Falcon 9 with Dragon capsule

[SteveNeill]

Work has begun on the BT60 sized Falcon 9 with the Dragon capsule.

Got the capsule basic shape on the lathe. Started adding the thrusters. There are 4 in all. Once they are all added I'll primer and sand and then scribe the hatch and window panel lines.

I'll be lathing the boat tail nexts. The landing legs will be made from vacuum formed styrene.

I planning brass etched parts for the air brakes on the booster.
I'm going to make this as scale as possible.

 

[SteveNeill]

We are making great progress towards the Falcon 9 model starting with the Dragon capsule which I'm scratch building all by hand. I love doing the work of hand crafting something. I feel it gives me more of a reward for my efforts and more value to the piece. Although not as pristine as a 3D printed part for me it has a bit more realism as capsules, aircraft and other vehicles are built by human hands for the most part still.




So far I have lathed, made parts, coated the master with a half can of primer, sanded, filled, and primered and the same again about 4 times. Yesterday I started scribing details. I made styrene templates, as guides for some of it. Made oval aluminum tubing dies to press for windows and thrusters. And a lot more was just free hand scribed using rat tail fine point files and a steady hand.




At this size one has little choice. I would guess the time it took to do all this was less than spending the hours in CAD and watching the machine print it. Not to mention all the time and difficulty one faces when sanding smooth a 3D printed part at this size.




Next is to let the layers of primer dry and then fine tune it one more time. Make a mold in silicone and make a resin hard copy. I'll then point that up more and make the final mold. Once made in one consistent material such as resin it becomes easier to point up to…well…perfection if there is such a thing.

 

[kuririn]

Fascinating.

 

[Tom Howe]

Nice work. Will this be a static model or risk in coming down in a tree to become a water bucket?

 

[SteveNeill]

This will be a flying model rocket kit. Water bucket is optional.

 

[captbk]

What happened to this build?

 

[SteveNeill]

Very low interest is what happened but I am working on it again as there are several people that want the kit despite the other kits available.

 

[kuririn]

Considering the events of the past couple of days I think it would be safe to say that there is considerable interest in a kit now.

 

[SteveNeill]

Agreed.

 

[Funkworks]

Considering the events of the past couple of days I think it would be safe to say that there is considerable interest in a kit now.

I also agree. Puff the magic Dragon has spoken.

 

[NOLA_BAR]

I was thinking it would be cool if just the trunk and crew module portion could be made as a flying model.

 

[SteveNeill]

When I started this project the images available of the capsule looked different than what was used recently. I opted to sick with what I had rather than start over. I have worked more on it. I'll be making a mold next week and working on the lathe for the boat tail and nine little engines.

The BT tubes arrived today so I can start on the Falcon 9. I also got all the PE parts for the landing legs and brakes.

Remember this is all hand crafted. I own a lot of machines and tools but never fancied a 3D printer.

 

[Rktman]

You, sir, are a true artist and amazing craftsman!

 

[SteveNeill]

Thank you Eric!

A bit more progress here. Making new parts, lathing, making masters and molds.

 

[Aeronerd]

Thank you Eric!

A bit more progress here. Making new parts, lathing, making masters and molds.

Wow those are very small parts but still very detailed.

 

[SteveNeill]

I have finally made the molds and produced castings from them. I starting to assemble the first one this week. I hope to launch at a secret location(since we aren't allowed to launch in CA and the nearest place for me is a 6 hour round trip drive) close to my studio. If all goes well kits will follow of this semi scale model. Here's some pictures of the progress:

 

[SteveNeill]

Engine cluster mold.

 

[Cape Byron]

Looks amazing.

 

[SteveNeill]

More progress here. Lots of pictures we are getting closer to a first launch. She will take a D-E.

https://sngaero.wordpress.com/2020/08/11/the-latest-on-falcon-dragon-kit-8-11-2020/

 

[hermanjc]

This is awesome, great work. Did you make the engine nozzles or find small pieces that look like them somewhere? I'm working on a scratch built falcon heavy, so I need 24 of them.

 

[SteveNeill]

I used the tops off if some water color pens. They were nearly the same and then I made a silicone mold. Thanks for the kind words!