Dat Rhino

Namactual

Elite member
Finally...
AGM4.jpg
AGM84's are complete! (y)
Holy smokes is she heavy!(n)
I don't think it will end well, but I will giver her a toss like this the next time I am out flying and see what happens.:unsure::sneaky:

I had another adhesive paper delivery today. This stuff here...
Cotyledon Gloss A4 @ Amazon
It came in at a weight of 5.9grams which is the heaviest of the lot, but only by a tiny fraction.
It looks great, has a nice glossy finish which could really make skins pop.(y)
The down side is it's not nearly as sticky as the Online Labels paper.(n)
I do not see this holding up to well, but I will try it on a few test parts when I get the chance and report back what I find.
 
I did what you suggested; it made difference but not that much. I flew my FT Alpha(ish) to feed my speed craving :) unlimited vertical on 4s emax 2206 II 6x4 APC prop.
 

Namactual

Elite member
I am sorry to hear you are not happy with the speed.:(

You could always cut the wings down at the carrier deck fold seam.;)

Honestly, I think the legacy Hornet would be a better frame than the Rhino if speed was the idea.

A Viper would be better still.:sneaky:
 

Namactual

Elite member
Just got a few new toys to play with in the mail today...
Upgrade.jpg
I wanted to see how these performed with hex blades on 3s, and tri blades on4s. I am not concerned with speed so much as thrust and efficiency.

I hope to test these soon. I will keep you posted.
 

Namactual

Elite member
I finally finished my VFA-103 Jolly Rogers squadron prints today. They are ready to be printed.(y)
I ended up doing this twice over the span of 3 days. Can't say why...:sneaky:

I am going to design a new motor mount tomorrow at work. One I can 3D print which will look nicer and not require all of the cutting and drilling. I expect you could use this mount for other prop and slots as well. I will upload those as well as the AIM9X's and missile rails for people with access to a 3D printer.

Anyway, my next build will be with the new VFA-103 skin printed at home on the Online Labels self adhesive paper. It will also use one of these new RSII motors. It's supposed to be hotter than all get out this weekend so this will be a good time to get this build done inside with the A/C.
 

Namactual

Elite member
This adhesive paper is the :poop:! It is sooooo much easier to work with.

Now I need to buy my wide format printer and get this stuff by the roll so I don't have to do all of this cutting and taping nonsense.
SqProto01.jpg
The bottom pictures there were taken in the dark for the most part, only light was from the flash. I will take better pictures tomorrow. This is going rather quickly so I will be done with this by Sunday for sure.(y)

The skin looks good, but I might have to tone down the weathering a taste. The prints themselves look a little too dark, so the weathering really stands out. I exaggerated it intentionally to give the flat foam more depth and make it stand out from a distance, but it might be a little too much.:unsure:

We will see.
 

Namactual

Elite member
I am a little behind schedule thanks to the guy who had too much to drink last night and decided to play chicken with the telephone pole across the street. 12 hours without power or A/C in a third floor apartment on the hottest day of the year? @PsyBorg Neal's law might just give Bill's Law a run for it's money.

Anyway, the power just came back on so it's back to building. I still hope to be done tomorrow.
 

Namactual

Elite member
The first squadron prototype is pretty much done...
SqProto02.jpg
Again, I think the prints came out too dark which amplified the weathering, especially on the bottom. That said, it still looks good if not a little overdone. The shading on the underside and the paint color on the top are too close to the same shade as well.(n) I am sure every printer and every color profile will come up with something different so I am not sure which way I should adjust the hue/contrast. :cautious:

Anyway, I still need to install the motor and mount as well as the control rods, but other than that it its ready to fly.

Oh, and I need to paint the missile and rails too.
 

DamoRC

Elite member
Mentor
Me thinks you are being a little (read a lot) hard on youself. I just spent a few minutes looking really carefully at the last set of pics - these really are excellent @Namactual

Were these printed on the Cotyledon Gloss A4 that you mentioned before?

DamoRC
 

Namactual

Elite member
Thanks Damo!

Actually, that was printed on the Online Labels Paper which has the matte finish. I will try the Cotlyedon paper on the next build.
I think the glossy finish of the Cotyledon will look better, but it does not feel nearly as sticky. The print quality/color can vary substantially between paper so it may look better or worse than the Online Labels paper.

The OL paper is about half the price as well a tad bit lighter so it's going to be hard to beat.
 

Namactual

Elite member
No problem. (y)

I had a very productive day today. I designed and printed the prototype motor mount and it looks good. (y) It should be plenty strong and Everything fit great. I have to redo the countersinks for the motor bolts as they were way to tight. I reamed them out by hand for this one, but I would rather not have to mess with it at all. That slight little change and it will be good to go.
AlphaMount001.jpg
And with that, she is now ready for flight. I am not sure when I will get a chance to fly, but once I know the mount works as advertised I will upload the .stl's.
 

Namactual

Elite member
Revision 2b of the motor mounts are attached below.

They are in a .stl format.
There are two versions of each piece, one Imperial and one Metric.
You will need a single main mount and two plates to complete a set.
Every 3D suite and slicer seems to have a different coordinate system Some use Y as up or Z as up.
The main mount should have the motor bolt countersink's at the top.
The mount plate is just a flat plate. :sneaky:

Settings I used in Cura for my original prints which worked good.
1: I used a .6mm head
2: Default three pass wall thickness with no infill.
3: Default 1.2mm top and bottom thickness.
No support material or brim. I do not know how they all work, but the ultimaker can in fact print over small voids without supports and it handled the mount with no issues.

This is a second revision, but still a beta. I have not actually printed these yet to test them, but I can not imagine the changes I made broke anything.:unsure:

I will be printing a new test set tomorrow if you want to wait. I am uploading these for @kilroy07 though so you do not have to wait until tomorrow to get started.
 

Attachments

  • Rhino Mount.zip
    22.3 KB · Views: 0

Namactual

Elite member
I plan to maiden the VFA-103 tomorrow with those new motors and mount.

I dunno guys, these new motors scare me. I ran it up a few times just a second ago and this thing is nuts.

This is going to be awesome! ...or it's going to explode. Maybe even both!
Either way, I have my camera battery charging and plan to record the entire thing.(y)
I can't wait. :D

I know I have been neglecting the skins, I have just been busy on other things. I will upload the VFA-103's by the end of this weekend. Both tiled and un-tiled. They are done, I just have to format them and upload them.
 

kilroy07

Legendary member
I went ahead and remixed this to one piece, let me know what you think.
 

Attachments

  • DatRhino-Motor Mount.stl
    40.1 KB · Views: 0