Lakeroadsters SPAD XIII Ace

[BABAR]

Swing Test

Well, she passed her solo flight.

Following Vern's advice (TR-1 Rocket Stability) I tipped the nose down for this test... and she recovered with "flying" colors.

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Consistency at swing testing is certainly admirable. However, had this NOT been stable I think I would have hung up my spurs igniters!

Aside from size, unpainted this reminds me very much of my first rocket, the Estes Minibrute Screamer. They don’t get much more inherently stable than that. Nice build so far, but it will take (and I am confident will receive) a fantastic finish to put this rocket in the same league as your previous works.

Intended as a backhanded compliment, as when you are on a streak of home runs everyone’s expectations get higher and higher each time you come up to bat.

(As always, the reality is that the only person who must be satisfied is you, the builder.)

 

[lakeroadster]

Consistency at swing testing is certainly admirable. However, had this NOT been stable I think I would have hung up my spurs igniters!

Aside from size, unpainted this reminds me very much of my first rocket, the Estes Minibrute Screamer. They don’t get much more inherently stable than that. Nice build so far, but it will take (and I am confident will receive) a fantastic finish to put this rocket in the same league as your previous works.

Intended as a backhanded compliment, as when you are on a streak of home runs everyone’s expectations get higher and higher each time you come up to bat.

(As always, the reality is that the only person who must be satisfied is you, the builder.)

Does look similar... thanks for the post.

 

[lakeroadster]

Vertical Stabilizer

Modified the vertical stabilizer by adding some scallops to the trailing edge, similar to the actual SPAD XIII.

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[Daddyisabar]

Vertical Stabilizer

Modified the vertical stabilizer by adding some scallops to the trailing edge, similar to the actual SPAD XIII.

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Scalloped edges on WWI airplane rocket fins are cool!

 

[lakeroadster]

DIY Fin Wrap - R&D.... Post #1

My plan for finishing the rocket is to use DIY wraps on the fins, paint the body tube and nose cone, and use water slide decals for the (2) "Hat In The Ring" insignias on the body.

The visual images in the Open Rocket model were simply made from photos I found on the internet. They were cropped and modified using Microsoft Paint and Paint.net.

I've never made home made wraps before... and I'm determined to try to make them using what I have on hand. First step was to print one of the wing wraps on our inkjet printer. Paper is Staples photo paper, double matte, 11 mil. After printing I sprayed the color side of the paper with (2) coats of Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel (about 10 minutes between coats).

Next step was to prep a piece of scrap 1/4" plywood by sanding it and radiusing the edges.

Gorilla wood glue is then used as the adhesive, and only applied to the wood fin, not the wrap. Thee wrap is placed onto the glued plywood, then clamped between two boards. Wax paper is used to keep the fin/wrap sub-assy from sticking to the clamping boards.

I basically use this same process when papering fins... except the paper has no image and isn't clear coated.

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[lakeroadster]

DIY Fin Wrap - R&D.... Post #2

A preview of coming attractions seems to indicate all is well in Fin Land. You almost have to touch the fin to see that it's really flat. Pretty neat, don't ya think?

It's clamped back up.. we'll check back in tomorrow with a status report.

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[Cape Byron]

That looks fantastic!

 

[lakeroadster]

DIY Fin Wrap - R&D.... Post #3

I removed the wrapped fin from the clamping fixture. The paper is nice and flat and the wood glue did not affect the printed graphics.

The wrap was cut just a bit larger than the fin. I used an orbital palm sander to sand the perimeter of the wrap. This made a nice straight edge that is now white.

Then CA glue was used around the perimeter, applied with a Q-Tip. The CA made the edges translucent and less white.

I'm satisfied with the results... I'll proceed with using this technique for the (2) fins that are meant to look like wings.

I'll be using a different, but similar, wrap set for the wings that is higher resolution. That should help minimize the dithered edges of the roundel.... also, the roundel colors on the test piece are French... which is incorrect for Eddie Rickenbacker's 94th Aero Squadron.

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[lakeroadster]

Revised Wing Wraps

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[Art Upton]

what are you using to create the "simulated" flight pictures. I see Open Rock has a tool but never found a way to customize it ?

 

[lakeroadster]

DIY Fin Wrap .... Post #1

Spraying 2 coats of clear onto the inkjet printed photos of the wings. I'm not quite sure why these photos are so blue... maybe due to the overcast skies?

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[lakeroadster]

what are you using to create the "simulated" flight pictures. I see Open Rock has a tool but never found a way to customize it ?

Yep, it's Open Rocket's Photo Studio... click "Tools" then "Photo Studio"...

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Then once your in Photo Studio you can customize the view and the orientation of the rocket, change the lighting and add flames and smoke from the motor.

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[lakeroadster]

Primer Day 01

I masked the (2) bare fins that will be covered with the wing wraps... and then primered the rest of the rocket with Rustoleum 2 in 1 Filler & Sandable.

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[lakeroadster]

Fuselage Green Paint

After lightly sanding the primer I decided that just that one coat would be sufficient.

Rummaging around in our paint cabinet I found some Krylon Semi-Gloss Hunter Green that should be good for the green fuselage. I did a test spray on a yogurt cup and compared that to the upper wring wrap photo... yep, that'll work.

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[lakeroadster]

Nose Cone Red Paint

Love that Rustoleum Sunrise Red.... it really pops. I painted our utility trailer with it last year....

Blue sky day, low winds, intense sun and 29% humidity... great day for painting. The paint dried literally in half an hour enough that the parts could be gently moved by hand.

As I sprayed the red I thought "Red & Green? Rudolph the red nose coned rocket"? Walked in the house and the wife says "What is that, a Christmas rocket". I guess it's to be expected, after over 4 decades of marriage, you pretty much can finish each others sentences.

The fin wraps, the decals (Hat in the Ring, and #1 on the vertical stabilizer) should break thing up though.

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[Daddyisabar]

You need to build the wife a Christmas rocket asap!

 

[Rocket86]

The 'Hat in the Ring' looks epic. I love that. And anything that looks like a SPAD is awesome.

 

[lakeroadster]

Left Wing Wrap, Day 01

Throughout this build I've been reading "Fighting The Flying Circus", a book written circa 1919 by Eddie Rickenbacker about flying Nieuport and SPAD biplanes against the Germans during WWI. Makes the build much more interesting.

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Pulled off the backer boards for a sneak preview.... then put them back on and clamped it back up.

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[Daddyisabar]

The unsinkable Eddie Rickenbacher. Ate the seagull who landed on his head!

 

[lakeroadster]

Right Wing Wrap

Unclamped the backer boards from the left wing.. they came out really nice and flat. Then glued the right wing wraps and clamped on the backer boards.

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[lakeroadster]

Wing Wrap Trim and Super Gluing Perimeter

I used 220 grit sandpaper on a palm sander to sand off the overhanging wrap from the fins. The sanding leaves a white perimeter. When Super Thin Super Glue is then applied around the perimeter of the wrap the white edge becomes translucent.

All the photo's below are after trim sanding, but before Super Glue.... except the last one.

 

[ONAWHIM]

The Sun highlighting on the on the faux canvas really makes it appear like it has an airfoil cross section instead of flat

 

[lakeroadster]

Camo Paint Day 01 - Army Green

Rustoleum Camouflage Army Green

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Loosely spit balling the camo based on this rendering and this colorized photo...

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[lakeroadster]

Camo Paint Day 01 - Gray

I mixed up some Gray - White - Blue Testor's and hand painted the underbelly of the SPAD.

And in "Fighting The Flying Circus"... Eddie's aero squadron just traded in their Nieuports for the SPAD XIII's.

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[lakeroadster]

Machine Guns

I hesitated to break the aerodynamics... but it's a warbird... it's gotta have machine guns.

To make these I used a hard wood spline that's made for hardwood floors.

Hopefully these won't jam constantly... like the real Vickers machine guns did. The pilots carried a small hammer to beat on the guns when they jammed.

Pew, pew pew... click - click - hammer - hammer - hammer.

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[lakeroadster]

Revised Paint Scheme

Less red on the nose cone... makes the rocket look longer and is more true to the original.

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[Daddyisabar]

Scalloped edges and machine guns are only the start. Windscreen, cockpit, exhaust, radiator, propeller? The list keeps growing as you progress down the dark arts path of breaking the aerodynamics.

 

[neil_w]

Revised Paint Scheme

Less red on the nose cone... makes the rocket look longer and is more true to the original.

Yes yes yes, much better.

 

[lakeroadster]

Red Tail Stripe & Machine Gun CWF

Taped off the tail for the red stripe... to be followed by white, and then blue. Also added some CWF to the left machine gun.

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[lakeroadster]

Revised Nose Cone

Primed, sanded and finish coated in about a 3 hour time span. Thanks to todays 8% Humidity and 83 F.

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