Hypersonic glider...

[Mugs914]

Okay, here is what I ended up with...

Before spraying color, I added rivet detail all over everything to give it a "made of metal" look. It is very subtle, but once everything is done the weathering will make it stand out a bit.

The pre-shading did provide the effect I was after. I airbrushed the Vallejo aluminum in very light coats so I could build up the layers to achieve the right look. It was pretty fun actually, because I could get anything from a light silverish frost over the color to solid opaque aluminum depending on how heavily the metallic was applied. The underlying color didn't seem to make much difference in the final result, but in places there is a subtle effect.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It's interesting to see that it looks a little bit different in the pics than in person.

Gonna let the silver dry for a while, then it will get a clear coat. After that a little color and weathering.

 

[Mugs914]

Here are a couple taken without a flash...

 

[Rktman]

This would make a great build article to submit to the NAR"s Sport Rocketry mag!

 

[Brian V]

Looking Great!!

 

[Mugs914]

This would make a great build article to submit to the NAR"s Sport Rocketry mag!

Thanks Eric! That might be a good idea.

Maybe I should see if it flies first, though...

 

[Mugs914]

Well guys, the sled is about finished!

I got it all painted, added a bunch of decals, glued the launch lug/tank assembly on with 30 minute epoxy and it is now awaiting a clear matte coat and a bit of weathering.

Pics!

 

[Mugs914]

Here are some more pics. Some were taken without a flash and that seems to bring out different details...









In addition to the stuff mentioned above, the rear of the main tanks (the tail cone parts) will be getting a "thermal blanket" wrap made out of aluminum foil and foil tape.

As for the glider, a couple of coat of sanding sealer and it should be ready for a light coat of primer and some blue-black-ish paint to give it that X-15 Inconel look.

Once painted the real fun will begin. Pre-flight testing...

Nose(es) weight will be required, but the final amount will be determined by swing tests in two dimensions to confirm stability both in pitch and yaw. I'm not really concerned about pitch stability, but positive yaw stability may require the addition of a ventral fin to the center tank between the launch lugs. I'll probably go ahead and build the fin just in case it is needed.

As always, thanks for looking in!

Mike

 

[Rktman]

Here are some more pics. Some were taken without a flash and that seems to bring out different details...

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In addition to the stuff mentioned above, the rear of the main tanks (the tail cone parts) will be getting a "thermal blanket" wrap made out of aluminum foil and foil tape.

As for the glider, a couple of coat of sanding sealer and it should be ready for a light coat of primer and some blue-black-ish paint to give it that X-15 Inconel look.

Once painted the real fun will begin. Pre-flight testing...

Nose(es) weight will be required, but the final amount will be determined by swing tests in two dimensions to confirm stability both in pitch and yaw. I'm not really concerned about pitch stability, but positive yaw stability may require the addition of a ventral fin to the center tank between the launch lugs. I'll probably go ahead and build the fin just in case it is needed.

As always, thanks for looking in!

Mike

Loving that detail work! How were the simulated rivets done?

 

[Mugs914]

Loving that detail work! How were the simulated rivets done?

Thanks Eric!

The rivets were done with a rivet tool for plastic modelling. They come in lots of sizes, single row and double row and are like tiny spurs with a handle attached. I wasn't sure if it would work well on the tube or not, but a light touch seemed just to imprint the primer leaving the desired effect.

The rivet tools are available from most plastic model shops. The sizes are usually related to common plastic airplane scales; 1/72, 1/48, 1/32 and 1/24. The only real difference is the resulting rivet spacing 1/72 being the closest spacing, 1/24 being the greatest.

 

[Rktman]

Very cool tool. So they're concave and not convex rivets then?

 

[Mugs914]

Very cool tool. So they're concave and not convex rivets then?

Yep, concave. Most airplanes are flush-riveted, so the rivets only really show as a color difference anyway. On plastic a quick wash with very thin paint will settle in the panel lines and rivet "dents" and create a pretty realistic looking effect. I'm hoping it'll work on this too.

 

[user 35280]

Thanks Eric!

The rivets were done with a rivet tool for plastic modelling. They come in lots of sizes, single row and double row and are like tiny spurs with a handle attached. I wasn't sure if it would work well on the tube or not, but a light touch seemed just to imprint the primer leaving the desired effect.

The rivet tools are available from most plastic model shops. The sizes are usually related to common plastic airplane scales; 1/72, 1/48, 1/32 and 1/24. The only real difference is the resulting rivet spacing 1/72 being the closest spacing, 1/24 being the greatest.

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The rivet tool just makes a mark and/or indentation in the tube?

 

[Mugs914]

The rivet tool just makes a mark and/or indentation in the tube?

Sorry TigerHawk, I haven't checked in for a while and missed your question.

Yes, that is how the tool works. Depending on how hard you press down you can get a very faint mark or almost cut the tube. It is designed to work on plastic so using it on the tube took a pretty gentle touch!

 

[Mugs914]

Here is the latest progress report, and I'm not sure this is going to be everyone's cup of tea...

I know a lot of people don't care for the "used look", but I like to add a bit of weathering when appropriate. I think it adds a bit of life to a scale-like model and it is fun to do. If we are honest, anything above very minor weathering usually isn't appropriate on rockets because (until recently) most full-scale rockets fly exactly once.

This model is a bit different in that it is meant to represent a reusable booster sled that gets the hypersonic airplane part up to speed and off on its mission and is then recovered. In fact, the "back story" is that there are several of these booster sleds that are maintained and ready to support the small fleet of hypersonic vehicles.

That said, such a sled would be kept in top shape functionally, but its appearance would not be a huge priority. These things would suffer some significant wear over several high Mach flights and subsequent recoveries, and this means that the model could use a bit of WEATHERING! Woo hoo!

So far I have faded the fluorescent orange panel, added a bit of wear and tear to both painted panels, chipped the markings a bit and done a wash to highlight some of the details and to add a slight overall dirtiness. I'm going to add a little dirt here and there to simulate boot and hand wear in places it would be appropriate and add a few paint chips, etc., to the thrust structure. I think I will be adding some fairly serious scorching and wear to the nose cones, or maybe try to simulate a charred ablative look.

As for the glider part, the sanding sealer is done and sanded, and the first (only) primer coat applied. In the interest of minimal weight most all of the primer will be sanded off leaving just enough to fill a few minor scratches. It is going to be airbrushed with a black/blue/straw/copper/burned metal finish like the X-15. The white primer did make me think of the X-15 A2's white ablative coating, but I thought the dark metal look would be more fun.

Sorry about that, didn't mean to ramble on for that long! Here are the pics, some with and some without flash











The stars and bars on the orange (starboard) side was ripped off by an errant piece of masking tape during the process and had to be replaced. It will be chipped up a bit after it has had a couple of days to dry.

A few more pics next post...

 

[Mugs914]

More as progress warrants...

As always, thanks gents!

Mike

 

[Cape Byron]

Looks brilliant. Great to see weathering applied appropriately.

 

[teepot]

Could you explain what a wash is or how to do it please.

 

[burkefj]

Neat.

 

[Sandy H.]

I'm always glad to see a work of art, whether it is weathered or pristine. Very cool build. Also, I like the rivet tool info. I may never buy one or use one, but thanks for passing the info along! One only learns by self-education or friends passing along great tips!

Sandy.

 

[jqavins]

Looks great.

I have a suggestion for your consideration. In key spots, where there are markings that have been deteriorated, touch them up with a brush so that they look repaired. Like the beautiful, pristine surface wasn't so important to the maintainers, but the markings have to be complete.

Sorry about that, didn't mean to ramble on for that long.

Why would you apologize for discussing the work that, by the very nature of build threads, no one is reading who isn't interested?

 

[Scott_650]

Could you explain what a wash is or how to do it please.

A wash is, basically, a very thinned paint. The idea is to give the model a “dirty” look while highlighting details. Here’s a short how-to from a model railroading site https://modelrailwayengineer.com/model-making-101-making-washes/

 

[modeltrains]

So far I have faded the fluorescent orange panel,

My understanding is that the very second you have caused a fluorescent panel to exist you have by definition already caused it to be faded.

 

[jqavins]

A wash is, basically, a very thinned paint. The idea is to give the model a “dirty” look...

Does anyone else find it ironic that you use a wash to make something look dirty? In every other context, to the best of my knowledge, a wash is used to make something look or be clean.

 

[modeltrains]

In every other context, to the best of my knowledge,

Ah, here's some knowledge to acquire; washes also help define and/or accent shape and depth, shadow versus highlight,

Using washes when painting your miniatures can save you a ton of time. They’re great at quickly shading a model to give it depth, and it’s really easy to do. It’s perfect if you’ve got to batch paint a lot of stuff, or you just want to save some time.

https://creativetwilight.com/washes/#How_to_Use_a_Wash

 

[Mugs914]

A wash is, basically, a very thinned paint. The idea is to give the model a “dirty” look while highlighting details. Here’s a short how-to from a model railroading site https://modelrailwayengineer.com/model-making-101-making-washes/

Ah, here's some knowledge to acquire; washes also help define and/or accent shape and depth, shadow versus highlight,

https://creativetwilight.com/washes/#How_to_Use_a_Wash

Thanks guys, those are great sites, and cover the subject better than I could. One U-Toob scale modeler refers to washes, shading and highlights as "stage makeup".

 

[Mugs914]

Got the primer sanded on the glider today. As I said, most of the primer was sanded off leaving just enough to fill in some problem areas. Kinda looks like it has the mange or something...

Planning on getting the base coat of black (actually a very dark gray) on it tonight. After it dries a bit I'll start masking and adding the various tones and treatments to achieve the "X-15" look.

 

[Enocelot]

What grade sandpaper are you using.

(Wonderful work!)

 

[Mugs914]

Thanks, Enocelot!

As to sandpaper, the answer is, well, lots of different grades... I mostly use sanding sticks because I feel like I have more control with them. The sandpaper usually is reserved for finishing, and for tubes.

That said, I have tons of these sticks around in different grades and keep them until they are completely and totally ruined. For basic balsa shaping I use something like a 150 grit when I want to remove a lot of balsa quickly, but most often use 250 grit stick, followed by 350 then 400 before applying filler coats.

Once a couple of heavy coats of filler are applied (either Carpenter's wood filler or SIG or Brodak sanding sealer for smaller models), I start the finish sanding with 350 to break that initial glaze, then switch to 400 to prep for primer.

Now, if I've done the job half-way properly, the primer will only need to be cleaned up with 400 and 600 grit to be ready for color, though if I'm going with a metallic or gloss finish, I have sanding pads that go all the way to 12,000!

To sand through the primer on this project, I started with 350 because the primer dried rather harder than usual, and I had put it on pretty thick! Once I got through the initial glaze, I switched to a REALLY worn out 400 grit stick so I could go slowly and leave just the thinnest layer where needed. I finished it up with another not-long-for-this-world 600 grit stick to kind of polish it out.

I know this must make me sound like one of those weirdos that builds models just so he gets to do the sanding. Nothing could be further from the truth! Other than the process of shaping the parts, which I do enjoy, I find all of the finish sanding mind-numbingly tedious, but necessary to achieve a result.

Thanks again!

Mike

 

[Enocelot]

Mugs,

Do you have a Podcast? If not, you should think about it.

Besides your talent, you've also got patience with the less gifted/ experienced... and a bit of passion for the "hobby".... Though I have the sinking suspicion you may be a pro....

Thank you for this sanding info, I'll use it.

 

[Enocelot]

Not that I'd ever use except to scratch my buttocks..... but where do you get something as fine grit as 12,000?