A "club" fleet, have I gone crazy ????

[spacecowboy]

This is my "club" fleet, finally.

Just Wonder. . . .Has anyone gone this "crazy" before, especially with a similar paint scheme for all the rox for your own Club Fleet ????

For those that *know*, these are all Estes and Quest kits, minus the two scratch birds, and those are scale jobs that I've actually flown, and righteous flights at that ! ! ! !

L-R

Mini Fat Boy (scratch)
CR Express
CR Brant II
Guardian, the flagship.
Mini Bertha (scratch)
Baby Bertha
Big Bertha
Icarus (a late *Volunteer* entry from Tennessee)

Enjoy.

 

[cls]

hey, your rockets look cool all lined up like that!


dunno if this qualifies as crazier or lazier, but for a while all my rockets were coming out just plain gloss white. no accents, no decals, no trim, nothing.

 

[NUBlackshirts]

I think they look pretty good. It definitely eliminates those cans of paint that sit around for a long time because you only bought them for specific rockets. I'm thinking of a particular can of "fluorescent orange" in my garage right now.

 

[Micromeister]

Spacey!
They look great, especially all together like this, but ya gotta ask yourself..." Am I feeling kinda blue and Grey?, Am I in a rut, is there really life after red???"
Keep em coming Great job!


That's a really nice Blue..Exactly what is it? (brand,color name, lot number...etc.)

Unlike a lot of folks I try never to use the paint scheme on the package..but hadn't thought of trying a "Standard Fleet" scheme..very interesting idea

 

[jetra2]

For some reason or another, I kinda liked the red and white look.
I used to have probably 5-6 rockets that were red and white, and now still have two that have red and white as their only two colors, now I'm kinda in a patriotic, red, white, and blue theme, with two rockets that have that theme, and I think that chrome Monokote looks real good on that scheme too. Sometime, I really try to challenge myself and do the stock paint scheme...WHAT A PAIN IN THE BUTT THAT IS!! I guess that means the manufacturers are doing a good job of making stock paint schemes exciting.

I actually spend more time deciding on a paint scheme now than I do attaching fins! Ah, the wonders of CyA! But then again, all of my rockets are LPR or MPR!

Jason

 

[Stymye]

Space ,
thats a great looking fleet pic!

 

[mkmilion]

Originally posted by NUBlackshirts
I think they look pretty good. It definitely eliminates those cans of paint that sit around for a long time because you only bought them for specific rockets. I'm thinking of a particular can of "fluorescent orange" in my garage right now.

So what rocket was the orange for? I have a can of flourescent orange too. It was really cheap stuff by Plasi-Kote. Oh BTW mine was for the Estes Comanche-3

I would also like to mention GREAT FLEET. Not crazy nor lazy. My scheme normally prepetuate around red and black. It's all preferance. I also like to mention if you're on this forum you have to have at least an ounce of craziness, obsession, Tim Allen Syndrome, etc.

 

[NUBlackshirts]

The orange was for a Quest Spin Fin. Used that and black for a cool paint scheme that looked good on the way up. You could definitely see it spinning. Unfortunately I watched it spin right up to the point it landed on the roof of a fairly tall building. I never saw it again.

 

[spacecowboy]

Micromister

I am so sorry for a late reply to your question on the Blue.

It is Painter's Choice, by Rustoleum.
#1926, Brilliant Blue.

It does a really nice job against a flat black, also. I have several birds mixing FB, BB, and cherry red. They come out sweet, even with a "fading" of the paints. Oh, and "fading" eliminates that toilsome process called masking !

 

[TwoWalks]

SpaceCowboy - crazy - no way! I think the fleet looks great and folks will know they are yours.

I am what you might call new to rocketry ... like extremely new. A couple weeks ago I seen the discovery program and two days ago I went to the hobby store and purchased three kits. I have been going to site after site on the net reading everything my brain could hold. Now there was one thing that sort of spooked me, all the pictures showed rockets painted just like the picture on the kit cover. Wow, I am thrilled, I get to paint my fat boy with a Red body and blue fins, hot dang. NO, I don't want too, yet I could not tell if they had to be painted as advertised with those decals on them, perhaps as some sort of unspoken rule I had not found yet.

Thanks for showing your fleet, it sure makes me feel better to know I can paint MY rockets any way I want too and don't have to follow the paint scheme on the package.

...TW...

 

[Mike]

Yeah sure, paint 'em any way you want.

That said I'm so unimaginative when it comes to paint I just copy the picture.

 

[spacecowboy]

TwoWalks,
Like Mike said, paint 'em like you want.
Somewhere down the line after you've flown a few rox, you can start "kit-bashing", too, which is changing the fin configuration, etc. The computer program "rocket-sim" helps with this, but I don't have a copy of it.

If you decide to bash, pick taller, thinner rox. They don't seem to be as affected as the short, fatter ones. I added small upper fins to a Baby Bertha, it went up, went sideways, and I never saw it again. I added small upper fins to Stormcaster (base of the upper BT), and it flies like a champ every time.

I'm a bit envious, I want a Fatboy for Christmas so I can paint the whole thing flat black.

One other thing, I've really just started leaving the decals OFF. With a custom paint job, they don't look too good, and after a few flights, they peel off. I think there is some spray to use to make sure they stick on, I like the rox without the decals.

 

[TwoWalks]

spacecowboy, thanks that is some good info for a beginner at this.

I am thinking about doing the "fat Boy" with a black center on the nose cone and then about half the nose down to the top of the fins white, painting the fin area of the body and fins red.

I picked the three kits as skill level 1 - 2 - 3

1 - the Estes "fat boy"
2 - the Estes "Black Brant 2"
3 - the Quest "Tomahawk"

I figured these three would give me a good basic introduction.

After those I am not sure what I will do, but kit bashing or scratch will probably be the road I choose. Have this thing about anything looking like everyone elses.

Mike, thanks also for the reply

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by TwoWalks
SpaceCowboy - crazy - no way! I think the fleet looks great and folks will know they are yours.

I am what you might call new to rocketry ... like extremely new. A couple weeks ago I seen the discovery program and two days ago I went to the hobby store and purchased three kits. I have been going to site after site on the net reading everything my brain could hold. Now there was one thing that sort of spooked me, all the pictures showed rockets painted just like the picture on the kit cover. Wow, I am thrilled, I get to paint my fat boy with a Red body and blue fins, hot dang. NO, I don't want too, yet I could not tell if they had to be painted as advertised with those decals on them, perhaps as some sort of unspoken rule I had not found yet.

Thanks for showing your fleet, it sure makes me feel better to know I can paint MY rockets any way I want too and don't have to follow the paint scheme on the package.

...TW...

Two Walks - WELCOME TO TRF! We're glad you found rocketry through the Discovery Channel. It's an exciting hobby and I am certain you've caught the bug since you mentioned your depletion of brain cells working overtime to find more info on the hobby.

There are no rules in this hobby except make sure it goes up and it doesn't explode. (Actually, there are a few rules...mostly pertaining to safety and regulation. If you haven't already, drop by www.flyrockets.com) Anyhow, paint your rockets as you wish. I personally am somewhat of a conformist. I suppose the challenge of matching the kit cover art to a "T" is a fairly large challenge enough let alone having to be creative. Creativity is largely encouraged! Heck, if <a href="https://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?u=3009006&a=30071473&p=60496724&f=0">THIS</a> isn't creative enough, I don't know what is!

Once again, welcome! Be sure to check out our site and post questions as they come. We'll be happy to help. (Oh yeah, post pictures too!)

 

[TwoWalks]

Originally posted by eugenefl
Two Walks - WELCOME TO TRF! We're glad you found rocketry through the Discovery Channel.

If you haven't already, drop by www.flyrockets.com)

Once again, welcome! Be sure to check out our site and post questions as they come. We'll be happy to help. (Oh yeah, post pictures too!)

eugenefl, thanks for the welcome. Day after I seen the show on Discovery, I went to the Fly Rockets .com site and there the adventure began. A week after I seen the show, they aired it again and again I watched it accompanied the second time by my wife. Just this morning she asked me if it is on every week, think she is a little hooked also.

As of adding this forum too my favorites list, there is now 26 sites listed. For each one there, I have probably seen 10, so yep, think I might have gotten the bug

 

[jflis]

TwoWalks,

welcome to rocketry *and* TRF! After you've gotten your feet wet with some Estes and Quest kits, I invite you to check out our shop at FlisKits ( https://fliskits.com/ )


jim

 

[TwoWalks]

Originally posted by jflis
TwoWalks,

welcome to rocketry *and* TRF! After you've gotten your feet wet with some Estes and Quest kits, I invite you to check out our shop at FlisKits ( https://fliskits.com/ )


jim

Jim thanks for the welcome to TRF - I was just at your site and checking out the Deuce and some of the other kits you have. I really like the deuce, have not looked at everything yet. One more book mark added

 

[Steward]

Paint them any color you want dude...go crazy...football team colors...I painted several just to match my truck...!!! Sometimes I just leave 'em white...or black...My current "FATBOY" is candy apple red...!!!

 

[rocket trike]

Welcome Two Walks. When you are do withthe other sites check out www.rocketheadrockets.com we are a new rocket vendor. We a trying to become one of the top model rocket kit manufactures. Right now we only have one kit out and Mylar parachutes. We will be having a second kit out soon. there are other good vendors on here to thrust arrow and The squirrel works. Check them out to. The most important thing to remember is to have fun.

 

[TwoWalks]

Steward, love the candy apple looks great ... yesterday I was looking at some candy apple paint at the store thinking that would look great and it does.


Tom checked it out today and was thinking I would love to get the battle axe. My wife and I go to ren faires so it seemed appropriate. Thanks for the welcome.

 

[sandman]

TwoWalks,

I did my Mars Snooper II clone in candy apple red.

Came out better than I hoped.

BTW welcome aboard.

sandman

 

[spacecowboy]

TwoWalks,
you're obviously well-informed, knowing about bashing/scratching.
Welcome to a load of fun and a load of info on TRF.

It didn't take me long (my 2nd estes kit, the Banshee) to figure out I was a "radical" element, because I didn't want to put the decals on it like in the stock pic. I was already headed down bash/scratch lane. I've been chided (a few times) for even rolling my own scratch BT's. I've built as many scratch birds as kits, including a over-stable E-engine model. The great part about scratch is that rox can be built for under $2, especially fun little 13mm motor jobs. I live for scratch, the guy that introduced me to this *FUN* lives for perfect-a-mundo paint jobs. Whatever.

Everybody has a "good" Idea, but here's one of my more unique paint jobs on Menace. Funny, a gunked up spray paint can created this one by accident.

Just one piece of advice, make sure you've got smooth, multi-layer fillets, and reinforce all balsa fins with a sealer. When you move on to scratch, you're going to learn about the strength advantages of basswood.

Hope this helps (some, anyways)
p.s. And do Flis a favor, he's the best out there, buy one (no, A LOT) of his birds....they are *SWEET*.

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by TwoWalks

I picked the three kits as skill level 1 - 2 - 3

1 - the Estes "fat boy"
2 - the Estes "Black Brant 2"
3 - the Quest "Tomahawk"

I figured these three would give me a good basic introduction.

I just happened to have built those 3 in the past few months, and I would say thay are a great choice! Check out this site for loads of info on all three and many, many more. I can offer some of what I know about them:

Fat Boy - simple to build, flies great but sometimes tends to go a little more horizontal than you might expect. That's discussed elsewhere on this board.

Black Brant II - more challenging to build and if you go with the stock paint scheme - more time-consuming. All my flights have been perfect. Straight up, very high and fast off the pad. One of my top 5 favorites.

Quest Tomahawk - quite a challenging build compared to the Fat Boy, a little more than the BBII. The boattail shroud is basically a paper cone, and I had the hardest time making a smooth transition there. The paint scheme was real tricky, but it is very satisfying to see it finished. As far as flying - this thing screams off the pad! I was completely surprised at it's performance. A great little rocket.

Hope that helps...

(In the picture, the BBII is blocked by the AstroCam, just blew it when I took the pic)

Stephen

 

[sandman]

Tip on the Black Brant II.

The paint job (scale) is really easy. The decal roll pattern take some head scratching to figure out.

Make an adaptor for an 18mm motor mount from 24mm. Unles yu have a really really BIG launch area!

And replace the chute with a streamer. That sucker gores really high!

sandman

 

[TwoWalks]

Originally posted by spacecowboy
TwoWalks,
you're obviously well-informed, knowing about bashing/scratching.
Welcome to a load of fun and a load of info on TRF.

Just one piece of advice, make sure you've got smooth, multi-layer fillets,... to learn about the strength advantages of basswood.

Hope this helps (some, anyways)

Spacecowboy, thanks ... told ya I have been doing a lot of reading I make arrows so there is a fair amount in common with the construction of rocket bodies, so it makes sence to me. Love the paint job.

Have been reading a couple of places about the basswood, thanks for the advice, it does help.

SandmanThanks for the welcome and the advice on switching motor sizes. One of the things I looked at when choosing the three kits was the altitude, figured that way I would have one for most situations. Like the streamer substitution to help cut down on drift as I thought about it floating out over the freeway or highway Funny looking at the picture of your fleet, "I had a picture yesterday of about that many in my room expecially after looking at a couple of sites and thinking, "I would like that one and that one and ..."

Bushrat I am north of you a fair piece. East of Modesto in Sonora. Thanks for the insight into the three kits, sounds like I made a good choice for what I wanted to get. Will probably need to take you up on your offer for advice in building especially when I get to the BBll.

 

[powderburner]

Originally posted by TwoWalks
I could not tell if they had to be painted as advertised with those decals on them, perhaps as some sort of unspoken rule I had not found yet.

The Paint Police will be by to talk to you right after the Decal Police get finished with spacecowboy.

Welcome to TRF, TwoWalks! Unless it's a scale model, I usually try to do some kind of creative decorating to avoid the boredom. It is sometimes a real challenge to come up with something that looks good. But it's supposed to be FUN!, so go for it. We are glad to have you join us.

 

[TwoWalks]

Originally posted by powderburner
The Paint Police will be by to talk to you right after the Decal Police get finished with spacecowboy.

Welcome to TRF, TwoWalks!

I think they were here earlier today banging on the door but I didn't answer it.

Thanks for the welcome Powderburner and fun it is. Began work today on the fat boy and the Black Brant, both are under way.

 

[spacecowboy]

TwoWalks,

Sandman ain't kidding about Brant. One day, I got a tad excited and stuck a D12-3 in mine, and this was with crepe paper streamers in almost no wind !!!! It went totally out of sight !!!! My fiancee, at the time, said the trajectory was "that way" so I started walking "that way" (apologies to Aerosmith). Anyway, I am a jogger too, and judging by my hike, and later, odometer in the truck, that bird landed over 1/2 mi away.
I'd start with c11-3, or try the 24->18 adapter.
(these are easily built from 24mm spent casings btw).

p.s. Nice thing about living in the hill country of Texas is that the decal "enforcers" can't find me. I crack me up.

 

[TwoWalks]

Originally posted by spacecowboy
TwoWalks,

Sandman ain't kidding about Brant....that bird landed over 1/2 mi away.

I'd start with c11-3, or try the 24->18 adapter.
(these are easily built from 24mm spent casings btw).

Again thanks for the advice, I will listen and take it because I am not a jogger. Infact I am an old fat man and the idea of walking 1/2 mile looking for Brant is not a thrill in my mind.

Went down yesterday and bought some paint. I got red / white / black and yellow so am giving some thought to how I want to paint the Fat Boy ... right now I am leaning toward yellow & black, no decals.

In reading some of the threads, I keep finding a recommendation for fillets, using wood puddy, is that correct or do you suggest another method?

 

[spacecowboy]

The wood putty ought to be for making the balsa fins smooth, to cover the grain up before paint.
I use wood (yellow) glue to make fillets.