Cuda Build

[Ez2cDave]

I purchased a gold Sharpie and tried coloring the screw heads. It didn't work out to well because the screw head surface is very irregular. They ended up looking anything but round so I painted them gray again. I am going to rethink how to do the screwheads for my build of the Peregrine missile.

-Bob

Bob,

If they need to be "Gold", what about using Brass screws ?

Dave F.

 

[Bruiser]

The screws in all the pictures of artist's conceptions and the photo of the model built in the Lockheed Model Department look like they are a different color than the body color but they are the only references I have. They could be yellow, they could be zinc chromate, or even stainless. I really don't know what color they would be on an actual "operational" missile. I know there were test missiles fired but I have not found any actual photos of them. Kinda gives me a little leeway to go with a "reasonable" solution

It's not really a super scale model anyway because I am basically using the photo of the model built by Lockheed, and artist's conceptual drawing from two different sources along with data from multiple sources I have found on the internet. None of the sources agree on anything other than it is just shy of 6 feet long. I did reach out to Lockheed but I never heard back.

So what I am going to do here is invent a new category for scale builds. I'll call it Estes Scale. That means it is recognizable for what it is but the numbers may not be right on the money if you measure

So Dave, just out of curiosity are you suggesting chamfering holes into the body tube, cutting the heads off actual screws and gluing them in?

-Bob

 

[neil_w]

So what I am going to do here is invent a new category for scale builds. I'll call it Estes Scale. That means it is recognizable for what it is but the numbers may not be right on the money if you measure

No need to invent a new term, we already have one: Sport Scale.

 

[Ez2cDave]

So Dave, just out of curiosity are you suggesting chamfering holes into the body tube, cutting the heads off actual screws and gluing them in?

-Bob

Yes, that would be my suggestion ( leaving a short section of the original threads for the glue to grab ) . . . More work, but worth it !

Dave F.

 

[rdrown]

Blue bands indicate an inert (display) missile.

Absolutely correct.

 

[Bruiser]

I worked on the nose cone today. I got the mount ring for the nose bulkhead fabricated and epoxied in. I have the bulkhead made as well but I need to enlarge the screw holes slightly.



I am wondering if I need to fill in the area of the nose cone shoulder that was removed?


-Bob

 

[Nytrunner]

For my Madcow Phoenix, I put Blue bands on the payload section, and brown bands on the booster section

For the nose shoulder, It looks like it should be ok as is. You have most of it full-round, so it should be moving out with authority by the time the cutout gets outside of the tube.
When in doubt: Ground test!

 

[Doug Rocket]

Build is looking great. Wish I had time to post all my builds as well. I'm going to use your fin sanding technique to get my Madcow Patriot fins airfoil.

 

[Bruiser]

I ordered some yellow, brown and medium red paint. I'll pick up the yellow and red when I drop off my dog to the handler on Monday. The brown won't be in until Tuesday so it'll have to wait until I pick the dog up the following week

Having nothing else to do yesterday morning I started filling in the shoulder area of the nose cone. I made a rind of card stock to fit inside and epoxied it in place. Then I built up the cut out area with more card stock. It's almost finished now. I just need to make a nice fillet of glue on the inside where the cardstock meets the bulkhead ring.



I have a few other things I need to work out while waiting for the paint to come in. Stay tuned

-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

I worked on the nose cone this weekend.

First thing was to add in the 2 ounces of weight it'll need if I decide to become a level 1. I drilled across the nose cone in two spots approximately 1" from the tip and installed two toothpicks 90 degrees from each other so they formed a cross. Then I mixed the two ounces of shot (that a couple of twelve gauge shells donated) with some epoxy. I made a paper funnel and scooped the mixture into the nosecone and tamped it down with a wooden dowel to get it packed in nicely.



Next thing was to prep for paint. I filled the irregular area where I installed the toothpicks with some body filler and sprayed Rustoleum 2 in1 One Filler and Sandable primer. I found the seams needed some filling so I applied some more body filler there. After a wet sanding I sprayed another coat of primer and let it sit. Yesterday I did a light wet sanding and sprayed on the official Cuda Missile Light Gray. Krylon Industrial also calls it pewter gray. This morning I taped off the forward part of the nose cone and sprayed on the Cuda Missile Medium Gray (also known as smoke gray). I am really like this paint so far.


I go to El Paso today and will be picking up some yellow and red paint while there. Sadly the brown won't be in unit tomorrow

-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

I have been working with a very talented person that is here on the forum to come up with a paint mask for the ACMs on the rocket. Between the two of us we came up with the number of ACMs for each column, the amount of columns as well as the horizontal and vertical spacing. Then he was able to take all that information and "draw" it out for me. I'd write his name here but I'm not sure if he wants to remain incognito or not I'd still be making circles with my compass if not for his help!

I took the file and developed a mask using the software for my Cricut Maker and cut it out. It took a few tries to get it just right because the overlap was critical. There were 500 dots and I spent most of the evening weeding them out to make the mask. This morning I trimmed the mask and it looked like this


I test fit the mask on the body tube and it was perfect! I placed a few pieces of tape to help guide it into place because you do not want to keep lifting it off to reposition it. The mask is vinyl and it will stretch and that will cause ripples when you finally get it just right. While vinyl stretches easily it does not compact so well. Luckily I nailed it on the first try. The darker blue stripe you see is the overlap.


Once I did get the wrinkles worked out I grabbed the paint can. After a few light sprays I let it sit for a few minutes then pulled off the masking and the paint mask. I am very happy with the results. Oh, the paint was Krylon Industrial Acrli-Quik in ACM Black (also known as gloss black).


That's it for today but more to come tomorrow

-Bob

 

[tab28682]

Looking good!

 

[Bruiser]

Picked up the can of Armament Brown from the Krylon Industrial Acryli-Quick line of paints yesterday while I was in El Paso. It's also known as Leather Brown in some circles

Got it taped off and sprayed today so now all the color is on. Just need some markings and then a parachute.


-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

I have been working on the paint masks for all the stenciling and I was able to finish them up this afternoon. The Cricut software moved everything around when it set up the cut file so I need to over ride a lot of what it did but I finally did get the cut done. I spent all evening weeding the mask out. I still need to cut out each individual mask out. For example there are 16 "NO LIFT" masks. Each of them needs to be cut out from the sheet so they can be individually placed where needed. I'll be working on them tomorrow.

The real reason for this late post is I need some input. When I clear coat the rocket should I stick with the gloss finish or should I go for a flat clear coat?

-Bob

 

[tab28682]

Flat vs gloss is up to you. Real ones would be flat or semi gloss/matt.

We typically paint show models like the Cuda "flat-ish" Dead flat is hard to keep clean and picks up stuff marks. Semi flat looked better. We mixed our own custom flat clear that was about 70-80% flat.

If I was painting from a spray can, I would use semi gloss, personally.

BTW, my Silhouette Cameo software is 100% obedient and does not rearrange things...

 

[Bruiser]

Today I sprayed the markings on. I did the front this morning and the rear a little while ago. I have to apologize in that I did not take any photos of the process. I had meant to take a photo of it masked up, sprayed, then with the mask removed. Problem is once it was masked up I was so anxious to get it sprayed and demasked so I could see how it came out that I completely forgot. No decals on this one It's all Krylon Industrial Acryli-Quik lacquer

All that is left now is a clear coat of some sort, install the motor retainer, rail buttons and the recovery system. Here's how it looks now in shiny glory




So far I have found flat Krylon and Rustoleum flat lacquer locally but I haven't been to Hobby Lobby yet.

-Bob

 

[neil_w]

That came out fantastic.

 

[Bruiser]

Thank you Neil.

I stopped by Hobby Lobby and they had a plethora of Krylon clears but no satin with UV inhibitors, only matte or gloss. Now I need to decide if UV inhibitors are important and if they are, then matte or gloss. Don't think that I want matte/flat as I'll never get the desert off them after a launch

-Bob

 

[neil_w]

I agree there are no satin clearcoat sprays that are specifically advertised as being UV-protective.

One of these days I'm going to try making satin Future by adding Tamiya flat base to it. It can be done but I haven't tried it yet. The nice thing about Future is that it is absolutely safe to apply to any paint. Spray clearcoats seem to be a bit risky; but I haven't had a problem myself with the Krylon UV-protective clear (in very limited use, mind you).

 

[neil_w]

[duplicate removed]

 

[Bruiser]

I did something today that Neil always says to do... I did a test spray Not only for compatibility but also for the sheen, or shininess if there is such a word.

I sprayed some of the ACM black on a test piece of cardboard and let it dry overnight. Oops, I lied... I should have wrote I finished something today that I started yesterday.

So today I masked off the left two-thirds of the test spray area and sprayed on some Krylon gloss clear coat. Then I taped off the right two-thirds of the spray area and sprayed on some Krylon matte clear coat.

After drying you can really see the difference. I tried my best to capture it in this picture but it really doesn't do it justice. The matte is just flat. The middle area is just the paint and I think it would be about the same if I had sprayed it with some satin but I didn't have any. Then right area is gloss and is it ever shiny! Far to shiny for this project.

I had pretty much decided to go matte but after typing this I am now wondering what would satin actually look like? That has triggered my OCD so I will have to go to Hobby Lobby and purchase the non-UV stable satin clear coat they have there at the way-to-high price of 9.99 plus tax. Prices weren't too bad when there was the 40% off coupon. Wish there was somewhere else to get it. For example the matte is under 5 bucks at Wally World, just sayin'. Well time to stop the whine, here's the photo:


More to come,
-Bob

Edit: I got side-tracked there about HL prices. The reason why I need to see satin is because I remember there use to be four "degrees" of shininess: flat, satin, semi-gloss, and glossy. So using that scale I would say my spray out is flat, semi gloss and glossy. I must see satin before I spray the missile flat.

 

[Bruiser]

It made lunchtime a blur but inquiring minds (me) wanted to know (today) so I went to HL at lunch and bought the satin Krylon clear coat. I did a test spray and the sheen-ness (?) level was between the flat/matte and the paint alone.

You know what that means , right? Yep, a quick wipe down then on the broom handle the missile went for a few coats of satin clear coat. Pics to come tomorrow after it dries tonight.

-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

Last night I realized that the retainer was not glued on yet. I usually wait until after the paint is on and since that is done I mixed up some JB Weld and put the retainer in place. For some reason I always seem to get JB Weld everywhere when I use it. Must be one of Murphy's laws because it's a little tough to clean off. This morning I screwed on the other half and it came out right where I wanted it to


I also realized that I still needed to install the forward rail button mount. I had made it the same time I made the rear by laminating two pieces of 1/8th ply together then contouring them to the inside curve of the three inch body tube. Since the forward mount would be in the parachute area I also contoured the front and back so nothing would hang up.


Next was to attach it to a stick so I could get it down inside the tube. A couple drops of CA on the weld nut then I held the stick in place for a minute or two because CA doesn't really like sticking to metal


Then I coated the ply with some epoxy, inserted it down into the tube and installed the rail button. It took a little patience but here's how it looks once I twisted the stick off.


That's all for now folks,
-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

I weighed the Cuda with all but the chute release, dog barf, Nomex chute protector and whatever rings I am going to use to connect the chute and the nose cone to the harness and it came in at 23.5 ounces. I don't know if that is good or bad. I don't recall what the sim estimated and my laptop is at home. I also need to check the CG still.

Ready for the money shot? Here it is:


All I actually have left to do is enlarge the screw holes that hold the plate in the nose cone. There's no wiggle room and the 3 screws don't want to go in. Also need to figure out how I am going to attach the chute to the harness.

Biggest thing on my mind now? Which rocket to build next. I did start the Peregrine, but Neil's recent rocket in Apogee has got me thinking back to a scale rocket I was going to build to submit to Apogee. I even bought the parts from them to make it easy for anyone wanting to build it. Then there's the order I just placed with AC Supply. Got a bunch on interesting projects planned with that. Well interesting to me anyway

Thanks to everyone that followed along and offered thoughts along the way,
-Bob

 

[neil_w]

Gorgeous, really outstanding work.

 

[Bruiser]

Thank you Neil. Your favorite from the run off will benefit from all I learned while building the Cuda. The Peregrine should be even better

I think they will both make the debut flights at the same time. You know on this one I was worried about the ACMs but I finally decided how I was going to do them and your help was the cornerstone with them. On the Peregrine I am trying to figure out how to make the rear fins because they have four facets on each side. I know the answer is that cuss word you hear a lot here--sanding. I normally don't mind it that much but I just don't seem to want to pick up my sanding tools... I am looking at the stack of 1/8th thick fins right now...


-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

The Cuda did it's thing on Saturday. I estimate the altitude was near 1,000 feet with the Aerotech F67-6. Nice flight and recovery.



Sorry for the low quality. They were launching some research motors and it was the only set up with a rail so the rocket was far, far away and I was in super zoom mode

-Bob

 

[tab28682]

Excellent!

 

[Bruiser]

I am thinking of staging a race between it and the Peregrine. I need to get some more motors first

-BOb