‘Rona Day Rockets #12 and 35

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SecondRow

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I’ve been trying to be so good. The ‘Rona has got me building more than ever. Here are some of the rockets I built over the past three months while we’ve been stuck at home. They’re in various states. Let’s start with the finished ones:
Estes Dark Silver, Estes Astron Explorer and a LOC Norad Pro Maxx, which I hope to get my L2 with in the fall. The Astron Explorer is painted an ugly green because that’s all I had, and I didn’t feel like heading out to a store just for a can of paint. It’s slowly growing on me. 922C04A8-DCB0-4891-BB6D-2E913D81FF46.jpegEC414959-909E-42A7-84C8-4CA6149C85BB.jpeg0A97CD3C-9492-4415-8DB1-C89E080AF9D3.jpeg
 
Two boosted gliders from J&H Aerospace: the One Sheet Glider and the Mini Windlance. These are really cool. Highly recommend them. Very straightforward to build. I tried to put an airfoil in the One Sheet Glider never having done it before, and it just goes. 1/2A motors will send them up there and they fly really well even without the airfoil. I took my kids across the street to the park to fly them and we almost lost them twice. Make sure you have a lot of space!EAC9742F-4473-4CDE-8716-1EE40AB07843.jpeg47F3AFEE-2ED4-4E87-AD5E-295011BE321F.jpeg
 
I like that green, very nice. The orange complements it very well.
I think it goes with the orange, as well. But I still don’t like it. Maybe someday I’ll look at it differently, but it is definitely not my favorite child.
 
I’ve been trying to be so good. The ‘Rona has got me building more than ever. Here are some of the rockets I built over the past three months while we’ve been stuck at home. They’re in various states. Let’s start with the finished ones:
Estes Dark Silver, Estes Astron Explorer and a LOC Norad Pro Maxx, which I hope to get my L2 with in the fall. The Astron Explorer is painted an ugly green because that’s all I had, and I didn’t feel like heading out to a store just for a can of paint. It’s slowly growing on me. View attachment 420041View attachment 420042View attachment 420043
I see what you did there all along the watchtower.

Nice gliders. My favorites.
 
Still in primer are the Estes Cosmic Interceptor and The Launch Pad Israeli Gabriel Mk III A/S. The Gabriel will probably be in primer for a long time, because I cannot find any pictures of that particular version of the missile. I’d like to get make something close to the real thing. I’ve checked the web and can only find the versions that are not A/S, which look differently. If anyone has any info on this one, please let me know.
 

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I’ve also got a PDR Gemini Titan (Estes K-21 clone) still in build somewhere around here.
 
Finished up the Cosmic Interceptor today. Really nice detail parts and cool decals on this one. We’ll probably fly it tomorrow.6622F547-45D8-41C8-B6C2-57D9A8576D20.jpeg637AFB4B-8ED4-483D-BD88-31D3318679E7.jpegF524F985-4807-4E6B-967F-72B0D8011D72.jpeg870C44D3-CCD6-4ABC-B703-75870A4F2078.jpegFA416BCC-A2A1-4A84-8BCC-C55BF00401E1.jpeg
 
I’ve been trying to be so good. The ‘Rona has got me building more than ever. Here are some of the rockets I built over the past three months while we’ve been stuck at home. They’re in various states. Let’s start with the finished ones:
Estes Dark Silver, Estes Astron Explorer and a LOC Norad Pro Maxx, which I hope to get my L2 with in the fall. The Astron Explorer is painted an ugly green because that’s all I had, and I didn’t feel like heading out to a store just for a can of paint. It’s slowly growing on me. View attachment 420041View attachment 420042View attachment 420043


I like the green on the Astron Explorer too.
I just started building one and I was wondering if you painted it before assembly or afterwards? It looks like it would be a PITA to mask.
 
We share alot of the same birds! Very beautiful builds! That Cosmic Interceptor is a great flyer! Don't use the wrong / too long delay - the Interceptor will know this and weather-cock immediately at lift-off!

Good luck
 
I like the green on the Astron Explorer too.
I just started building one and I was wondering if you painted it before assembly or afterwards? It looks like it would be a PITA to mask.
After assembly. It’s really not as hard as it looks. First coat, white. Then mask off those sections separately and spray your color of choice. The paint scheme is set up so that you’re just masking off single tubes (at four different places). At no time did I have to mask off more than one tube with the same piece of tape. If that doesn’t make sense, let me know and I’ll try to explain better.
 
We share alot of the same birds! Very beautiful builds! That Cosmic Interceptor is a great flyer! Don't use the wrong / too long delay - the Interceptor will know this and weather-cock immediately at lift-off!

Good luck
Thanks! Our plans were to use the Estes recommended engines tomorrow: D12-3, E12-4 or E30-4.
 
After assembly. It’s really not as hard as it looks. First coat, white. Then mask off those sections separately and spray your color of choice. The paint scheme is set up so that you’re just masking off single tubes (at four different places). At no time did I have to mask off more than one tube with the same piece of tape. If that doesn’t make sense, let me know and I’ll try to explain better.

After taking a good look at the above photo, I now have a pretty good idea how to mask it. You are right, it does look simpler than I thought. Thanks, was starting to get cold sweats just thinking about the masking job.
 
Estes Conquest beginning stages. Just started it this evening. Intakes and motor mount. I’m dreading the tail fin sanding and the masking.E9A8648E-DD1F-4CBC-A63D-69BC9E38AD42.jpeg
 
Progress on the Conquest. The intakes have a lot of gaps that requires filling if you want them to look nice and smooth. I think I’m good for now. They’ll get Duplicolor filler/primer next.763A3E97-4B98-4D0E-B879-9F9F3196894D.jpeg

I also built the tail fin and spline. I haven’t sanded the tail fin yet. Make sure that when you glue the spline together, you follow the instructions and line up the front of each piece. The gap that is created will not be a straight line. Ignore your tendency to line up the gap. That would be wrong. This is on purpose. It fits over the wing better this way. See the last pic.AFB65876-2046-4DE2-AD08-14CB5E72B099.jpegB7221C5A-D373-491D-9558-666AFC80689C.jpeg0DE2D7E5-07E1-4FFB-84EC-55CDE2FD3C6B.jpeg
 
I’ve also built the drop tanks and the wing. 54362B01-9BCF-45CD-9465-EB7649BDD408.jpeg
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Here’s the wing in the spline. See? It fits!05556B8D-AE02-489B-B9B8-49497D46557D.jpeg
I don’t know why I’m explaining that part. No one looking for a Conquest build thread is going to find this. Anyway, I think I’m going to paint the parts separately, which is why you can see tape in some of the parts. I’m just getting them ready even though I haven’t finished all of the build yet. I’m also waiting on my son to come up with a paint scheme. We may still go with the cover art.
 
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