ASP Ram B Build, Part 10, Green, Black Fins & NC Masks

The top picture shows the mask for the Green fins. The green was shot and the tape pulled.

Two days later allowing the paint to dry, another mask and the Black fins were sprayed.

The inset picture shows the upper fins.

The remaining fin on the opposite side of the black fins remain white.

The tip of the nose cone is to be painted silver - 1/4" down from the top.

I cut a curved arc from marked Scotch tape.

The lower picture shows the top half of the arc lifted from the cut piece. This is the arc that will be used in the nose cone tip mask.

On the left is the mask, only the tip of the nose cone is open.

After the tape was pulled - 

Not my best result, the tape curve was a little wide. A bit of Silver got under the tape. It required some light scraping which took off some of the Gray. I'll be touching this up with a brush and calling it done.

ASP Ram B Build, Part 9, First Red Masks

The paint mask drawing is a bit confusing, as are most roll pattern masks. There is a lot of masking on this model. 

Eight fins, each set of two is a different color.

Two red, two white, two green and two black.

On the right is the start of the red fin masks.

Notice the rear of the upper fin. Instead of the trailing edge being squared off, I slightly round off the corners.

Blackened Scotch tape outlines the fin. Masking tape fills all the open areas.

I seal the Scotch tape edge using a a Q-tip. Be careful, some of the black from the Sharpie ink has transferred onto the Q-tip. Be careful to rotate the cotton end so you don't wipe black ink on the white fin. 

Here's the red fins after the tape was lifted. These two red fins are in line with each other.

I did have to "push" back some small high points with my knife blade to round out the red paint on the round leading edge.

I went ahead and did one of the nose cone masks.

Using Scotch tape masks around a body tube gives very sharp color separations.

ASP Ram B Build, Part 8, Fin Gluing & White Undercoats

I used a wrap of tape to help line up the fins. 

On the left, the tape wrap helped set the leading edge at the same height on all four fins.

On the right side inset picture - 

A tape wrap helped line up the trailing edge of the upper fins.

OOPS! The engine mount tube should be even with the bottom of the BT-50 tube. Out of habit, I glued it in with 1/4" of the engine mount exposed.

Before spraying the white - 

I pulled out the adapter shoulders and nose cone just a little bit. This allows white paint to get on the shoulders and guarantees full paint coverage when the pieces are slid together after the paint dries.

After the white paint was shot, I noticed some fuzzies on the inside edge of the BT-50 body.

Sometimes I'll wipe some CA glue around the tube edge before gluing in the engine mount. I didn't his time.

If you do seal the inside tube ends before gluing in the mount - keep the CA glue away from the final position of the lower centering ring.

I squeezed out a drop of CA, dipped a toothpick and spread the glue around the inside tube edge.

After the glue dried, the fuzzy threads were carefully sanded with some 400 grit. 

Much better!

My Trip to the Kennedy Space Center

I visited the Kennedy Space Center last Thursday as part of my recent (close to Orlando) camping trip. I haven't been there is over 15 years! Time to see what's new.

This won't be picture after picture of the full size rockets on display. There are plenty of clear Saturn V and Rocket Garden pictures already online. 

I worked at theme parks for 40 years and tend to see these attractions differently than most. I watch guest traffic flow and look for out of the ordinary theming. 

 

Like . . . the floors on the bus that take you to the Saturn V center. They look like 3D craters but are printed flat on a hard mat material.

The Saturn V Center houses the (extra) Saturn V rocket that that was never flown. It sat outdoors for years, exposed to the elements. 

A large hanger was built to refurbish the weathered rocket.

I liked seeing the very sharp corrugated areas. Note the gaps at the root edge of the fairings. This might give you an idea of the "C" decal placement in the kits. 

A few years ago you could actually touch a moon rock. You can still see them, but they are now encased in plastic. With Covid, I doubt you can still kiss the Blarney Stone in Ireland.

Estes Saturn Vs are for sale in one of the gift shops.

The Saturn V Skylab sells for $106.99. 

I didn't see a price of the ARTF plastic Saturn V.

The thousands of tiles covering the Space Shuttle are amazing to see up close. The actual Shuttle Atlantis is on display.

If you go - be sure to do the Shuttle Simulator. This simulator makes you think the building rotates to 90 degrees vertical for "launch". I asked an employee, she said the cabin nose turns up to 67 degrees.

In the Rocket Garden is a full size Delta rocket.

At the base is a black tube shaped just like the Turbine Exhaust on the Thor Agena B.

There are three SRBs on this Delta. The other numbers are placement locations for additional SRBs, nine could be added in total. 

The Kennedy Space Center complex goes all out in theming. This outdoor dining table is an example. Corny, but the kids might find it fun.

Ramps and more ramps! Some attractions require long inclines to enter the buildings from the top. It's not a continuous walk, you stop as the theaters load. My calves and ankles were tired by the end of the day.

Compared to Disney and other Florida attractions, pricing is more reasonable. $10.00 to park your car and a little over $60.00 for admission to the Visitors Center which includes the bus ride to the Saturn V Center.

ASP Ram B Build, Part 7, Filler/Primer & Planning The Masks

Here's Friday's post a day early - the internet at the campground is not running.

On the left is the CWF filled balsa and tube seams sanded to surface.

On the right is after spraying with filler/primer.

Notice how rough the tube is. Some tubes fuzz up when sanding the filler on the seams. This fuzzy surface will disappear after light sanding.

The gray filler/primer shown here is right after spraying, still wet and shiny. Depending on what brand of filler/primer you use - wait a few hours or overnight before sanding.

Two fins - the upper one shot with Duplicolor filler/primer.

There isn't any visible grain, the first fill of CWF did it's job. They don't always turn out this smooth after the single pass of CWF.

The lower fin has the filler/primer sanded leaving very little in the remaining grain pores. This was some quality balsa.

Looking ahead - 

Here's a page from Peter Alway's Rockets of the World.

The upper transition swells out like the plastic adapter on the Estes Nike Apache.

This is going to be an interesting mask!

First Camping Adventure

 

Well - I'm Camping!

First time in years in my new leetle box. I was a little nervous about towing, backing in and setting up - but all went well!

I (proudly) have the smallest camper at the KOA. The picture below shows a big one behind it for a size comparison.

Tomorrow I go to tour the Cape - camera in hand.

Don't expect regular build posts for the next two days. Their Wi-Fi is worse than the cruise ships!

ASP Ram B Build, Part 6, Engine Mount & Fin Root Edge Mask

I'm sending out Thursdays post a day early - I'm camping and their Internet doesn't work! Tomorrow I go to the Cape - Haven't been there in probably 15 years.

I checked the length of of the Kevlar line against the BT-50 and tied the loop below the top end of the body tube. I could have made it a little longer.

OOPS! I glued in the engine mount without checking the instructions. I thought I had read it to go 1/4" over the end of the body tube. I read the instructions later and saw the red tube should have been even with the end of the body tube. Fingers crossed, it should be stable. 

The four lower fins overhang the end of the body tube by 1/4". That's probably the measurement I saw when gluing in the engine mount.

The lower tick mark on the lower fin is at 1/4" to overhang the end of the tube.

The marks on the body are slightly inside the gluing area for the fins.

3/32" wide strips of masking tape are set on the fin lines to keep the filler primer off the tube for a stronger glue bond.

ASP Ram B Build, Part 5, Shaping The Nose Cone

The kit supplied nose cone is conical. To fit the scale profile, it has to be rounded off.

You aren't given a final length of the nose cone, so start small and check the look. If needed, sand more.

There's some CWF filler on the lower end of the cone. I was trying to sharpen up the shoulder edge then thought: 

"I'd better round off the top before filling the rest of the nose cone!"

The top was sanded off.

The sides were knocked down by turning against my sanding block.

Then smoothing with 400 grit rounding it off.

I ended up taking more off the top and re-rounding it.

This reminds me of the nose cone from the old Estes 260 Space Booster. It was made from a TA-550 balsa adapter. A creative way to make a nose cone from another part.

ASP Ram B Build, Part 4, Cutting Out The Fins

The supplied balsa sheet is 1/8" thick. Checking Alway's Rockets Of The World, the fins on the real rocket were very thin. I decided to compromise and go with a thinner, 3/32" balsa.

The instructions say to trace around the templates with a ball point pen. I wouldn't recommend using ink to trace the patterns, it's not a great habit to get into. Ink will bleed through the final colors of paint. 

TIPS: Never mark fin lines on a body tube with ink!

I used some of the scrap balsa left over from other kits. Some Estes kits leave you with a lot of balsa sides. 

Here I've traced around the template with a "safe" pencil. 

In this kit, the leading edges are rounded.

On the actual rocket, the leading edges are a knife edge.

Both the trailing edges and root edges are the same length. I mark the root edges with pencil to keep everything consistent.

ASP Ram B Build, Part 3, Engine Mount

Before using any glue - 

Always test fit the centering rings. 

On this build they were a little tight and required light inside peel to slide over the red engine tube.

The kit included an addendum for the engine mount. An engine hook was added after the initial kit run.

The addendum instructions have the bottom  centering ring position set lower. With the ring too close to the bottom it doesn't allow the engine hook to flex.

I raised the low ring so a 3/4" space was clear at the bottom.

The top ring was glued just over the top of the upper bend of the engine hook. A pencil line was drawn to show the top of the hook position.

The instructions sometimes have you knot the Kevlar under the upper ring.

There's very little room for a double knot between the diameters of a 20 and 50 tube.

I sometimes do a wrap of the Kevlar line, this keeps the tie closer to the engine tube. This is tightened and pressed into the wet glue fillet against the ring joint.

Notice the red tube is darker than the rest of the tube.

The red tubes are sometimes a little rougher than a standard brown engine mount tube. Some medium CA glue was "brushed" on using a Q-tip. That hardens the tube and allows for smooth sanding.

At the bottom right you can barely see a line of sanded CWF filling the seam on the red tube. The CA glue and sanding followed the filler.

Big Daddy Inspiration

Here's a great way to change up the (suggested) face card paint scheme!

Posted by Doug Hess on the Estes Model Rockets Facebook page:

"It hasn't flown yet, but this is my Big Daddy Evel Knievel Skycycle rocket."

ASP Ram B Build, Part 2, More Parts

Parts of interest:

Roll of black self adhesive vinyl to cut body roll patterns from. This saves you from any tricky masking.

Red and Black vinyl strips for trim and "barber pole" stripe on the upper tube.

BIG screw eye, larger than usually seen on a model this size.

Clay - see below 

Pattern sheet - The upper templates are for cutting out the larger black vinyl trim pieces.

1/8" thick balsa for the eight fins. It seems thick. 

With the upper fins, nose weight is needed for stability.

The clay weighs in at just under 1/2 ounce at .45 ounce.

ASP Ram B Build, Part 1, Parts

I picked up this A.S.P. (Aerospace Specialty Products) kit at JonRocket last week. It had an interesting roll pattern with some different colors not normally combined on a scale model. The colors are White, Red, Green, Silver, Gray and Black. 

I don't see this kit on the ASP website, it may be OOP.

All the parts - 

A small 1/8" thick balsa sheet - You cut out the fins "old school" which is fine by me!

Yellow, cardstock pattern sheet for the black body quarters

Black vinyl trim, one strip and a small roll

Red vinyl trim

Standard 20/50 engine mount with the ASP red engine mount tube

Pointed, conical nose cone, a section of BT-20 and a balsa 20/50 adapter

A large screw eye

Clay weight  to move the C/G forward

12" chrome Mylar 8 sided parachute

Cursed Build?

Did you ever have a build that seemed cursed?

I think I have built two other Leo Space Trains for Estes. They requested one more build.

Once in a while, kit balsa seems different. I go through my standard filling process and after the white is sprayed, there is still some grain. So, back for more filling.

Notice the lines on the side piece. These are burned into the balsa. 

After brushing on CWF, I drag a knife blade through the wet filler to keep the lines open.

After spraying on filler/primer, a blade is again dragged through the lines.

On this balsa, I had trouble keeping the line width consistent.

That brings up today's adventure. I started masking for the light gray paint.

When turning over the complex wing assembly, I lightly bumped into the table top. 

The rudder broke off! 

This is a complex joint - there is a small triangular balsa reinforcement piece on the other side.

That means some clean gluing and very tight seam refilling.

AAARGH! (not what I really said)

This is not a slam on Estes or the model design. It seems once in a while, a build doesn't go together as planned.

I might have to start again with a new kit just for the wing pieces. I can keep the already painted body tubes and trim pieces. Those are okay - for now!

Slo Mo Guys Rocket Launch

On Facebook, Jim Parson's posted a video from the Slo-Mo Guys.

We've all seen slow motion launches before, but maybe not like this!

To see the video: CLICK HERE

Lots of sparks bouncing off the blast deflector!

Dusk launches are visually good, especially in slow motion.

Quest/Enerjet Minotaur Q5015 Build, Finished

The Minotaur is the most detailed of the Quest Advanced rocketry line.

This one reminds me a little of the old Centuri Orion kit - the Orion had three fuel tanks. It was the same diameter at around 2", but a few inches shorter.

Here's the low end with the six SRBs. There were a bit tricky to line up and space evenly.

If your tube and fins surfaces are smooth, the sticker thickness isn't that noticeable. Just try not to touch the underside of the stickers when placing them on the model.

The mid section with all the wider wraps.

The nose cone tops off a well detailed model. 

With all the SRB wraps it turned out to be a good challenge.

Quest/Enerjet Minotaur Q5015 Build, Part 12, SRB Gluing

Before gluing on a SRB - Check the last picture below

Note the pencil line down the SRB gluing area. The pencil line also goes underneath, around the end edge of the body tube. This will help with alignment.

I also extended the pencil line down the main body under the edge of the body tube.

Look close at the picture on the right - those two pencil marks line up.

Here's the first SRB in place.

The instructions recommend using the "Double Glue" technique to place these assemblies. I'd recommend using the double gluing.

It's hard to see the pencil lines down the body tube when the SRB covers it. 

Look down the side to see how even the space is between the SRB and the fin root edge.

On the right - I used my aluminum angle to check the alignment.

I checked the Delta Rockets information in my Alway Rockets Of The World trying to figure out were the specific numbered SRBs go around the main body.

This didn't help much, the Delta II has nine SRBs, this model has six.

The box picture helps a bit - 

Between the fins, going from left to right - 

SRB 6 (Left) and SRB 1(Right), rotate the rocket to the left.

SRB 4 (Left) and SRB 2(Right), rotate the rocket to the left.

SRB 5 (Left) and SRB 3(Right), rotate the rocket to the left.