update:

I've decided to take the Airbus 3 view plans and use the to find the size of everything I need. Diameter of the fuselage tube will be approx 10cm, with the overall length coming to about 1.2m.

I took the top-down silhouette of the fuselage, and made 2 file copies. I then divided 1 of the sets of plans into 2 pieces to fit the laser cutter, I then divided the other into 3. This means that there will never be an area where 2 joints will be on top of each other. I cut out all the pieces with the laser, and started mocking it up.

Progress is going well so far, I've glued everything together with hot glue, it's kinda heavy, but the drying/cooling time is great for working fast.

I've started designing the Top and Bottom fuselage formers for the main center section. Canopy and tail is a challenge I'll face later.

Looking good so far!

 

[Heavy313]

Nice man, subscribed.

 

[William_Conway]

Nice man, subscribed.

Thanks very much! Hope you enjoy the build.

Awesome. I wish i had a makerspace local to me. Can't wait to see the build.

They are great workspaces. I'm sure there is at least someplace where you can use these tools near you. Looking around for places is how you find them, They may not seem obvious at first, but they are worth it! Thanks for looking at the build.


Newest Update as of 16/5/16:

After the last update, I took the piece home and put it on a chair. My younger brother almost immediately went and sat on it, breaking it in half. Darn it.

I recut everything and used CA this time to glue it all together. Much lighter than before, but still just as strong.

I wasn't really happy with it just being DTFB, so I ran a 2 1/2 cm balsa spar all the way down the body. Very strong, very little flex.

I designed the top of the fuselage formers, which went through 8 revisions to get the right size and shape that I wanted. I've made them to be able to accommodate 2 stringers running down the length of the fuselage, which will add even more strength.

After getting it all cut out and CA'ed together, I then cut out a whole bunch of formers, and glued them in 4cm apart. In order to assist with even spacing and keep all of them 90 degrees apart, I made a small guide, which can be placed after each former, that keeps it perpendicular to the body, all while keeping it upright, and 4cm spaced apart.

I then finished up all the formers for the top, and added 2 for the bottom, in preparation for the wing and wing box.

In order to make it as stable as possible, and because it only occupies 1.5m^3 of space, I'm going to keep it whole as one piece, meaning the wings will be permanently attached. In order to access receivers and batteries, I will have a hinged hatch in the side of the fuselage.

I've also just(meaning 30 seconds ago) bought 2 Dr.Mad thrust 50mm alloy edf for each engine.

Next update should be in 2-3 days.