SkyPyrates Sky Wolf Build from Jon Rockets

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Sky Wolf Paint Wght.jpgSky Wolf Painted.jpg
I got some color on it and the weight is real close to what I wanted. I am not sure what happened though. The products that I used where Elmer CWF, Duplicolor Filler Primer, Squadron Putty, White Rustoleum Primer, and finally Createx Wicked. After the color coat I put the rocket in my car to bake the finish. When I pulled it out of the car I could see tube spirals:facepalm:. I don't know if one of the products popped up or if the rocket shrunk. Also this is only the second rocket I have tried airbrushing. the color coats don't look even enough for my taste and is so thin that even micro scratches in the primer coat are visible. I plan to sand it back down to primer see if i can improve upon it. If anyone has any tips, please pipe in. I am working hard to get this finished for a launch on Mother's Day @ CRASH. Daddy, don't let them cancel it.
 
Skp said:
View attachment 288881View attachment 288882
I got some color on it and the weight is real close to what I wanted. I am not sure what happened though. The products that I used where Elmer CWF, Duplicolor Filler Primer, Squadron Putty, White Rustoleum Primer, and finally Createx Wicked. After the color coat I put the rocket in my car to bake the finish. When I pulled it out of the car I could see tube spirals:facepalm:. I don't know if one of the products popped up or if the rocket shrunk. Also this is only the second rocket I have tried airbrushing. the color coats don't look even enough for my taste and is so thin that even micro scratches in the primer coat are visible. I plan to sand it back down to primer see if i can improve upon it. If anyone has any tips, please pipe in. I am working hard to get this finished for a launch on Mother's Day @ CRASH. Daddy, don't let them cancel it.
Click to expand...

As you have discovered with airbrushing the coats are so thin they don't have any "hiding" ability, airbrushes require the surface to be nearly perfect or everything shows. Can you feel the spirals or are they barely visible? The reason I ask is they are not visible in the photos.
 
The spirals had been completely invisible before the car and now can be seen in person without much difficulty. I can't really feel them, so I am hoping that a quick sanding and repaint will make them vanish again.
 
Sky Wolf Spirals Lifted.jpgSky Wolf Color Sanded.jpg
The spirals definitely lifted. The way that the color handled some aggressive sanding gives me much hope that I can get this paint job looking as nice as I imagine. I love and hate this part.
 
Skp said:
View attachment 288938View attachment 288940
The spirals definitely lifted. The way that the color handled some aggressive sanding gives me much hope that I can get this paint job looking as nice as I imagine. I love and hate this part.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this Skp. For some builds the color coat is not the end of the process; if it's not to your liking fix it till it is.
 
I have not shuffled off the mortal coil. It has been cold, rainy and even a little snowy here the last week. So this sits in the state of unfinished. The weather forecast does look a little better for the coming week.
 
Sky Wolf Painted (2).jpgSky Wolf Vinyl Peel Back.jpgSky Wolf Cut the Backing.jpgSky Wolf Apply Vinyl.jpg
We dried out and warmed up, so I put three coats of paint on with baking in the car between each. I also polished it with a little toothpaste and soft cloth. It is not perfect, but I learned a lot and it is at least as good as any of the rattlecan jobs I've done. With the exception my Semroc VF-261 that is in my avatar.
This is the 1st time I've put vinyl decals on a model, but I've read enough tips to make it a breeze. First peel a small amount of the backing. Then cut the backing away. Finally, position the decal using the section with the backing still in place. Once you have it where you want it, stick the exposed tab securely to the model and remove the rest of the backing.
 
Sky Wolf Name Plate tape 1.jpgSky Wolf Name Plate Placement 2.jpgSky Wolf Name Plate Peel Backing 3.jpgSky Wolf Name Plate Pull Off Top 4.jpgSky Wolf Name Plate Not Bad 5.jpg
Each one of the letters and the wolf decal are all separate pieces of vinyl. The best way to get them on where you want is to use the painter's tape as a hinge to hold it in place while removing the backing and facing. I use my ruler that has a finger protector as an angle iron to align the decal. Stick the tape and fold back to remove the backing. Hinge the decal back into place and carefully peel off the top cover and tape. It doesn't get nicer than that.
 
Sky Wolf low light.jpgSky Wolf North.jpgSky Wolf & Abi.jpgSky Wolf on the Shelf.jpg
This was a fun build and it turned out sweeter than I had hoped. I can't believe that I didn't have a black and red rocket in my collection until now. I still need to put something on it to protect the vinyl. I imagine that the Pledge Future Floor Polish is one of the best options, unless something has changed since the last time it has been a topic on this forum. The little one is my newest rocket fanatic and the photo of the collection shows why I stick with sport rockets and not scale models.
 
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After reading this thread, I'm going to have to get one of these. Also, I like the Mercury Spitfire.
 
I highly recommend this kit. I am tempted to get another and try using the vinyl decals as masking to duplicate the all black model that the designer did. The ACME Spitfire kit is a blast. The wraps that you can download from Fliskits work like a dream.
 
There are some plexiglass polishes that are better than Future Floor Wax, at least that is what the Pros tell me. You will soon need bigger shelves as bigger scale models will some day enter your inventory. Many Flights-O-Fancy to come!
 
Very nice job with the Sky Wolf and the little rocket fanatic too ! I continue to use Future as long as I can find it under whatever new packaging SC Johnson has come up with today.

FloorCare_MultiSurface_L.jpg

This is the latest incarnation, as far as I know.
 
Skp said:
I have been doing my level best to only be a lpr BAR, but when I had the opportunity to purchase a mpr for the price of a lpr kit I folded like a cheap suit. It is just research and data collection; nothing more. Really, I mean it. I have no intention of using a gram of epoxy or glass. Honestly, the parts in the kit are scary heavy to my way of thinking. That is without trying to tank the daylights out of it. That being said, this kit is available from Jon Rockets and I really like the look of it. It is only slightly larger than a Big Bertha and with some of the motor options it could break mach or go over a mile high. I really can’t imagine such a thing.
View attachment 287393View attachment 287392
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Why would you think you would need to build MPR with epoxy or glass, that's way overkill anyways. You want performance keep the rocket lite.
 
The only build thread I found for this rocket did make use of epoxy, so I was interested in pointing out an epoxy free build. Just the heavy duty nose cone, body tube and plywood fins make this feel like a tank compared to the materials I have built with before. DaddyisaBar gave me a Launch Pad Bullpup kit that I still need to finish. That is a mid power rocket that is built with light weight materials and now I have something to compare it to. After this experience, I feel I have more of a feel for putting that kit together light and strong. I just struggle with scale kits because there is a very high bar to meet in my own head for how it should look.
 
Very Nice. May she Fly true and straight.


Here's the finished CF SkyWolf, 20" airframe for a 6XL motor.
hope to fly it this weekend @ Camden on a H399 and a Tracker ( of course)

20160507_165835[1].jpg

20160507_165908[1].jpg

20160507_165916[1].jpg
 
AfterBurners said:
Why would you think you would need to build MPR with epoxy or glass, that's way overkill anyways. You want performance keep the rocket lite.
Click to expand...

This rocket was assembled with both Wood glue and Epoxy, the difference between the two was little to none, wood glue weight 9.5 oz, Epoxy was 9.6oz and I did extra thing Fillets on the Epoxy version. So I'll call the weight even up.

Epoxy version has over 100 fly on her and the wood glue has 50+.
 
dlb said:
Very Nice. May she Fly true and straight.


Here's the finished CF SkyWolf, 20" airframe for a 6XL motor.
hope to fly it this weekend @ Camden on a H399 and a Tracker ( of course)
Click to expand...

How's the signal with metal flake over carbon fiber?
 
I missed the launch on Mother's Day due to a co-worker's illness, he still has not returned to health and doctors are running tests galore. He could use as much prayer as possible. That being first and foremost in importance, a secondary impact of his illness is that my schedule has been permanently modified so that I can more frequently attend club launches. I will be launching this on Sunday June 5th.
 
Skp said:
I missed the launch on Mother's Day due to a co-worker's illness, he still has not returned to health and doctors are running tests galore. He could use as much prayer as possible. That being first and foremost in importance, a secondary impact of his illness is that my schedule has been permanently modified so that I can more frequently attend club launches. I will be launching this on Sunday June 5th.
Click to expand...

Hope your co-worker gets better and it is good to hear you can make more weekend club launches. We can always use a bit more sanity and cool, solid rockets like the Sky Wolf.
 
Thank you for the well wishes for my co-worker. He has not been able to return to work, but he seems to be doing better.

I did get to launch on Sunday, and I understand why rails are so popular now. This was just an Estes E16-6. It hit 816ft and ejection was .2 seconds after apogee. Stock parachute brought it down at 18ft/s. Open rocket had predicted 836ft, so not to shabby.https://youtu.be/ybzb04oFNjY
 
Skp said:
Thank you for the well wishes for my co-worker. He has not been able to return to work, but he seems to be doing better.

I did get to launch on Sunday, and I understand why rails are so popular now. This was just an Estes E16-6. It hit 816ft and ejection was .2 seconds after apogee. Stock parachute brought it down at 18ft/s. Open rocket had predicted 836ft, so not to shabby.https://youtu.be/ybzb04oFNjY
Click to expand...

Always trust in your computer simulations! Bye Bye to launch lugs forever, rails rule!
 
I have launched this rocket twice since my last post.
The 1st was at a local park on an Estes D12-3. I am always nervous using the lowest recommended impulse motor in a rocket, but it flew perfectly.
[YOUTUBE]XkbNr5xZcRk[/YOUTUBE]
The Second was at Chili Blaster in Pueblo(fantastic day of launching) on an F35-8.
If you have good speakers you can hear the whistle after the motor cuts off.
[YOUTUBE]gusdBwkqcjM[/YOUTUBE]

Both were launched off of 1/4in rods.
This rocket really can fly at any field and look so dang good doing it.
 
4th flight of the Sky Wolf, Estes E16-6 gives a beautiful flight, the rocket descends rather quickly on the stock parachute, and it landed in the middle of the road. Damage was cosmetic only with no need to make any repairs. Light weight materials would have likely not faired so well.
[YOUTUBE]celPyqq2vfk[/YOUTUBE]
 

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