This is the new 1/144 Revell E-2c Hawkeye plus DML catapult deck and crew, I wanted make the plane in launch position so I need make a way to simulate the engines running.

So I need find the smallest , easy to find and cheap engines ,and a friend (called Augusto) told me why not try Vibracall engines?

I look in a cell phone maintenance shop and ask for these engines (choose a small Star tac engine ) and paid about $2.50 each...,later I ask in my house for old Nokia batteries (with recharge life ended) and found more engines (and these batteries was waiting for be discarded), I extracted the weight (who produces the vibration) of engine.

I put the engines in the nacelles ,extended the power wires (I pick the wires from a broken cassette player)and adapted the propellers to the engine axle (I filled the propeller with a piece of sprue and drilled a new hole (with same diameter of axle) .

The power wire is hiding in the main landing gear legs and go to the power supply a single LR44 battery (1,5v used in calculators and laser pointers )fitted under the base (I need improve this set ,adding a On/off switch) . From the start of project (the search of engines) to the final I spent 3 weeks...I know I could put lights inside but I forgot....and closed the fuselage to fast.

The engines works !! And sometimes I put the sound of real E-2c (from a CW-5 Indy Laser disc) to give a more realist touch ...

Photos and text © 2005 by Roberto K. Masukawa

May 10, 2005

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