Completed Tomahawk w/photo

A few months back I had posted a question about building your own launch pad. That thread yielded a funny exchange that had Ken Parker ribbing Carl Tulanko about his obsessive paint jobs.

Well, I'll have you guys know that I too am paint -obsessed. I loved Tulanko's paint job (on his launch pad) and I wanted to scream out, "Yeah man, you go! Paint that dang thing 47 times! Yeah BABY! But I had nothing painted to post and show my solidarity.

So I completed an AT Tomahawk last week and I wanted to put my paint job right up there with Carl's. I only had a couple of pics, so here are 2 (see bottom of post).

You'll notice the decals don't look familiar. I HATED the fact that the Tomahawk was plain white and had just a few semi-lame decals (even if it IS true to scale on the original). So I "embellished. " I created these in Adobe Illustrator using the Amarillo (US Air Force) font. I then laser printed those (not inkjet) and took that to Kinkos. For 2 bucks they copied it on what they call "sticky back" which is a thin clear adhesive film. I placed those on the rocket and clear coated several times.

But that nose cone...we're talking 5 primer coats wet-sanded in between with 600 grit (and filled with "fill-n-finish". Then 5 coats of color, wet-sanded agin and finally 2 clear coats finished with a polishing compound and 2 coats of carnumba wax. I wish the photos did it justice. But it looks awesome.

Sure, it weighs 97 lbs but it looks good. Hahaha. PS- it flies perfect on a F25.

One last item, thanks to Tim Hansford, Carl Tulanko and all of you who helped point me in the right direction for launch pad plans. I ended up fashioning my own (with an equally cool paint job /decals). I included a couple of photos. Total cost= $12 bucks. I've flown up to G's with it.
Nosecone closeup Finished rocket (with my son) Another view
Launch pad 1 launch pad closeup

------- post addition 11:30 PST---------------
Looks like I'm already getting emails on where/how to get the decals. Soooo, I included a couple of downloadable .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) files for you guys with the complete decal sheets at the correct size. Just download 'em, print them on a laser or take 'em on a floppy disk to Kinkos. have them print them on the clear adhesive film and you're there. Enjoy (and don't laugh. I KNOW the Tomahawk didn't fly on LOX and that REAL launch pads dont say "space vehicles". But the kids love it)-Marc

https://www.marccoreylee.wso.net/rockets/paddecals.pdf
https://www.marccoreylee.wso.net/rockets/Tomahawkdecals.pdf

Id give you 4 thumbs up but I only have 2... Fantastic job!!! The paint jobs look incredible. Let us know when you launch it...

...not *another* Tulanko-type..... it's not bad enough that we have an engine shortage. With Lee and Tulanko using 27 cans of spray paint for the small AT rockets now there's going to be a paint shortage.

Sorry, Marc.... just couldn't resist.

I have to give Tulanko a hard time, cause he's just an Ohio Buckeye Pola-Czech Redneckus. I shouldn't give you a hard time cause ..... wait a minute.... why shouldn't I give you a hard time?

Oh yeah.... you're the one who is friends with Sara Evans. Rats..... guess I shouldn't give you a hard time.

Seriously... that Tomahawk looks awesome. So does the launch pad. Excellent job.

I hope you and Tulanko never decide to work together on a project. There won't be enough paint in the world for that job.

If you ever get to North Carolina, you are gonna have to go launching with Phil, Mark, Milo and me. We could definitely have a hoot of a time.

Well it sounds to me like North Carolina is going to be a MUST tour stop this year. I'd love to get together with you guys and do some launchin'. You guys can come backstage and impress all the girls with rocket talk! I'm tellin' ya, they just love all that talk of tubular nylon and epoxying fillets. It's nature's aphrodesiac. "Hi there missy. I see your fin can is very well fiberglassed and looks very aerodynamic..."

And as far as rednecks, well see, I SING country music so that makes me a red-neck by trade instead of by birthright or regional residence. And speaking of Sara Evans, isn't she real purdy?

My NEXT project will be using automotive paints and equipment! I noticed John Coker does that and his photos look pretty impressive. You know all the early Fender guitars were finished with automotive paints? I would love to do a "surf-green" BullPuppy or a "Pink and Creme sparkle" Li'l Nuke!

Think of the possibilities!...I could do a few primer coats and then send it to Carl for a few color coats, then he could Fed-ex it back to me and I could do one of those 8-layer-deep clear coats like on the Harley's...yeah! And it would only take a few months...!

Ahhh but the crowd reaction. (sigh) That's where it would all pay off, right Carl?

Marclee...


Absolutely beautiful paint job on that Tomyhawk man!!! The Launch Pad was equally impressive; well done!

Not a dry eye in the house after looking at those pics...

As far as painting goes...send away...between the two of us, we will own stock in Krylon! I have thought about using automotive paints on bigger birds and have actually used it in the R/C world, but my painting "booth" is too small. One of these days though...yea, eleventy nine coats of clear sounds just about right!!!

YES...once you get by the ribbing from Ken, it pays off!

Carl

BTW, make your NC tour stop around a Whitakers launch and I'll be there too!

Will do! Like I said, N.C. is going to be a stop for sure. I've got our agent working it already. I'll keep ya posted after the holidays.

Oh, and I agree on the "paint booth" size. You need some space. I don't have any either. Some of the paint shops around here will do it just for the advertisement if you put their name on it and it's on display somewhere (the rocket). I might rig something up in the garage later this year to try the automotive thing. In the mean time, spray cans rule.

Marc

Sara Evans aint purdy. She is *drop* *dead* *gorgeous*.

You and Carl collaborating on this painting thing..... scary. MAJOR scary.

But... OK... I'll admit it. The green monster of jealousy is really why I give you guys a hard time about it. I simply don't have the patience to go through all those repititions of prime / sand / * 6 then paint / sand * 6 then decals then clear coat * 6.... etc etc.

And I'm real sure that rocket talk conducted backstage will definitely endear us to all the country groupies. After all, my lovely wife of 27 and 1/2 years tells me that the only reason she keeps me around is for my big rocket...... I know she must be talking about the AMRAAM 4 I'm building. hehehe

Anyway, I sure do hope you can make a run through North Carolina. And if Carl really can work it out to be here...... the regular NC group + Carl + Marc Lee.... WATCH OUT !!! The world of rocketry might never be the same again.

I suspect Ken and I subscribe to the same school of thought regarding rocket finishing; a couple of coats of primer sanded with whatever scrap piece of sandpaper is lying around, then a couple of coats of whatever color paint we'll be using.

Sara Evans, eh? [one Yahoo search later] Not bad.

Uh-huh. Sara's a sweetie too.

Your paint ideas are not bad. At least you don't brush them with latex. THAT's the worst I've seen.

PS- did you find your adhesive mylar?

I learned early on about using Krylon; its one of the few things I'm not cheap about.

Right now, I've got a LOC Forte in the basement awaiting its first coat of white paint. Its a matter of waiting for a warm day to open the basement door for ventilation. There's no real time crunch though; I still haven't sent in my membership dues for NAR, and didn't have plans to attend a launch until February in O-berg, SC.

This also means that I haven't gotten around to looking for mylar.

OUCH that thing looks sweet and uh this talk about I sing cuntry therfor I am redneck by trade has got to stop. I am sorry but thats just embaressing. Redneck is a state of minde the things you do in that state of minde are just what outsiders consider being redneck. It is not what you do it what you think. And how did you get the lines so strate when painting is that just masking tape?



dont know were all of that came from I just lettin it flow

Well Hidee Ho Mister Klint. Hadn't seen you on the forum in a long while. I was wondering if you got blown up by some homemade rocket propellant. Glad to see you weren't.

That was done with 3M blue masking tape. I like it but it's too sticky. I prefer the 3M professional masking tape you can get at auto-painting/body supply shops. It's less tacky.

Forget paint for stripes. Contact your local sign shop (I'm partial to FASTSIGNS) and see if you can purchase some vinyl striping tape from them for a reasonable amount. It is available in a slew of colors and thicknesses.

You can also check to see about getting decals printed on a machine called the Gerber Edge. It's a thermal transfer printer that will print directly onto adhesive backed vinyl with a huge variety of spot colors or even 4 color process. Although, the setup cost may be too much depending on the shop. If it is a good shop, they can take a file that you have created in Illustrator or most other software and print directly from it.

And though it's a little late, you did a great job painting the tomahawk and the launch pad. As Ken and Mark can verify, I don't worry about nosecone paintjobs much (I think that one is probly in Maryland by now).

Jason

Jason-

GREAT tip! The GerberEdge thing sounds really interesting. I have a friend that works in a sign shop...going to have to hit him up and see what he/we can do. Sure beats masking tape.

Thanks for that.

Marc

Nobody I know gets that lucky. If you need to get it less stickt put it on your pants or carpet then sticket to the rocket the fibers keep enuff stickyness to hold it in plcae but not rip up your primer or other color.

All the fibers will probably destroy the seal on the edge of the tape and you'll have a lot of seeping under the tape.

Oliver

Hasent happend to me yet but then agine i have only painted on rocket that way and it was spray paint any way.