New V-2 Kit on the way

[SteveNeill]

Progress on the V-2 5-14-2021

This kit will be 22.5 inches in length and use a BT-80 body tube. The difference between this kit and others in it’s size is it’s scale looks. With a highly detailed nose cone, tail cone, and fins this can be built for static display or flying on a D-G motors. That's right it's big enough for a G if you're brave.

The parts were 3D modeled and printed by my friend Mark Helmick. The parts fit perfectly a BT80. What I’m doing is to fill and sand the parts smooth. After that I’ll hand scribe and detail panel lines, hatches, and rivets. The masters will then be molded in silicone for production parts for kit made in 2 part polyurethane resin. Resin parts I have made for kits in the past have been proven in flight to be durable.

All the builder will have to do is primer and paint. You won’t have to struggle with those raw 3D printed parts trying to sand away the ridges while at the same time losing the detail.
Here’s the parts in the raw form. The fins are scale size and I have proven the model is stable with scale fins on our smaller kit seen in the background.

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More about this and other projects I have going can be seen on my website: https://sngaero.wordpress.com/

 

[rharshberger]

One more V2 to add to my flying collection.....

 

[SteveNeill]

Started filling in those ripples yesterday with Bondo Spot Putty. This works very well and sand easy to a smooth surface that I will then in capsulate in primer. Once this has dried and the surface is hard I begin the process of scribing details in these masters before I mold them for production parts.
The putty has dried overnight and today I'll sand them smooth.

 

[crossfire]

Progress on the V-2 5-14-2021

This kit will be 22.5 inches in length and use a BT-80 body tube. The difference between this kit and others in it’s size is it’s scale looks. With a highly detailed nose cone, tail cone, and fins this can be built for static display or flying on a D-G motors. That's right it's big enough for a G if you're brave.

The parts were 3D modeled and printed by my friend Mark Helmick. The parts fit perfectly a BT80. What I’m doing is to fill and sand the parts smooth. After that I’ll hand scribe and detail panel lines, hatches, and rivets. The masters will then be molded in silicone for production parts for kit made in 2 part polyurethane resin. Resin parts I have made for kits in the past have been proven in flight to be durable.

All the builder will have to do is primer and paint. You won’t have to struggle with those raw 3D printed parts trying to sand away the ridges while at the same time losing the detail.
Here’s the parts in the raw form. The fins are scale size and I have proven the model is stable with scale fins on our smaller kit seen in the background.

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More about this and other projects I have going can be seen on my website: https://sngaero.wordpress.com/

Link dose not work

 

[SteveNeill]

Link dose not work

Thank you I fixed it.

 

[SteveNeill]

Actually the link in the text of the post does work I just checked it. https://sngaero.wordpress.com/

 

[SteveNeill]

Actually the link in the text of the post does work I just checked it. https://sngaero.wordpress.com/

But you have to go to the Latest News in the menu. https://sngaero.wordpress.com/latest-news/

 

[SteveNeill]

Getting rid of the ripples. The Nose cone and boat tail are ripple free. Sanding this 3D printed material wasn't an option. I was warned by the printer it couldn't be done and he was correct. Lots of Bondo Spot putty and a can of primer and they are smooth. My friend Adam Savage taught me about the using many cans of primer to smooth out surfaces when we worked on a projects together. He uses up to 5 cans over time on a subject. Takes awhile but it really works. One thing I can't sand about 3D printed models is the ripples. If you can sand them you will sand off much of the detailing made by the printer. Now that these are smooth I can scribe in panel lines and hatches.

 

[AfterBurners]

good looking rocket!

 

[SteveNeill]

More work done for our new V-2 kit yesterday. Since my studio is in production of a short film and filling orders from our store and can be a slow go on these projects. Since covid I have to do nearly everything at the studio alone. At 69 I remain careful. I don't even need a cold.

I used chart tape to make scale details, panel lines, and hatches. I then placed a lot of primer over the tape, nearly a half can if not more. This smooths out the surface and captures the tape. Once lightly sanded, the tape is removed. The surface is sanded again lightly which gives you crisp details without having to hand scribe. I also filled and primed the one tail fin. A mold will be made off the fin once detailed. 4 will be made from that mold and a new gang mold of all four I cast for a production mold. At the rate I'm going I should have the production molds done next week. This means I can build and fly one a few times, make a RKT file for Rocksim and release the kit.

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[burkefj]

Looks great Steve.

 

[SteveNeill]

Thanks Frank. Maybe a real big one next? I'm thinking about it.

 

[burkefj]

You can never have too many V-2's

Thanks Frank. Maybe a real big one next? I'm thinking about it.

 

[Back_at_it]

Looks great. Sign me up.

 

[SteveNeill]

Tuesday I'm going to make the molds and we should be able to build and fly the first V-2. It's going well if not a bit slow. We are in the middle of a movie production currently but I keep finding a bit of time here and there.

As you can clearly see all the ripples from 3D printing are gone. Every kit's parts will be ready to paint out of the bag. No sanding not unless you want to flush our some of those hatches as I plan to do. The scribing is very slight but enough to effect a nice paint job. The other benefit to resin cast parts is you can do your own scribing and modifying if you want. The resin scribes and sands well.

 

[SteveNeill]

The molds are made and yesterday I pulled out a complete set of parts. Every thing came out well but they pulled out some of the primer sanding dust on the first pull as is typical. No matter the primer I'm going to paint them with today will cover that. I'm going to assemble a complete V-2 today. I'll at least get primer on it.

I hesitate to put a 29mm motor mount in it as there's plenty of room. But this model at 7oz without motor will going completely out of sight with a G in it. So On this one I'm going to mount it up with a 24 mm motor mount for C-11 through F motors. Rocksim shows about 300ft with a C-11. 700ft with a D and I haven't run a sim yet on E and F.

Either way this will be fine for our local lower power launches with my section.

All the parts were cast with TC-808 resin. They are very durable and hallow. Easy to sand, scribe and paint. Also no seams to sand off.

Kits soon!

 

[SteveNeill]

I put the fins on, primer, motor tube and mount. It must of took me all of an hour. The fins are the weakest link in the chain here. Glued on with CA and a bit of putty to blend they are surprisingly strong. However the next one (and there will be a few) I plan to do epoxy filets which would be even stronger.





I want to get one in the air by our now section launch on the 26th. Where we fly there's a bit of grass and soft weeds, in the desert where we fly it's not so forgiving. Test flights will tell me what works best but for now she's' good to go once I get her all painted and finished.

This can also be built as a static model. It's pretty scale in shape and dimensions. And the tail cone reveals the scale bell. I plan to build one for static and really detail it out.



I compared our V-2 to the former Estes kit of the same size. They both weight about the same. But the differences are apparent. The fins of the Estes are much larger. Ours is closer to scale. At the scale size with our smaller V-2 I didn't notice any instability in 3 flights. It tracks well with no problems found. I can only imagine Estes made the fins so large on theirs to increase stability.



It's a tiny bit longer too. Overall I'm very happy with the rocket and can't wait to paint it and give it a flight.



She's not real big. A great size though up to F motors and G for the bold. I may do a larger one yet but for now this will do well for local low power club launches and scale enthusiast.

I'm working on the price. Hard to do. All the parts are hand cast and cut. These aren't massed produced and like all my kits made to order.

All have certificates signed by me. I have a long career in Hollywood as an actor, creature maker, model maker, visual effects and more. I've been involved in Star Trek, Ghost Busters and even Laser Blast to name a few. A lot of people collect my art, masks, models and more from my website. I can't compete with Estes so my kit will be more. As soon as this flies I'll post all the details.

If you go to the Ventura Rocketeers website you can see the few kits I have there to give you an idea.

 

[NOLA_BAR]

Very nice! The Estes BT-80 V-2 was more sport scale, larger fins, and the nose cone was not pointy enough. The closest to scale V-2’s that I have seen are the SpaceMonkey, Estes Maxi-Brute, and now yours!

 

[NOLA_BAR]

If you are considering a larger version, then maybe a 3 inch using the T-300 tubing or similar.

 

[OhioFlyer]

What a great looking kit! Look forward to it being available. Is your X-15 kit available as well? Look old like the last date referenced was back in 2019.

 

[SteveNeill]

What a great looking kit! Look forward to it being available. Is your X-15 kit available as well? Look old like the last date referenced was back in 2019.

The X-15 is still there on the product page. Thanks for the kind words about the V-2. got the base colors on the first one today. Lots of detail work left to do and decals.

 

[SteveNeill]

 

[OhioFlyer]

Looks great with some color on it!

I couldn't resist and just placed an order for one of your X-15 kits. Always enjoy supporting these type of projects and it should keep me busy while I wait for the V2 kits to be available.

 

[SteveNeill]

Thank you! Just found it in my email.

Steve

 

[SteveNeill]

The new resin cast 23 inch V-2 Rocket is live on our website.
https://sngaero.wordpress.com/products/ Scroll down to the button of the page and use the purchase address.
WordPress is experiencing difficulties with displaying the the PayPal buttons. First batch of kits go out next week. These are all hand made to order.
Thanks!

 

[NOLA_BAR]

Looks like you are no longer producing the larger X-15? Didn’t you have a Grande Delta version?

 

[SteveNeill]

Too costly to make so the price was too high. Only sold a few.

 

[SteveNeill]

Some of you tried to make an order but didn't use the link on my site correctly. So the orders didn't go through. Check your PayPal activity in your account and you'll see that the order wasn't made. I just don't want you guys waiting for kits that won't be sent.

I cast up the first kit yesterday.

 

[SteveNeill]

Ok it's all fixed. As it turns out WordPress doesn't bother to make it clear (that I can find) that only a certain amount of PayPal buttons can be added to each page. I started a second product page and now the PayPal button is there to click on and purchase. https://sngaero.wordpress.com/products-page-2/

 

[James Duffy]

Just an FYI that the decal set for the Spacemonkey Models 1/24 scale V-2 should work just fine on the new SNG kit, as well as on the venerable old BT-80 based Estes kit. See: https://spacemonkey-models.myshopify.com/products/decal-set-for-estes-1-25-scale-v-2-kit

James