EAC Viper XL build

It's not as bad as I thought. I dropped it after only one coat of paint, so I was able to sand it pretty smooth. A couple of fresh coats of paint later today, and it should be good to go. I got the first coat of gloss white on it yesterday after the nose cone debacle. I'll put on a second coat this afternoon.

o1d_dude said:

As to the texture, spray a couple of coats of Rusto Crystal Clear Enamel and it will even it out. Enamel is very forgiving and levels out well.

It does add a bit of weight, tho. OTOH, you're Captain Low-N-Slow, right?

As to the color match, pinks, magentas, and such colors are easily assumed to be the same shade for some reason. As long as the decal doesn't reside right on top of the color, you should be okay. The white color will overpower any comparison between the decal and the nose cone or other trim locations.

As my high school drafting teacher often said, "Quit trying to pick the ant excrement out of the pepper!" Well...he didn't exactly say "excrement".

God bless, Mr. Bergstrom where ever you are.

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No, I'm not worried about paint weight! LOL

Unfortunately, the fin decals will be right next to the magenta stripe. So I need it to be fairly close in color.

Man, what is it with me and paint??? I don't know whether to scream or cry, or laugh hysterically. I sprayed another coat on the nose cone, and it wrinkled where I sanded it. I sanded with 320 grit then wiped it off. I guess I should have wiped it off with alcohol before I painted it again.

I peeled a corner of the decal covering back, and I'm not sure about the color now. The decal is much brighter. But unless they have something closer at Hobby Lobby or Hobbytown, it'll have to be good enough.

At least the gloss white went on without a hitch. It looks good. But next will be masking and painting the yellow and magenta. I'm sweating already...

Based on what the photo shows the colr looks right but camera usually lies in the shades of pink, red and orange.

I had some paint drama today but just soldiered on. From 25 feet it all looks good.

o1d_dude said:

Based on what the photo shows the colr looks right but camera usually lies in the shades of pink, red and orange.

I had some paint drama today but just soldiered on. From 25 feet it all looks good.

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Well yeah, the camera lies, but if both are in the same frame the lie is the same for both. It still looks pretty close to me, but I am going to Hobby Lobby in a few minutes to see what they have. I haven't been there yet anyway.

What drama did you have? I like it when I'm not the only one with paint drama! LOL

qquake2k said:

Like many of you, when I was a kid I was a member of the Estes Aerospace Club. I even made it to Skill Level 5! The rocket kit that came with membership was the EAC Viper. I've decided to build an upscale of it, based on 3" tubing. ...But I'll keep posting build threads until you all get totally bored and disinterested in them.

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What's not to like about an upscale of this classic? You know, you'll have to make a retro T-Shirt with all the bars, for the launch. Do you still have your original Viper?

dpower said:

What's not to like about an upscale of this classic? You know, you'll have to make a retro T-Shirt with all the bars, for the launch. Do you still have your original Viper?

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No, I don't have the original or the t-shirt. I was thinking about cloning an original, though, but with an 18mm motor mount.

[rant] I went to Hobby Lobby for the first time today. What a joke. 50,000 square feet of nothing! They should call it "Artsy Fartsy Lobby". Not that I have anything against arts and crafts stores, but it sure doesn't have much in the way of hobby stuff. The only good thing about it was the 40% off coupon. [end rant]

But I did find some Testors spray paint that looked closer. After masking the fins, I sprayed on the stripes. Had some minor bubbling on two of the stripes, but nothing too bad. It's metallic paint and looks pretty good.

Sanded the nose cone again, wiped it down with alcohol, and sprayed it with the Testors paint. Turned out pretty good.

But when I peeled the masking tape off the body tube and put the nose cone in it, I discovered a problem. The stripe is a lot lighter than the nose cone. Presumably because I sprayed the Testors paint over the darker Krylon. But unless I want to sand the nose cone yet again, primer it and re-spray it with the Testors, it'll have to do.

I don't know what to think or say anymore about my relationship with paint. It seems no matter what I do there is always a problem. It's gone from frustrating, to ludicrous, to pathetic. It's getting to the point where I don't dare hope for perfection, all I can hope for is that the problems I'll have will be minor. There was a little paint bleed under the tape on one of the fins. Of course, it has to be the front where the main decal will go on the body. I might tape the stripe later and touch it up with some brush paint.

I say a lot that you can't see the paint imperfections when the rocket is on the pad or in the air, which is true. Unfortunately, my rockets spend a lot more time sitting where I can see them up close than they do sitting on the pad. But overall, it doesn't look too bad. I can't help but wonder, though, what problems I'll have with the yellow.

That looks Great! You are the only one who will ever notice the shade difference on the cone, and the bleeding on the stripe (IMHO) What color Testors did you find?

Yes HoLo is a lot of 'other stuff' and a little bit of hobby, but you cant complain about the coupon.

T-Rex said:

That looks Great! You are the only one who will ever notice the shade difference on the cone, and the bleeding on the stripe (IMHO) What color Testors did you find?

Yes HoLo is a lot of 'other stuff' and a little bit of hobby, but you cant complain about the coupon.

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Well, thank you for the vote of confidence. It does look good from a distance or at a glance. But the imperfections bug me! LOL

The color is #1841 Electric Pink. I'll find out tomorrow how close it is to the decals.

I masked and painted the canard fins. I used Frog Tape, and it left very clean edges. I don't know if it was the tape or just plain luck. I used an old can of cheap Walmart spray paint I had. It covered pretty well, but it took more coats than the Rustoleum 2x does.

What I see is perfect...end of story,
You have remember now, it IS a flying rocket!!!

The Viper is starting to look good, if I do say so myself. The canard fins turned out great. Clean mask lines, no bubbles or wrinkles, and no bugs stuck in the paint! LOL

Tomorrow I'll mask and paint the main fin tips yellow. That will be the last of the painting, then it'll be decals. I'm excited about putting the decals on, that'll really give it the look of the EAC Viper.

[POW]Eagle159;304018 said:

What I see is perfect...end of story,
You have remember now, it IS a flying rocket!!!

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Thank you very much, I really appreciate it! It's funny (or scary, depending on how you look at it), when my rockets are unflown, I obsess about minor details and imperfections in the paint. But after they've flown a few times, I like the scratches and scars they pick up. Weird, huh?

I think the way you get around the bleed under the tape is to spray the edges with the base coat. Whatever bleeds under the tape will the match the base and be invisible. Then you spray the second color.

Testor's is a lacquer. Make sure you don't spray it over enamel.

Testor's metallics and Rusto Crystal Clear enamel are not playing all that well together for me but I'm now stuck with it. And then a bug got flypapered in it, speaking of stuck.

Ah, well. Gonna put the thing 2000' in the air and hope the chute brings it down on a soft spot so I can't worry about paint all that much.

o1d_dude said:

I think the way you get around the bleed under the tape is to spray the edges with the base coat. Whatever bleeds under the tape will the match the base and be invisible. Then you spray the second color.

Testor's is a lacquer. Make sure you don't spray it over enamel.

Testor's metallics and Rusto Crystal Clear enamel are not playing all that well together for me but I'm now stuck with it. And then a bug got flypapered in it, speaking of stuck.

Ah, well. Gonna put the thing 2000' in the air and hope the chute brings it down on a soft spot so I can't worry about paint all that much.

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I sprayed the Testors over the Rustoleum 2x gloss white, and the Krylon raspberry on the nose cone. I don't know if they're enamels or not, but there were no problems.

What thing are you gonna put up 2000 ft?

Got the fins masked and the yellow sprayed on. You all know how anal I am. Well, I thought the yellow I sprayed on the canard fins was a little too pale, so I repainted them with Rustoleum 2x. I'm really glad I did. It's much brighter.

All the masking tape peeled off cleanly. I got sharp lines. Very very happy with how this is turning out...

Happy, that is, except for the bleed on the one fin. It is really bugging me. I mean it's bugging me bad.

But on a positive note, the color of the nose cone doesn't look that different from the stripe when it's in the sun. It's looking good!

qquake2k said:

What thing are you gonna put up 2000 ft?

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My Super-Duper Neon 29. It sims out at 2900' on an H54 so that means 1800' on a G40 is the wiser choice.

Check it out on Thrustcurve. It's currently the second rocket in the Guide section.

BTW, I'm just about at the stage of applying the vinyl from Stickershock23 (as soon as I get the flying critter out of the clear coat). Any tips about applying this stuff? You seem to use vinyl transfers exclusively.

BTW, that Viper upscale is looking pretty sweet.

o1d_dude said:

My Super-Duper Neon 29. It sims out at 2900' on an H54 so that means 1800' on a G40 is the wiser choice.

Check it out on Thrustcurve. It's currently the second rocket in the Guide section.

BTW, I'm just about at the stage of applying the vinyl from Stickershock23 (as soon as I get the flying critter out of the clear coat). Any tips about applying this stuff? You seem to use vinyl transfers exclusively.

BTW, that Viper upscale is looking pretty sweet.

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Only my rockets are showing up in Thrustcurve. How do I see others? What does it sim on a G53? That's one of my favorite motors.

I LOVE vinyl decals! I've documented how I apply them in several builds. What I do is tape it in position first, with tape along the top. That allows it to "hinge" upwards so you can peel off the bottom. Then carefully lay the decal down, making sure you don't get any wrinkles. If you do happen to get a small wrinkle, you should be able to rub it out. Rub all of it so that it adheres well to the rocket surface. Then carefully peel off the top protective paper. Voila, you're done!

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showpost.php?p=292637&postcount=98

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showpost.php?p=287929&postcount=124

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showpost.php?p=175752&postcount=71

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showpost.php?p=247826&postcount=161

I just couldn't stand it! I had to fix it. It was a lot of effort, but it looks a lot better. Biohazard bags have a use besides parachutes and bloody bandages after all!

Sweet!!!!

I think I suggested it before, but you didn't work it into this paint job.

Spray your base coat, mask for your stripes. Spray a layer of clear paint FIRST. This will seal the masking lines so your clear paint will bleed. Then paint your stripe color over the clear.

Fixed.

qquake2k said:

Only my rockets are showing up in Thrustcurve. How do I see others?

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When you hit the Thrustcurve site just click on "Guide". When you get to that page, it will show you "Example Rockets" and they are arrayed with the most recently edited birds at the top of the list.

You can only see your own rockets on the "My Stuff" page but you can always see the "Example Rockets" at the bottom of the "Guide" page. Most times we just don't scroll down far enough because we're running sims on our own stuff.

Looks like you and I are dominating the Thrustcurve site.