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Kewl!

Speaking of which, any paint progress here?

Not much to speak of! The primer was completed and I started to spray the first coat of satin white, but didn't have enough paint. So now I'm waiting until I have an opportunity to get more paint. I may put together an online order and see if I can get some delivered.

I'd like to try and copy the paint scheme on the 3D model, but it has a fade from black to white which looks tricky. I like the Krylon paints best for doing fades, they work really well, but I've only attempted more subtle fade transitions. I may do the black to white transition anyway, it probably won't come out like the 3D model, but I'll decide if the result is ok. My idea is to do satin white to flat black, with gloss yellow, and some gloss black decals on top of the flat black.
 
Speaking of which, any advice on fades? I've done a couple by making very fast dives with the second color into the base. they came out OK, but it seems impossible that way to get either a really well defined fade area or a speckle free, smooth fade look. Is there a better way?
 
Speaking of which, any advice on fades? I've done a couple by making very fast dives with the second color into the base. they came out OK, but it seems impossible that way to get either a really well defined fade area or a speckle free, smooth fade look. Is there a better way?

I don't know, mine don't always have a well defined fade area, nor are totally speckle free. I think that the smaller the rocket is, the easier it is to get a well defined fade area, and the bigger the rocket is, the easier it is to get a relatively speckle free result. I do think that Krylon works much better than Rustoleum for fades. I don't know why.

I was happy with the way that these fades came out, I used 4 colors to get the transitions I wanted. It's not totally speckle free, but with the decals and a coat of clear, it doesn't show too much.

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Speaking of which, any advice on fades? I've done a couple by making very fast dives with the second color into the base. they came out OK, but it seems impossible that way to get either a really well defined fade area or a speckle free, smooth fade look. Is there a better way?
Use an airbrush? ;)

There have been some pretty nice rattle-can fades shown on TRF over the years, including Marten's rockets above. I haven't had the nerve to try one yet.
 
One trick I learned years ago for fades w/ rattle cans: Bring a pot of water (water about 2" deep) to a boil. TURN OFF HEAT and place rattle can upright in the water for a couple of minutes. Pull it out, shake well then back in the water for a couple minutes more. Shake well and shoot. What this does is kick the pressure in the can up just a bit and thins the paint in the can just a bit. The result is better, finer atomization of the paint. An airbrush or detail gun has adjustments to allow this but, sadly, cans don't so this is the next best thing (at least that I've found). This also works for shooting in cooler weather. If you have one, the airbrush is a better way to go. Kick the pressure at the brush up to 60psi or better and use a well reduced paint (about the viscosity of milk). FWIW.
 
One trick I learned years ago for fades w/ rattle cans: Bring a pot of water (water about 2" deep) to a boil. TURN OFF HEAT and place rattle can upright in the water for a couple of minutes. Pull it out, shake well then back in the water for a couple minutes more. Shake well and shoot

Interesting, thanks for posting.
 
One trick I learned years ago for fades w/ rattle cans: Bring a pot of water (water about 2" deep) to a boil. TURN OFF HEAT and place rattle can upright in the water for a couple of minutes. Pull it out, shake well then back in the water for a couple minutes more. Shake well and shoot.

Boiling water? Folks need to be super careful with this. Too much heat and the can will explode. At which point you'll need to call the police to report a murder.... 'cause your wife is going to kill you when she see's how you "splatter painted" the kitchen. :p

The better plan is to put the spray can in a large container and run hot tap water into it for a few minutes, then let it set for 10 minutes.

I do this every time I use a rattle can for painting.
 

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Yeah, what Lake said... Hot water from the tap is plenty hot enough to get the results you're looking for without risking the Mr. Bean paint job.

BTW - if anyone is looking for a cheapo airbrush that is actually pretty good check out Harbor Fright. They have a nice little dual action airbrush and an airbrush compressor that can be had for under a hundred bucks. Make sure to get the compressor with the pressure regulator though, you'll need that to get the best results.
 
Boiling water? Folks need to be super careful with this. Too much heat and the can will explode. At which point you'll need to call the police to report a murder.... 'cause your wife is going to kill you when she see's how you "splatter painted" the kitchen. :p

The better plan is to put the spray can in a large container and run hot tap water into it for a few minutes, then let it set for 10 minutes.

I do this every time I use a rattle can for painting.
This is why you turn the heat OFF First. The can will not explode. Done this hundreds of times with no issue. The water actually cools relatively quickly. The can (and the paint inside act as a heat sink). That's why you need to "dunk" it a second time. It's an option. Whoever doesn't feel comfortable doing it... Don't.
 
This is why you turn the heat OFF First. The can will not explode. Done this hundreds of times with no issue. The water actually cools relatively quickly. The can (and the paint inside act as a heat sink). That's why you need to "dunk" it a second time. It's an option. Whoever doesn't feel comfortable doing it... Don't.
If it explodes, you will still likely get a fade paint job......just not necessarily on the rocket!
 
If it explodes, you will still likely get a fade paint job......just not necessarily on the rocket!

I was at a friend's house and his 9 year old son disapeared with another friend in one of the barns that had wood working equipment and paint supplies. Some time later he re-appeared with a completely red head, hair, and a red fade down the rest of his body to his toes. It turned out that he tried to open up a spray can of red paint with a screwdriver, and succeeded. He had pink hair for weeks after that.
 
I was at a friend's house and his 9 year old son disapeared with another friend in one of the barns that had wood working equipment and paint supplies. Some time later he re-appeared with a completely red head, hair, and a red fade down the rest of his body to his toes. It turned out that he tried to open up a spray can of red paint with a screwdriver, and succeeded. He had pink hair for weeks after that.

Yeah but did he have a fade?
 
I was at a friend's house and his 9 year old son disapeared with another friend in one of the barns that had wood working equipment and paint supplies. Some time later he re-appeared with a completely red head, hair, and a red fade down the rest of his body to his toes. It turned out that he tried to open up a spray can of red paint with a screwdriver, and succeeded. He had pink hair for weeks after that.
Was this before or after Virtual School came on the scene? I can see advantages to home schooling from the kid’s point of view for that week!
 
Yes, I was considering a strip of aluminum foil glued to the bottom of that "thing".
Also, there is the dryer duct tape, peel and stick aluminum, little thicker than foil.

Or, if you wanted to go with paint, they make black and metallic silver high-temp BBQ paint in a spray can.
 
I was at a friend's house and his 9 year old son disapeared with another friend in one of the barns that had wood working equipment and paint supplies. Some time later he re-appeared with a completely red head, hair, and a red fade down the rest of his body to his toes. It turned out that he tried to open up a spray can of red paint with a screwdriver, and succeeded. He had pink hair for weeks after that.
Yeah but did he have a fade?

One of my TARC students (high school, not even middle school!) did basically this with some fluorescent pink paint. He was trying to clear a clog with a nail, and punctured the seal. He kept most of it on his hands, the grass, and the sidewalk though. You leave the group with another parent for one day... 😀
 
Was this before or after Virtual School came on the scene? I can see advantages to home schooling from the kid’s point of view for that week!

This was before, something like 2 years ago. His parents let him "show off" his pink hair as its own reward!
 
Also, there is the dryer duct tape, peel and stick aluminum, little thicker than foil......
Second this suggestion. I use it all the time. Most notably on the bottom of my IRIS and on the Service Modules of my Saturn V & 1B. Best off, if you wrinkle it during application, just pull it off and start over w/ a new piece.
 
Alright, it has been too long. So in a fit of impatience I grabbed some spray cans, the masking tape, and decided to just get the rocket painted. Every time I went downstairs to the basement, Boom was sitting there, naked, just waiting for paint. I had originally imagined taking my time, and putting in the effort to try and get a nice paint job, but now I just wanted to finish it.

So between some late hours at night, and borrowed minutes here and there, I got the black on.

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(Yes, I really need to cut the grass. I literally wheedwhacked a maze through it.)

This is satin white, with flat black, and I'll do the color in gloss. It took quite a few masking operations to get this pattern. The black to white fade is quite speckled, with such contrasting paints it is hard to really hide anything. But after I do the bright yellow (or green?) highlights I think it will look ok sitting on the pad, from a distance. The paint job is not the best part of this rocket.

Edit: FWIW, this is the theme I'm following, from the 3D model.

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Ah nuts. I knew better, but I thought maybe I could do the yellow and just finish the painting. Blargh. I needed to wait longer before masking over the black, it lifted up with the masking tape. So now I either need to re-mask and re-paint, or come up with another plan. That's what I get for rushing, more work.

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I’m gonna go out on a limb here and just say it, this is not (IMO) a good rocket for a fade. The (unpainted) rocket lines are just plain gorgeous. Go with a single color (gloss white or maybe a cream) and use some panel lines and simple decals for the rest. A fade (again IMO) detracts from the great inherent lines rather than accentuates them.
 
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and just say it, this is not (IMO) a good rocket for a fade. The (unpainted) rocket lines are just plain gorgeous. Go with a single color (gloss white or maybe a cream) and use some panel lines and simple decals for the rest. A fade (again IMO) detracts from the great inherent lines rather than accentuates them.

Yeah, thanks for the honest opinion. I'm not super thrilled with the fade either. Sometimes less is more.

It's hard to tell from the 3D model, but I'm not even sure that the wings have a fade, it might just be a result of the lighting and reflections. I'll sit on it for a bit and ponder what to do for paint. The simplest option would be to go solid black on the wings. Another option would be go all white (or off-white as you suggested) and some simple stripes, like the artists rendition in my avatar.

The finishing and painting steps are my least favorite part of the process, anybody want to paint a rocket? o_O
 
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