Steamship Barbicane

[Ted Cochran]

Like it or not, Barbicane is spectacular.

Oh, I like it, at least so far. I'm just saying it's easier than some may think.

 

[Vitruvius]

Well,,,,,I had to ask. LOL!!!!

 

[Senior Space Cadet]

When I was in Minnesota, I was tremendously impressed by Jeff Taylor's steampunk rockets (as illustrated elsewhere in this forum). This led me to try my hand at it, albeit in a school of steampunk that shades more toward retro. First came little Nemo, which made one successful flight on a C6-3 before ending up in the Museum of Flight's fusillade of model rockets:

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Then came a more refined and larger Nautilus, and finally a retro Mars Lander, both designed for 24mm D and E motors, and each of which has made several glorious flights:

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For those interested in details on the building of these models, they were described in a Sport Rocketry article in February 2016, along with some of Jeff Taylor's and Todd Carpenter's similarly-themed rockets.

It's been a few years, and while I've kept busy during the quarantine building traditional rockets, the time has come for another scratch build. And, inspired by a recent thread on the NAR Facebook page and the next kit in my queue, an Estes Silver Comet, it's going to be a scratch-built Steam Ship.

Introducing the S.S. Barbicane:
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The drawing is full scale; that's a stock Silver Comet fin used for inspiration.

More on the development of the initial design, and the considerations involved in steampunking a rocket, in the next post.

That is amazing. I wouldn't even know how to begin such a rocket.
Please don't tell me it took you a week. If I could do it at all, it would be an all summer (or winter) project.
I'd be inclined to build a replica of the rocket at Disneyland. Similar in shape to yours.

 

[beeblebrox]

The lamp is finished. Short video below to show the rocket motors. If you google something like "steampunk lamps" or "iron pipe lamps" you'll find a lot of content on how to do the switches inside valves (or junction boxes that are sort of converted to valves. Some of these folks are as much into ridiculous detail in their lamps as I am into Barbicane; this lamp I did was just a diversion. It's expandable if I get the urge.

In Barbicane news, I've started detailing. Much fun being had by all!

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I have to ask... Are any of the parts on the Barbicane 3dPrinted? If not, then even more awesome... AND if not, where did you get the tiny valve knob? That would be difficult to print. I used to be able to get model shipbuilding stuff but that hobby shop closed 25 years ago. Tiny chain is great for detail on N-Scale trains.

 

[kuririn]

The lamp is finished. Short video below to show the rocket motors

Great job on the lamp.
Your video link seems to be broken.

 

[Ted Cochran]

Your video link seems to be broken.

Hmmm, it works for me? It's just three seconds of flickering candelabra bulbs is all.

 

[Ted Cochran]

I have to ask... Are any of the parts on the Barbicane 3dPrinted?

No, as I mentioned earlier in this increasingly long thread, the plastic parts are from Saturn V plastic parts kits, HO scale bridge, refinery, and piping kits, and odds and ends I have saved for no reason whatsoever except now they are useful. The valve handle was from the piping kit. Lots of Evergreen [poly]styrene tubing as well.

 

[Ted Cochran]

I wouldn't even know how to begin such a rocket.
Please don't tell me it took you a week.

Well, one of the reasons of this forum in general and this section in particular is to demonstrate techniques so that more folks can expand their skills and do more in the hobby, according to their preferences.

Nemo was a kit bash from parts of two Estes kits (Cosmic Explorer and Vector Force) in a contest the MASA NAR section had in 2014. Fins were reshaped from the kit, centering rings were balsa, stringers were cardboard kit from the kit's packaging. Body tube was narrow at the bottom and wider at the top. Here are some photos to give you the idea. Very similar in concept to Barbicane, albeit much smaller, less detailed, painted rivets. It took more like a month than a week! This was the start of my own journey into the retro/steampunk world. Thumbnails below.

 

[Vitruvius]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a tutorial in itself, Thanks, Ted!

 

[Ted Cochran]

Back to Barbicane.

The aft end is nearly done. Pipes and the ruddervator chains were done with a gold Testor's paint pen. Auxiliary drive piping, maneuvering nozzles (not shown), plasma drive nozzles, and ruddervator control horns were done with Testor's titanium buffing metalizer spray lacquer, which is a short of metallic gray. I use this in ways not anticipated by the manufacturer: I spray it into a container and put it on with a brush. Not sure if that's available anymore as a spray. It is still listed as available in a bottle by Model Master (a Testors brand). But Testors is discontinuing the Model Master brand (along with Pactra and AZTEC), so get it while you can! Or maybe it will be available in Rustoleum, since Rustoleum owns Testors. Are you following all this?

Anyway, paint the features with the metalizer paint, wait overnight, buff with a soft cloth. It does get shiny--The titanium isn't even as shiny, as some of the other colors.

I used Testors bronze spray lacquer for the plasma drive nacelles--again, sprayed into a container and then brushed on [no way was I going to try masking that!] I swirled the paint a bit on purpose, since brush marks will help with the antiquing later on. Also used bronze for all the gears.

Flat black out of a bottle for the plasma drive injector bays. The injectors will be added soon--I've decided to tone down the paint scheme quite a bit from the prototype I did earlier. Blue out of a bottle for the drain valve.

Not much more to paint, although the canopies and portholes will take some time. Then on to finishing.

 

[Ted Cochran]

Glass is done. On to the ion injectors! [I might shade the glass a slight bit bluer eventually. We'll see.]

 

[Vitruvius]

WOW!!!!!!!! If I had the monies, I'd pay You to build a 6' tall copy of it!!!!!!

 

[jqavins]

With an HPR motor mount, or just as art? Worth the money either way.

 

[Vitruvius]

Just as art. I agree... worth the money any way one looks at it! Cheers!

 

[Ted Cochran]

You're perfectly capable of doing it yourself, although I think that for a 6' rocket the middle would be 12" in diameter and you're looking at something like 30,000 rivets! Unless you scale everything up 3X, in which case your rivets have to be around 3/8" in diameter. Interesting concept, though.

 

[Vitruvius]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ted! Just one "little" problem: The Mrs. would NOT agree to a 6' tall rocket in our apartment. I might get away with a 3 ' one though. Cheers.

 

[BABAR]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ted! Just one "little" problem: The Mrs. would NOT agree to a 6' tall rocket in our apartment. I might get away with a 3 ' one though. Cheers.

Well then no problem that's only 15,000 rivets.

 

[Vitruvius]

Well then no problem that's only 15,000 rivets.

I can do that!!!!!! LOL!!!!

 

[jqavins]

Remember, surface area goes with the square, so it's 7,500. Easy peasy!

 

[Ted Cochran]

Ion injectors are done. I original ly was playing with the idea of trying to give the impression they were glowing hot, but after experimenting with both fluorescent and regular paints and overcoats and washes and such, I couldn't do that to my satisfaction. So the injectors are modeled cold.



In doing the details, and the washes and filters to come, I use lots of brushes, and the tiny micro brushes come in handy:



The next post will be a full set of photos of the model before aging it. It ended up being 25.5 inches tall, 4 inches in diameter, and weighs 12.8 ounces without motor or parachute (or nose weight! Stay tuned for that!). CG with and E20 motor and parachute installed is halfway up the Saturn V ullage motors. I'm pretty sure nose weight will be required...

 

[Ted Cochran]

Here's the 4 view and some detailed shots of Barbicane as a shiny new ship. I recognize that some like their models that way, but I prefer to weather them a bit, to bring out the details even more and to make them look more realistic (less idealistic), and to remove some of the specular glinting that wouldn't appear in a real ship. I've also attached some thumbnails of some details (click to expand). Oh, and I still have to figure out the decals...

 

[Vitruvius]

Truly, a piece of beautiful artwork, worthy of a museum...or the cover of a copy of "Fantastic Stories" or any other 1930-50s SF pulp zine!

 

[neil_w]

That is really something. Looking forward to the grimy final product.

 

[BABAR]

Concur with above.

Suggest a different color stand, the red fin pods kind of get lost in current one.

 

[jqavins]

Truly, a piece of beautiful artwork, worthy of a museum...or the cover of a copy of "Fantastic Stories" or any other 1930-50s SF pulp zine!

Or the cover of Sport Rocketry.

It's a good point about the red stand. Forrest green would look good.

 

[Ted Cochran]

The stand is just for painting--It normally stands on its fins. But thanks for the suggestion, perhaps I'll repaint it for display purposes. Green, or black, or a planetary surface...

 

[OverTheTop]

Or the cover of Sport Rocketry.

Absolutely, if they allow it since it isn't scale!

 

[Ted Cochran]

I've been giving Barbicane that well-used steamship look. I've started with a black wash. A wash (sometimes I've heard it called a filter) is a very thin coating of a color, designed mostly to highlight details and simulate grime, rust, dirt, dust, etc. I do not by any means pretend to be an expert on this stuff, so I'll stick to showing you what I did. I used Model Master black acrylic wash. Shake well, apply to section of the model (only as much as can be cleaned before it drys out in ten minutes or so, which for Barbicane was about an eighth of the ship).I used a broad brush and swirled and worked it into the nooks and crannies, like so:



Those pictures are all taken with the model wet--liquid pooling and running on the surface. Let it dry for a bit. I know some folks let it dry completely and then use a wet cloth to wipe the model down; I'm too chicken for that and I want a lighter effect anyway. You might want to experiment. But after a suitable period of time, take a soft, dry cloth (a twelve year old NAR event t-shirt has worked well), and rub down the model from top to bottom. This lets the wash (grime) settle in the crannies below rivets, and in the seams, and in surface imperfections, while most of the model and especially the tops of the rivets are polished.

In the first photo below, I've done the nose cone, while the body remains pristine. In the second photo, I've done the right half, but not the left. You can always go over it again if you want more grime on all or parts of the model. I do the bottom darker than the top, for example.



This model is really hard to photograph well, but the washed sections look a bit darker, duller, less reflective, but the details are highlighted much better.

 

[Ted Cochran]

Here's another before and after pair of photos.



The difference in shine that is apparent in the photos is real. I also did the nose art and ship's name using Testor's inkjet decal paper. I really dislike that stuff--it has a tendency to curl, not stick well, etc.--but it eventually worked well enough, especially since I intended the decals to be a subtle feature, not a fin-sized work of art.

More details after the first round of washing:



And a look at the whole ship:



That's close to the look I was after--there will be a few touch-ups (brown wash for some areas to simulate oxidation, some darker stains near thrusters and drains, that sort of thing). Then I have to figure out how much weight I need to add in the nose cone. The over/under is four ounces, but it may take a swing test to be sure!

 

[modeltrains]

Now that is a model.
And as an added bonus at no extra cost, it flies!