Sirius - Refit Atlantis

[JAL3]

I will be more than happy to build the nacelles for you...... I have extensive experience with vacuform structures and familiarity with the Sirius kits. I only ask that you provide a copy of the kit for my practice........

Seriously (insert pun here), there is a very methodical approach you can take with the styrene and if you follow the instructions, you will build a structure that is light, strong and have exquisite detail you can't get from balsa and paper. Vacuform can be very forgiving just don't spill any glue on it.... I would highly recommend Tenax liquid glue for the build of the nacelles.

v/r
Jerry

Oh...and I will build the nacelles if you want...no extra kit required.

If I let you build the nacelles that would stip the main challenge from it.

Thanks for the tip about Tenax. I'll lokk for it now.

 

[BobH48]

What did you use to get the sparkly finish?

It's Rustoleum Silver Metallic #7271 and Rustoleum Cobalt Blue Metallic.

It has a metalflake look and rough feel to it. It needs to be clear coated to make it smooth and shiny before you put on the decals.

Rustoleum #7701 Crystal Clear enamel is what I used and it doesn't dull the metallic finish. It actually looked shinier after the clear coat.

I used the same paint on this saucer.

 

[JAL3]

It's Rustoleum Silver Metallic #7271 and Rustoleum Cobalt Blue Metallic.

It has a metalflake look and rough feel to it. It needs to be clear coated to make it smooth and shiny before you put on the decals.

Rustoleum #7701 Crystal Clear enamel is what I used and it doesn't dull the metallic finish. It actually looked shinier after the clear coat.

I used the same paint on this saucer.

Thanks. I jsut placed my order for the silver and the clear. I'm going to try and do the details by hand.

JAL

 

[JAL3]

The battery clamps came off after a day and it was time to insert the wooden dowel antenna into the pocket formed by the two side pieces and the center piece. It was glued in place with yellow glue and periodically checked to make sure that the dowel was aligned with the BT and parallel to the BT.

 

[JAL3]

The dowel antenna was followed by two rounded decks, one on either side of the tail assembly. They too were fixed in place with yellow glue.

 

[JAL3]

Another, longer dowel is provided as an antenna that sits on the tail assembly. This too was put in place with yellow glue. Note well the side that the instructions have you mark: I marked as indicated and then made an "assumption" and glued it on backwards. Fortunately, I discovered my mistake before it has set up and corrected it.

View attachment Avenger-tail-antenna.-2.jpg

 

[JAL3]

The dish antenna is up next. It is an oval disk with a notch in one side to accomodate the first dowell antenna mentioned above. The disk is glued to the 3 layered tail assembly and helps to support the dowel.

 

[JAL3]

All of the wood assembly up to this point had been fairly easy but I was worried about the next step, inserting the fin/engine pylons. These were to go in the slots I had cut earlier. I was confident that the slots were in the right place but was worried about alignment. The engine hook was not perfectly centered in the slot of the centering ring and when I had sighted along the tube, the asymetry tended to throw off my perceptions. This rocket would not work in my Art Rose fin jig so I had to do it by eye.

I decided to use 5 minute epoxy for this step and do the pylons one at a time. Accordingly, I mixed a small batch and began to ladle it into the slot. I then inserted the pylon and did my best to ensure it was at the proper angle to the tail assembly. When the expoxy had set, I mixed another batch and did the same for the other side. When both had set, I mixed a third batch and used it to fillet the joint with the outer BT.

They turned out to be easier than I had feared.

 

[JAL3]

After the pylons were in place, I turned to what I thought would be another easy section, the two side decks. There was nothing really difficult about them except that there was a slight bow in the wood. One is applied to each side of the BT. For this, I used a safety pin to drill rivet holes along the application line and put them on with a double glue joint of yellow glue. I actually started at one end and held that in place until the deck would not move. When stable, I gently bend the wood to apply some more glue and then set the remainder in place, holding it until it was dry. The process was repeated on the opposite side. It turned out not to be difficult but it was tedious.

 

[JAL3]

From the side decks I turned to a simpler task but it was the first one involving any of the vaccum formed parts. The top deck is plywood and extends most of the length of the BT. On the deck, however, is mounted the bridge, reminiscent of the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprize. This is vac-form platic.

The instructions suggest that you use a sharp pencil to trace around the vac-formed parts. This makes it MUCH easier to see the line along which cutting should occur. I then used an Xacto knife and made about 4 passes to get the part cut out. Sandpaper was used to clean up the edges and to make sure of a flat mounting surface. The bridge was then mounted to the wood with a very small application of tube type plastic cement.

 

[JAL3]

In addition to the two dowels provides for the tail assembly, there are 2 more long ones to serve as conduit. These were easily applied along the marked lines with yellow glue.

 

[JAL3]

THe launch lugs came next. The kit actually came with one and instructions to cut it into a longer segment and a shorter one. The shorter one was then glued in place at the back of one of the side decks and the longer one in place even with the aft end of one of the conduit dowels.

 

[JAL3]

By the time the lugs were in place, the bridge was sufficiently dry so that the top deck could be glued into place. I again drilled rivet holes along the length of the alignment line and glued it in place with yellow glue.

 

[JAL3]

The warp pods of the engine derive their strength from a pair of body tubes glued together inside of each pod. Each pair consists of a shorter and a longer tube. Each pair is glued together with the forward edges aligned. Yellow glue was used.

The vac-formed warp pods were cut out in the same manner as the bridge and sanded likewise. A pair of the tubes was then set in place in the plastic and glued with a small bit of tube type cement. When dry, the opposite side of the pod was glued on with liquid type plastic cement.

Then came the most tedious part of the whole build. The edges of the pods were sanded down. Periodically, this would "break into" the glue joint and the assembly would have more of the liquid cement applied and tape would be put on to hold it closed until it dried. Then the whole process would be repeated over and over again until the join lines disappeared. Eventually, I got to the point where I did not want to remove any more material but still had some fairing to do and putty was used to build these places up. That resulted in ever more sanding.

When I was satisfied with the pods, I needed to cut the slots for the pylons. An X-acto blade was used in multiple passes to cut out the psatic. The process was continued until the tubes were broached and cut as well.

 

[JAL3]

The warp engine pods were attached to the pylons with 5 minute epoxy. I did one side at a time and mixed a small batch. This was ladeled into the slot on the pod so that it would cling to the area where the pylon would hit the opposite wall of the tube. The pylon was then slid into the slot and held straight until the epoxy set up. Another small batch of epoxy was then mixed and used to fillet the joint between the pyon and the outer edge of the pod. When dry, the opposite side of the same pod was filleted and the the entire process was repeated for the opposite engine.

 

[JAL3]

Finishing of this model actually started during construction. As the plywood pieces were assembled, they were sealed with balsa filler coat with rounds of light sanding. This resulted in an exceptionally smooth finish after the 5th coat. I decided not to try and fill the spirals, although I very much appreciated the advice for a good way to do so in the instruction, because they were barely visible. The quality of the tubes was excellent. The nosecone was a little rough and I started off by using some balsa fillercoat on that as well. After 2 coats, however, it was apparent that it would need many more and I speeded things up with Elmer's filler. With that, I thought I was ready to prime using Kilz. I figured the Kilz would fill in any spiral that might be visible.

Accordingly, I set the Atlantis up in the booth and my first problem became readily apparent with the first coating of Kilz. The Kilz brought out a few hairline cracks in the joints between the sides of the plastic warp pods. I realized right away that I needed some more filler.

The second prolem became apparent as I went back to my desk and started rumaging around, waiting for the Kilz to dry. I found a pair of parts I had forgetten to install. These were 2 plywood rails that are applied to the bottom of the warp pods. I immediately began to seal them with filler coat.

When the Kilz was dried, I gave the rocket a sanding and then applied the 2 rails with 5 minute epoxy. I also applied putty to the cracks.

 

[JAL3]

When the putty was dry, I had to sand it down smooth. The result was ugly but the finish was smooth. After painting, it should look very good.

 

[JAL3]

The rocket was then put back in the booth and given another coat of Kilz.

 

[Bravo52]

When the putty was dry, I had to sand it down smooth. The result was ugly but the finish was smooth. After painting, it should look very good.

Just remember; "Puttys your buddy"...... when in comes to styrene. You can fix a lot of errors with putty. I see you are using Squadron Green. I is very good for thin styrene but if you put it on too thick, it can damage as it is solvent (Tolulene based). I like the Squadron White, but it attacks a little more. Not sure the chemical difference, but I like to use White as much as possible as it is easier to cover with paint. White has a little finer grain to it as well and since I use it mostly on models, as it is, the green is fine if you are going over with primer (which you are).

Looking real good there John!

v/r
Jerry

 

[JAL3]

Just remember; "Puttys your buddy"...... when in comes to styrene. You can fix a lot of errors with putty. I see you are using Squadron Green. I is very good for thin styrene but if you put it on too thick, it can damage as it is solvent (Tolulene based). I like the Squadron White, but it attacks a little more. Not sure the chemical difference, but I like to use White as much as possible as it is easier to cover with paint. White has a little finer grain to it as well and since I use it mostly on models, as it is, the green is fine if you are going over with primer (which you are).

Looking real good there John!

v/r
Jerry

I've never seen anything except the green and occsionally the red. I didn't know there was any difference other than color.

THanks for the info.

 

[JAL3]

After sanding, the entire rocket was sprayed with a light coat of Rustoleum Silver Metallic. After the first coat, you could barely tell that the rocket had been painted; it puts out a very fine mist. That was fine with me. Every few hours, or when I could get back to the shop, I would give it another coat and it did build up over time. A total of six coats were applied but they are more like 2 "normal coats."

 

[JAL3]

I was going to start doing some detail painting on the Atlantis this evening but did not do it. I want this one to be a good as I can make it so I re- applied the silver to some areas that needed it. Mostly, this was in the shadows of some of the woodwork.

 

[JAL3]

The first of the trim that I attempted were the rhomboids molded into the engine nacelles. I taped of the edges with cellophane, a big mistake (I should have known better) and paited with Tamiya copper using a brush. There were several problems with this. The main one is that the cellophane did not produce a good seal and there was some leakage. I had a plan for this. The second problem stemmed from my own clumsiness. I funbled the brush and in my attempts to catch it, splattered some paint. to make matters worse, I also smudged some with my fingers. Much was cleaned up with a paper towel but some copper staining remained. When dry, I planned to touch up using some of the sprayed silver paint, sprayed into a puddle, and brushed on.

 

[JAL3]

I also painted the radar dish and antenna of the superstructure with the same copper.

 

[JAL3]

I decided to use some bright red paint to highlight the dots running along the outside of the nacelles. I used Model Master and applied it with a brush.

 

[JAL3]

While staring at the red dots and pondering the relative drying time of acrylics and enamels, I decided that I wanted to do something with the 2 dowel "conduits" on the ventral side. I masked them off and painted them copper as well.

 

[JAL3]

Each of the engine nacelles has an elongated area (on each side) which you are instructed to paint blue. I masked the areas and brush painted them with Tamiya metallic blue. The color looks good but, on lifting the tape, I found the same bleeding problems I had experienced with the copper. Again, I planned to take care of this problem before adding the decals.

 

[JAL3]

My method for dealing with the paint blunders seemed simple enough. I took the spray can from which the original silver had come and sprayed a big puddle into a paper plate. I then brushed the paint onto the blunders. Coverage was not as good as I had expected. I had to put on a "first coat" and let it dry before tackling it again.

Below you can see what I mean about the botched paint. I will post a "fixed" version when I am satisfied with it.

 

[JAL3]

The touch ups with the brushed silver spray did not go perfectly but they certainly improved things. While I was at it, I brushed a bit of blue onto the bridge assembly to make it stand out better.

 

[JAL3]

Before the major task of applying all the decals could begin, I needed to "smooth out" the graininess of the metalic paint finish. This was done by spraying with Rust-o-leum clear.