TLP MARTEL finished

Well it`s been almost a year since I posted this build ,and now it`s finally finished.I set up the spray booth and got it done ,but now the house smells like paint ,so no more of that nonesense LOL

I made the decals myself using decal paper I bought from SIRIUS Rocketry ,very nice stuff to use.I also used trim MonoKote for the stripes etc.

There is not much on the web for this missile ,but I got lucky and found a site ,where a fellow who used to handle them ,has info on the colors and various strip colors and their placement.

I have a build thread here somewhere ,in case you care :confused2:

Here`s a few for now.I have several more ...and then that`s another one DONE !

As always ,thanks for having a look see !

Cheers all

Paul T

Very nicely done. You were lucky to find enough info to detail it out - I have been trying to find info on the Perseus II that TLP sells but the only info I have found is that it was a Navy prototype surface-to-air missile and never went into production. No photos available as far as I can tell. If you - or anybody - should happen across any photos of same I would greatly appreciate it.

aditat2 said:

Very nicely done. You were lucky to find enough info to detail it out - I have been trying to find info on the Perseus II that TLP sells but the only info I have found is that it was a Navy prototype surface-to-air missile and never went into production. No photos available as far as I can tell. If you - or anybody - should happen across any photos of same I would greatly appreciate it.

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Thanks friend ! Indeed ,there are a few of these missiles,where very little info is available ,so sometimes you have to make do and use a little artistic license.

The Perseus is a great looking missile ,I have it in the stash ,but like you say ,not much to go on.I had the same problem with the Gabriel ,nothing out there !

Regards

Paul T

Just a few more pics of the MARTEL.

Now I need to work on my TLP HAWK MIM 23A ,well it was to be finished ,but the paint I was using went on extra heavy and pretty much ruined the whole thing ,so now I need to sand the whole thing down and re-paint I`ve never really had to sand down a whole rocket to remoce runs and drips ,and i don`t look forward to it.

Take care folks and thanks for looking

Paul T

Thanks for the pics, your work is always of the highest quality.

Amazing work. I love the guns and ammo in the back.. it just gives that pictures that "complete" feel.

hobie1dog said:

Thanks for the pics, your work is always of the highest quality.

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That`s very nice of you to say ,thankyou ! I do indeed love building those TLP kits ,they are a good starting place to do some detail work and learn new techniques ,which I take to my high power builds.

Take care


Paul T

Dork_Vader said:

Amazing work. I love the guns and ammo in the back.. it just gives that pictures that "complete" feel.

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Welcome to TRF ,this is a great place to learn stuff and the people here are top notch !

Thanks for your comments ! The guns & ammo are all part of the "hobby room" LOL

Cheers


Paul T

Another top-notch piece Mr.T, are there any museums in your area? I'd wager a bet that you have enough scale pieces to start one! That motor mount looks to be really deep in there, is that a concern?

You could almost swear it's the real thing. Great work!

chadrog said:

Another top-notch piece Mr.T, are there any museums in your area? I'd wager a bet that you have enough scale pieces to start one! That motor mount looks to be really deep in there, is that a concern?

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Thanks my friend ,those TLP kits are always a fun build....what`s left of them after i`m done LOL

I find most of the kits have the MMT reccessed far into the BT ,usually 1 - 1 1/2" deep.This is to keep them stable as I understan it ,as some of the real missile designs are not stable to start off with.I always use a Coke/beer can and line the inside to help protect the internals while using JB weld epoxy.

It seems to work ,but to tell the truth ,most of these TLP pieces don`t have more than one flight on them and some have none :blush:

Take care

Paul T

Leo said:

You could almost swear it's the real thing. Great work!

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Thanks Mr. Leo ,very good of you to say ! As I mention ,I love building these kits ,or at least using them as a starting point.

Have a good day !

Paul T

Well done! I really like what you've done with this one. Outstanding piece of work.

bradycros said:

Well done! I really like what you've done with this one. Outstanding piece of work.

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Thanks T. always means plenty from you and your eye for detail.Making all those stoopid little holes was a major pain in the arse ,and I had read about that too.

I think this is the first year I have not done my annual TLP build threads......oh well, next year LOL

Now I need to fix up my botched HAWK MIM-23A.......man did I screw that one up royally...paint (me) got a little KRAZY !

Cheers

Paul T

I've been away for a few years to come back to your wonderful works. Thank you Paul T for sharing with us and being an inspiration to me and others, and I bet your botched work makes my best work like finger paintings. Maybe I will post some this time around.

Keep at it tho, I am always exited to see a thread started by you since I have returned.

Horus said:

I've been away for a few years to come back to your wonderful works. Thank you Paul T for sharing with us and being an inspiration to me and others, and I bet your botched work makes my best work like finger paintings. Maybe I will post some this time around.

Keep at it tho, I am always exited to see a thread started by you since I have returned.

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Well first off ,let me say welcome back and don`t be a stranger and I do indeed hope you share some pictures with us all.

Also thankyou for the words of encouragement and support ,you are too kind.

I remember when I first started looking in at these forums and then joining ,thinking how the many folks here were doing some wonderful things ,which was my inspiration today and I am still learning things on a daily basis.

That`s the wonderful thing about rocketry.....you can fly at any comfort level you want ,build what you want ,be it a small kit ,big kit ,scratch build ,detail no detail spend however much money you want (although that usually ends up being a Black Hole, sucking in your money ,credit cards,time and on occasion ,any sellable body organs)

All the best and happy flying !


Paul T

Outstanding!
That's the way it should be done - taking a kit to the next levels by adding the details.

I've got this kit in the bag but haven't started it until I figure out how to drill those holes down the tunnel.
You obviously did it right. Any tips?

hcmbanjo said:

Outstanding!
That's the way it should be done - taking a kit to the next levels by adding the details.

I've got this kit in the bag but haven't started it until I figure out how to drill those holes down the tunnel.
You obviously did it right. Any tips?

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Thankyou good sir ,high praise comming from you ! Are you still on the seven seas ?

Chris ,I used a small high quality HSS Bradpoint bit on my drill press with a nice hard maple backer.The parts are also made of Basswood ,so this does help in the tear out and fraying of the fbers.

After the holes were drilled ,I used a small conical sanding stone from my Dremel set and chucked it into the drill press and went over each hole again ,smoothing things out and giving each hole a nice little chamfer.I did however have to wrap a small piece of sandpaper on a toothpick and sand some of the hole on an individual basis.

I must confess to you....this task was not fun at all ,and doubt I would do it again ,although the results turned out well.....I just can`t see myself doing all that work.It almost borders on insanity and crackpotism LOL

HTH

Take care friend !

Paul T

I have a Tan-Sam Launch Pad kit that has been in the build pile for several years. I have not found any close up photos of it that I could use for adding details. It is a pretty boring looking missile as it is in the kit. I might just have make up details to motivate me to build it.
LOL

terryg said:

I have a Tan-Sam Launch Pad kit that has been in the build pile for several years. I have not found any close up photos of it that I could use for adding details. It is a pretty boring looking missile as it is in the kit. I might just have make up details to motivate me to build it.
LOL

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Works for me most of the time ,it`s called "artistic license" with a touch of "carte blanche" LOL

Sometimes ,like the martel and Gabriel missiles ,you just will not find much info to go on, let alone photographs.On the Martel I got lucky to stumble on a site where a fellow was talking about loading these things on Buccaneers and described the colors and the placement of the color bands.

Paul t

Looks very nice! Can I ask how you masked the nose to get such a crisp edge to the black tip?

I have a couple of TLP kits in the build pile that I'm hoping to have time to start now that the holidaze are over, so it's great to see how others put theirs together.

Erik

emckee said:

Looks very nice! Can I ask how you masked the nose to get such a crisp edge to the black tip?

I have a couple of TLP kits in the build pile that I'm hoping to have time to start now that the holidaze are over, so it's great to see how others put theirs together.

Erik

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Thanks Erik ,and happy new year to you !

I used a MMT tube ,forget what size ,and place it over the nosecone ,then trace around with a pencil (I make sure the MMT tube is as straight as possible) then remove and mask off with Tamiya tape.I use the thinest tape ,place on a glass sheet ,trim in half and use these to start the masking ,as the thinner pieces conform better to the compound curves.I then go to wider pieces until most of the area is masked ,then switch to 3M painter`s tape and brown paper.

First coat of paint (this was gloss Krylon black) over Rustoleum satin olive was shot in a light mist with the NC pointing downward ,so the paint does not seap into the taped demarcation line and also forms a seal for the next coats.

Wait 10 minutes and shot another 3 coats ,last one the heaviest ,bit not so much as it runs.

hope that helps you out,

Take care

Paul T

That's a great looking paint job and rocket.

cjp said:

That's a great looking paint job and rocket.

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Thanks good sir ! I was going through some old rocket magazines while laying in bed ,nice and comfy cozy...cause I`m on holidaze you see ,and I found an old article about the founder of The launch Pad ,and found it very interesting.I remember reading that article many years ago and thinking how I would love to get a hold of some of his kits ,and back then ,there were not that many,and half of them were plan packs.

When the kits became more easily available (not here in Canada ,no one sells them ) I began my quest to purchase and collect them all ,and to date I`m almost there ,just a few more needed to complete the set......but of course ,not all of them are built....yet

My first passion in rocketry is scale ,might it be missiles or sounding rockets or space vehicles ,and these kits fit the bill very nicely.

Take care

Paul T

Very nice

les said:

Very nice

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Thanks for having a look and thanks for saying so !

Hope you have a great New Year !

Take care

Paul T