As of the posting of this thread I have already done some work on my viper, so this first build log will bring you up to speed on what has happened so far.
The plan is too build a mkII Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactica, from scratch, in two weeks. The scale is currently 1/12, which will result in a model approximately 27 inches long. My power setup is currently up in the air, but I have a spare C-pack motor as well as a redbottom motor with 20amp esc that could be used, although I doubt either of these are the right size and I will probably have to acquire a new motor/esc for this plane. The motor will most likely be at the rear of the plane in a pusher configuration, and I may have to add canards to the nose although I would prefer to avoid that.
My prototype model uses FlyingPenguinRC's fold'n'form technique, which he explains in his recent article [SPOILER="here"]
https://www.flitetest.com/articles/fp-mustang-fold-form-flying-penguin-rc[/SPOILER]. The concept behind fold'n'form is making loops of dtfb by removing the paper on one side and then fitting formers in either end giving the segment shape. Multiple of these formers are then stacked together to give the plane's body it's shape.
I started by downloading this lovely free 3d model from CGTrader [SPOILER="link here"]
http://lukasstratmann.com/colonial-viper-mk-ii-battlestar-galactica/[/SPOILER] and loading it into blender. There I chopped the model into segments and UV mapped both the skin segments and the shapes of the ends of each skin segment. I then exported the UVs as a png and resized/printed them in photoshop.
View attachment 114561 3d model in blender along with formers, skin, and UVs.
I didn't think of documenting the prototype body's build, but here is a picture of the completed
prototype body with cockpit:
Ok, that was two pictures. And no, this is not what I intend for this to look like, v2 was started almost immediately after the body's completion. The issue with the body is that it ended up too round. To remedy that v2 will use formers that are much more square as well as score cuts opened up with bbq skewers on the skin, which will result in a more boxy, but (hopefully) a much more recognizable, look!
If you look you can also see the engines in the background, which turned out much better than the body did.
The next update will probably come tomorrow, with the prototype v2 creation and plans.
