by MarkPalmer, publishedApr 16, 2016                       

Summary

In the mid-1970s, the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) began investigating how an aircraft's radar signature might be minimized by faceting its exterior.  One of the Lockheed Skunkworks' contributions to this effort was the "Hopeless Diamond," a proposed tail-less stealth fighter with a fuselage composed of sharply angular panels.  Radar tests on a 10-foot model resulted in a radar signature "as small as an eagle's eyeball."  Although an operational Hopeless Diamond was never built, lessons learned in its development were eventually incorporated into the F-117 Stealth Fighter.

This is my creative interpretation of what the Hopeless Diamond may have looked like based on drawings and information I've found. Stealth pole included!

Enjoy!

Print Settings

Printer Brand: MakerBot

Printer: MakerBot Replicator Z18

Rafts: Yes

Supports: No

Resolution: various

Infill: doesn't matter

Notes:

Versions with and without landing gear deployed are included I've printed this model on a MakerBot Rep2 and MakerBot Z18 so far. This model has been scaled up from its modeled size to print nicely in a Z18, but you should be able to scale it down to print on other machines. At a smaller scale the landing gear gets a bit tricky to print successfully, but you can play with settings and get it to work and may need to trim slightly at the wheel to get the tires to slip on. Nose and Fuselage parts have custom breakaway supports for challenging areas. Print at any resolution, with raft. Landing gear should be printed at 0.2mm at normal scale. There is a small breakaway support between the strut and wheel that you need to remove before tires can be slipped on. Print each landing gear individually If you scale the model down to print on a smaller machine printing the landing gear gets tricky. Try printing at 0.3mm if you have trouble. Stealth Pole needs to be printed with floor thickness set to zero to avoid warpage. Print with rafts. Tires print at 0.2mm with raft. Tires may need to be scaled slightly to get a perfect fit.