Have you got any sort of starting idea on the paint scheme and/or decals?
Zylaxus: a dubious build thread
- Thread starter neil_w
- Start date
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See any recently posted render (still WIP). Black with silver paint, black and white decals. Not too special, but still a ton of tedious masking.
Nose Cone Assembly
Chunky eyelet + washer + epoxy almost exactly equals the 0.5 oz nose weight I was shooting for. The eyelet is not actually screwed into the cone, it's just embedded in epoxy that fills the oversized hole I drilled in the base of the cone.
Chunky eyelet + washer + epoxy almost exactly equals the 0.5 oz nose weight I was shooting for. The eyelet is not actually screwed into the cone, it's just embedded in epoxy that fills the oversized hole I drilled in the base of the cone.
A full month later, we finally have a nice day in the 70s and I got the base coat done:
It is not great, but it is done.
I suspect I will wet sand the fins a bit before applying the silver top coat. The body will have to stay as it is.
I'm almost certain that the inside edges of the cage fins did not get covered. I've been assuming all along that I'll need to do those manually after-the-fact. Possibly the same for the inside edges of the vertical fins. I think I got everthing else covered, but we'll see.
The masking of the centering rings on either side of the plasmasphere is also not great, and I for sure will be doing touch-ups there.
Finally: I realized as I was painting that I forgot to loosen the nose cone a bit before starting. Too late to do anything one I started. Hopefully I'll be able to break it free without too much drama. An annoying little mistake.
We have a warm week coming up so I'm hoping I can bring the rocket inside next weekend and start sanding and fin masking, which is going to be super fun.
Feels good to make a bit of progress.
It is not great, but it is done.
I suspect I will wet sand the fins a bit before applying the silver top coat. The body will have to stay as it is.
I'm almost certain that the inside edges of the cage fins did not get covered. I've been assuming all along that I'll need to do those manually after-the-fact. Possibly the same for the inside edges of the vertical fins. I think I got everthing else covered, but we'll see.
The masking of the centering rings on either side of the plasmasphere is also not great, and I for sure will be doing touch-ups there.
Finally: I realized as I was painting that I forgot to loosen the nose cone a bit before starting. Too late to do anything one I started. Hopefully I'll be able to break it free without too much drama. An annoying little mistake.
We have a warm week coming up so I'm hoping I can bring the rocket inside next weekend and start sanding and fin masking, which is going to be super fun.
Feels good to make a bit of progress.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
Will this be flying at LDRS?
Yes, if (a) I can get to LDRS, and (b) if I can get it done. I will have to find a day to paint the silver within, say, the next 3-4 weeks.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
Hmmm seems like a sacrifice of a goat to the rocket gods is in order….
(This was supposed to be the quote)
just say please enough to your boss and they will eventually say
(A) ok yes you (not TRF approved words)
Or
(B) your fired!!!
Ether way you have free time
I am not entirely sure you understand the concept of "marriage".Hmmm seems like a sacrifice of a goat to the rocket gods is in order….
(This was supposed to be the quote)
just say please enough to your boss and they will eventually say
(A) ok yes you (not TRF approved words)
Or
(B) your fired!!!
Ether way you have free time
If anyone ever wants to build one of these (ha ha, good luck) I can offer a few pre-made components:
NTP2
Well-Known Member
Tell her it’s very pretty and she can go to the finger lakes and you can go hang with your crazy rocket people.I am not entirely sure you understand the concept of "marriage".
Ps if she still doesn’t like the idea I guess you’re out of luck.
if you do end up at LDRS I might want my balls back, to add to my bits bin.
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
NTP2
Well-Known Member
Actually you teed up an even better joke:
My apologies, it appears you *do* understand marriage.
boatgeek
Well-Known Member
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The juxtaposition of asking for your balls back so you could put them in your bits drawer demanded a response. I’m just glad that @lakeroadster beat me to it so I could mostly keep my hands clean.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
It might help to run a knife all the way around the tube-nose seam. BTDT.
I plan on it.
OK, the black coat isn't too terrible.
The nose cone came out without any fuss. I forgot to run the knife around it, but it turns out it wasn't necessary. No harm, no foul.
I wasn't happy with the surface of the wings; I oversanded the primer in a few places and slightly scuffed the paper. So I gave the wings a quick and light wet-sand with 800 grit paper, and now they feel pretty uniform.
The silver paint will go right on top of this. Will it come out looking uniform? Who knows? Tough to get silver looking uniform anyway. It will be good enough whatever it is. I might just give the wings one additional sanding with 1500 grit, but probably not.
Next up: masking for the fins. It'll be tedious but not as bad as it could be, because I squared off the leading and trailing edges of the fin roots, so crazy masking of a zillion curves won't be necessary. With luck I should be able to paint next weekend, or the week after at latest. If it wasn't going to be so chilly I could do it this weekend, but alas the gods apparently do not wish me to do it.
The nose cone came out without any fuss. I forgot to run the knife around it, but it turns out it wasn't necessary. No harm, no foul.
I wasn't happy with the surface of the wings; I oversanded the primer in a few places and slightly scuffed the paper. So I gave the wings a quick and light wet-sand with 800 grit paper, and now they feel pretty uniform.
The silver paint will go right on top of this. Will it come out looking uniform? Who knows? Tough to get silver looking uniform anyway. It will be good enough whatever it is. I might just give the wings one additional sanding with 1500 grit, but probably not.
Next up: masking for the fins. It'll be tedious but not as bad as it could be, because I squared off the leading and trailing edges of the fin roots, so crazy masking of a zillion curves won't be necessary. With luck I should be able to paint next weekend, or the week after at latest. If it wasn't going to be so chilly I could do it this weekend, but alas the gods apparently do not wish me to do it.
Masking
Well this was just about as much fun as I imagined. Plus I got some quality time up-close-and-personal with the black paint, and found about a hundred problems with it. Oh well, it's gonna have to do. Hopefully the black paint won't be what people focus on when they look at this rocket.
For all the fins, I started with the cross-tape at front and rear of each root (there are a great many of these on this rocket). Here's a canard:
Then I put one piece of tape along the entire root:
The tail end of the rocket was a lot of work. On the bright side, I think the ping pong ball is pretty well sealed up now, and the silver paint shouldn't get in there at all.
Here is the finished tapework:
Before I paint I will of course cover the remaining areas with a plastic bags or something like that. No idea when I'll get a painting opportunity, but at least I'll be ready when the it presents itself.
Well this was just about as much fun as I imagined. Plus I got some quality time up-close-and-personal with the black paint, and found about a hundred problems with it. Oh well, it's gonna have to do. Hopefully the black paint won't be what people focus on when they look at this rocket.
For all the fins, I started with the cross-tape at front and rear of each root (there are a great many of these on this rocket). Here's a canard:
Then I put one piece of tape along the entire root:
The tail end of the rocket was a lot of work. On the bright side, I think the ping pong ball is pretty well sealed up now, and the silver paint shouldn't get in there at all.
Here is the finished tapework:
Before I paint I will of course cover the remaining areas with a plastic bags or something like that. No idea when I'll get a painting opportunity, but at least I'll be ready when the it presents itself.
Oddly, I think it looks pretty cool in the masking tape. (at least from a distance)
Color Conundrum
I originally chose silver for the fins because I had a partially used can, and it's a nice neutral color. Well, I went to paint yesterday and found to my befuddlement that there was hardly any left in the can, almost certainly not enough to do the whole job. Very annoying because I had a *perfect* weather opportunity.
So today I went to pick up a new can so I could paint tonight, and what do you know I can't find that color in any of the convenient stores.
So I grabbed a can of "Champagne Bronze" metallic, figuring I could return it if I change my mind. Here is an example of something painted in that color:
And here's a rough cut of the rocket with fins in that color:
It turns out that the forecast now calls for fairly gusty winds this evening, too much so to paint. So if I want I can return this and figure out a way to score a can of the silver. Or I can keep this can for a future build (I do like the color, in general). The big question is whether the color of the ping pong ball kind of clashes. I mean, it *does*, the question is whether or not it's "OK". Thoughts?
I originally chose silver for the fins because I had a partially used can, and it's a nice neutral color. Well, I went to paint yesterday and found to my befuddlement that there was hardly any left in the can, almost certainly not enough to do the whole job. Very annoying because I had a *perfect* weather opportunity.
So today I went to pick up a new can so I could paint tonight, and what do you know I can't find that color in any of the convenient stores.
So I grabbed a can of "Champagne Bronze" metallic, figuring I could return it if I change my mind. Here is an example of something painted in that color:
And here's a rough cut of the rocket with fins in that color:
It turns out that the forecast now calls for fairly gusty winds this evening, too much so to paint. So if I want I can return this and figure out a way to score a can of the silver. Or I can keep this can for a future build (I do like the color, in general). The big question is whether the color of the ping pong ball kind of clashes. I mean, it *does*, the question is whether or not it's "OK". Thoughts?
Just to view them next to each other:
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
Black and Gold (bronze) for the win.... 
NTP2
Well-Known Member
Bronze is much better.
But now I'm thinking like a yellowish green metallic (or pearl) would be even better.
But now I'm thinking like a yellowish green metallic (or pearl) would be even better.
Black and Gold (bronze) for the win....
I'm flip-flopping. My first reaction is that I also like the Black and Bronze better as a whole, but it does overshadow the ball somewhat. With the silver scheme, the ball looks like the central focus of the design.
I see both sides, as Marten summed up well. If the ball were bigger I might think the overshadowing issue would win out, but frankly the ball is overshadowed by the size of the rocket anyway. I love the black and gold.
In hindsight, and for future designs using a similar concept (mine, yours, or anyone's) the ball should be bigger and should be colored compatibly with the gold. (Purple would be good.)
In hindsight, and for future designs using a similar concept (mine, yours, or anyone's) the ball should be bigger and should be colored compatibly with the gold. (Purple would be good.)
I'm going to wait until I can get the silver. If not for the ping pong ball the champagne color would be great. As it is it will both clash and take your eyes off the ball (as it were). I'll do something with the champagne paint in the future, it really could look great with black.
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