How to achieve Madcow Aerobee 150A Paint scheme

I ordered this rocket today for my level 1 cert that I'm gonna attempt in late Feb. I want my rocket to look exactly like the picture on Madcow's website.

Does anyone have any tips to offer on how to replicate that paint scheme? Does that kit come with many/any Decals? I love the way that rocket looks.

Here is a link to it. Madcow Aerobee 150A I have also attached a picture to this post for those that don't want to follow links.

Thanks in advance for your helpful tips and advice. If you've built this kit before, I'd love to hear from you.

David

I've done a 3" Aerobee 150 scratch build (Different fins) in this same basic scheme. For the Chrome Conversion areas (Bronze looking) I painted them silver then used the decals printed on clear decal paper (obtained from Micromark) over the silver. Made for a convincing effect. I also made a full run of Decals. Main airframe is primer grey. I've attached those files if you want to print your own. The plackard sheet is printed on white decal paper and the fin and can (bronze) images are printed on clear. I've reciently converted it to DD by adding an extended top Av-bay. Now it's modeled after the round at the NASM in DC. I'll post some new pics shortly.

Thanks Troy. That's a big help. Yours turned out nice. Bronze huh. I was thinking copper. I wish I had a bigger picture of that model. Cool thanks for the tips.

David

Astronot said:

..... Bronze huh. I was thinking copper..................

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It's actually aluminum that's been treaded with a chrome conversion process. Depending on how long it's in the "Dip" will determine the color. Short exposures give a gold/yellow, longer goes to amber then bronze/brown. It's a comon corrosion control treatment. I got a close up look at the round at the aerospace museum in Alamagorgo. I've got a few reference pics. I'll see about getting some new shots of my model tomorrow.

Wow. Cool pics. Yea, I can't wait to see more pics of your model. That's a BA looking rocket. Almost looks like it came right off of a Star Wars movie set.

Thanks for sharing,

David

Sorry I took so long posting pics. This is the same rocket after modeling it after the round at the NASM in DC. This now gives me DD capability. A couple of the pics are a little blury but the effect of the clear film printed decals over silver is well illustrated. Additionally I'm including the decal sheet for the avionics bay/upper airframe. Next step is to build the booster and make this two stage.:wink:

Oh Wow! That looks awesome. You really stepped up the BA factor with the color, graphics, and Avionics Bay. What did you use to build the AV Bay? How big did you make the bay. Your rocket lookes significantly taller now than in the first picture. Is this kit fiber glass or paper? I have not received mine yet. The crummy weather has slowed down shipping.

Thanks for sharing. I'll put these decals to good use.

David

Nice details, looks great.

Astronot said:

Oh Wow! That looks awesome. You really stepped up the BA factor with the color, graphics, and Avionics Bay. What did you use to build the AV Bay? How big did you make the bay. Your rocket lookes significantly taller now than in the first picture. Is this kit fiber glass or paper? I have not received mine yet. The crummy weather has slowed down shipping.

Thanks for sharing. I'll put these decals to good use.

David

Click to expand...

Thanks, I've enjoyed this build. Actually it's a full on scratch build though it is the same size as the Madcow kit. The upper airframe/payload bay is MPL phenolic as is the AV bay tube. Tube length is 14" as figured from proportional analisys of the photo's I have. Sport scale so it's close enough. The main airframe is a cardboard tube ( found some that fit the Giant Leap 3"NC perfectly) that's been heated, and satureted with thinned epoxy. Makes a VERY tough and lightweight airframe. Fins are 1/8" E-glass. Bulkheads and altimeter sled are Carbon skin/honeycomb core sheet, roughly 1/8" thick. DD is handeled with the new RRC2+. The color scheme started from Always RROTW ( as did the dimensions). It has the specs for most of the varients, including the longer AV bay. I had the chance to see the round at the NASM in DC, the one at the aerospace museum in Alamagorgo NM, and pulled measurements from the round on display at Wollops Island. This gave me what I needed to create a set of reasonably accurate markings. The grey of the airframe tube is an educated guess based on the rounds I've examined. I had contacted the NASM Archives to get more accurate color specs but never heard back from them. Given that the grey I've observed is slightly different on each round due to weathering and fade, I suspect you could just eyeball match it from a photo and be close. Some more Reference pics.