plastic_ati Posted January 17, 2015 After making the asymmetrical Blohm&Voss BV 141 aircraft from the set 60064 Arctic Supply Plane, I wanted to make some more of its kind. Once somebody tries to find a present day asymmetrical plane, surely finds the "Boomerang", which was designed by Burt Rutan. It is a one of a kind double engine airplane, and has a very stable flight even with one motor off. In case you have never seen it, you can find a pic HERE. As this one has a very curvy shape, it was totally impossible to "copy" it from the set 60064, but I still wanted to build something similar. Burt Rutan Boomerang (60064 alternate) by Plastic.Ati, on Flickr As normally, I wanted to catch some important point from the design. The nose of the main body was very hard to plan as the cockpits themselves were too big and ugly for a "base". Fortunately I found a way to fix the window of the flat cockpit only, which gave me a chance to build a better form. Burt Rutan Boomerang (60064 alternate) by Plastic.Ati, on Flickr As you can see, I could make the thing in minifig scale, which was "necessary" for me. Burt Rutan Boomerang (60064 alternate) by Plastic.Ati, on Flickr The wings are bent forward (see the name: boomerang) and upwards too. I wanted to make it so much that I spent quite a time with just the wings, building and dismantling the connection to the body infinite times. Burt Rutan Boomerang (60064 alternate) by Plastic.Ati, on Flickr I haven't found a way to make wheels for a landed version, and I even run out of elements for making the middle piece of the wings correctly, and it was problematic from an other point of view too. I wanted to make it more or less similar to the original, and even stable enough for making the model swooshable. I spent 2 more hours on the stabilisation, and finally I could make the connection between the bodies hard enough, so now the model won't break apart when somebody plays with it. Burt Rutan Boomerang (60064 alternate) by Plastic.Ati, on Flickr I know, the middle wing is ugly, but now I have no better idea. In case I find a nicer way to build it, I will update the post. C&C are welcome. The instructions will be ready on the next week, and whenever it is accessable on Rebrickable, I will put the link here. If you missed my earlier alternates for this set, you can find them below: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kermit Posted January 17, 2015 I think the back needs a little work. It could be a little bulkier and maybe the angle for the wings are a bit too much curved? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plastic_ati Posted January 18, 2015 I think the back needs a little work. It could be a little bulkier and maybe the angle for the wings are a bit too much curved? "Little" means hours in this case . Can you explain your idea in more detail? It would help me a lot. (e.g. "back" is the tail, the boom or the two together, or else? What "little bulkier" means in this case? one more plate under/over or one brick wider or both? etc.) Thank you in advance, as I am "exhausted" now and have no more ideas at the moment Yes, the wings are too much curved to achieve playability. I tried more than 30 variations and this playable one had the smallest bending. I will rebuild the second best and take some photos to show a flatter version, however it needs more attention to keep the wings in position. It's better for showing, but worse for child's play. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Only Sinner Posted January 18, 2015 It's an interesting idea, to make this crazy looking plane. I think maybe this version has too long of a wing on the starboard side, as in twice as long as it should be. According to the picture provided, the wingtips are mostly equidistant from the center of the middle wing. I look forward to seeing more of this aircraft as you continue to improve the model. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plastic_ati Posted January 18, 2015 It's an interesting idea, to make this crazy looking plane. I think maybe this version has too long of a wing on the starboard side, as in twice as long as it should be. According to the picture provided, the wingtips are mostly equidistant from the center of the middle wing. I look forward to seeing more of this aircraft as you continue to improve the model. Thanks for this point. I have found a drawing from upper view, compared it with my model, and now I can see that the longer wing should be 4 studs shorter than now. (It means that it is 2 studs longer than the other one I instantly found the necessary bricks in the leftover group, so I will be able to shorten that wing easily. Now I see that the bridge in between the tails should be one stud thinner . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plastic_ati Posted January 18, 2015 I've made some modifications, and this way I could lower the wings, and even the angle of the wings has changed "dramatically" For comparison, here are two pics. The first shows the upper view of the old (upper) and new version (lower) VS the drawing, and the second shows the front view of the new version VS the drawing. Fortunately I could keep it swooshable, however I had to use the small pickaxe (iceaxe) for stabilizing the longer wing... The drawing and some information can be found HERE. I also made the tail piece 1 stud thinner, and shifted it back by 1 stud, but as I see I should lengthen the booms by 3 more studs. I don't know if I can find enough material for it What do you think about this result? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plastic_ati Posted January 20, 2015 Finally I could finish the tail and made the following comparison picture. Now the length of the booms are proportional to the original, and I even made a little change on the shape of the right end of the tail. Soon I will make the final photos and even the instructions. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
