Replica Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor

I'm waiting for parts on my printer, so I will not be able to print anymore parts for this replica. Regardless, the replica IS PRINTABLE,

Only manufacturing 186 F-22 Raptors, it is not surprising that not many people have heard about it! It is the world's first 5th generation fighter; bearing advanced intelligence detection, state-of-the-art stealth, and two-dimensional thrust vectoring, it’s expectable that the price point is 150,000,000$(USD).

This replica is scaled 1:1000, so you will need to enlarge the files. Along with that, certain parts might fit together if you do not scale them up high enough. Some parts are designed to move, namely the horizontal stabilizers and the engines: take care when assembling them. Lastly, some modifications were made to allow the replica to be printable.

Have any questions?
You're welcome to email me at [e-mail]

Table of Contents:
List of Materials................1
Part Description...............2
Raptor Design..................3-4
Printing the Raptor...........5
Assembling the Raptor.....6
Final..................................7
Appendix A.......................8
Steps 2-4 and 7-8 are merely for reading. No real activities are needed during these 3 steps.

Step 1: List of Materials:

To complete this project, you will need to have a certain set of objects:
FDM Printer Slicing software
Filament*
Time

The following objects are mentioned throughout the article:
Adhesive
Blender
Steps 2-3 will describe the designing process.Skip if you do not wish to read more about the designing process. You will not be hindered by not reading these two steps. * you will need 14810mm of filament. The total amount is based off of the model scaled up to 10(or 1000%) so it is in centimeters, 20% infill, 2 top/bottom layers, 2 perimeters, and supports on the following pieces:
Canopy V2
Horizontal Stabilizer Left/Right V2
Radar V1

Step 2: Part Descriptions

The F-22 Raptor is broken into 13 primary parts: the three fuselage components, two wings, two horizontal stabilizers, two vertical stabilizers, two engines, a radar tip, and a canopy. All examples are over simplifications; they are there to help better understand the uses.

-The three fuselage components are broken into the main body, front body, and back body. Separating it into three pieces allows it to be sturdier and decreases the level of intricacy. These three pieces are quite important, as they are the centerpiece of the plane. It would be the torso equivalent if it were a human being.

-The two main wings produce lift and allow the plane to fly. In reality, the wings are thin and curved. The model’s wings are thicker and have flaps engraved on them to simulate ailerons, allowing the plane to roll. These two pieces would be the legs of a being, allowing it to move.

-The two horizontal stabilizers and the two vertical stabilizers allow the plane to keep its balance and change its direction. The horizontal stabilizers act like elevators, allowing it to pitch. The vertical stabilizers have rudders allowing it to yaw. These parts would be the hips, which allow a person to change direction and pivot.

- The two engines are F119-PW-100 made by Pratt and Whitney. They deliver 35,000-pounds of thrust per engine. These engines are what allow the plane to move forward and exceed the speed of sound without using afterburners. These would be the muscles on a person, allowing movement.

-Lastly are the canopy and radar nozzle. The canopy is where the pilot sits and the radar collects data. The canopy would be the skull, making the pilot the brain. The radar would be eyes, allowing the plane to see.

More detailed explanations are found on appendix A.

Step 3: Designing the F-22 Raptor

The whole process began with my preferred 3D designing software: Blender. It can be downloaded at https://www.blender.org/.

Once you've downloaded a CAD program of your choice, look for design layouts of the F-22 Raptor. Many of them can be found just by searching "F-22 Raptor Design" in Google. Once that is complete, you can begin modelling the replica. This step consists of modeling the general outline of the Raptor; the next step goes more into detail of making it 'pretty,' but this step should end with the Raptor still recognizable.

A huge help for me was looking at actual images of the F-22 Raptor, so I didn't miss any critical points.

Step 4: Smoothing the Raptor

Once the model outline was made, the next step is to smooth out the plane to simulate the stealthy abilities. I did this using the sculpt tool within blender. I smoothed and flattened multiple parts of the plane. Along with smoothing the plane, this is the step where you implement locking parts. Since the F-22 Raptor is built in multiple parts, I chose to replicate that by breaking the Raptor into twelve different parts. In doing so, I had to create ways to lock parts together without glue.

I chose to use buckles on the three main body pieces (all designated with 'Fuselage _____'). Following that, I used saddle styled joints for the thrust vectoring engines and the horizontal stabilizers. This can all be seen on the .Blender file I attached. I had three phases; the latest phase is my final phase.

Tip:
If possible, it is useful to see renders of your model in the 3D space. Deformed shading will immediately tell you of any rigid faces.

Step 5: Printing the Raptor

Now it's time to print all of the parts!

All of the parts were exported in .mm, so you will want to make it much larger. Along with that, all parts or orientated in a printable position with the least amount of supports and brim. I recommend printing each piece at 20% infill with 2 perimeters.

The files you will need are:
2x Locking Buckle
2x V1 Engine Inserts
2x ET Vectoring V2
2x ET Vectoring Pin V1
2x Horizontal Stabilizer Locking Pin V1
1x Wing Right V3
1x Wing Left V3
1x Vertical Stabilizer Left V1
1x Vertical Stabilizer Right V1
1x Fuselage Front V3
1x Fuselage Main V4
1x Fuselage Back V3
1x Horizontal Stabilizer Left V2 (S)
1x Horizontal Stabilizer Right V2 (S)
1x Canopy V2 (S)
1x Radar V1 (S) Items labeled "S" will need supports.
The image is of the Fuselage Main printed at 1.75(1750%).

Step 6: Assembling the Raptor

The image is of the parts I had printed prior to my 3D printer breaking down

Wow, you're nearly done! The final step is to put the pieces together. Note that each part (excluding pins) are parts of an actual F-22 Raptor I.e., the Fuselage Main truly is built separate from the Fuselage Front.
Insert the two 'Locking Buckles' into the 'Fuselage Main' Connect the 'Fuselage Main' to both the 'Fuselage Back' and the 'Fuselage Front'

1. Connect the 'Canopy Connect' to the 'Fuselage Front' and the 'Canopy' to that.
2. Attach the Radar to the 'Fuselage Front' as well. Slide the two wings into place.
3. Slide the two 'Engine Inserts' into the 'Fuselage Back' and then slide the 'ET vectoring' into the curved concavity of the 'Engine Inserts'.
4. Carefully, slide the 'ET Vectoring Pin' into the holes on the sides. It will hold the 'ET Vectoring' in place while allowing it to rotate vertically
5. Next, slide the 'Horizontal Stabilizers' into the farthest holes. Once they are both in, slide the 'Horizontal Stabilizers Locking Pin'. This will allow the 'Horizontal Stabilizers' rotate in the same axis as the 'ET Vectoring'
6. Last but not least, slide the two 'Vertical Stabilizers' into the two slots on the top of the 'Fuselage Back'
7. You're done!

(Optional)
If you printed this in ABS, you can acetone 'weld' the parts that don't rotate. This will insure that nothing leaves its sockets.

Step 7: Final

You've completed the replica! Remember, the model is originally scaled 1:1000, meaning the .stl files are in .mm. The ways the F-22 Raptor flies are the same across most planes, so I hoped you learned something. Further reading can be done with the appendix, where I extensively explain the properties of flight for the F-22 Raptor.

Have an awesome day!

Step 8: Appendix A

This step is just to explain properties of flight.
Like any other plane, the F-22 Raptor follows the basic forces of flight : thrust, drag, lift, and weight. These four forces allow for an object to fly.

Thrust is the force that is exerted by the engines. This force allows for the plane to move forward, opposite to the direction the engines are facing. This force is the opposite of drag, which is the force that pushes on the plane due to various particles in the air. So as air becomes more dense, more drag is created.

Lift is the force made primarily from the wings. This force is created by all of the plane, but at different rates. Lift is generated by moving air into less pressured area. To do this, wings are curved on the top and flat on the bottom; the curvature of the top allows for air to move quicker, hence making the top of the plane less pressurized, and thus generating lift. This force is a direct opposite to weight. Weight is the force of gravity on the body of the plane. As gravity pulls it down, lift must overcome that force.

By understanding these four forces, we are able to maneuver the plane into a desired direction. There are three main types of movements for aeroplanes: pitch, yaw, and roll. These three movements are able to occur due to various flaps on planes. For the F-22 Raptor, it has ailerons on its wings, elevators as it's horizontal stabilizer, rudders in its vertical stabilizers, and flaps also on its wings.

Ailerons are flaps at the back edge of a plane's wings. There are two of them, one on each wing. These flaps allow for the plane to roll, the movement of rotating the plane on its y axis (assuming its nose is y). As one aileron goes down, the other goes up, which creates a difference in pressure which then moves a wing down and the other up.

Elevators are horizontal flaps on the tail of the plane. Usually they are not as large as the horizontal stabilizer on the F-22 Raptor. Unlike the ailerons, the elevators move as one piece to allow for a plane to pitch, which is a motion of going up and down.

Rudders are vertical flaps on the tail of the plane. Usually, they come singular and are perpendicular to the body of the plane. Oddly enough, the Raptor has two of them that are at a different angle other than perpendicular. The rudder redirects air to the left or the right, allowing for yawing motion.The yaw motion is left to right.

Lastly, flaps that are not designated with another name are used for landing or slowing down. They do this by separating air flow. A key factor of lift is that the air does not separate at the end, i.e. when water flows past a rock, it rejoins into one stream. By enabling these flaps, the air flow is separated and all lift is terminated. This is useful for slowing down when planes are landing.

To assist in the ever growing weight and maneuverability of this plane, it was equipped with two F119-PW-100 Pratt and Whitney engines. Along with that, they were outfitted with thrust vectoring nozzles, allowing for the engine nozzle to move in a 2D space. This means that the Raptor can quickly thrust upwards, allowing varied flight.

Finally, the F-22 Raptor incorporates an astounding amount of stealth even though it is 62 ft / 18.90 m long, and 44.5 ft / 13.56 m wide. It does this by reducing the amounts of flat facets on the body. By doing this, radar waves do not bounce back to the sources. Along with that, it keeps it stealth by housings its armanants inside its fuselage