Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Hello,

since I've been reading this forum only, I wanted to post a short info about my kit design of the lovely val.
I started in 2009 my first CAD experiences and chose the Val for a 100% wood design, since this lady was somehow missing as 1/6th scale. So Istarted and my aim is to release it with plans in wood kit in late 2010/early 2011. Currently I am building wings, fuse is done and glassed to far.
This led to 94" wingspan and appr. weight is 8kg, maybe a bit less. I am trying to keep it light.
Possible engines might be Laser 160Vtwin, OSFT160, Ihaven't done the cowl yet, but the laser seems to fit perfectly under it without any cutouts.

Greetings from germany
Chris

A few pics of the building so far

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

The pics are not in any particular order...

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Vie Gehts Chris, I love the seldom modeled and unusual kits. This is one that you will probably never see at the field. I think I only know of one other manufacturer who kitted this....Skyshark. So how did you ecide upon the Val?

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

airfoils

evelator and rudder: naca 0012
wing naca 2415 with 2° washout

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Mir gehts es gut und Dir?:)
Idecided to go for the val, since the skyshark kit wasn't available and I wanted a bigger val. Initially I did the outlines for a 1/7th scale, butthat would have brought some cowl size problems, engine choice issues on the plan. I personally hate any cylinders sticking out of a cowl. So I went for a 1/6th, it's the same amount of work (a bit more wood ;) but no size problems at all.
I am doing the early version the d3a1, I like it's roughness more. Any plans Ifound on the net turned out to be not that scale, as I like....long story short: I started my own. I love wood building, so the decision to bring it up as a wood kit was made rather quickly.
An ARF val was announced this year, a bit smaller. But in terms of scale not worth talking about, to be honest.

cheers
christopher

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Chris, Ich bin zehr gute......that is aboutthe etent of my German. Its been years since I have to use it. For a 1/6th scale plane that is pretty lare. Will it be a one ppiece, 2 piece or 3 piece wing? Its good that you dont have to worry about retracts either. What scale references did you use?

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

I did any drawings on base of the "Famous Airplanes of the world" Val issue. No retracts, that's nice...but big wheel pants to mold in glass, big canopy and cowl.</p>

The wing is a 2 piece.</p>

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Very Nice! Excellent work Chris! [sm=thumbs_up.gif]

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

RoyalChris (RC?)
The Japanese WWII planes are very much overlooked, except the "Zeke" of course.
Nice to see some attention paid to them. And some had really cool paint and markings.
Dave
http://www.daveswarbirds.com/Nippon/Japanese.htm

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

I agree with you 100% ! The Kate would make a nice model, too! It would compliment the Val very well. I really like the Myrt. Heck- I like 'em all!

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Thanks alot. There's indeed some freedom on the camou, since besides a few fabric pieces found at Pearl Harbor, there are not much reliable sources about that left. I will go for the classic green design with red rudder and yellow stripes on. Not that exotic, but since I have the book about Cmdr. Egusa, I will try to meet his scheme.
He is closely observing my work [8D]
The elevator has a beautiful shape in my opinion, also the rudder looks quite interesting. I love the rounded corners. Any hinging is done with novotex cnc cut with 2mm steel wires inserted. A bit more work than sticking in usual robart hinges, but is works nice and rudder action is really smooth:

http://photography-ck.com/uploads/val/sit_down.jpg

before sanding the sheeted stab:

http://photography-ck.com/uploads/val/hlw.jpg
That's the scheme I'd like to go for. It's done by a wonderful french artist <span dir="ltr" class="slicetext">Thierry Dekker</span><span dir="ltr" class="slicetext"> </span>you might know from other illustrations:

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Very nice subject. I have always wanted a large size Val. Keep up the good work.

Jeff

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Hi Jeff,

is 1/6th scale large enough for you? Drop me a line, when it's finished. :)
Chris

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Yes sir, that is about right...near the 100 inch size. If you wanna sell a set of plans, let me know. Thx

Looks good.

Jeff

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Just like what Jeff said. If you want to sell a set of plans let me know. Stuka Jon N

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

I will update this thread with some info, when the maiden flight and revisions done.</p>

Honestly, I will probably sell the plans only with a kit. I do not want to spread plans with all pieces shown in times of internet...it was simply to many (hundreds) of hours of work to give it away.</p>

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

The left outer wing completed. Still a bit sanding work to do, but nearly ready for sheeting.
The flaps have the 60&deg; of the original, but I think, this won't be necessary.
An elliptical wing is so much more work when drawing, but this look makes it all worth..

Cheers,
Christopher

http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/328/outerwing.jpg

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

I do understand that Chris. All you need to do is look at Ebay to see what you are referring to. Still interested.

Jeff

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Thanks for understanding, Jeff.</p>

I will sell plan sets, but they won't include drawings of any parts, to clear it up a bit.</p>

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Shhh...... I have a 120 inch B5N "Kate" in the basement all glassed and ready for final sand and paint finish[sm=angel_smile.gif]

Jeff

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Chris,

This is going to be a beautiful bird for sure !:) I'll be following your progress with much interest !

Don

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Thanks alot :)

The two left wing pieces united (not glued yet) for the first time.
I still have to "epoxy" the gear bearers with their screwed couplings first, than adding the rest of the spars, epoxy the brace and this half is ready to complete. It's getting huge and there's still the LE and the flaps/aileron missing here. Fat lady.. :D

It all fits very nice until this step...

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/3696/wingunited.jpg

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Finally back on the Val, I started on the cowl mold. I had drawn it in 3D cut in "slices" and asked my cutter to laser them from 3mm poplar.
The 3 holes are to align those slices and to fix them on my plate to later mold it in fiberglass. 30 or 10mm styro was glued in between.

The plates were united with thickened epoxy and is currently hardening. Will start sanding, filling, glassing etc. in the following week. I am currently thinking of including the two gun holes in the top ring, rivetted joints and so. Let's see how far I can do this and manage to find some good photographs for this...

http://www.photography-ck.com/upload...haubenbau1.jpg

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Here's a cheap and easy method to turn cowls. A hand drill attaches to the end. Works best with blue foam. Spin and sand! Check with templates. The cowl you see will be for a 1/6 Weddell-Williams racer

RE: Aichi Val D3A1 CAD designed 1/6th scale wood kit
 

Glad to see you back on the Val Chris. (Although I like watching the Boomerang progress just as much!)

Great idea for "spinning" cowls ARUP, thanks for the idea.