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Old 10-15-2008, 07:44 AM
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chanstevens chanstevens is offline
Rocket buildin' machine
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Cincinnati OH
Posts: 543
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[1]Basic model rocket building techniques - probably not an issue here. Shooting to finish my 500th model as a BAR sometime later this year.

[2]Research - I was caught a little off guard/overconfident here. I've built a fair number of Saturns, but all would be considered "sport scale" versus "true scale", and hadn't studied the variety from mission to mission in enough depth until this specific project. After getting a little too "committed" to semi AS-205 and semi-generic on this, I picked up some better reference material to fill my knowledge gaps. The more I study, the more I am truly amazed by the achievements of the people involved in the Mercury and Apollo programs.

[3]Building around a reference line -Being anal-retentive helped out here, along with NARAM experience. I was very familiar with the critical need to pay attention to "position [x]" orientation points, and even used a cheapo laser to align corrugations, fiddly bits, etc.

[4]Building up hollow fins - I can completely relate to everyone's pain here, but I had previously built a few of the Semroc, plus have a good deal of paper modeling experience, so really have the built-up fins down to a smooth process at this point. It still takes time--careful cutting, scoring of fold lines, filling of joints, etc., but it's not nearly as difficult.

[5]Resin casting - I'm a wimp here, didn't cast anything. This, and vac-bagging are right up at the top of my list of skills I want to learn, and I typically set a goal of hitting 1-2 new ones each year. Maybe 2009 will be the year I learn to make my own fiddly bits from resin...

[6]Forming and gluing paper shrouds - Generally not a problem for me, something that tends to be one of my strengths. In fact, for the first of the 2 of these I turned in, I was even cocky enough to align the seam at about a 45-degree offset so that it was NOT covered by one of the black lines. I'm betting no one's going to spot the seam without a magnifying glass of some sort. On my second one, though, I got a little sloppy and there were some minor wrinkles that I didn't have time to work down, so you can tell it was a formed shroud.

[7]Fabricating parts with launch lug and cardstock - Ugly. These tend to be glaring beacons that scream "I'm really just a basic model, not a real rocket". It never dawned on me to make the fairings from balsa until catching the tip on one of this project's threads, and next time I'm going balsa master and resin casting...

[8]Fabricating balsa parts - I did a few, but time constraint prevented me from really going nuts here.

[9]Applying tube wraps - Not an issue. I think this is oe of those things that take 1-2 "practice builds" to get under your belt, then they all go well.

[10]Filling - I'll admit to being way too lazy and bailing on trying to fill around the fluted shroud/tanks (I do the offline build/paint, then assemble method). Also, I've noticed on my first few of these that I wind up with annoying hints of spirals on the interstage body tube despite multiple coats of filler. I finally figured out this time around that it's not the seams I'm filling that are showing up, but those dark lines that on a raw tube don't look like seams but some sort of glue line. When I rub my fingernail across them, there's a slight dip but nothing sharp like a seam, so they don't take putty/filler very well. I wound up hitting it with a heavy automotive primer and then completely sanding down before I did any wraps, an that seems to have made all the difference in the world.

[11]Deciding when to attach details and when to paint - I worked off a marked-up instruction booklet where I'd applied a rule of thumb--any detail that is completely a different color than the surface it's mounted against is painted offline, attached at the end. I've experienced the CA smoke/run problem on other models, so generally either use a microscopic applicator tip or switch to white glue applied with a toothpick. For most of these details, the strength of the bond is not that big an issue.

[12]Attaching details - See above.

[13]Masking - I'm never completely satisfied on this, and always seem to be trying new materials and techniques. One thing I seem to be settling in on--green Frog tape tends to minimize bleed on smooth surfaces, but is high tack and therefore must only go on after a couple days' cure. Frisket film (sort of like a sheet of Scotch tape) is excellent, especially working with air brush, but very expensive. It's especially good for complex patterns, curved surfaces, etc. (outstanding on the service module). One other thing I've leanred--no matter how well you THINK you've masked, always shoot one more coat of the base color over the top of the mask job. That way, any bleed will be the same color as the base and seal off future bleed.

[14]Painting - I'm mainly a rattle-can guy, but on the few occasions I've used an air brush (external mix/single action) I've been very pleased. That's always been using tiny bottles of Testor's paint, though. For one of these models, I figured I'd try the ready-to-shoot Createx black/white paints, and that turned out to be a botched experiment. They shot sort of a grainy, gooey consistency and went through what I thought was WAY too much paint, so I had a lot of sanding/rework and switched back to rattle-can for the black and white.

[15]Attaching parts after painting - There's no right/wrong/best approach on this, though I do get the sense that folks seem to have strong preferences. My preference is to follow the pre-painted modular assembly approach I learned from the Apogee Saturn 1b(that was a Heck of a choice for my first scale model...), but think I might try the other way next time just for kicks.

[16]Applying decals -Not an issue, I tend to do well. I clean all surfaces thoroughly with alcohol, use at least 2-3 Microscale products typically, and when I really want the finish to pop, I spray on a thin clear coat after application that tends to make most decals look painted on.

[17]Drawing straight lines on a curved surface - I assume we're talking upper shroud transition. My first Semroc is the one I gave back to Semroc to use as a display, and while they politely claim it looks wonderful, there's one of the 4 connecting lines on that shroud that looks like it was scribbled by a drunken epileptic using their toes to hold the Sharpie. After that one line, I've since printed out a shroud pattern that is about 3/4 the length of the shroud, and I wrap that over the shroud to use as a marking guide (as well as to position those 4 fiddly bits on the shroud itself.

[18]Assembling plastic parts - As much as I hate plastic model conversion, that has forced me to learn to work with plastic and not gob up the joints. In particular, I use brush-on liquid plastic cement that's water-thin consistency. It dries clear, and you simply can't spot even a trace of a seam or sign of glue on my towers now.

[19]Fabricating plastic parts - See above. This is a skill I totally lack and hope to eventually learn.

[20]Detailing - Totally wimped out on this. I had already built the first model and had it just about ready to ship before I learned about the seriousness of this celebration and project. I had hoped to put a little more effort into detailing and above/beyond on a second model, but lost too many days to household/life priorities and had to essentially settle for making the best "kit" I could rather than the best "scale model" I could.
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