Summer Build Contest 2017 "PRAXIS PROBE"

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Never mind those two clowns. They're just getting their 2 cents worth in.
I had to put this one on the back burner so I could take advantage of the excellent painting weather we had last week. The putty filling was near done and so was all the sanding it required. It was finally time to join both halves together. MAN…this is that stage where your project is going to look about as bad as it possibly can. After the halves were joined, I had to fill and sand that last joint. I hope I did it justice. We’ll see after the primer goes on. That will be the first bit of instant gratification I get.

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Yeah, the build is in its "awkward phase". Still looks pretty nifty, though; and I like your front lug mount. Should get really interesting with some pigment.
 
I'm still not 100% on the look of those forward fins. I had to have something to use as an offset for that upper lug, and sometimes I can smooth one in with a set of those. I bet I changed the shape 20 times and nothing was grabbing at me. I literally just settled for the ones I'm using. Maybe it'll iron out in the finish job. Which totally reminds me of an ugly duckling design I built that never showed promise until AFTER I finished it off. Turned that bugger into a prince!
 
After a great lot of tedious sanding, I finally got a coat of primer on this guy. Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t able to escape the usual given boo boo’s & surface flaws this time. Sometimes I get lucky and get away with just a good sanding and hit it with the base coat. Not this time. After cleaning up the surface with fills, I gave it another prime job. That got sanded today and I was fortunate that the humidity was at 41%. OH YEAH! Finally got me some white base coat on! Pigment coming soon!

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How did I miss this build thread till now? Gotta love your imagination and creative designs Gary.
Thanks man. It's a slow motion thread. Now that the base coat is done, Just a short while before this little bird starts popping with some aesthetic character.
 
I love this rocket, but my dirty mind is having a field day with the shape... And the name isn't helping. Please don't paint it pink! :facepalm:
 
Looks like tedious sanding was an understatement. Your finish on the primer is better than the color coat on several of mine.

Well God forbid it ever catos. If it did you could call it an "incident" and then say:

We have everything under control. There is no need for assistance. Obey treaty stipulations. Remain outside the neutral zone - I mean "flight line".

Do we report this sir?

Are you kidding? File a mess report.
 
Looks like tedious sanding was an understatement. Your finish on the primer is better than the color coat on several of mine.

Well God forbid it ever catos. If it did you could call it an "incident" and then say:

We have everything under control. There is no need for assistance. Obey treaty stipulations. Remain outside the neutral zone - I mean "flight line".

Do we report this sir?

Are you kidding? File a mess report.
Sanding wasn't all thaaaaat bad. Could have been worse, because I didn't have to be too meticulous with the fins. They're get skinned. Sanding those pods to shape prolly got the most attention. CATOS? meh....those things bounce off me and just disappear somewhere. Apparently the rocket gods have been plenty generous with me. Hadn't had a CATO in....uh......hmmmmmmmmm....damn! Can't remember! I know I've had some though. 25 - 30 years ago?.....maybe?
 
OK, I'm going to print out that picture and throw darts at it. However, I always appreciate photos of your bench (even deeply offensive ones like that) to see the interesting in-progress builds you've got going on in the background. I look forward to one day seeing a fleet picture...
 
That's one nifty looking bird, what colors are you going to paint it?
 
OK, I'm going to print out that picture and throw darts at it. However, I always appreciate photos of your bench (even deeply offensive ones like that) to see the interesting in-progress builds you've got going on in the background. I look forward to one day seeing a fleet picture...

Trust me, my bench never gets like that anymore. And the pic is about 3 years old. I'm too lazy for that kind of nonsense these days.
 
I knew this part was next…..MASKING! Usually not so problematic for most rockets, but this one took way longer than I had expected. And now that it’s ready for the basic light gray color, the humidity skyrocketed. Going to be like that all week! Hopefully Saturday will be my day. Then I’ll have to do a complete reverse masking job for the Martian Green. At least that’ll be with airbrushed auto color and won’t take as long to dry. I really would like to wrap this up by the August launch on the 12th, but with all the waiting, I may miss that window.

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I knew this part was next…..MASKING! Usually not so problematic for most rockets, but this one took way longer than I had expected. And now that it’s ready for the basic light gray color, the humidity skyrocketed. Going to be like that all week! Hopefully Saturday will be my day. Then I’ll have to do a complete reverse masking job for the Martian Green. At least that’ll be with airbrushed auto color and won’t take as long to dry. I really would like to wrap this up by the August launch on the 12th, but with all the waiting, I may miss that window.

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I don't envy you, you've got some complicated areas to mask. I reaaally don't like the masking chore (and it is a chore to me). The only thing I like even less is sanding airfoils.
 
Sanding? AACKKK! I really don’t mind sanding so much as long as I’m in the right mood. Otherwise it’s truly a chore. Once I get started sanding though, I usually get real anal about all the nooks and crannies and it’ll take forever.

Moving forward here though, I did get me some light gray paint on this bird, but the Rusto “Winter Gray” was just too dark once it dried. I also had to address another issue that happened while it had been drying. Seems Mother Nature intervened and blew my drying stand over on the textured concrete patio creating some nice cavities in the nose cone and a couple of the pods. I had already decided I’d bite the bullet and go have my color mixed at NAPA and re-do the gray paint. So having to repair some dinger damage came at a timely moment.

It’s prolly the first time I blew it on picking out a color match because the end result on my NAPA color was waaaay off and much too light. NAPA guy gave me a jar of black pigment and suggested adjusting the color. I was totally fine with that, went home and waited a week for the old paint to dry sufficiently so I could do a light sanding and repair the dings. Hard to see in a pic, but it’s truly a light shade of gray. I figure it’s light enough to go well with that Martian Green.

After 24 hours of drying, the auto paint is set well enough to “CAREFULLY” peel away the masking. Still needs drying time though. I had to put a 1oz. weight in the nose cone because this lil beech is bottom heavy….go figure, eh?

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You do some incredible work, Gary. Speaking of which, anyone heard from Scotty Dog recently?
 
Sanding? AACKKK! I really don’t mind sanding so much as long as I’m in the right mood. Otherwise it’s truly a chore. Once I get started sanding though, I usually get real anal about all the nooks and crannies and it’ll take forever.

Moving forward here though, I did get me some light gray paint on this bird, but the Rusto “Winter Gray” was just too dark once it dried. I also had to address another issue that happened while it had been drying. Seems Mother Nature intervened and blew my drying stand over on the textured concrete patio creating some nice cavities in the nose cone and a couple of the pods. I had already decided I’d bite the bullet and go have my color mixed at NAPA and re-do the gray paint. So having to repair some dinger damage came at a timely moment.

It’s prolly the first time I blew it on picking out a color match because the end result on my NAPA color was waaaay off and much too light. NAPA guy gave me a jar of black pigment and suggested adjusting the color. I was totally fine with that, went home and waited a week for the old paint to dry sufficiently so I could do a light sanding and repair the dings. Hard to see in a pic, but it’s truly a light shade of gray. I figure it’s light enough to go well with that Martian Green.

After 24 hours of drying, the auto paint is set well enough to “CAREFULLY” peel away the masking. Still needs drying time though. I had to put a 1oz. weight in the nose cone because this lil beech is bottom heavy….go figure, eh?

View attachment 325213


Really looking great Gary! Do you have an airbrush or auto paint gun then (since you can custom mix and spray colors)?

What's that interesting looking thing next to it with the 4 fins held on by what looks like dowels?
 
Thank you. I have an airbrush. Auto paint works very well with it too. There are those times when a rattle can color just doesn't make the grade.
That other model you are referring to is an up scale to an Estes DOM called Orbiter Transport Laboratory I just finished the small one like in the plans and the up scale is in progress. Here's a close-up of the little one.

OT Lab.JPG
 
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