Another clone from the rocket lab

[Fore Check]

I wanted to make a clone and also make my own decals for a change - rather than buy or trade for them. Having only an ink-jet printer, this of course excluded any designs having white or metallic colors in the decal.

So I got to searching around for plans of a rocket that you don't see much of (on eBay, here, whatever) and this is what I came up with. A pretty straightforward build - although I did modify it to have an "E" engine mount (instead of the "D" in the plans), a kevlar shock cord retention system, and I'll use the 14" chute from a junked out Quest kit I have rather than the 90" streamer in the plans. Rocksim (demo version) predicts an altitude of 2050 ft. on an E9-8.

I made the decals on "Expert's Choice" clear decal film sealed with Microscale liquid decal film.

This first shot was taken without the flash so the decals aren't obscurred by the glare.

 

[Fore Check]

Here's another pic using the flash, so you can see how that Krylon True Blue Gloss really pops out! I really like that blue! The one without the flash just doesn't do the color justice.

 

[Ryan S.]

Nice, those decals look amazing. And you are right about the flash, alot more color was reflected and it looks much different and better

 

[seo]

Sweet Rocket!

You did a great job on the paint!

 

[Fore Check]

Thanks - the paint was easy. Slap it down with primer and gloss white, wait a day, do a straight wrap mask, and slap on the blue!

Heck, I was un-masking and applying decals about an hour after the blue was originally applied.

(I still don't understand why people wait so long between coats and colors and stuff. I seem to be able to cram my steps together considerably compared to what I read on this forum and I acheive some pretty nice finishes with no problems.......)

 

[astronboy]

VERY nice!! The decals came out great!!

As to the spray-after-a-day question:

I spray 3-5 coats of each finish color with 15-20 minutes between coats. This gives me a super gloss coat, but it is pretty thick and takes about a week to fully dry.

Maybe it is because I do not use Krylon paints, as I hear that they can be sprayed thinner....

 

[Fore Check]

Would you believe that it's a single application of the Blue? Just put it on lightly and keep turning and applying until it's fully covered.

Oh, and it was about 45 degrees outside when I did it.

As far as the decals, I just downloaded the *.tif file, opened it up in Microsoft Paint (included in Windows), arranged the Estes logo next to the Skybolt name so it could be applied as one big decal and look like the catalog, and cleaned up a few "pepper" specks in the white background. Then printed it last night after selecting "high print quality" in printer preferences. I let it sit undisturbed overnight so the ink would dry fully before applying the Microscale film with a foam brush.

 

[Steve]

Great job! Nice looking bird for sure.
Flown her yet?

Stephen

 

[Fore Check]

Originally posted by Bushrat
Great job! Nice looking bird for sure.
Flown her yet?

Stephen

Nah, I just finished it up before I took the pictures and posted them. It's ready (aside from Gloss Cote) but the weather is pretty bad right now. Maybe next weekend....