Rushed Paint- Everything Went Better Than Expected

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katinthebox

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Been working on these three for a bit and biding my time until it was somewhere below 90⁰F and <70% humidity and I wasn't at the office for a few weeks now (that's a pretty tall order this time of year where I live). Out of the blue, a friend messages me on Sunday to tell me the field by his house has been de-wheated; are we go for launch on the 19th? Uh... I mean, not saying no!
Cue a solid week of exactly the aforementioned tall order.
Then, stuff comes up Monday. Stuff comes up again on Tuesday. Wednesday, I ran home and got to work. Everything that needed primer got it, the Crossfire got a clear coat, and I felt great.
Thursday, more errands came up, but they could at least wait till the sun went down, so I got to work... and promptly snapped a fin off my Super Neon and broke (AGAIN) a piece on my Quinstar while trying to lay down some tape.
I was extremely frustrated, but reglued and came to accept that it just wasn't gonna be perfect.
I came home today, ready to finish. I gave up on my initial Quinstar plans and opted to go with a solid color, so I ran out and did that, and while it dried, masked my Superneon. Got half the fins and the nosecone painted, everything went good.
I get a wild hair and decide I'm gonna try my original plan for the Quinstar, but I'm gonna freehand it. Chef's kiss. It looks great.
I mask up the Superneon again, go out and paint the remaining fins, and damn, they look good. As I'm removing the tape, my husband comes in to see it and startles me. Snap. Another fin.... I glued it back on and kept going with the clear coat when it was ready...
DANG these look good!Screenshot_20210618-233745~2.png
The Crossfire, finally finished!
Screenshot_20210618-233811~2.png
The Quinstar, with two-toned metallic paint job that actually ended up blending really nicely and I think it looks better than it would have if I'd masked it!
Screenshot_20210618-233830~2.png
My poor, injured Superneon... (low quality, night mode) moneyshot below-
Screenshot_20210618-233840.png
Yeah, it glows in the dark 😹
 
My son tries to convince me to use fluorescent paint but I’m resisting.

BTW, I got a replacement Quinstar because the kit was missing a sheet so let me know if anyone needs a sheet. Assuming you don’t need the missing sheet…
 
My son tries to convince me to use fluorescent paint but I’m resisting.

BTW, I got a replacement Quinstar because the kit was missing a sheet so let me know if anyone needs a sheet. Assuming you don’t need the missing sheet…
I mean, I probably would've gladly taken you up on that before glue entered into the equation... Is your balsa obnoxiously flimsy or did I just luck out on that one?
 
"De-wheated" is that city folks talk for harvested / combined?

You rockets look great.
Thanks! I can't wait to see them go up today!

De-wheated seemed more efficient than saying "My friend called to tell me that his neighbor finally harvested the wheat from the field next to his house."
I should add that's probably out of habit from how we name machines and parts we design at work. You know the Mitch Hedburg routine about the Kitchen Appliance Naming Institute? "You just take what the thing does, and add '-er' on the end of it." That's how we do it. That metal piece keeps another thing from flexing? Stiffener. That subassembly moves stuff down? Lowerator. What happened to that dude's field? It was de-wheated.
 
Yeah, flimsy. I spread thin CA and sanded so hopefully will add stability. Time to paint it red…
If it's any consolation, the Quinstar is the one that made it home with me!
Heat made the paint tacky again on the nosecone of my Super Neonlawndart... I can post some wreckage shots tomorrow, it was bad... suffice to say, a life raft that doesn't inflate is a coffin...
The (not photographed, because I didn't paint it) Supernova vanished- both pieces... As did the Crossfire (although I was able to launch it twice as many times as the last one before I lost it!

This was on a 20+ acre field!!!
 
If it's any consolation, the Quinstar is the one that made it home with me!
Heat made the paint tacky again on the nosecone of my Super Neonlawndart... I can post some wreckage shots tomorrow, it was bad... suffice to say, a life raft that doesn't inflate is a coffin...
The (not photographed, because I didn't paint it) Supernova vanished- both pieces... As did the Crossfire (although I was able to launch it twice as many times as the last one before I lost it!

This was on a 20+ acre field!!!
I seem to recall a member on here being underwhelmed by the altitude on the Quinstar. Can’t for the life of me remember who it was, though. 🤔

Oh well. At least you got one of them back!
 
I seem to recall a member on here being underwhelmed by the altitude on the Quinstar. Can’t for the life of me remember who it was, though. 🤔
I mean, it’s a saucer. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

but I do find the D12 flights more satisfying than the C6. I would only build it with 24mm mount, which is such an incredibly easy mod on this rocket.
 
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