C-119 Flying Boxcar

[J Luke]

On another forum I frequent, someone said they like to start topics in order to motivate them to get going on projects. In that spirit, I'll be starting a few topics to get me going in my plans for next projects.

This thread will be dedicated to my upcoming C-119 build for the next pinewood derby race in a few months. I plan to make the whole wing and tail section removable so only the fuselage pod will race. We'll see how it goes!

[lastvautour]

Novel idea. I look forward to it.

Louis

[Boomerang]

 Good idea.

 Gordon

[J Luke]

I've had the drawings printed off for a while. They're printed on 11x17 paper from an office supply store. I scaled it so that the fuselage would be 1.75" wide to match the width of the standard pinewood derby cars. The wingspan will be 16.75", it's 13.25" from nose to tail, and fuselage itself is about 9.25" long. That puts the scale at about 1/78.

I think I'll try the trick I've seen several people do where two pieces of wood are laminated together with a piece of colored paper in the middle as a centerline for the fuselage. 

[lastvautour]

The coloured paper has worked for me.



Louis

[J Luke]

I found some wood in my garage to use. I was looking for something that would be thick enough that when I laminated two pieces together, I could get it cut down to 1.75" wide (my table saw is out of commission, otherwise I would just rip down some 2x4s or something). I think what I found is poplar, but each piece is 1" thick. I should have enough left on the board to do the wings and tail booms. If it proves too hard to work with, I can find a table saw to use and cut down something else.

[J Luke]

I ended up switching to pine for this one. I used pieces of 2-by-somethings cut down with a table saw for the fuselage and 1x4s for the wings and booms. I think I finally got the hang of using the contour gauges to make the guidelines when carving.









Now it's back to work tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to keep the momentum going. Happy New Year, everyone!

[lastvautour]

Excellent carving Jordon. You have a natural talent. Doing those derby vehicles has served you well.

Louis

[J Luke]

More progress on the C-119 that will be my derby car for this year. I got the wings shaped, the booms rough carved, and the windscreen carved and drawn on (just for fun).

[J Luke]

After looking at the drawings and things, I realized I made the top of the fuselage too round. It should have been more square-ish. Oh well. It's just for a derby car. No one else will know!

[lastvautour]

It looks awesome.

Louis

[J Luke]

Thanks, Lou. Your encouragement and compliments are always appreciated.

I got the booms rounded and sanded last night. Next up will be notching out the fuselage to fit the wings, and notching out the wings to fit the booms. I'll need to make the tail pieces at some point, too.





Here's a fun rubber band mock up. This feels like a much bigger model than my PBY or Hercules, even though the wingspans are all about the same. I think it's the big, fat fuselage and wide tail section that makes it feel larger than the others. It's about 1/78 scale.

[J Luke]

I'm realizing I should have only done the upper portion of the booms like I did on my fuselage. That would have made them more stable to work with while measuring and cutting the notches. Now I'll remember that for next time!

[lastvautour]

I frequently have to go back and redo some things.

Louyis

[J Luke]

Here's a comparison photo between my C-119 and my Hercules and PBY derby "cars."