03.06.2006 » Concepts / Intro

For the Minimal G project I am also creating an ornithopter. An ornithopter is an aircraft that creates lift and propulsion by flapping wings rather than by propellers, rockets, or jet engines. This will be a small, single-rider ornithopter for recreational use created in the Kingdom of Hochebene. The pilot will lay on the mid surface of the craft holding a control-bar. The feet will rest behind on a foot-bar. Both can contour to the pilots position. If the pilot lays flat, the foot rest extends back and the control bar lowers. If the pilot pulls back for a landing or other maneuver, the foot rest shortens and control bar extends so that the pilot can bend and pull the craft.

I want this craft to have an elegant appearance. Since it's a civilian craft, there will be no weapons and the wings will be more ornate in appearance than an ornithopter meant for labor or military use. Below is a few top-down sketchs of what I'm thinking. I like the bat-like wings of the first one better so will go with those. The second sketch shows where the front landing gear will be when in flight and the rear fins stretched out.

As for construction, I'll be using miscellaneous parts for the frame as well as the creation or many new ones from scratch. I have a small servo motor that runs slow. I'll be using that to make the wings flap up and down. The pilot will be a woman I'm sculpting from Magic Sculpt. Since she's a civilian, I'm thinking to add to the elegant look, I'll put her in a dress as if she's using the craft to go out on the town so to speak. Can't all be machines of war! As for the wings themselves, I need a material that is durable, yet flexible so that it flaps a bit when the wings move. Perhaps model aircraft paper which looks like a parchment, or some sort of clear frosted plastic for a really unique look.

03.16.2006 » First Build Shots

I started back on this today. I had some of the figure sculpted while I was working on the Mosquito as a good way to use up leftover Magic Sculpt without wasting it. In fact all I did today was clean-up some of the right leg and start the left one. The figure will start off nude until I get the proportions right then a dress will be added.

You can see that the main body of this craft, which uses some leftover bits of the Me-109s isn't very large. The wings however will be big and besides, ornithopters should be light to fly like a bird.

03.18.2006 » Spread Your Wings!

The past few days I've been adding more MS to get the shape of the lower fuselage how I want it. When dry I'll start sanding it into shape as right now it's a misshapen blob. It would be easier to form the shape, but I had the wires sticking out the back and the motor hatch to worry about. They needed to be there so I can get the putty on correctly, but I'll remove them before sanding. While that was drying I started the wing spars and the front landing gear. I love the front gear as they have an almost bug-anteanna look to them. They need to stick out that far to not hit the conrods and crank mechanisms for flapping the wings. I added a little spring inbetween the wheel rod and strut to make a sort-of "shock absorber" as you can see in the pics below. For the figure, I finished the face I think (not pictured... doh!) and the legs to the point where I can add the tall boots.

03.19.2006 » Feeling Cranky

Today I did a little more on the figure sculpt, but the most exciting part of the progress was getting the crank mechanism to function. I made several cranks and 2 sets of "conrods" before I got just the right flapping. Originally I used brass for the conrods but switched to steel wire for several reasons. 1: it's naturally a dark metal so won't requite painting which is great since the paint is sure to chip from the friction. 2: The steel while slightly flexible is rather rigid and difficult to bend. That means I won't have as much worry about damaging the rods. I still need to trim the excess, but I can do that much later when I'm doing the final build.

03.22.2006 » Wing and a Gown

At this point I have the wings nearly done with the frosted acetate as the wing material. I also did a lot of sanding to the fuselage and started the rear supports for the foot-rest and tail. The support-bars for the handels are also in place. Figure-wise I have started the dress. What you see below is the very early stages of that with much clean-up and some added detail to follow. Now that the control supports are in place, I can adjust the wire to make the forearms, shoulders, and neck. The tall boots for the dressy desert crosser are still in need of clean-up and detail as well including laces on the upper rear and more sole details. I'm happy with the results so far as this is my first full figure sculpt.

01.28.2007 » 10 Months Later...

Been a while since I've worked on this, let alone looked at it... but I've resolved to finish up a few old projects that I've put off and this seemed like a good start. I realized that I made more progress than I actually showed in my last update. The pilot has arms and hair had been cleaned up and primed. It was the little things that I needed to clean up after I primed her that made me put the project aside for so long... I just didn't feel like doing it. But now I do... I started cleaning up some of the gaps, dents, and whatnot on the pilot, modified and cleaned up the boots, cleaned up the hair and reprimed. I do have some more clean-up to do and another reprime coming, but she's looking good. The ornithopter itself needed a little clean-up as well. That didn't take long and it's pretty much ready for primer and paint. I added a footrest for the pilot made from thick thread woven back and forth on the rear frame. Here's some pics: