Steamship Barbicane

[Ted Cochran]

As near as I can tell from fooling around with OpenRocket and cardboard cutout(!), the CP of Barbicane is just below the third centering ring below the nose cone. I'd like to get the CG at or just below the centering ring above that, as shown by the arrow below:



So I did some weighing and balancing with lead shot, and it takes about 6 ounces of shot plus an ounce or so of epoxy and a long eyebolt to get it there. I hogged out the nose cone to get the weight as far forward as possible, and left room in case a swing test(!), to be conducted after the tropical storm passes, shows I need even more. As it is, the model weighs 20.5 ounces ready to fly on an E30-4, which might take it to 355 feet at a leisurely 112 mph, if OpenRocket is to be believed.


[In the background is what's left of a 25 pound bag of bird shot that I got 20 years ago for nose weight, and shared liberally with fellow rocketeers].

Looking forward to a possible first flight in less than two weeks, but the weather will have to be pretty optimal to risk it!

 

[Nytrunner]

[In the background is what's left of a 25 pound bag of bird shot that I got 20 years ago for nose weight, and shared liberally with fellow rocketeers].

I got one of those from Cabela's! It's an unassuming little package for sure. We were cleaning up the rocket room (*ahem* "guest room") and my wife went to move my red plastic chair that happened to have the bag sitting in it blank side up. She nearly dropped the thing because she was expecting "light plastic chair with towel" weight instead of "chair with ~23 bag of lead" weight

 

[kuririn]

Any special techniques on applying the detail colors?
Was that all brush work?
Any masking involved?
Shall we call you Cool Hand Ted?

Edit: I just read about the micro brushes and the wash.
I also assume you abstain from caffeine?

 

[Ted Cochran]

Any special techniques on applying the detail colors?
Was that all brush work?
Any masking involved?
Shall we call you Cool Hand Ted?

Edit: I just read about the micro brushes and the wash.
I also assume you abstain from caffeine?

The red on the front of the nose was masked. The stripe was done by hand. The pods were shielded with a piece of cardboard with a slot cut in it and then sprayed.

The canopy lines, chain, gears, pipes, pectoral fins, and other details were done with a small brush; the nacelles with a larger one. No masking. The magician’s trick here is that (nearly) everything that was detail painted was eitherraised off the adjacent surfaces, a raised stringer, so the brush can skip along the top, or a surface fenced in by stringers, so the brush can butt up against the side of the stringer. No straight lines to have to get right, although I do plant my pinkie on the model when I’m doing a detail to steady the brush a bit. I also think the lacquer paint helped a lot—it sort of runs down the raised detail parts like the gears, and then stops. There were a few oopsies that were fixed when I covered them up with the other color. But I found it overall as easy to paint as, say, a similarly sized rocket that has to be masked and sprayed with three colors—especially since I always have to go back and fix bleeds with a brush anyway.

After the details, it’s all wash. Apply liberally so it runs into the crevices, swirl over the flat surfaces, let dry a little, wipe off with a soft cloth, top to bottom so the remaining color accumulates below protuberances. Another coat on the aft end to make it dirtier. So for the aging, there is very little detailed brush work, no masking. Mostly smearing diluted flat black around the thruster nozzles. A steady hand isn’t really needed.

The build as a whole, I think, is good for having fun and avoiding the meticulous kind of work that I find less fun. Time consuming, sure, since there are a lot of parts, but not particularly difficult to do.

Also, it easily passed the swing test, so hoping for a launch a week from Saturday.

 

[kuririn]

Thanks for this build thread, it was impressive and informative.
With the techniques used, can I assume you also build plastic models?

 

[Ted Cochran]

Thanks for this build thread, it was impressive and informative.
With the techniques used, can I assume you also build plastic models?

Thank you. Other than the refinery build I described in the thread, and a couple of 1/144th scale F-104 micromaxx-powered PMC contest models, no, I haven’t build plastic models since I was a kid. I did build some pretty cool models then, though, if I say so myself. As I recall, they were all perfect—better than the box covers!

I also learned the basic stringer and bulkhead techniques doing flying model airplanes as a kid. It’s painful to know that very few kids learn those skills now...

 

[Ted Cochran]

She flew well! 428' on an F44-4W, ejection at apogee. Recovered unscratched. Photo by me;
Thanks to Bill Miller for the video.


View attachment B launch.mov

 

[Vitruvius]

That was AWESOME!!!!!! I'm glad You recovered it without damage....imho, that is a work of art!

 

[Funkworks]

I generally avoided this thread because the project seemed to be well beyond my league, but yeah. Wow! Hoping to do a steampunk design of my own one day.

 

[OverTheTop]

Fantastic project and good outcome!

 

[modeltrains]

Looks Good in the air! Thank you, photographers!

 

[boatgeek]

That is a ship ready to sail the aether to the Martian colonies! Beautiful work.

 

[Johnly]

Ted, I've been watching the build to flight process and have to say I am envious of your construction and finishing skills.
Glad to see that in addition to your bike program, you also have time to build and fly rockets.
Sorry that our paths didn't cross at NASA SLP or TARC this year, but hopefully things will be different in 2021.

John

 

[BABAR]

Congrats!

Okay, le parfum de BP now applied. Put it on an upfront display shelf under glass!

 

[BABAR]

She flew well! 428' on an F44-4W, ejection at apogee. Recovered unscratched. Photo by me;
Thanks to Bill Miller for the video.

View attachment 428327
View attachment 428329

Best edit video yet!

 

[jqavins]

I miss some of the old emoji. :applause: :applause: :hats off:

 

[OverTheTop]

You were thinking of where to store this bird a while back. How about above the curtains. Here is an example:

The brackets were bent up out of steel and painted black. They bolt on where the curtain track brackets attach to the wall. No extra holes .

That would put SS Barbicane out where it can be admired. Your wife will get used to it, eventually .

 

[Ted Cochran]

I’m fortunate to have a fireplace mantle in my home office. It’s there, next to, right now, the scale model of the BWI Terrier-Improved Orion in Maryland flag livery and a lego Saturn V. The steampunk lamp is on the desk. The rest of the fleet stays downstairs in the shop, but I rotate things once in a while... at least those that are small enough to come upstairs!

 

[Vitruvius]

@OverTheTop. I like Your idea, but the one problem I see is that of having to dust it off once a week if not more often. It's a lot easier to keep up on the dusting when it's down lower like on the mantle. Cheers!

 

[OverTheTop]

It's a lot easier to keep up on the dusting when it's down lower like on the mantle. Cheers!

I fly it to remove the dust and cobwebs .

 

[Crawf56]

Brilliant thread. Well played, sir.

 

[jqavins]

I like the idea of putting a long skinny rocket over the top of the curtains, but I think SS Barbicane needs to be displayed vertically, as I presume it is, on the mantle. I also think it deserves to be displayed more publicly than in one person's office, but that's none of my business.

Maryland livery? Are you a Marylander? You do know it flies from Virginia, I presume.

 

[Ted Cochran]

Maryland livery? Are you a Marylander? You do know it flies from Virginia, I presume.

I didn't choose the livery; I just copied the prototype, on static display at BWI airport.

 

[DrewW]

Ted this was such a satisfying thread! I had just been looking into retro styled rockets like the Lil Lunar Express at Public Missiles. But the Barbicane is a great blend of artistry and engineering. Well done and thanks for publicly documenting the process in detail.

 

[Greg Furtman]

Side note: I love these rubber contour sanders. Wrap a bit of sandpaper around them, and they get into the crevices and the body/fin joints like little else. I got these years ago, and you can still get them in a variety of shapes. Most of you have seen the little sanding detailing stick that uses 1/4" x 12" belts--they're also really helpful in rocketry, and the belts last forever. The clamp is a Berna Assembler-- part of a set of three I got years ago that was pretty inexpensive, and it was a real find--they are apparently scarcer now, and pricey when you do find them. They don't look like much, but the reversable silicone rubber jaws hold on to all kinds of slippery and round surfaces, and the carbon rod allows you to control the tension precisely. You can link them together to do all kinds of weird clamping.

View attachment 419882

I used them to clamp the canopy and plasma drive nacelles to the body while the glue dried.

On to the stringers, and then lots of steampunk detailing.

@Ted Cochran Great build. I found the Berna Clamps online at talasonline.com. They have 3", 4", & 6" jaws available. How long are the ones you have?

 

[Ted Cochran]

@Ted Cochran Great build. I found the Berna Clamps online at talasonline.com. They have 3", 4", & 6" jaws available. How long are the ones you have?

3" and 6"

 

[Ted Cochran]

Jim Wilkerson got this terrific shot of Barbicane on its second flight at NARAM 62.

 

[BigMacDaddy]

That is a truly beautiful rocket -- I love the retro rocket look and finishing is fantastic. I am not good at finishing but I did a retro Luna-inspired rocket with some similar design elements and overall shape. This one is fully 3D printed body w/ integrated motor-mount and fin slots. Mine is MUCH MUCH smaller (flies on mini-engines). I did two versions -- one that tries to match the dimensions of the main drawings / designs of the Luna rocket I could find and another that is elongated and matches the look of some of the promotional posters with a sleeker thinner rocket.

 

[Greg Furtman]

That is a truly beautiful rocket -- I love the retro rocket look and finishing is fantastic. I am not good at finishing but I did a retro Luna-inspired rocket with some similar design elements and overall shape. This one is fully 3D printed body w/ integrated motor-mount and fin slots. Mine is MUCH MUCH smaller (flies on mini-engines). I did two versions -- one that tries to match the dimensions of the main drawings / designs of the Luna rocket I could find and another that is elongated and matches the look of some of the promotional posters with a sleeker thinner rocket.

View attachment 476333

Are there STLs for these somewhere?

 

[Vitruvius]

That is a truly beautiful rocket -- I love the retro rocket look and finishing is fantastic. I am not good at finishing but I did a retro Luna-inspired rocket with some similar design elements and overall shape. This one is fully 3D printed body w/ integrated motor-mount and fin slots. Mine is MUCH MUCH smaller (flies on mini-engines). I did two versions -- one that tries to match the dimensions of the main drawings / designs of the Luna rocket I could find and another that is elongated and matches the look of some of the promotional posters with a sleeker thinner rocket.

View attachment 476333

I'd be interested in buying one, IF the "Price is Right"!!!!!!!!!!!