Topic: What would you rather bee or a wasp? (Read 20745 times)

Andy M · « **Reply #75 on:** March 07, 2020, 04:05:36 pm »

The second coat put another 6g on it, I am going to give it one more coat of yellow and that will have to do it, that will be about 18g of yellow paint, then close to that for the black? And I still have my legs to make, well, it's legs. I am going to do them from light selection of scraps. Rear 4 legs are getting copper wire joiners, which I instantly cut 2.5g off. Weight saving! There is going to be a lot of carving and sanding to do, and more paint. I may not have enough weight margin left for wings, its a wait and see. I want to make wings, even if they are just for display. Set in the aggressive pose that wasps have.
I am enjoying this project, even if it is a bit weird, as I hate wasps, quite a few challenges to overcome, but I am working my way through them with results I am liking. Painting the black on is a big challenge, my fullsize eagle took ages before I decided how to do it's paint scheme, I think I did not bad. I studied eagle photos for about 3 months before I worked up the courage to start. I hope to be a bit quicker on this one😁 I have been studying wasps for about a month now, they still look freaky, but amazing creatures.

Andy M · « **Reply #76 on:** March 07, 2020, 04:08:01 pm »

Top section of each leg now cut out, rear 4 are 2 layers 1/4 and fronts are 3/16 with 1/8 spacer cut to fit either side of leg wire, I have still to draw next sections of legs, will do that once these bits are finished, I need to allow for some movement, especially on the front ones, I can set the rear ones so they dont touch the ground, but I would like some flexibility. Centre pair will be same size as front pair but out to sides and swept back a bit. Rear legs will be slightly longer and more swept back. Quite pleased I found a solution I am happy with, they have the potential to look really good. Weight is unkown quantity, I have the option of hollowing the legs, leaving solid bits at each end for copper wires. The legs are a very prominent feature of the real beasties, so I should get them as close as I can. I wasnt impressed when the wife suggested big pipe cleaners that are sold for kids crafts!

Andy M · « **Reply #77 on:** March 08, 2020, 03:03:18 pm »

Results of last nights efforts and a bit this morning, I have cut all my leg sections out, the hollow ones are for landing legs, top 2 sections of each front leg are glued on now, still to do a bit of carving but the front leg shrouds weigh 11g for the pair... not bad. There are another 4 legs to finish carving, then sanding, I expect weight to be up by about 30-35g, as the copper wire joints are 5+ g, I have some sections carved but a good few bits still to do, nothing has been sanded yet. 6 legs, 18 sections, 72 bits of balsa, all from my scraps boxes. Sanding will make all the difference, they have only had the edges sliced off with a scalpel and they look not bad already. Glad I went for this method, I am quite impressed by the extra effect it gives, it wasnt difficult, just time consuming and required a steady hand for carving, having to direct my cuts carefully to avoid slicing too much off, or pulling into the grain and lopping any spikes or hooks off. Need to give my old wrists a rest for a while now tho, was a long time of constant carving, after a long time of sawing and hunting my scraps boxes. I want to get the right centre leg carved, so I can see a full side done, then that will leave just 2 to do.😁 Yeehah.
Sanding should be bit easier. Just loads of it, and fiddly too.

Andy M · « **Reply #78 on:** March 08, 2020, 11:37:38 pm »

A lot of carving and sanding later and I have all the leg bits carved, and all but 4 sections sanded, they are glued to the front legs, so will be a bit more difficult to sand, once they are done I can get some yellow paint on them. I have the copper joiners in but not finally glued yet. The top sections at the body are all glued in.

Capt Podge · « **Reply #79 on:** March 08, 2020, 11:44:55 pm »

This is getting better and better with each of your updates - great effort

Regards,
Ray.

Andy M · « **Reply #80 on:** March 09, 2020, 12:34:09 pm »

First coat of paint on the legs.

Andy M · « **Reply #81 on:** March 09, 2020, 03:41:33 pm »

Painting the legs has made them stand out well. A few days effort has given a reasonable set of legs, better than pipe cleaners or goose quills would have been. 42g for all the balsa legs, about 2g per section, before paint. Bit more than I had planned but still ok. It's still under jetranger weight, but still got fair bit of black paint to go on. I did think about hollowing them but it would have been weaker and taken longer than the carving, my wrists and fingers have had enough, they will do, its a fair bit of weight low down which should help with stability. I am well happy with how its turning out, I have been worrying about the painting, so easy to mess it up at this stage, first impression of a wasp is that its got stripes, yes, basically, but a lot more complex pattern than that. I could just paint stripes, but don't think that would be doing full justice to what I have ended up with.
I have not glued on the lower sections of the rear legs, this is so I can get better access for painting and also to save the legs getting damaged. I have cut the 'teeth' on the mandibles, not exactly as the real one, but its foam, so shapes have to be simplified. The hooks on the feet of real ones are much thinner than I have done, I could have done them thinner but I had bits break off during sanding. A 1/64 ply core would help this but heavy compared to balsa.
I need to keep reminding myself not to glue the legs on yet, I have glued stuff prematurely in the past, my viper speedboat, I forgot to drill the hole for the throttle cable while I had all the bulkheads separate, big mistake as they were too close to get in straight for drilling by the time I remembered ! Not as tidy as I had hoped but worked fine.

Andy M · « **Reply #82 on:** March 09, 2020, 08:32:19 pm »

The wasp is approaching completion, I will have to start painting it with the black at some point, I still have another coat of yellow to go on legs and a set of antennae, again, my first idea of using rubber tubing is going to look terrible, so I am going to make the weird looking devices from balsa with copper joiners. I still want to make the wings but not had a good look at my clear plastic collection yet, think all my clear sheets got used for moulding car bodies. My weight limit is approaching fast, I might not manage to fly with wings, I suppose it would vibrate along the ground angry looking tho. Lol.
I keep getting an image of me, in the summer, sitting across from the shops and buzzing it round the windows of the co-op and around the bins. 😁
I must say the more of it that I do, the more it keeps catching my eye, I can imagine it moving, might just be paint fumes.... Lol. Like the seaknight, I would have liked extra features on this, moving jaws, moving head, even a twitching leg would be good(motor running a bobbin pulling clear thread onto a leg) . I have capability of a switched 3v supply from the quad, but no idea what load it could take. The weight of motor, gearing and mechanism to move something is going to put me beyond my max weight. Moving jaws would be good😁
I imagine the rear 4 legs at least will move a bit in the downwash when flying, and my future antenae too hopefully.

Andy M · « **Reply #83 on:** March 10, 2020, 12:36:33 pm »

I was wondering how I could draw lines to follow on the head, pencil wasnt leaving a mark on the paint without gouging it, I was worried felt pen wouldnt come off the yellow if I made a mistake. I have stretched an opened up latex glove over the head, taped on with masking tape, this way I can sketch onto it with a felt pen then I will indent the foam slightly along the edges of the eyes and maybe indent face plates as well. I dont know if marking black patterning through the glove with a pin would just cause a tear, getting the eyes on will be a good base to work from, especially if I do the plates too, I was also going to make a start on painting the black on the underside of the abdomen, dont know whether to draw the markings on first or just go for it without guide lines. My reason for choosing there was to keep black paint away from my yellow leg painting session later on. And also some practice on a less visible bit. Lol. Papercraft giant asian hornet went in the fire tonight, served its purpose and was taking up space. It gave me good inspiration to build my balsa wasp, thank you papercraft. I may do a similar thing when I do my bell cobra. Its good for getting general shapes right. And showing you where improvements can be made.

Andy M · « **Reply #84 on:** March 10, 2020, 12:38:20 pm »

It ended up obvious why I didnt want to draw straight onto the head, a few adjustments and it was already looking quite messy. I used the rounded end of a steel ruler to 'roll' it along the eye and panel lines, once I had done that, I tried the pin for pattern edges, no problem at all, well happy how that worked out, bit different on each side, but there you go, hand made. Lol. The marking pinholes can be painted over if not right, the eye and plate edges are set in foam now, so to speak. I revived some black gloss earlier which had a tough skin on top of gel-ified paint, white spirit and a lot of stirring has revived it, I have painted a test bit so I know its going to set and not stay tacky. If it works ok, black painting should start tomorrow, hopefully. Looking forward to it now I have marked up the head. I have also carved (dug out carefully with a scalpel tip) and painted a hint of its inner jaws. You can just notice this in the photo, adds a contrast to show up mandible 'teeth', the tips of these will get painted a bit blending from bright yellow to a dark reddish brown to nearly black. If I can manage it, these are the sort of bits I worried about getting a decent result without ruining it. Happy so far with it, I am a bit obsessed with weights of my projects, but thats good, if I want them to work. I could lose some weight off the head, its a fair chunk of foam, but it does hold the battery in snuggly and just slides on with a decent grip. Removing any foam through the battery hole will just create bits for the battery box to catch on. I could sheet over the hollowing access holes but its adding what I would be taking out. If the wasp ends up vastly head heavy I may do it but its looking like the legs might have the weight slightly rearward the now.

Andy M · « **Reply #85 on:** March 10, 2020, 05:08:50 pm »

Having lined out the head, I decided to faintly draw the thorax markings, then I thought I may as well do the abdomen, I have done it fairly close to pictures I have from different angles which looks like same one, or type? I havent managed to do a second yellow coat on legs yet, so dont want to paint any black yet. When I am painting legs, I think I should put a 3rd coat on the bits that are staying yellow, to try and gloss them up a bit. Bits that are to be black will be getting at least 2 more coats (of black) so they should be fairly shiny. I made a start on my antennae, I will make ones for the wasp later. Lol. Same idea as legs with copper joiners. The antenna join to the head was worrying me a bit, they are quite long and the place they are going is foam and only a few mm from the battery box cutout. I bored my antenna base at such an angle to miss the box cutout and glued a reasonable length of kebab stick to anchor well into the foam. This works well and doesnt seem to need any glue. 3g for antennae, including copper joiners and kebab stick sections. I hope to paint the yellow bits tonight, takes a while to dry in my shed if I dont have the fire on. Maybe manage a start on black tomorrow sometime if its dried fully.

Andy M · « **Reply #86 on:** March 10, 2020, 07:29:54 pm »

A bit more detailing on antennae, think that will do them, I used edge of my scalpel handle. They looked a bit bare before. Glad I did them, extra detail always helps, they are not going to wave in the wind, I tried shaking the head with them in it, no movement at all. I can pose them to some degree, same as my 4 rear legs. As long as they cant swivel round and catch a prop. Hoping to get a long enough chance later to paint the last yellow on.
From being worried about painting the black on, now that I have got my patterns drawn on, I cant wait, I think that will just leave the wings to do, I am going on a plastic sheeting search just now. 😁 I have thin carbon so they dont need to be self supporting if thin stuff is all I have, if any.

Andy M · « **Reply #87 on:** March 10, 2020, 11:13:43 pm »

Anyone remember the film Quatermass and the pit? This view of the wasp reminded me of the creatures in that.
Thats the last yellow done, head had a complete coat, the rest of the markings staying yellow got another coat. Hoping it dries nice overnight.

Andy M · « **Reply #88 on:** March 11, 2020, 04:42:05 pm »

Yellow has dried nicely, time to work up the courage to start painting on some black. I am looking forward to it but still worried in case I mess it up, even covering up my pen lines with the yellow hasnt had much effect after 3 coats, black mistakes are going to be hard to get rid of, so carefully does it. I imagine its going to look awesome with the markings on, it looks quite scary already in plain yellow. I did find some wing plastic, but I weighed it and worked out I will need about 25-30g of it. Plus glue and carbon. Its a bit heavier than I imagined. I thought about cutting out the sections between the 'veins', this would save a fair bit but kind of defeats the purpose. I will see what other ideas I can come up with. If its really thin material then I need a full support structure to stop it falling about near the props. Its not critical that it has wings, just another detail I would like to add. I will see what my scales say I have left after painting.
I have now painted some of the black pattern onto the abdomen, really stands out now. I will post a photo or two when I at least finish the abdomen, or should I wait till its all done?

Andy M · « **Reply #89 on:** March 11, 2020, 04:49:08 pm »

Still looking well yellow so it was onto painting the thorax, looking a bit more colour balanced now. Just the head and it will be 95% finished apart from detailing.

Andy M · « **Reply #90 on:** March 11, 2020, 04:55:47 pm »

And finally the head, still got some work to do on detailing bits but nearly finished.

Capt Podge · « **Reply #91 on:** March 11, 2020, 05:25:50 pm »

What a fantastic paint job that is!
... Andy, you've nailed it - it could not be mistaken for anything other than a wasp - hope you get to fly it soon

Regards,
Ray.

Andy M · « **Reply #92 on:** March 11, 2020, 06:21:23 pm »

I am well happy with how it has turned out, one scary looking beast to be sure, I think I have caught its main features apart from wings obviously. It is certainly an eye catching paint scheme, amazing creatures, it still looks as if it moves. Lol. Been a lot of paint fumes today........ I will need to wait till its dry before I try a fly. I am interested to see what its weight is at just now, with only some detail painting left to do. I need to differentiate between the eye, and the surrounding black patterning. A better detailed eye? I am still thinking on that one. Slightly different black on the patterning.... I may go for that to start with. There are also 3 simple eyes on the top of their head that I want to add. I still cant believe that I have a 2 foot wasp in my shed. And I'm not worried, Lol. I dont know if it should be called a Quasp? Anyway, I was going to name this particular one Jasper.
Thanks to Captain Podge for your encouragement, hope you like the finished result. Well nearly, got some leg detailing to do as well. I can work away at that stuff.
Cant wait to fly it!

Andy M · « **Reply #93 on:** March 11, 2020, 06:52:38 pm »

I am adding this photo to show that I haven't just made up this colour scheme, it is based on a real one.

Andy M · « **Reply #94 on:** March 11, 2020, 11:13:26 pm »

I might need to make a box for it.... it keeps watching me. It just keeps catching my eye, thinking its a real one, but really close up. Lol.
I tried a bit of reddish brown on the front leg, not as good as I thought so I wiped most of it off and now it looks a bit closer to what I was thinking. I still have a few bits to do, I would like to get the eyes closer to the real ones, just dont know how I would manage that, short of glueing on a couple of thousand tiny clear beads. Anyway, I think it captures the essence of mean quite well, I have deviated from the real one in a lot of places but it still looks ok.
Its still tacky so no weight test or flying yet. My re-juvenated black gloss looks ok considering it looked like chewed jelly to start with.
I had another funny thought..... For transporting it on my bike, I was going to tie a length of string between its front legs and carry it on my back like a rucksack........... Lol. I wonder if anyone would shout a warning?
I meant to mention the length of the wasp, it's 22 1/4 inches head to tail with another 5 1/4 of antennae. Almost same as seaknight.
I am not so sure about the brown on its legs, real ones have brownish bits but mine looks a lot like it stepped in something and thats not the effect I am going for. Lol
I am impressed by how (relatively) close I could get the shapes by using aircraft type structures, especially the abdomen, I could have gone more complex on the thorax and got it closer but I think its good enough for me. The head can be improved on, few details I can add. Still thinking about wings too.

Andy M · « **Reply #95 on:** March 11, 2020, 11:32:25 pm »

I was just thinking how well the quad motors and props blend in now there is some black on it. Not very noticeable.

Capt Podge · « **Reply #96 on:** March 11, 2020, 11:33:08 pm »

Hi Andy, regarding the eyes, would it be possible to place some very fine lace/net over the eyes, followed by a thin layer of black paint, to achieve the sort of dimpled look? - just a thought

Regards,
Ray.

Andy M · « **Reply #97 on:** March 12, 2020, 01:36:53 pm »

Hi Ray, I was thinking along those lines at one point, finding something suitable has been the challenge there. I even thought of dimpling the eyes with head of a pin or something, but that would be a long job. I will see if the difference is enough when I paint its 'forehead' with some matt black, it may be enough, if I remove the shine, then have my 3 small glossy 'eyes' as a contrast. Still to find items for them. 6mm bb ball snipped in half should do for either the single bigger one, or if it looks too small, I will use them for 2 smaller eyes and find something slighty bigger for the bigger single eye. Still a few things I can add to it, no rush tho, I can plod away at the detailing when I get the urge or I find suitable materials.
The black is still tacky, so no test flight, I have my stove on today so it should help dry the paint, hope to manage a flight later.
I weighed the wasp, think the scales are wrong tho, it is showing nearly same weight as before fitting legs and painting? Time for a new battery I think. Will sort that and get it weighed prpoerly later.
I am thinking forward to my next project, I did think about doing the wasp as a modular construction, it has a plug on head, a plug on abdomen would have been a bit weak for landing stresses. The reason for thinking modular was that for instance, a dragonfly head and abdomen could have been used on the wasp thorax/power unit. I still fancy doing a dragonfly, most likely with a metallic paint scheme. Will add it to my list........
I have to decide what my next subject will be. Heli, insect, or something else.

Andy M · « **Reply #98 on:** March 12, 2020, 03:47:01 pm »

My mechanical scales are showing 400g for the wasp, the digital ones said 330?! I havent found another battery yet, but thats miles out. 400 is really close to my limit, no chance of lifting wings as well at that weight. Ah well, wingless wasp it will need to be.
I fitted the simple eyes, 2 bb balls and the top off a disney pen. Sorted. Just to wait till glue is dry then a coat of black gloss on them, more waiting and then try some matt black around them and the forehead area.

Andy M · « **Reply #99 on:** March 12, 2020, 09:11:27 pm »

The 3 wee eyes are painted gloss black now, they look pretty good, once the gloss is dry I will see how matt black looks on the surrounding area. Should be enough difference to show up the eyes well.

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Author Topic: What would you rather bee or a wasp? (Read 20745 times)