Grunder Industries ADF-01 Falken build log

Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
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Yesterday I was playing Ace Combat and for some reason got the desire to build a jet :p. Although this will be my first real design I wanted to build one that has never been done before (as far as I know), so I chose the Falken. Having built several chuck gliders by making drawings from an existing model that I owned, I designed the Falken just like that. I drew the pieces directly onto the foam from the display function on the game, cut them out, test folded them, made a new drawing on paper for reference, and then glued the pieces together. By the evening I had a small prototype of fourteen inch wingspan, and I think it looks pretty good.

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I did some glide testing and although it is a fictional aircraft it does fly! So now I am going to start revising the design, making it easier to build, and more scale looking. My hope is to make it a prop and slot jet, and once I gain the skills, to make free downloadable plans, but I have considered making it an EDF with vectored thrust! I should have an update by the end of the weekend.
 
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Fluburtur

Cardboard Boy
I started working on my own version a while back for the forum challenge which I still didnt finish.
I wanted to claim the first RC Falken, guess I have to get back to work then.
Good luck on that!
 

Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
Thanks @Merv and @Fluburtur. I am going to redesign the engines to have a more scale shape, make the cockpit narrower, and build the wing with fewer sections to make it stronger.

I wanted to claim the first RC Falken, guess I have to get back to work then.Good luck on that!

Is this a challenge? :D
 

Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
Yeah, we could combine both of our build threads into one like this! I read on the fantasy aircraft design challenge that you were going to do your's with cardboard and hot wire cut foam. So if you have time I would definitely be up for making it a contest, and we could set up a poll so that everyone can choose a winner!
 

Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
Ok, cool I will see if I can change the name of this thread, or possibly start a new one. Thanks for the invitation to the discord but I would rather keep to the forums.
 
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Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
I have finished redesigning the engine pods to give them a more scale shape, narrowing the cockpit, and giving the canards and vertical stabilizers a more scale shape. I am going to build the next version with black foamboard because, one, I won't have to paint it and, two, I have heard that it is more durable than the white.
 

Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
It will probably have a 27 inch wingspan and be about 33 inches long. Although the scale may have to be changed a bit because I am trying to match the plane to a power setup I already have, (Hextronik 2730-1500kv and a 7x5 prop on 3s). Also I don't have a vey large area to fly so I want to keep it small.
 

Fluburtur

Cardboard Boy
Alright so it will be the size under mine, will be more friendly for other users to build tho because mine is rather complicated.
 

Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
Yeah, well it's kind of a hard build. It doesn't use any A, B, or C folds, it is all just bevels and formers and is still very messy because I had to draw the plans by hand. I am making progress though, I actually just finished building the second version and it looks much better! I will try to upload pictures later.
 

Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
So all week I have been cutting up foam and have now finished building a second version of the Falken.

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The engine nacelles have been given a scale shape.

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The cockpit has been narrowed, the fillet has been added, and the inlets for the engines are now trapezoidal.

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The canards have been changed to obtain a scale shape, and the wing has been reduced to three pieces.

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The next step will be to build the first rc version; although the design still needs to be revised because it is not very intuitive to build.
 

Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
So, last night I was looking at three view drawings of the Falken and came across a build thread for one on RC Groups. It is a small model made of depron and it looks amazing!

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It was supposed to become a small edf jet, but as far as I know it was never finished.
 
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Fluburtur

Cardboard Boy
Yeah the classic black and red, I might try to paint the Gryphus One emblem on the tail since Ace Combat X was my first AC game (not counting AC3 which I played briefly several years before)
 

Mr. Gandalf

Elite member
Cool, I am going to keep the whole thing black except for a red stripe near the top of the vertical stabilizer. It will be the Razgriz paint scheme from AC5!