possible new Deuce project

[rstaff3]

Well, a bit more progress. Shows the tail cone and details on the side fins. Other than a front cockpit, I think the rest of the trim will be done with stickers. Should be laying primer by tomorow night.

 

[sandman]

Coming along nicely! But you and I BOTH need better cameras!

Hey, Jim, I think it's time for a "What's your Deuce?" contest!

sandman

 

[rstaff3]

Yeah, my son took his good camera to school in CA, so I'm back to the el-cheapo. I will at least have to wait until x-mas however. :-( So many projects and not enough funding...just like NASA

 

[jflis]

"what's your Deuce?"

I kinda like the sound of that...

 

[rstaff3]

Well, one thing you can say about me, is I don't take advice, don't listen, and can't learn Added my 3rd coat of Painter's Touch primer and this time about 1/3 or the top of the BT started to crackle. Either I didn't wait long enough between coats and.or it was too humid. Guess I'll wait a day and see if I can san it down.

Besides sanding I added launch lugs. For symmetry I added 4 lugs arounf the base of the BT just above the tail cone. On the bottom, I added 2 lugs further up the BT. Each of these sets are functional. I also finished my foam cockpit by covering it several times in fill-n-finish. This will be decorated and installed after the body is painted.

 

[rstaff3]

The news is a little better. I really wanted to fly it next weekend, so I proceeded to finish the model. I sanded the crackles and they seemed to flatten just fine. In my previous experience, the crackles stayed gooey and took a lot of clean up, so this was better than expected. When I laid the paint on, they did come out slightly but not too bad...good enough for me. I placed the remaining stickers, mounted the pods, added epoxy fillets and am sealing the stickers overnight.

Also tomorrow I'll bore the cone and add nose weight. The only other thing is the front cockpit. So far it doesn't look right on the model, I think its too tall for the BT diameter. I may add windows to it and see, but I may just leave it off. Since I took so many liberties with the Fireball design, and I had some extra cooling-fin-patterned sticker, I went ahead and applied it to the top of the BT. This adds some 'texture' to the model, hides the biggest flaw in the finish, and may replace the cockpit itself.

I'll get pics tomorrow.

 

[rstaff3]

This and the next few posts will show pics of the 99.5% finished product. At least the ouside that is. The last touch might be a canopy.

The result looks nice (IMHO ). The few visible 'crackels' are less noticable than the growing number of smudges on the shiny paint. I may see if a dull coat will make it more uniform. Shiny is not important at all.

The model will be heavy by the time I get the CG set right, and this will have to use C6-3's.

 

[rstaff3]

a closer view of the front

 

[rstaff3]

the back

 

[rstaff3]

and closer

 

[wscarvie]

Hi Dick,

VERY nice. I really like it. Sure, it ain't a scale model, but it's a very nice blend of two inspirations.

Thanks for sharing,

Will

 

[rstaff3]

Thanks Will! Here's the three XL5s side by side.

 

[rstaff3]

Flew her this weekend on two C6-3s. It was a neat flight with which almost tapered to a glide. Ejection at apogee and perfect recovery! EMRR review should be up tomorrow.

 

[graylensman]

Beautiful models!

BTW - how did you create the nose "dome" windows? I'd like to try that with a model, and am not quite sure how to manage it on an ogive nose.

 

[rstaff3]

On the Deuce-XL5, the nose 'window' is a sticker that was shaped assuming a conical nose. There are a few small wrinkles that I carefully slit with a hobby knife to help the lie flat. On the bigger model, the individual 'panes' are cut from a larger sticker and each lies flat.

 

[n3tjm]

Great EMRR review Dick. I wonder though; Where did you get the idea for the igniters?