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Originally Posted by Chris_Timm
Gus, is your model scratch built with Stickershock wraps?
The font looks to be "cheerful" and not a serious style that one would expect on a missile.
I can't really see much on the North Coast website but it looks like the kit version shown has a more serious style font.
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Chris,
God bless you! You have such an amazing eye!
Here is a bit of history. The photos I posted are of one of the early prototypes of what became the kit.
Matt decided to do a model inspired by the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile. He designed the structure of the kit based on North Coast's 2.6" tubes.
Mike Nowak of Galactic Manufacturing did the 3D printed parts. The motor retainer/nozzle on the kit is much nicer than on my prototype.
I did the graphics. The ones on the prototype shown were inkjet printed on Papillio vinyl, similar to what John Pursely used on his wraps. I don't know who Matt has printing the actual wraps in the kits, but I know they are professionally done, not inkjet.
The black stripe nosecone graphic was also done by me, and produced by Rick Randol of New Way rocketry. Very similar to the old MRC decals and to rub-on dry transfer decals, but made out of vinyl. Really cool production technique that Rick and his son Luke are able to do, same as he uses in his New Way models. That particular graphic would not have been possible in a regualar decal and would have been extremely difficult to mask and paint. It is a bit challenging to apply but looks fantastic.
That, and the body wrap will probably be new techniques for most modelers. Really a nice reason to buy one of these kits. The rest of the kit is standard NCR rock solid design, and the Galactic manufacturing 3D parts are better than anything else out there.
Finally, Chris, again, not kidding, your eye for detail is just fantastic! The font on the nosecone decals (waterslide in the kit) were originally done by me in classic Mac "Stencil" font. I love your description of them as "cheerful." Much less kind descriptions (LOL) were used by James Duffy, who provided the much more realistic military font eventually used.
I like to think that the" king of model rocket roll patterns," Lee Piester, would heartily approve of the graphics on this model.
All in all, I think it's a really novel, fantastic appearing model that modelers wiil have a lot of fun with, both in building and flying.
And, again, Chris, thank you for so many years of giving so many of us so much scale data.
Steve