VF-261 Verns Fantasy now off the bench

[jjon667]

Here are some shots of the Semroc VF-261 Verns Fantasy. One is chrome the other is polished aluminum.


Jon

[jetlag]

Very nice work, Jon!
Beautiful!
Did you clear coat these finishes? If so, with what?

Allen

[chrism]

Fantastic finish!

[jjon667]

these were alot of work... the hard part is shaping the tops of the fins... any how, the finish is as follows and we're airbrushed with alclad. the process is involved. all spirals filled, then shot with sandable.primer primer and then sanded. over the primer is CWF sanded again and then sandable primer. the nose and fins are all treated with thinned down 5min epoxy... sanded , cwf , sand and then shot with sandable.primer primer again.... the key to the finish is a smooth finish... nose cone and boat tail treated with thinned glazing putty , sand , cwf, sand , prime sand again. once the fins etc. are attached the entire model is sealed with non sandable primer. sand again. with 8000 grit. once satisfied shoot with black primer...sand ... prime .... sand. from there shooting a gloss black base overb the primer. sand ... re-shoot sand with 3200 , 4000, 8000k pushing cloth. last step is to airbrush alclad lacquer. the smoother the finish the better.... due to the nature of the materials we are painting over you may see a few imperfections. these paints are really designed to go over plastic but you still need to do the prep work regardless of the material. Natural metal finishes will show all and any sanding marks so it is imperative to take your time and get rid of any swirls etc..... sorry for the typos I am responding on my phone Jon

[jjon667]

Hi Allan

No Clear coat on these particular finishes.... not needed.... all other normal paint jobs get a clear coat...

[jetlag]

Thanks, Jon.
I forgot about Alclad; that stuff is great. I've used several shades before with fantastic results. And you're so right about the prep work: that is the key.
Now one little problem: with a finish as beautiful as these, how will you bear to fly them? :eek:
Allen

[jjon667]

Hi Allan

How are you... yes tons of prep and its really really hard doing it on balsa and card board. I am not going to fly them. I will be selling them on eBay or here. I was going to take better pics. I am a photographer and video director but did not fell like seeing up lights for the pics ha!

jon

[Kimble29]

That's a TON of work but, man, those came out great! Excellent job!

[jjon667]

thank you so much.... I will be posting other projects soon :)

[ghrocketman]

WOW !
Those are beautiful finishes.
I have a VF-261 about 95% completed.
I take my time with finishes and mostly use Aero Gloss out of a airbrush or air spray-gun, but I will never be even close to this level and I've been painting rockets/models since 1976.

[jjon667]

Hi GF

How are you.. thank you for the compliments. :) keep practicing and you will get it.

Jon

[LeeR]

WOW !
Those are beautiful finishes.
I have a VF-261 about 95% completed.
I take my time with finishes and mostly use Aero Gloss out of a airbrush or air spray-gun, but I will never be even close to this level and I've been painting rockets/models since 1976.

Let's see some pictures! I painted dope finishes with brush when I was a kid. They brushed surprisingly well. But I'm not sure I've seen any sprayed-on dope finishes on rockets.

Jon,

Those are incredible finishes. Looks like it's time for me to get the airbrushes out of storage and try using them again. :)

[chrism]

these were alot of work... the hard part is shaping the tops of the fins... any how, the finish is as follows and we're airbrushed with alclad. the process is involved. all spirals filled, then shot with sandable.primer primer and then sanded. over the primer is CWF sanded again and then sandable primer. the nose and fins are all treated with thinned down 5min epoxy... sanded , cwf , sand and then shot with sandable.primer primer again.... the key to the finish is a smooth finish... nose cone and boat tail treated with thinned glazing putty , sand , cwf, sand , prime sand again. once the fins etc. are attached the entire model is sealed with non sandable primer. sand again. with 8000 grit. once satisfied shoot with black primer...sand ... prime .... sand. from there shooting a gloss black base overb the primer. sand ... re-shoot sand with 3200 , 4000, 8000k pushing cloth. last step is to airbrush alclad lacquer. the smoother the finish the better.... due to the nature of the materials we are painting over you may see a few imperfections. these paints are really designed to go over plastic but you still need to do the prep work regardless of the material. Natural metal finishes will show all and any sanding marks so it is imperative to take your time and get rid of any swirls etc..... sorry for the typos I am responding on my phone Jon

NMF is a painstaking process which I don't have the patience for. It is quite impressive on plastic models and even more so on a rocket with the many porous materials. Vallejo has come out with acrylic metal finishes. I haven't used them but I heard good reviews.

[jjon667]

I have used the Vallejo NMF and it works well. You will still have the same issues ... but alclad is still the best... I do like the Vallejo versions as well. They are different ya know .

[chrism]

I tend to be of an acrylic guy for the ease of clean up!

[jjon667]

I do agree... acrylics are better in general... but in certain cases lacquers etc are a must.

[jjon667]

Lee

Go for it!!! get the AB out

[Scott_650]

If there was any practical way to build this with a rear eject set-up, imagine the "look" with no nosecone/body tube gap!

[Skp]

I did a rear eject using a full length bt-20 to house the laundry. The only way I could figure out to attach the shock cord to the motor to pull out the parachute was to drill a small 1/8 in hole through the motor casing and insert a metal dowel to which I attached the kevlar cord. Not NAR approved, I am aware. Ted Cochran rolled his eyes when I showed him :D. That also limited me to B motors due to not having enough case space to drill a C. My rocket ended up in Seattle at the Museum of Flight and so high up in the display that I have yet to see a picture of the display that allows me to make out my rocket.

[LeeR]

Back in the 60s I remember seeing a shock cord mount inside a motor using a spring clip. It may have been in an issue of Model Rocket News. It had bent tips that were sharpened and the tips dug into the inside of the motor casing.

I'm not sure if that would be considered a motor modification today, but certainly less so than drilling a hole.

[Scott_650]

Wow, that's a lovely ship. Great work!

[jjon667]

thank you scott !

[PaulK]

Nice work Jon, not something I would have the patience for, but sure can appreciate.

[Skp]

Having posted a NAR safety code violating method of rear ejection shock cord/motor retention, I feel obligated to post a method that will work without motor mutilation. I got a V2 kit with the intention of cloning the VF-261 that went to Seattle, but now that Semroc is producing them again, I will buy another VF-261 from eRockets. The boattail on the V2 kit is long enough to act as a centering ring for the internal bt20 and to hold the MM tube. If my memory serves(not a certainty) the boattail on the VF-261 was too short for this option. But this should be elegant and reliable. Notice just how little room there is for laundry. I had to make the 12in parachute out of a .65mil trash bag. You know the cheap thin trash bags that you would never trust to hold trash. The holes in the side of the MM tube get masking tape squares put in them to secure the motor in the tube. It works really well.

[jjon667]

thank you paul!!!

[Scott_650]

I'm stoked to see how this turns out! The earlier pix inspired me to shoot my latest project - made from leftover Photon Probe parts sine I used a chunk of the body tube to repair a zippered rocket - with some Rustoleum Nickle Silver I liberated from my wife's paint shelf :-)