ASP V-2 18mm

[CharlaineC]

The Asp v2 I built is from my understanding an older model as the basswood fins where not precut. nor where the detail parts.

opening the simple bag and looking at the parts you get the following

instructions ( 8 pages printed front and back on 4 sheets 8 1/2 x 11 paper folded
detail sheet( fin template, marking guides, ect)
body tube
balsa prewaighted nose cone
balsa tail boat
basswood fin meterial
detailing strips one balsa one basswood
motor mount tube
thrust ring
retaining ring
recovery system (parachute and 1/4" shock cord)
launch lug
parts
First step is to trace and cut out the fins from the basswood.
fin patterns
After cutting the fins its time to sand and mark the boat tail. then glue the fins on. this was rather painstaking because the glue didn't want to stick to the basswood. till i roughed up the root edge with low grit sandpaper.
boat tail

 

[CharlaineC]

After the fins are glued on and dry its time to build the motor mount and recovery retention system. Glue the thrust ring in as normal. had
i thought of it I would have added a motor hook
boat tail, motor tube, thrust ring, retaining ring, shock cord
the motor tube is glued into the boat tail with about 1/16 sticking out of the bottem.
the kit came with a 1/4" flat elastic shock cord i changed it out to a smaller round shock cord. It is mounted by tieing it into a small and placeing it around the moter mount. motor mount and shock cord.

after the next thing is to glue a thick centering ring over the cord and moter tube. also a nautch needs to be cut on the side for the shock cord.
once thats dry you can glue the body tube onto the boat tail.
ready

now the basic build is done it all finishing from here. Tieing the shock cord to the nosecone. attaching the parachute. the small details, launch lugs and what not.

 

[CharlaineC]

The fine details are able to be made 2 ways. one way is by cutting and shaping them out of basswood. or following in the old estes way and use a launch lug or straw. I used the latter. the instructions are on jimz's web page and yorp to explain how it was done. I added the channel that wraps around the body between the fin can and the body tube. that was sealed with a small amount of filler and then sanded smooth.

Finishing took a while. first to fill the balsa I used elmers wood filler mixed with white glue then spackled on with a putty knife and allowed to dry. then sanded intil smooth. the fillets where first built up with glue and allowed to dry. then to get the smooth sweeping fillets the v2 was known for I used a filler/glue mixture to build up the shape then after the last coat dried I sanded smooth.

At some point the nose fell and the tip broke off. so inorder to fix it I inserted a toothpick into the nosecone and mixing more filler and glue I shaped it into a rough tip and allowed to dry then sanded into it into the nose tip. and cut off the extra toothpick and finished.

Painting
Due to my lack of primer I painter the v2 with a base coat of the green I'm useing to paint her. after the firse coat I sanded her till most of the paint was gone then panted her again. once dry sanded and painted again.

 

[JAL3]

I clicked the links to see the photos and they seemed to come up fine on the facebook screen but an error message popped up saying, "oops, we hope to have that fixed soon" or words to that effect. It baffled me because I didn't notice that anything was wrong to begin with.

Looks nice.

 

[CharlaineC]

yes the error thing is something on their end think its has to do with asking people to sign up.

 

[JAL3]

yes the error thing is something on their end think its has to do with asking people to sign up.

THat's fine. I just wanted to:

A. let you know about it

and

B. say it looks good

 

[CharlaineC]

After the first sanding and refilling

 

[CharlaineC]

waiting for the finishing touches

 

[Micromeister]

Did you build the Launcher base for Scratch Charlaine?
Very nice touch for the model. I think I have one of those old ASP 18mm V2 kits hanging on a nail somewhere in the dungon.. looks like you did a nice job on the building.

 

[CharlaineC]

the launch table is made of paper and is scaled down from the curell website here I set the adobe to print two pages per sheet and it worked great. the only complaint in their are no clamps so i still have to make them.

the pic below is the paint job i'm doing. as for the kit i will tell you if you have the precut fins your lucky because cutting the the small slots in the fins sucks mine cracked on 2 fins but i was able to fix. the channed I cut myself as well.

 

[Micromeister]

the launch table is made of paper and is scaled down from the curell website here I set the adobe to print two pages per sheet and it worked great. the only complaint in their are no clamps so i still have to make them.

the pic below is the paint job i'm doing. as for the kit i will tell you if you have the precut fins your lucky because cutting the the small slots in the fins sucks mine cracked on 2 fins but i was able to fix. the channed I cut myself as well.

Well it's a very nifty addition to the model. I'd probly have used basswood and styrene over paper but if it's strong enough to hold the model it sure looks nice

Are you going to use military Olive Drab and Green Drab flats for the final colorings. I think I prefer the White Sands Test flight color schemes over the German field camo but both can have some interesting effects.

Actually I've alway preferred cutting my own fins over pre-cut or laser cut fins and parts. Back when I started in the hobby this wasn't an option is was the way it was building, creating detail parts was always from scratch.
Next time you have basswood thick (1/8" or thicker) fins to cut heres a method thats always worked well for me.
Make sure you start with a very sharp, freshly honed knife. for thick fins like this a #2 or #24 blade in a #2 or #5 handle make the work much more comfortable. with a metal straight edge make many passes letting the knife blade do most of the work, steady pressure but don't force it. You'll find the cross grain cuts will take the most time, but shouldn't cause any more hand fatigue. if it is...reduce the pressure with more passes

 

[CharlaineC]

I want to build a wooden version of the stand just not good with that sort of thing. though might see what the plastic one goes for.