Alcubierre Build Thread

Love the blue around the tail transition. Gives a nice counter balance to the Cranberry, it really pops.

I like the blue in the ring

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I've done a bit more tweaking on the designs and they're looking good. The designs on the tail cones will present a bit of a graphic design challenge, because I'll need to map the pattern onto a transition shroud template. I'll be enlisting some help from some of the graphics artists at work to help me sort that out.

*Slowly* working my way through the rest of the rocket, trying to figure out a few more details to add here and there.

Realized I forgot the launch lug. First time I got to the paint stage lugless!

Well, a Sabot and a tube to 'free launch' could be cool And make it look like it launches from a spaceport.

neil_w said:

That’s why I do it.

Although I haven’t built too many kits lately, I do get a similar kind of feeling making a finished model look like the face card.

But scratchers are better, when I have a design that I’m enthusiastic about.

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I have always built sport rockets or sounding rockets...but I have to admit, this design has me looking a little differently at the 5.5" Black Brant nosecone that I have sitting around.....

Go for it.

Wait a sec, did you mean 5" *long* or *diameter*?

That's what she said

Got my lugs started today. They are in primer now Prepped the boy tube too. I was really impressed by how hard it was to peel the Avery wrap off!

-Bob

Gary Byrum said:

This is the very reason I started using auto colors. I figured having an airbrush already I'd also have gazillions of shades to pick from. Not to mention that the silvers & pewters and such would go on with a nice shiny finish. You have to use the "wet look" hardener for these.

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Gary are you doing a clear coat over your paints? That wet look was the first thing I used when I started with auto paints. Been so long ago
I don't remember. I've been using the two stage paints for awhile.

Neil I've been watching this thread from the start. I've got to say you've done a Dam good job and I'm impressed. Makes me, want to get all crazy with one of my carbon builds. Keep the pointy side up and don't for get the launch lugs.

Estesbasher said:

Keep the pointy side up and don't for get the launch lugs.

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Sure, but where were you two weeks ago when I was painting?

It's not totally surprising that I forgot the lug, because I never actually decided where it should go. I'm still not sure. Given that the model is already painted, though, I'll probably take the easy approach and put a 2" lug somewhere on the bottom of the rocket. Before painting I might have laid it into a fin root, but now that would be tough, so I'll presumably center it between the ventral fin and one of the wings. I think.

I am assuming that the correct technique would be to carefully slice the outline of the lug footprint (including room for fillets), and peel away the paint and the glassine layer of the tube. Prepaint the lug (minus the root area), then glue, fillet, and touch up. It'll be interesting to see if I can correctly gauge the depth of my slicing, so I get the glassine layer but not anything (or at least not too much) underneath.

Estesbasher said:

Gary are you doing a clear coat over your paints? That wet look was the first thing I used when I started with auto paints. Been so long ago
I don't remember. I've been using the two stage paints for awhile.

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There are two kinds of hardeners. One gives a more satin finish, and the wet look gives a finish that doesn't require a clear coat. You could use some over the auto paint, but it won't make any difference.

I was not sure Gary. A few weeks ago while at hobby lobby. I found some pearl pigments. If you were spraying clear coats on your rockets to give them a try. https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-H.../Macropearl-PearlEx-Powdered-Pigments/p/23181

neil_w said:

Sure, but where were you two weeks ago when I was painting?

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Well it's not surprising with so many things going on with the build.
At least you wasn't standing out at the pad wonder where your launch lugs went.

Bruiser said:

Prepped the boy tube too. I was really impressed by how hard it was to peel the Avery wrap off!

-Bob

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I don’t think I want to know.......

Estesbasher said:

I was not sure Gary. A few weeks ago while at hobby lobby. I found some pearl pigments. If you were spraying clear coats on your rockets to give them a try. https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-H.../Macropearl-PearlEx-Powdered-Pigments/p/23181

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Interesting. Pearl pigments. Might be a good option when I can't find a 2X glossy paint. I don't always use auto paints, but I found it was the best silver or pewter with the wet look hardener. We all know how crappy silver is with clear coats. I do use clear coats when I'm not using auto paint or glossy colors.

Estesbasher said:

At least you wasn't standing out at the pad wonder where your launch lugs went.

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Truth.

neil_w said:

Truth.

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That's ok Neil. You can be in a special club with me. We build rockets but never launch them. That way there is no need for a launch lug to ruin that sleek paint job or scale lines

I used an x-acto and traced out the size of the lug in the paint using light pressure then very carefully scrapped away the paint. Ready to glue the lug on now.


Bob

neil_w said:

Go for it.

Wait a sec, did you mean 5" *long* or *diameter*?

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Ummm...I was talking " girth"

Paulb06 said:

Ummm...I was talking " girth"

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OUCH!!

I got the ring pieces and the launch lug painted cranberry today. I also worked on the nose cone. The cranberry paint looked pretty darn good:


What comes next is a tough masking job. I want it to look like this (ignoring the cockpit for now):


While doing the masking for some reason I reduced the size of the silver area on the nose; it wasn't intentional and I'm just noticing it now. We'll see eventually if that was a bad mistake or not. Worst comes to worst I can always add more silver later if necessary.

Anyway, I started by laying out curvy tape in the location where the silver is supposed to go (or the outlines at least):


Then I used that as a guide to lay in the Tamiya tape. Here's the finished mask:


You can see that the silver tip is reduced quite a bit from the original render. Anyway, the mask actually looked pretty good, other than the curvy tip, which was almost impossible to get perfect.

Then I painted 3 coats of Rusto Stops Rust Metallic Silver. And now it is trying. We'll see how it looks at some point in the future.

Later I'll get the privilege of doing this sort of mask job on each pod nose cone. Those will be a bit easier because they're so small that I should only need one piece of tape on each side of the nose. Cutting those pieces though....

neil_w said:

What comes next is a tough masking job.

You can see that the silver tip is reduced quite a bit from the original render. Anyway, the mask actually looked pretty good, other than the curvy tip, which was almost impossible to get perfect.

Later I'll get the privilege of doing this sort of mask job on each pod nose cone. Those will be a bit easier because they're so small that I should only need one piece of tape on each side of the nose. Cutting those pieces though....

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If only you could splurge for a plotter deal like I have. You can cut the masking using some of that removable vinyl. Kinda wish I had some of that vinyl here for when I cut my own masking. Right now I have to use the intermediate like I use for decals. Sure is better than my hand cut jobs were.

Yes, that would work better. That's what I did on Biohazard, had Mark Hayes cut some nice curved masks for me. I seem to be drifting more towards doing everything myself these days though, and for now I just can't justify a cutter like that. I do ogle the various models at HL or Michael's when I'm there, though...

I used to print my mask/decal design on card stock, cut it out for a template and cut the vinyl with my breakaway knife. Worked OK for most applications. Once I got this plotter figured out, it was like heaven. They're not that expensive either. Light use like ours it's perfect. For someone making signs for a living, I can't see much longevity there. Check em out.
https://www.uscutter.com/USCutter-MH-Series-Vinyl-Cutter-w-VinylMaster-Cut-Design-Cut-Software

I probably did thin out the silver area too much. Could fill in with a decal or something.

decals would tie the nose into the chevrons, assuming they are decals and not paint.

That little nose plate looking thing you're considering adding looks good. Like an access panel or sensor bank

Love the nosecone and your design on it.

Thanks, I like it more the I expected to.

Right now my plan is to do most of the silver details with spray-painted decal paper. I think that'll be easier than doing all these crazy mask jobs. The nose had to be done with paint because it covered the point.

But the little nose plate (or whatever it turns out to be), the chevrons, the points on the ring... all cut decals. I've never tried it before, but it's a proven technique and I'm hoping it'll work out.

In some instances, if I come up with suitable designs, I may have a layer of clear decal on top, with lettering and such.