Atlas Mercury 1/12 scale

[sodmeister]

I really don`t think this can be done any better my friend !

Bloody spectacular build

I sure do like this build thread !!!!!!


Paul T

 

[TopRamen]

Very impressive!!! Nice work.

 

[aerostadt]

Looking sweet! I never knew Syracuse could look so green (SU alum). Actually, if you fly it at URRF next year I might be going. Went to LDRS 31 and like that field even though it is a bit of a drive.

Thanks, r12ski, for the offer to fly back east, but I don't make it back there very often. Actually, my green backyard is even more of an accomplishment, because I live in Utah. We water our lawns all the time out here.

I really don`t think this can be done any better my friend !

Bloody spectacular build

I sure do like this build thread !!!!!!

Thanks very much, Paul! This is a real compliment coming from you. I know you could do better, but what I got will be good enough to have fun!

Very impressive!!! Nice work.

Thanks, TopRamen. I still have a ways to go.

 

[Jmhepworth]

John and I stopped by and got a look at your rocket this afternoon. It's looking good. The size is particularly impressive.

Joe

 

[aerostadt]

Joe,
Young said that you and John stopped by. I'm sorry I missed you. I have started painting with Rustoleum metallic aluminum. I need to get the painting done before the weather gets cold. It is big. My models always grow in weight over what the RocSim prediction gives. When I get closer to completion, I will need to get an actual weight and an estimate for the location of the center of gravity.

 

[AfterBurners]

Fantastic job so far!!

 

[46u]

Fantastic job. I really like scale models.

 

[rocketguy101]

Joe,
Young said that you and John stopped by. I'm sorry I missed you. I have started painting with Rustoleum metallic aluminum. I need to get the painting done before the weather gets cold. It is big. My models always grow in weight over what the RocSim prediction gives. When I get closer to completion, I will need to get an actual weight and an estimate for the location of the center of gravity.

are you doing the whole booster in silver, or going with "the frost look"? Either way, I found two different silvers that mimic the shiny silver and duller aluminum silver...here in my 1/45 build is a picture

 

[aerostadt]

are you doing the whole booster in silver, or going with "the frost look"? Either way, I found two different silvers that mimic the shiny silver and duller aluminum silver...here in my 1/45 build is a picture

Thanks, Dave, for your interest. I love the work you did on this model. I was trying to remember where I saw it. I am not planning to do the frosted look, but I am tempted by your results. I love your overall finish, too. I have been spray painting over and over, again, this past month at a leisurely pace. If I wanted a good finish in places like you have and say like The Sodmeister's work (Paul), I would have sanded and painted, again and again, but I didn't. Part of this attitude is that I am lazy and the other part is that I am running out of warm weather time. I cannot paint anymore on just any day. We are starting to get cold weather here. Also, I rationalize that I should see how this thing flies next year before investing my whole life into finishing. I kinda like this leisurely pace. The picture below shows some masking to paint the top adapter section. From the distance the model does not look too bad. Sorry, no close-up pictures, I have some vanity.

 

[rocketguy101]

[Elvis voice]ohhhh, baby![/Elvis voice]

 

[sodmeister]

This is a very exciting part of the build is it not......PAINT !!!

This is going to be beautiful, I just know it !

I look forward to many many pictures ,but of course,at your leisure :wink:

Take care !


Paul T


PS- yours was also stunnig David !

 

[thobin]

Yes it is looking great, keep em coming.


TA

 

[NJRick]

she is turning out great Aerostadt!!

Thanks, Dave, for your interest. I love the work you did on this model. I was trying to remember where I saw it. I am not planning to do the frosted look, but I am tempted by your results. I love your overall finish, too. I have been spray painting over and over, again, this past month at a leisurely pace. If I wanted a good finish in places like you have and say like The Sodmeister's work (Paul), I would have sanded and painted, again and again, but I didn't. Part of this attitude is that I am lazy and the other part is that I am running out of warm weather time. I cannot paint anymore on just any day. We are starting to get cold weather here. Also, I rationalize that I should see how this thing flies next year before investing my whole life into finishing. I kinda like this leisurely pace. The picture below shows some masking to paint the top adapter section. From the distance the model does not look too bad. Sorry, no close-up pictures, I have some vanity.

View attachment 148431

 

[aerostadt]

Thanks, Rick!

I have started to put on the chrome mylar. At first I decided to peel the chrome off the paper and apply it to the model. Even though the light fiberglass weave is fine, the weave did not fill in with paint. When I applied a small section of bare chrome, the finish was not flat and not as shiny as I would like. After a few days the chrome lifted slightly and pulled away from the weave (I did not press the chrome excessively). It was then shiny enough. I waited a few days and I was ready to apply more bare chrome. When I looked at the chrome, one side was loose like a page in a book. I then decided to leave the chrome on the paper backing and attach the whole thing with spray adhesive. This worked good and the finish was flat and shiny.

At first I didn't want to do this idea, because if something went wrong, the paper would be a glued mess. Whereas the mylar alone can be peeled off easily. However, I was happy with this new approach. Actually, I had some bubbles form on one quarter circumference of chrome (with the paper backing), but I was happy to find that I could lift the quarter-round up and remove the bubbles. So far, I have been spraying both the model surface and the paper backing. Today I did one section three-quarters-round. This did not work good and so I found out that I tried to do too much. In fact I lifted some of the paper backing up and the paper tore. In any a case I pressed the chrome with backing into place. I will not try doing this much, again.

The spray adhesive is shown below. I think it is best to use the spray adhesive sparingly. I found that rubbing alcohol and paper towels are good for removing out of place adhesive.

 

[NJRick]

looking GREAT Aerostadt!
the only experience I have with foil is using some small bits on my Zooch R-7's...I used Bare Metal foil.....it works great bit it is really thin and tears easily so I am interested to see how yours turns out. She is a work of art Aerostadt!!

Thanks, Rick!

I have started to put on the chrome mylar. At first I decided to peel the chrome off the paper and apply it to the model. Even though the light fiberglass weave is fine, the weave did not fill in with paint. When I applied a small section of bare chrome, the finish was not flat and not as shiny as I would like. After a few days the chrome lifted slightly and pulled away from the weave (I did not press the chrome excessively). It was then shiny enough. I waited a few days and I was ready to apply more bare chrome. When I looked at the chrome, one side was loose like a page in a book. I then decided to leave the chrome on the paper backing and attach the whole thing with spray adhesive. This worked good and the finish was flat and shiny.

At first I didn't want to do this idea, because if something went wrong, the paper would be a glued mess. Whereas the mylar alone can be peeled off easily. However, I was happy with this new approach. Actually, I had some bubbles form on one quarter circumference of chrome (with the paper backing), but I was happy to find that I could lift the quarter-round up and remove the bubbles. So far, I have been spraying both the model surface and the paper backing. Today I did one section three-quarters-round. This did not work good and so I found out that I tried to do too much. In fact I lifted some of the paper backing up and the paper tore. In any a case I pressed the chrome with backing into place. I will not try doing this much, again.

The spray adhesive is shown below. I think it is best to use the spray adhesive sparingly. I found that rubbing alcohol and paper towels are good for removing out of place adhesive.

View attachment 150780View attachment 150781View attachment 150782View attachment 150783

 

[Jmhepworth]

Bob, this keeps getting better and better. Have you thought about when you want to launch it? I want to make sure not to miss it.

Joe

 

[aerostadt]

Thanks Rick & Joe,

I am planning to launch the the Atlas/Mercury at Hellfire in summer 2014, so there is plenty of time to get things ready. There are still things to do. I would like to have the escape tower jettison during ascent and the capsule descend on its own chute ejected from the top of the capsule. It remains to be seen how that this can be done.

I have put mylar on before using the standard process of peeling it off the paper backing. I did this for a LOC Cyclotron as shown below. The model surface was smooth and the pieces were relatively small, so that this method worked pretty good. The current process for the Atlas is gluing the whole thing, i.e., paper backing directly onto the model.

 

[aerostadt]

I finished adding the chrome mylar today with the completion of the forward transition section. Again, I found that it was best to do this in small sections. Especially, since my transition section had some wave-like warpage that I talked about in earlier posts in this thread. Even the lower section, which had the good polyurethane, developed warpage for reasons that I can only speculate. I found particularly for the warped areas that it was best to firmly press the 4 edges of the mylar section, but lightly or not press the interior surfaces at all. Pressing the interior surface attempts to make the mylar conform to the warped defects causing wrinkles and bubbles to form. BTW the yellow squeegy device that comes with the mylar package really works good. Fortunately, I saved the paper patterns for the transition section. This helped in tracing out the sections on the mylar. Usually, I would need to custom fit the sections to each location. I found sometimes bubbles would form in the mylar before I did the final gluing. These bubbles could be removed by lifting the mylar off the paper backing and gently letting it lie flat again on the paper backing.



Here are some pictures of the final mylar work.

 

[NJRick]

Aerostadt...that is magnificent!!!!!:eyepop: she has turned out just gorgeous!!

I finished adding the chrome mylar today with the completion of the forward transition section. Again, I found that it was best to do this in small sections. Especially, since my transition section had some wave-like warpage that I talked about in earlier posts in this thread. Even the lower section, which had the good polyurethane, developed warpage for reasons that I can only speculate. I found particularly for the warped areas that it was best to firmly press the 4 edges of the mylar section, but lightly or not press the interior surfaces at all. Pressing the interior surface attempts to make the mylar conform to the warped defects causing wrinkles and bubbles to form. BTW the yellow squeegy device that comes with the mylar package really works good. Fortunately, I saved the paper patterns for the transition section. This helped in tracing out the sections on the mylar. Usually, I would need to custom fit the sections to each location. I found sometimes bubbles would form in the mylar before I did the final gluing. These bubbles could be removed by lifting the mylar off the paper backing and gently letting it lie flat again on the paper backing.

View attachment 151251View attachment 151252

Here are some pictures of the final mylar work.

View attachment 151257View attachment 151258View attachment 151259

 

[rocketguy101]

Wow...wow...wow!!! That is beautiful! When does she fly?

 

[Owen Eldridge]

I don't know how I missed this thread. Amazing job!

Thanks, Rick!

I have started to put on the chrome mylar. At first I decided to peel the chrome off the paper and apply it to the model. Even though the light fiberglass weave is fine, the weave did not fill in with paint. When I applied a small section of bare chrome, the finish was not flat and not as shiny as I would like. After a few days the chrome lifted slightly and pulled away from the weave (I did not press the chrome excessively). It was then shiny enough. I waited a few days and I was ready to apply more bare chrome. When I looked at the chrome, one side was loose like a page in a book. I then decided to leave the chrome on the paper backing and attach the whole thing with spray adhesive. This worked good and the finish was flat and shiny.

At first I didn't want to do this idea, because if something went wrong, the paper would be a glued mess. Whereas the mylar alone can be peeled off easily. However, I was happy with this new approach. Actually, I had some bubbles form on one quarter circumference of chrome (with the paper backing), but I was happy to find that I could lift the quarter-round up and remove the bubbles. So far, I have been spraying both the model surface and the paper backing. Today I did one section three-quarters-round. This did not work good and so I found out that I tried to do too much. In fact I lifted some of the paper backing up and the paper tore. In any a case I pressed the chrome with backing into place. I will not try doing this much, again.

The spray adhesive is shown below. I think it is best to use the spray adhesive sparingly. I found that rubbing alcohol and paper towels are good for removing out of place adhesive.

View attachment 150780View attachment 150781View attachment 150782View attachment 150783

 

[Daddyisabar]

Any bigger an they would call you the Astronaut Farmer. I still have not seen that movie.

 

[Brent]

I finished adding the chrome mylar today with the completion of the forward transition section. Again, I found that it was best to do this in small sections. Especially, since my transition section had some wave-like warpage that I talked about in earlier posts in this thread. Even the lower section, which had the good polyurethane, developed warpage for reasons that I can only speculate. I found particularly for the warped areas that it was best to firmly press the 4 edges of the mylar section, but lightly or not press the interior surfaces at all. Pressing the interior surface attempts to make the mylar conform to the warped defects causing wrinkles and bubbles to form. BTW the yellow squeegy device that comes with the mylar package really works good. Fortunately, I saved the paper patterns for the transition section. This helped in tracing out the sections on the mylar. Usually, I would need to custom fit the sections to each location. I found sometimes bubbles would form in the mylar before I did the final gluing. These bubbles could be removed by lifting the mylar off the paper backing and gently letting it lie flat again on the paper backing.



View attachment 151251View attachment 151252

Here are some pictures of the final mylar work.

View attachment 151257View attachment 151258View attachment 151259

Looks great! Would the Chrome vinyl like Mark ( Sticker Shock ) uses went on more easy?

 

[aerostadt]

Thanks, everyone, for all the compliments and encouragement! This model will not fly until the Hellfire-19 rocket meet sponsored by UROC around the end of July 2014 on the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Looks great! Would the Chrome vinyl like Mark ( Sticker Shock ) uses went on more easy?

Brent

As far as I know the situation would be the same with Mark's mylar. One time I bought Marks's decals and mylar for a Semroc clone of a Gemini-Titan. It looked great, but I found that it was a challenge to apply. I think with hindsight it might be easier now. Again, it pays not to do too much all at one time. Doing sections instead, one at a time is better. It looked to me that Mark was able to print vinyl decals on top of mylar sheets, an ingenious idea in itself.

 

[wilsotr]

Part of this attitude is that I am lazy ...

Um ..... no. Lazy people don't have Mercury-Atlas launch vehicles sticking up from their back yards. Very nice work!

 

[aerostadt]

Um ..... no. Lazy people don't have Mercury-Atlas launch vehicles sticking up from their back yards. Very nice work!

Thanks, Tim! As I mentioned on the other thread about the Navajo, I like your detailed write-up on EMRR (Rocket Reviews). For a long time I have thought about printing out the pdf file and building your design.

 

[sodmeister]

What a beautiful beast that is ,you did an incredible job ,magnificent actually !

I myself would be scared half to death trying to figure out and then apply all that chrome mylar ,it turned out looking the part !

Very nice work ,craftsmanship really.

Sincerely

Paul t

 

[aerostadt]

Thanks, Paul, for those really good words of encouragement. Well, after about a month I came back to this project to visit the escape tower. At one time I was thinking of having the ejection tower jettison with its own ignition system and then have another ignition system to fire the parachute in the capsule. After considerable thought I decided against these ideas for the following reasons: 1) this is too complicated, 2) I need to cram too much stuff into the escape tower motor compartment and it becomes too elongated, 3) the capsule is too heavy for a parachute crammed into the small space in the top of the capsule. So, I am going to use a chute in the main body tube like Matt Johnson did for his Atlas/Mercury and have the electronics to jettison the escape tower in a modified base under the capsule. I used this method about 3 years ago for the Neubauer 1/17.5 scale Mercury/Redstone and it worked pretty well. There are some photos of the Mercury/Redstone jettison system below. The first picture shows the new escape tower along side of repair for the Neubauer tower. The motor was an Estes 13 mm motor and the escape tower truss system was coated with sodium silicate solution after it was painted red.

 

[aerostadt]

Previously, I bought laser-cut parts from Matt Johnson. He was going to use similar parts for his back-up tower. I decided to use Matt's parts as a pattern. That way if I break my tower I can build a new one. Otherwise, if I change my mind I can go back and use Matt's parts and make a new tower. I am using 3/16" diameter wood dowels for the main struts and 1/8" diameter wood dowels for the cross pieces. The new tower will have thicker struts then the plastic model, but this is really sports-scale and a robust design should be good.

 

[Turd]

This is an exceptional build!

I just started gathering parts for a 1/12 MR using the Atomic City capsule. Are those laser cut escape tower struts available somewhere? I exhausted Google and the forum search trying to find any info or a store for Matt Johnson. If they aren't available I can easily build one from dowels but they look like an excellent time saver.

Thanks! I look forward to seeing more of your Mercury Atlas.