# Rocketeer builds a Giant Airliner **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484 "2018-01-25T21:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/21 "2018-01-26T16:38:00Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > …Now how about a battle zeppelin a la [Crimson Skies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson_Skies_%28video_game%29)? :D… The next project, which I’m doing as part of a Monowheel mini-challenge between a few friends, is a [Mittelgrosses Kriegsrad](https://www.flickr.com/photos/150559382@N07/albums/72157688888807912)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/22 "2018-01-31T14:58:44Z")
That is equal parts impressive, terrifying (If I saw it rolling toward me) and amazing! Gonna need some big gyros or outriggers to keep that sucker upright when it’s not moving though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/23 "2018-01-31T16:38:32Z")
Fucking A you do nice work, **Rocketeer**! Are those people boarding the same size figures as are sitting in the seats? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/24 "2018-01-31T22:41:18Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > …Are those people boarding the same size figures as are sitting in the seats? Yep; everything’s N scale (about 1/160th). ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/25 "2018-01-31T22:44:38Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > That is equal parts impressive, terrifying (If I saw it rolling toward me) and amazing! Gonna need some big gyros or outriggers to keep that sucker upright when it’s not moving though. 😃 It stays upright through sheer (Prussian) discipline! Yesterday I decided on the color scheme. It’s going to be the short-lived “Einschüchterung” (“Intimidation”) camouflage scheme: Red. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/26 "2018-02-01T01:34:12Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > Yep; everything’s N scale (about 1/160th). I figured they must be, what with your amazing attention to details. Every new model you post blows us all away, dude. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/27 "2018-02-01T03:49:45Z")
Very cool. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/28 "2018-02-01T04:29:14Z")
I love stuff like this. Thank you for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/29 "2018-02-01T20:31:53Z")
Thanks, guys! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/30 "2018-02-02T04:44:47Z")
Very impressive work, as always! I’d love to see some ‘in progress’ pics. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/31 "2018-02-02T05:45:35Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > …some ‘in progress’ pics. My pleasure. Here’s a [link to the Flickr album](https://www.flickr.com/photos/150559382@N07/albums/72157689233969234), which has some in-progress stuff. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/32 "2018-02-02T06:13:14Z")
Do you usually have several projects going at once? Or do you focus on one at a time? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/33 "2018-02-02T06:23:07Z")
Very cool and completely impossible; I love it. I only now noticed some of the modifications. Looks like you added a second wheel on each main landing gear (and it would still probably crack the concrete where ever it went), and increased the size of the vertical stabilizer. You also moved the cockpit forward. I think I’d have been tempted to leave it far aft, and open the top, like an old [Boeing Monomail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Monomail). I’m hesitant to bring this up, but how does the flight crew get to the cockpit? I didn’t see a staircase from the top passenger deck. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/34 "2018-02-02T07:19:29Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Do you usually have several projects going at once? Or do you focus on one at a time? I usually work on a couple at a time. I’ll often work on something else while I wait for paint or glue to dry. Right now, I’m working on the Kriegsrad, a 2001 Discovery (a styrene kit just came out, and it’s a beauty). On the back burner, but not completely abandoned yet 😉 , are a Peter Cushing Dr. Frankenstein figure, a Mars Attacks Martian Spy Girl figure, and a head-under-a-jar giant robot. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/35 "2018-02-02T07:22:48Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > …I’m hesitant to bring this up, but how does the flight crew get to the cockpit? I didn’t see a staircase from the top passenger deck. Well, there’s supposed to be one, but I was pretty sure that it would be completely impossible to see, so I left it out. 🙂 The main gear actually have four tires each; I was a bit concerned about pavement loading (as you noticed). The taller rudder I figured was going to be needed for crosswind landings, since the moment arm it acts on is so short. Plus I thought it looked cooler–a lot of this stuff is Rule of Cool. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/36 "2018-02-02T07:26:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > …I think I’d have been tempted to leave it [the cockpit] far aft, and open the top, like an old [Boeing Monomail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Monomail). You’d like one of my back-burnered projects, then; it’s a hypothetical Thunderbird 7, a giant cargo aircraft with an open cockpit. I got as far as giving it a coat of paint and then my interest faded. Perhaps I’ll resurrect it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/37 "2018-02-02T08:24:16Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > … a 2001 Discovery (a styrene kit just came out, and it’s a beauty). I’d have given anything for one of those when I was a kid, along with the other ships from _2001_. I even joined a club that sent me one model a month because they had a [Moonbus](http://fantastic-plastic.com/MOON%20BUS%20MAIN.jpg) in their brochure, but then they never sent me that kit. I’m kinda surprised any models from that movie got released. I read that Kubrick had the originals destroyed so they wouldn’t get recycled into other films. > [@Rocketeer](#): > > The main gear actually have four tires each; I was a bit concerned about pavement loading (as you noticed). The original B-36 had single-wheel main gear, so there is precedent. They even tried tracked gear before settling on four-wheel bogies that then became common on large aircraft. That would be tricky on a taildragger, wouldn’t it? You need a suspension that kept all the wheels on the ground as the tail settled. Speaking of which, was the wheel pant on the tailwheel in the original kit, or was that your own invention? > [@](#): > > Plus I thought it looked cooler–a lot of this stuff is Rule of Cool. 😃 Definitely. > [@Rocketeer](#): > > You’d like one of my back-burnered projects, then; it’s a hypothetical Thunderbird 7, a giant cargo aircraft with an open cockpit. I got as far as giving it a coat of paint and then my interest faded. Perhaps I’ll resurrect it. 🙂 I just always thought that was a strange layout; enclosed passenger cabin, but the pilot is exposed to the elements. That was the style at the time. I think the pilots were used to it and liked the extra visibility. A better example would have been the [Northrop Alpha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Alpha). I don’t know of any plane that had an open cockpit with pilot and co-pilot side-by-side, but I could be wrong. Might be a fun build; lots of interesting detail and still visible once the model is done. Your compound engine reminds me of what BRM did back in the '60s. They ran a flat 8 cylinder, 1.5 liter engine in 1965. When Formula 1 upped the displacement the next year to 3 liters, BRM stacked two of their flat-8s, one on top of the other, geared the crankshafts together, and called it an H16. The final version had 64 valves. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/38 "2018-02-02T14:28:43Z")
I love these threads. Great work! I did a lot of model kit building when I was a teen (I had a fairly impressive collection of WWII aircraft hanging from my bedroom ceiling by the time I went off to college) but it never occurred to me to customize, mix and match parts from different kits, etc. For me it was a “win” if it came out looking anything like the picture on the box! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/39 "2018-02-02T17:30:48Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’d have given anything for one of those when I was a kid, along with the other ships from _2001_… > > … was the wheel pant on the tailwheel in the original kit, or was that your own invention? The old Aurora Moonbus tool is still around, and the model was just re-released by Moebius, the same outfit that put out the new Discovery kit. Moebius also put out a new PanAm space clipper kit a couple years ago (not the old Aurora or Airfix tools). None of them is an especially hard to build kit; perhaps you ought to give them a try! I built the panted tailwheel from scratch; can’t have a tail skid on a Giant Airliner! ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484/40 "2018-02-02T17:38:51Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I love these threads. Great work! I did a lot of model kit building when I was a teen (I had a fairly impressive collection of WWII aircraft hanging from my bedroom ceiling by the time I went off to college) but it never occurred to me to customize, mix and match parts from different kits, etc. For me it was a “win” if it came out looking anything like the picture on the box! 😃 I think a lot of people messed a bit with models when they were kids, and then kind of let it drop. And then some come back when they’re adults; with an adult’s patience, experience, skill, and pocketbook 😉 they can do a lot better job on kits that befuddled them as children. My own history (started young and never quit) is actually unusual. The big moment for me was in fifth grade, when a couple other kids brought in model cars that they had customized! You didn’t have to stick with what was in the box! You could swap bits from other kits! A light bulb went on in my head; that night I went home and tore apart, re-jiggered, and reassembled a couple car kits Dad and I had fiddled with, and there was no turning back 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rocketeer-builds-a-giant-airliner/807484.md?page=3)