Hypersonic glider...

[jqavins]

https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-too...RmnPVY8KicyLGd_weq8I2KnR99VyDv6RoCUfIQAvD_BwE
There are similar products available from various sellers.

12,000 grit would polish your buttocs, not scratch them.

 

[Mugs914]

Mugs,

Do you have a Podcast? If not, you should think about it.

Besides your talent, you've also got patience with the less gifted/ experienced... and a bit of passion for the "hobby".... Though I have the sinking suspicion you may be a pro....

Thank you for this sanding info, I'll use it.

Thank you very much, Enocelot! You are very kind...

Not a "pro" by any means! This is very much a hobby for me, and one I wish I had more time for! I'm just one of those guys that has been building models of all types since I was a little kid. I like to build plastic scale models, stick and tissue airplanes, RC planes, control line planes, and of course rockets. (Typing that sentence reveals why I never seem to finish my projects! )

It is fun for me to bring techniques from one discipline to another. In the case of this particular project, paint and weathering techniques come from scale modelling, finish on the glider (smooth but light) comes from building control line stunt models that demands a very light airplane with a show-car finish. It's all just crossover from a mis-spent youth (and adulthood, and on into curmudgeonhood)! I like being able share this stuff with folks who may not have been exposed to some of the techniques from different types of modelling. Hopefully it can help somebody enjoy their hobbies a little bit more!

Thank you again!

Mike

 

[Mugs914]

Not that I'd ever use except to scratch my buttocks..... but where do you get something as fine grit as 12,000?

I got a pack of these polishing grit pads at Hobby Lobby. My HL has a pretty decent scale modelling tools section.

Grits that fine are used for things like polishing clear canopies on scale airplanes and getting mirror finishes on model cars.

Oh and Joe is right; scratch with 1200 grit and you'd end up with a shiney hiney! Might make ya slip off your bicycle...

 

[tsmith1315]

scratch with 1200 grit and you'd end up with a shiney hiney!

Looks like a work of art to me, Mike! I can't wait to see how you finish the glider.

 

[Mugs914]

Here is a bit of a sneak peek at the beginnings of the glider paint process. First overall coat of what they call "Nato Black", which is basically a very, very dark warm gray. This will eventually be broken up with lighter, darker and metallic panel areas, then various, very light, blueish, yellowish, purpleish, reddish, orangeish, copperish, etceteraish overtones to give it a hot metal look.

I'm off on vacation for a week, so the base coat will be well dry and ready to proceed when I get back.

As usual, the pics reveal several little boogers that will either need to be fixed or hidden, also a bit of unintentional weathering and a pretty decent coat of dust...

 

[Enocelot]

Sorry if you spoke about this before, but does the glider glide well? Have you already tried it out?

The whole model looks awesome.

 

[Mugs914]

Sorry if you spoke about this before, but does the glider glide well? Have you already tried it out?

The whole model looks awesome.

Thanks again!

Yes, the glider flies pretty well. In fact, it wasn't really built as a rocket glider, more just as a fun toss or catapult glider. The design had been rattling around in my brain for quite a while and is based on various hypersonic airplane designs that have been bandied about since the late '60s.

I built it up one weekend and found that it had a pretty nice flight characteristics, so I immediately started to think it needed a booster. It certainly not a thermal seeking sailplane by any means, but it does have a relatively flat, rather fast glide.

As the build process has progressed, I'll occasionally take it out back and give it a few tosses just to make sure the weight and balance is still fairly close. At this point, it looks like it's going to need a tiny bit more nose weight once the finish is done.

As weird as this build has become, if the thing glides a little better than the old Centuri X-24 Bug (Falling with style), I'll consider it massive success!

Mike

 

[Ez2cDave]

Mike,

So, when will the first test flight be ?

Dave F.

 

[Mugs914]

Mike,

So, when will the first test flight be ?

Dave F.

If I can get the thing finished, tested and basically trimmed, it could be as soon as the first weekend of April at the AARG launch. I may even be able to get video, with a little help!

 

[aerostadt]

How is this project doing?

 

[Mugs914]

Hi guys,

This poor project was pushed to the back burner for a while (again...), mostly due to general life busyness, but I have made a bit of progress.

I added a few rivet/panel lines to the glider and managed to get a bit of painting done, mostly adding a few various dark shades to simulate different panels and the canopy. I still need to figure out some way to paint the windows on the canopy part. I usually use a light blue for windows, but I'm thinking a darker metallic with a transparent green over it might give that thick glass look. Maybe transparent yellow would give that gold-ish stealth fighter window look. We'll see what happens... If it comes out stupid lookin' I'll just revert to light blue!

On the underside I started with some dark metallic color on the "engine exhaust" area and began doing some "blueing" to give it a burned metal look. More to come on that...

Here are a few pics of the glider as it sits right now. The next problem I'm going to have is decals. I've found several outfits that make decal sets for the X-15 and SR-71 (Both black, like the glider), but they all seem to be out of stock at the moment.





Underside with the metallic exhaust area. You can kinda see the beginnings of the blue heat affected area...





That last pic doesn't really show much of anything, but I think it looks cool from that angle!

I should have a bit more time to catch up on a few projects, so hopefully I can get this little rascal wrapped up and in the air soon.

As always, thanks for lookin'!

Mike

 

[Mugs914]

I found some decals! Did a little bit of painting and a lot of decalling and this thing is starting to look the part. Not a whole lot to say about the process, so on to the pics!!






I got pretty focused on an "X-15" type paint job for this thing, but the idea was that it was also supposed to represent a fictional Air Force recon asset that would be in squadron service, although in small numbers like the SR-71. Anything in squadron service is going to acquire a bit of "unofficial" unit flare, and so I added the shark mouth to the intake area (also because I had the decal and wanted to use it! ).



Here are a few shots of the whole stack...





More....

 

[Mugs914]

...here. Actually, just a few extra random shots.









I still need to decide what I'm going to do about the cockpit windows and I
want to do some minor weathering, but we are getting perilously close to finally finishing this crazy thing!

As always, thanks for having a look. More soon...

Mike

 

[Pappy]

awesome work. great looking design. very different. i'd buy that as a finished kit, for sure. the angled boosters are interesting. is there ever a problem with clusters that far apart igniting simultaneously?

 

[Rktman]

Spectacular! The detailing is nothing less than superb!

 

[Mugs914]

is there ever a problem with clusters that far apart igniting simultaneously?

In the words of Jose Jimmenez, "Ooh, I hope not..."

Seriously though, there shouldn't be any issues with ignition, since our club launch equipment could ignite wet carpet thread. As long as both motors actually light, the launch rod will keep it straight for longer than it takes for both motors to come up to full thrust. That said, there is always a chance of an igniter failure or something that results in a single-motor ignition. Things change a bit at that point...

One of the ways to deal with asymmetrical thrust like that is to make sure the thrust line of the motors point through the C of G of the vehicle in launch configuration. I wasn't quite able to get the thrust lines to converge on the C of G in this case, but not too far in front of it.

Somewhere in this thread I posted the result of the calcs, and if I remember correctly, one motor firing alone produces an equivalent asymmetrical thrust to a single, parallel motor a bit less than one inch off-center. While far from optimal, that margin should be adequate for a safe, if short and low, flight in the case of a single motor launch.

 

[burkefj]

Did you ever get a flight on this?

 

[Mugs914]

Did you ever get a flight on this?

Not yet...

I was moved into a new position at work and it has eaten up A LOT of my time. The thing is basically finished, I just need to fine tune the glide a bit and have time to make it to a launch.

I have been thinking that it might be wise to do the test flights on my own before flying at a crowded club launch (For safety reasons). In spite of all the testing, weird stuff like this still has the potential to get a bit sporty!

Thanks for asking! Hopefully soon...

Mike