Bristol Spaceplanes Ascender
I just received a drawing of the Bristol Spaceplanes Ascender from the manufacturer. It looks like a small space shuttle, with a large rocket engine and two turbojet engines (for use in the atmosphere). I'll be doing some planning for a model of this.
Garet
Seattle, WA
Garet, I saw your pictures. The ship looks great. I am guessing somewhere around 1/72 scale?? I saw a program on Discovery channel about the Ascender or a ship that looks just like her. They figure a mere $200,000.00 will get you into sub orbital altitude for a few minutes.
Thanks, Lou. It was late, so I just uploaded the pictures. I added the comments today. It is 1/72 scale, as you guessed. Surprisingly, it is not a large aircraft. A bit bigger than a P-40, but not twice the size.
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/normal_P1040585.JPG)
The gallery is at:
http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=40 (http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=40)
This is the first time I've built a model with this sort of full delta wing. I decided to make the wing in once piece, including the root. This left a big piece cut out of the fuselage.
Garet
The photos of the cabin/windscreen area are starting to show off the sleek lines of the Bristol Spaceplanes Ascender. May I suggest you start a new topic for each of your creations and keep the current update for general information. Just a thought.
Lou,
Good idea on splitting the topics. You can see I've already followed your advice.
Here is the latest photo of the front of the Ascender:
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/normal_21-Asc-NoseCockpit.JPG)
I see Rutan released some details of his bigger version of Space Ship One yesterday.
Garet
The other suborbital tourism spaceship I saw was similar to this one.
http://www.personalspaceflight.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/eads1.jpg
It was featured on the discovery channel and somewhat bigger than the Ascender.. Yours looks great. I do not have any time slots left to start anything new just now.
Lou,
I made a note to check on the EADS spaceplane a while back. I happened to get a magazine that had an article on the Ascender, and Bristol Spaceplanes were very quick sending me a drawing, so that's how I ended up with the Ascender.
Both use a similar principle: take off using turbofan jet engines, climb to altitude, use a rocket engine to go to space, re-enter, and use jet engines for landing.
I did a little bit of carving of the tail end of the fuselage -- it somehow becomes completely circular there. It took some fudging, but I think it is getting close now. I'm basing this on a somewhat unclear photo of a model at a trade show and a frame from a video showing an earlier version of the Ascender.
I have some illustrations of the new version of Scale Composites Space Ship Two. I found a side view, but no top or front views. I tried to get information from them about their Global Flyer a few years back, but was not successful.
There is a full-sized mockup of Space Ship One at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It is owned by Paul Allen. For that matter, the full-sized mockup of the Scaled Composites Voyager (Jeanna Yeager's mockup) is on display at Seatac Airport. The originals of both are at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Garet
The Ascender project is looking good. Is it made from poplar?
I noticed that you cut with a scroll saw. Do you have trouble keeping the saw blade square to the sides while cutting? Even with the heavier bandsaw blade, I have trouble with that sometimes, usually on harder woods.
Dave,
The fuselage is poplar, but the wing is boxwood. A woodworking friend warned me that there are a whole bunch of species commonly called "poplar" in the wood shop. This poplar has been carving fine, though I did touch up the sharpening on my tools to get a really clean cut.
As to the scroll sawing, I use special "thick wood" 5-inch unpinned scroll saw blades which work really well up to 2" in pine, spruce, etc. I have tried 3/4" hardwood, but nothing thicker. They are made by Olsen, and I buy them through Rockler Woodworking because there is a store a few miles from me, but they also do mail-order. There is a small mail order place that sells a huge variety of scroll saw blades in the US; their prices are even more reasonable. I'll have to look up their name again. One of the fellows who works at Rockler teaches a scroll saw class, so he always gives me pointers when I go in to buy blades. He did say that, particularly with the thinner blades, they wear out and break with about 20 minutes of use. Also, he said to tension until the plucked blade makes a C above middle C note, and to never set the variable speed above 60%, because the blade heats too much beyond that. He also recommended precision ground teeth for very delicate work on thin pieces. I haven't tried them yet, since I always have to sand to airfoil or streamline anyway.
When I cut out the large (2 inch) stack of pine for the 1/350 PT-boats, I noticed that the blades curved a bit on some of the smaller pieces, so that they aren't all the same width through the stack. I think the blade was getting dull.
I have even cut pieces of bandsaw blades to fit my scroll saw. I used this to cut finger joints in a 2x10 we were using for a raised-bed planter. These blades tend to wander a bit in the scroll saw, though, and are too coarse for cutting out parts to outline.
Garet
Any progress?
Thanks for checking on me, but, sorry, I haven't done anything other than round the fuselage off and putty all over. I need to make engines next.
Garet
Any report from the engine manufacture. You know these guys can be as bad as munitions (torpedo) contractors.
Sorry, Lou, no progress on the engines yet, though I did do some putty and sanding of the fuselage a while back. As to the PT boat torpedo tubes, I think they are ready for primer, and given that the weather here right now is ideal for painting, I should make a note to get those done! My other nearly complete project is the PRU Spitfire, which is painted with the base color and is awaiting me to draw up the decals and to paint the canopy.
As you probably saw on my flickr page, my 1:1 children's kayak is coming along. It really reminds me of a giant stick-and-tissue model airplane!
Garet
1:1 scale is also good. I saw a home built Sirocco being assembled in a hangar I worked in. It was neat. Just a thought, Maybe you could sub contract to me or Ray or Kenny to do the engines and see if the assembly would work out. Detailed drawings would be a must.
Where did you get your drawings Garet? I found some on line but they do not appear to be the once you show in your album.
Lou
The company sent me some rough drawings when I sent them a query. I'll find them and send you a copy if you are interested.
There are several iterations to the design, based on photos I saw of their mock-ups at various aerospace shows.
Garet
I have started an Ascender so we can say we have a group spacecraft built. I placed the web site address for your photos on a flickr site where the Ascender was a feature. http://www.flickr.com/photos/df_btyhoo/285546454/
I can only place a limited amount of time on this project as I have quite a few on the bench now. I will post a picture soon.
Lou
One could call this the SPACE RACE
Here are the rough-cut engines and rocket nozzle:
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/normal_AscenderEnginesMed.JPG)
http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-1837 (http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-1837)
I turned the rocket nozzle on a drill press, then drilled out the interior and carved it thinner with a knife. I drilled the holes in the jet engines while they were just a block of wood, then cut out to top and side views with a scroll saw. I need to drill out the back of the fuselage, as the rocket nozzle has a gimbal recessed in the back of the fuselage.
I soaked the end grain in superglue, which helps to harden it a bit.
I placed mine in the paint shop today. I need to establish a launch date. I will attempt to attain suborbital heights by 1 Oct 08. Aggressive schedules keeps me focused.
Progress report?????????
Um, hydrogen leak? :-\
Rocket nozzle shaped and cut from stock. Aft end of Ascender hollowed out. Engine nacelles shaped. More filler and sanding.
Need to find tail (somewhere on that shelf up there), cut engine supports.
More to follow ;)
G
Engine nacelle stands are now rough cut and shaped to fit wing and nacelles.
Keep that energy going. We need to be ready when they retire the Shuttles.
Lou
The Ascender now has two coats of sanding sealer and about four coats of spray lacquer sandable primer, with sanding in between coats. Unfortunately, my sanding sealer left lumps that I'm still sanding out. The wings are just about right, but the fuselage still has a few slight variations to fix. There is also a spot on the nose I need to putty a bit.
The primer is a dark gray, and I'm considering using the color for parts of the final finish. It has a graphite look to it, so it looks a bit like burned heat shield.
I still have to attach the jet engines and the tail. I figured it would be easier to get a nice finish without those on, but attaching them to the primed fuselage may be problematic. I'll definitely scrape down to wood at their attachment points, but may add pins for reinforcement.
Garet
I have started using gel crazy glue to good advantage. It is strong and parts stay where you place them. Remember the Shuttle retirement !!!! I am sure it will all work out great for you.
Lou
Made some progress on the Ascender:
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/normal_AscenderPrimed.jpg)
http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-3145 (http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-3145)
The plane has many coats of primer, with putty and sanding between. There is one spot I need to touch up at the wing-fuselage transition, and another on the left side of the nose. These sorts of imperfections never show up before the primer makes everything the same color, which is why I always need so many coats of primer.
I've started the sealing and sanding of the engines and rocket nozzle, and need to work on the nacelle mounts and vertical stabilizer next.
Garet
Great work Garet, keep it going. I know you will do a super job on it.
Lou
Engines are mounted to their standoffs, which have been sanded to a streamlined shape. They have a few coats of sanding sealer and are awaiting primer. I removed some paint at the top of the fuselage in preparation for the tail to be glued on.
Garet
Nice going. I know it is sometimes hard to work on an ongoing project when all those new ones are on the bench. Give a photo or two as you move along.
Lou
That's true, Lou, especially if the next step seems either difficult or boring. Actually, this one is neither, and I have no good excuse!
I glued the tail on using gel superglue, per a suggestion from Lou. It worked really well!
Here's a progress shot:
(http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/normal_AscenderProgress.jpg)
http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-3279 (http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-3279)
Thanks for the photo updates. The nacelles really came out well.
Lou
I noticed the gallery nor this post contains your completed Ascender.
Lou