Neil_W's half-baked design thread

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How do you do a nice fade like that? I've been wondering about designs that don't have sharp lines.

Good luck following my instructions. 1st off, better to have longer rockets in a horizontal position. You're going to fade from a darker to a lighter color 99% of the time. For instance, I want to paint from say, black to white starting with the nose cone and working my way toward the middle of the rocket, fading as I go. Stand where the nose cone is in front of you and the middle is somewhere off to the left or right. In easy light strokes, start spraying from the nose toward the middle STANDING IN THAT SAME SPOT. As your spray becomes farther away from your rocket (toward the center) it will fade. Best to use some cheap 1 dollar can of crap paint and an old tube or piece of scrap poster board to practice on. Sometimes I even get a little in front of the nose cone so I am getting started at the very tip of the cone and working my way down. Rotate the rocket enough to get a second application started. If there are any gaps between major strokes, you can do touch-up at a distance, but for the most part, all of your painting strokes will be short and sweet. No long runs!!! Short rockets can be done also but requires a little more patience and just plain old practice.

Large model

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Small Model

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It is pathetic how my design mojo kind of dried up after starting this thread (cause and effect?) Also a bit bummed how little progress has been made on the new version of OR, which I really want to use for new designs.

I suppose I should get back to trying to finish up the Starburst design, which is not bad.

Anyway, I need some inspiration, any old idea to get me going. Anyone want to sell me some? Payment in pixels.
 
It is pathetic how my design mojo kind of dried up after starting this thread (cause and effect?) Also a bit bummed how little progress has been made on the new version of OR, which I really want to use for new designs.

I suppose I should get back to trying to finish up the Starburst design, which is not bad.

Anyway, I need some inspiration, any old idea to get me going. Anyone want to sell me some? Payment in pixels.

Oh my! I gotta lotta stuff on my drawing board. Some things you might be interested in. Maybe I'll hand pick a few and email you some 2D renderings and let your creative juices sweeten them up to your liking.
 
Maybe just maybe my designer's block is beginning to clear. Have a few ideas (not necessarily good, but any ideas are better than none), here's the first which was easiest to render in OR:
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As is typical for me, this is primarily a fin can concept, with the front half of the rocket TBD. It's fairly simple but getting the fin shapes correct took more work than you'd think. Now, how to get a ring in there? ;)

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```snip``` but any ideas are better than none), As is typical for me, this is primarily a fin can concept, with the front half of the rocket TBD. It's fairly simple but getting the fin shapes correct took more work than you'd think. Now, how to get a ring in there? ;)

This reminds me of my morphing process. I might have 6-7 fin designs that play off of each other until something either does, or doesn't happen. This could be promising if you indulge your creative juices and keep morphing. I'm sure, you'll find a way to get that damn ring in there....hahaha.
 
Back to this guy for a moment. In addition to trying out some paint possibilities, updated the starburst fins to be open-air, a bit more interesting. Is there enough root edge on the BT to actually hold them on securely? Who knows! :) The vertical stabilizers/tube fins are still a god-awful mess that needs to be cleaned up.
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At the moment I'm kind of intrigued by having low fins or strakes flying over a recessed piece of BT. Might try it out on some other designs besides this one.

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I tried putting a curve underneath the starburst fins. Looks better I think.
Screen Shot 2017-08-29 at 9.35.55 PM.png Screen Shot 2017-08-29 at 9.34.34 PM.png

Starting to look like something maybe. Still lots to do.

John Boren designed the Black Star Voyager in a freakin' day. *sigh*
 
It just came to my mind, you may want to do some reinforcing of those wide sweeping fins. The strength of the BSV is in the 3D Prism geometry of its...surfaces (are they even fins at that point?). Although using something stronger like basswood or thin pywood may help stiffen things.
 
If my xp with the Blackstar was any indication, you're going to have fun painting that one :dark:
.

In its current form it's not too bad, I could use similar techniques as for the Diamond Cutter. If I ever get that far.

It just came to my mind, you may want to do some reinforcing of those wide sweeping fins. The strength of the BSV is in the 3D Prism geometry of its...surfaces (are they even fins at that point?). Although using something stronger like basswood or thin pywood may help stiffen things.

Yeah, I've been staring at it a bit and wondering how those fins aren't going to be destroyed on the first landing. They would be hard to build and even harder to paper (!). Basswood would help but it'd still be a job and a half. Will have to think on it.
 
Back to this guy for a moment. In addition to trying out some paint possibilities, updated the starburst fins to be open-air, a bit more interesting. Is there enough root edge on the BT to actually hold them on securely? Who knows! :) The vertical stabilizers/tube fins are still a god-awful mess that needs to be cleaned up.
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At the moment I'm kind of intrigued by having low fins or strakes flying over a recessed piece of BT. Might try it out on some other designs besides this one.

thick rournd toothpicks (like for hors douvres) along each side, extended 1-2 cm forward and aft, would provide more surface area for adhesion, also could be painted a contrasting color for design?
 
I still feel like this one has potential to be a small and cute design, if I could just get the proportions and details correct. Building the fin can would be very challenging without laser cutting (maybe even with).

This version is a bit closer I think.
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I'm generally not much into holiday-themed rockets but these ideas popped into my head and, with Halloween on the way, why the heck not:

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These are kind of fun I think.
 

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A spider just isn't a spider without his stabilizer ring....hahaha. Cute btw. I like this one. But I don't think I would want to do all those custom "fin slats" and....SANDING? Did I say sanding? As simple as my Fiddle Faddle is, I can never get the four long strakes perfectly aligned for mounting the box fin. They always have to be custom fitted. MEANING, I can never rely on a template. You'll wind up custom sanding each and every one of those 12 "slats" to fit uniformly. Betcha a brand new modified parachute it can't be done with a template. And yes, I have made significant improvements in making my chutes now.
 
Yeah, the slats would absolutely need to be hand-fitted. The good news is they're rectangular, so they just need to be cut slightly long and then sanded down to wedge in properly. I.e.: install six main fins, cut 12 slats slightly long, then sand and fit each one. A bit tedious perhaps, but not terribly difficult. Painting, on the other hand.... :eyepop:

I'm really digging the look of the forward spider on the BW2. I might riff on that for some other designs.
 
A simple design that could be nice with a good paint job. I started with much more complex rear fins but found it looks way better with the simpler ones. I did this one in white because the unfinished appearance was distracting. Dunno why I found that to be the case here but not elsewhere, but whatever.

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Wow Neil,
I really like the design in post #35 and the first Black Widow. Great work!
The design in post #47 could be called the "Mobius Ring".
in essence it's simple, but visually a lot going on.
 
Thanks. I sure wish I had time to build even a fraction of these, but I've been lucky enough that others have taken up the task in a couple of instances.

Actually, I should say I'm quite grateful that anyone else even looks at any of this stuff.... :)
 
Don't laugh at this. My design skills were at an all time low back in 85 and some of these builds are embarrassing. But I wanted to point out a similarity with your Plasma Dart. That blue & silver job in the center with the ridiculous curved fins, has the same ribbed section in the center. Your MATURE design approach is far better than mine was with a ribbed section.

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Don't laugh at this. My design skills were at an all time low back in 85 and some of these builds are embarrassing. But I wanted to point out a similarity with your Plasma Dart. That blue & silver job in the center with the ridiculous curved fins, has the same ribbed section in the center. Your MATURE design approach is far better than mine was with a ribbed section.

Yup, similar thought process with the ribs. I'm pretty sure I've seen them on at least one other rocket around here as well, I certainly can't claim any particular originality on that one. Looks nice though.

My "mature" design approach also tends to keep me a bit boxed in, which is frustrating. Keep trying to do different stuff but all my designs are still pretty clearly "me".

That white one looks interesting... got any better pics of it? Do I spy not one but multiple tail rings?
 
I really like Black Widow 2, with the spider and the web

I admit I do too. I think it could even make a fun novelty kit. If I had the bandwidth I'd try to throw it together in time for a Halloween launch, but that is not even remotely possible for me.
 
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