Dat Guardrail

[Namactual]

This will represent the U.S. Army in the FFVA'19 if I can finish it in time.
This will be my last new project for the year, I still have to finish the Raptor and the YF-21.

I am pretty happy with the overall shape and it looks like I can get everything to fit nicely.

The scale RC-12 has about 101 versions and every one of them has 1002 antennae sticking out in every direction. There is no way that would work on the little RC version so I took a few visually important ones just to give the effect. I enlarged the empennage a bit, but the wings only a taste. A large portion of the outboard wing is a single width underchamber so it should create enough lift. Still, I may have to lengthen the chord a bit more as well. It is hard to picture that kind of thing without seeing it finished sometimes. The AUW will play a big factor in that also.

I have not even started the foam-fu yet, so it might be a while before I actually start building. That said, I like it a lot already and I am eager to get started. This will be a nice change of pace for me.

 

[foamtest]

Looks like it's going to be another awesome plane, probably pretty quick too! I cant wait to see how this one flies.

 

[DamoRC]

Looks cool. Should move along nicely on those twins.

 

[Namactual]

Thanks gents!
I hear ya on the speed.

Honestly, that is not really the goal with this build but I have like 50 of those motors laying about. I hope to build it around a mighty mini twin pack officially.

But yeah, the prototype will be a screamer with that power setup.

 

[jfaleo1]

I like this. I worked on King Airs for years, great planes. Though the RC-12 is based on the 200 which is my least favorite to work on. I am still interested to see the end result.

 

[Namactual]

My hope is to make all of the Guardrail parts optional so someone could make the C-12 Huron if they so desired. At first glance I did not see to many differences in the C-12 and the King Air 350i, but honestly my knowledge of this particular airframe is quite low.

I think this would be a good design to scale up to like 1/12 scale or so. I would have to do some math, but something like a twin C-pack sized.

 

[jfaleo1]

C-12s that are brand new are possibly 350s and have been almost every variety of t tail king air to my knowledge including the 1900 airliner. But most of the RC-12s have been derived from 200s in the past. Including the X models which are 200 airframes with higher Shaft hoarse power engines and modified tail sections from the 1900C to deal with the props/torque and the strange aerodynamic loads from the antenna configurations.
Just a side note standard 200 wing panels between engine and fuselage were not lifting surfaces at normal AOAs. That little birds hated to leave the ground until a fair amount of up elevator was added to take off. Raisbek created an STC to change the wing leading edges changing to airfoil and making it a much better aircraft. The Shape was fixed on future Ling Air variants.
I am very interested in your build as it would be a fun one to show off at work too. We teach Cessna and Beechcraft maintenance. I teach Citation X but.....
All this comes from a guy who spent most of his 20s working on refurbishment and repair of 1900s, King Airs, and 99s for Beechcraft. I have the dubious honor of having worked on every 1300 airliner built, and every Starhip that went into certified service.😀

 

[Namactual]

Thanks for the insight on the different models.

I noticed on the C-12 three view I have, the wing section between the nacelles and the fuselage had a shorter chord than the root of the outboard wing. That kind of struck me as odd. I wonder if the new wing design is still like that or if that was part of the change. I modeled mine equal on both sides (or straight if you will) just for ease of build, but I will see if I can come up with a set of 300 series three views to compare.

I have to admit, I was not sure about this choice of airframe for the Army bird at first. Now the more I look at it, the more it grows on me. This will be a fun build.

 

[AkimboGlueGuns]

Looks awesome! If I build one it'll probably get painted like a Kingair 350 instead of an RC-12, but I love the design.

 

[jfaleo1]

Thanks for the insight on the different models.

I noticed on the C-12 three view I have, the wing section between the nacelles and the fuselage had a shorter chord than the root of the outboard wing. That kind of struck me as odd. I wonder if the new wing design is still like that or if that was part of the change. I modeled mine equal on both sides (or straight if you will) just for ease of build, but I will see if I can come up with a set of 300 series three views to compare.

I have to admit, I was not sure about this choice of airframe for the Army bird at first. Now the more I look at it, the more it grows on me. This will be a fun build.

Yes the center wing is narrow compared to the outer wing. I can get some 3 views for you if you want but it will not be till I am back to work next week ( vacation for wedding anniversary this week). I have access to maintenance manuals for the king airs as well as the Cessna fleet. Those all have 3 views that I can normal export.

It is a great choice for army, only the old queen air is close for me for army aircraft.

 

[Namactual]

Now that the Eagle design is pretty much finished, I switched my focus to the Guardrail...

The foam-fu is going better than expected and everything seems like it will work. If you have a full sized 30amp ESC's, they are going to be tight, but they will fit in the nacelles. Using a smaller "mini" ESC there will be a ton of room. (I still plan on making this a mini twin at this scale)

I am using the same motor mount design I use for my prop and slots which are wider than the nacelle, but those will be covered with the exhaust parts.

The fuse is completely done except for the formers/bulkheads. The empennage is done as well. The wings are mostly done and are next on my list after I finish the nacelles.

It might have a few more parts and cuts than a standard FT design, but so far I do not see anything that would make the build difficult. I will know more later though.

 

[jfaleo1]

locating 3 views for this right now

 

[Namactual]

I did not forget about this build or the Raptor. Now that I have a proper workshop, I should be getting these done in short order.

If I don't go off on too many tangents that is...

 

[jfaleo1]

Bigger issue right now is I do not seem to be able to attach a file so working on that now.

 

[jfaleo1]

Got it

 

[Namactual]

Sweet, thanks brother!

I saved it right to my desktop and that is where it will stay until I get back to this. I am unsure what to do next after the F-15 Active build. I planned on doing the Starscream build next, but maybe I will switch to this to take a break from the skin builds for a few.

 

[Monte.C]

Hey that's a really good looking model. May I ask what program you're modeling with?

 

[Namactual]

Thanks!
I use a program called Cheetah 3D.
It is IMHO the best 3D animation suite out there for the price. The only down side is it is MacOS only.

 

[Monte.C]

Thanks!
I use a program called Cheetah 3D.
It is IMHO the best 3D animation suite out there for the price. The only down side is it is MacOS only.

Thanks I'm getting a little more curious every day -
I've been with cad since version R14, that was before Cad2000, and I'm pretty well expert but that's always been the straight 2D mother program. Hell I learned with a pencil & drafting table. Did a little in sketchup some years ago but these days people do all sorts of 3D work. Windows user here.

Still a beautiful model! Love your work.

 

[Namactual]

Thanks bud!
I started with the pencil and drafting table as well. I used to use AutoCAD daily about 20 years ago. I still teach AutoCAD and Key Creator to high school kids on occasion.

Sketchup is not bad, but very limited. If you can get used to the user interface, I would suggest trying Blender. It is a very powerful suite and it is free. The down side is the UI, I can't get used to the way it works on a basic level. I am too used to the standards like 3DS MAX and Maya. But starting from scratch, you will not have that baggage to deal with.