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.How did I miss this build thread till now? Gotta love your imagination and creative designs Gary.
OH NOOOO! I built a Klingon nga'chuq toy.........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!
OH NOOOO! I built a Klingon nga'chuq toy.........
OH NOOOO! I built a Klingon nga'chuq toy.........
Wait...WUT!!?...Klingons have hooks at the ends of their muSHa'ghach Somraw??!??:eyepop::y::shock::eyepop::y::shock:
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?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.
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?
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.
View attachment 324589
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
Thanks man. Scotty? I reckon it's about time for him to pop up like a prairie dog and let us know he hasn't left the solar system.
Enter your email address to join: