Skeletar - another Mega Mosquito bash - DONE

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les

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I cut out the sides in all of the pieces as I built up the fins. I also papered the fins and cut the paper out as well to end up with this

fins2.jpg

and again - I am building this to use the "head" from my other build

head.jpg
 
I will not be using the mega mosquito nose cone

I cut out foam centering rings and used a spent engine casing to hold them for sanding

center rings.jpg

I was going to sand the inner hole to fit the tube (instead of the engine case), then I thought - what the heck? I'll use the engine casing as part of the build
Here I am gluing the rings onto the engine casing

center clamp.jpg
 
I forgot to mention I also cut a couple of oversize rings from 1/64" plywood. These were glued together and to the center rings on the casing to provide a stop so the front won't slide down the body

To mount a shock cord to the top, I threaded a piece of Kevlar through the spent casing, tied a knot, and then used some glue

shock cord.jpg

Meanwhile, I built the motor mount (minus the engine hook - going to use an Estes retainer) and installed the fins.

I then started adding "bones"

spike1.jpg
 
A section of BT50 was glued to the engine casing. The tube seemed a bit thin and flimsy, so I cut another tube, slit it and glued it inside the first tube.

A coupler was added to the old "head" and a small section of BT60. I purposely left a gap for some texture (no the glue did not grab on me)
Some BT50/BT60 rings and the top is assembled (but not done)

spikea.jpg


oh - and the marks and notches are for more bones....
 
Oh - them bones, them bones, them dry bones.....

Added more to the top

spike3.jpg

And more to the top

head complete.jpg

And addition of bones to the main body

bones1.jpg bones2.jpg bones3.jpg

Which also gave me my launch lug

bones4.jpg
 
And then the "final" picture - it still needs some minor cleanup

skeletar.jpg

My plan is to paint it a semi-gloss black and all the bones will be a satin, off-white

And I think the head goes with this body - or I got the body to work with the head
 
Ouch!

I punctured my hand just looking at it. Be careful when carrying it to the pad. :lol:

Cool build.
 
This works for me....and the head goes far better with this body than the previous one.
 
Sorry for the delay - life issues do sometimes get in the way

Did get it primed and base color of black

Black.jpg
 
Awesome! Do you expect the fins to provide enough fin area despite the lack of paneling? I just got another MDRM and was thinking of leaving the fins un-paneled like you did, going with a steampunk theme. Think the reduced fin area will be balanced out by the increased drag?
 
Awesome! Do you expect the fins to provide enough fin area despite the lack of paneling? I just got another MDRM and was thinking of leaving the fins un-paneled like you did, going with a steampunk theme. Think the reduced fin area will be balanced out by the increased drag?

I've got a longer tube plus more mass up front with the trusses as well.
I need to see the overall balance once I'm done.

I've got a ton of masking to do so I can paint the "bones"
 
So after being dormant for a year and a half, Skeletar rises...... :y:

Last year and the beginning of this year I had a case of building blues, so I haven't done much

Plus the next step I knew was going to be a major pain - masking this thing

Well, I happen to be home for a bit and finally decided to work this.

Masking the top alone took over 4 hours. The bottom was simpler but took almost another 2 hours.
This was the most tedious masking effort for any of my rockets to date...

But the masking is finally done.

I will more "mist" the bones with the off white to have a bone like blotchy look.

Here is the masked rocket

mask.jpg
 
That has got to be the most epic masking job I've ever imagined, much less seen.:y: I feel I've just lost my right to ever complain about masking on of my rockets....
 
Painting didn't go the way I expected, but came out the way I wanted....

Misting the off white became more of a total cover. But then I misted some black (got it a tad too dark), then a very light white mist and a final light off white mist
These are all with Rustoleum 2X rattle cans

Here is how the paint looks
paint1.jpg

Let it dry overnight and pulled all the masking (that took too bloody long to apply). Here is the masking aftermath. An unraveled mummy...

mask2.jpg
 
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And the results...

paint2.jpg paint3.jpg

There are some masking "whoops" but since this is supposed to have a biological look I don't think it is an issue

paint4.jpg

And I plan to hand paint the raised details on the bones (see picture) red

paint5.jpg
 
Did some MORE masking...sigh

Not as bad as the first. Even though I plan to hand paint I wanted some masking to help

mask3.jpg
 
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