MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 15 - Booster Decals

The home-print MPC decals are now ready to be applied to the Lunar Patrol Booster rocket.

I am using a brand of clear decal stock for ink jet printers purchased at HobbyTown. 
The decals used for this model are from a scan of an original MPC stock sheet.  A little size tweaking was necessary to get the black and white roll pattern to precisely fit a BT-20 body tube.

Once the sheet was printed, it was shot with two coats of Krylon clear to protect the images.

I found that this particular brand of decal material takes only 10 seconds of soaking before it is ready to move out of the water.  Any longer soak time and the decal tends to curl with a lot of nasty wrinkles that are somewhat difficult to work out when applied to the model's surface.

As has been pointed out on other build blogs, and the forums, working with home print decals takes a great deal more time and patience to get things right. 

Careful attention to placement and working the excess water and bubbles from under each decal with a Q-tip is essential.  The end result is very satisfactory.

This is the front, or 'show' side of the model.

Just for grins, I stuck a decal of my old NAR number on one of the fins.  Even though I am currently not a member, this is a re-build of one of my old-fleet models from a time when I was.

The launch lug side of the Lunar Patrol is more sparsely decorated - a small USA and the MPC logo .

After a day or so of drying time, the decals will be treated with gloss sauce (Future) to seal the edges.

In the meantime, it's off to finish getting some secondary paint colors on the gliders.

Cheers!

Steampunk Protostar, Part 2 - I Have Re-Considered

Howdy Folks!
In a previous post I stated that I am not going to do a build series on the SteamPunk Protostar, but I have since changed my mind.
"Why, BlastFromThePast?", you might ask.
After doing an extensive search of the Wonderful World Wide Web for all things Steampunk, I realized what a cool project this might turn out to be.
So, what exactly is this 'Steampunk' of which I speak?
Here is a brief definition from Wikipedia -  "Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery."
Therefore, any machine or contrivance designed in the realm of Steampunk will, of course, be powered by some form of steam engine.  The associated machinery attached to and powered by this steam engine is characterized by a lot of gears, cams, pistons, pipes, vanes, valves, dials, gauges, etc.
The primary materials of construction are steel, copper, and brass.
Human interface controls are all in the form of hand-wheels, valve handles, levers, and pull-chains.
On top of all this is thrown in a good measure of Victorian-era decorative elements.
Steampunk.
For the conversion of an Estes Protostar kit into Steampunk, I intend to construct the basic model much as the kit was intended, while at the same time, designing and adding the embellishments as I go along.
Naturally, the kit recommended paint scheme and decals will go straight out the window.
In many respects, this will be very much akin to building a regular historical scale model from scratch, as all of the external detailing will need to be custom fabricated from various materials.
The way I want to approach this build is to imagine what a spaceship dreamed up and designed by a group of 19th century steam power / mechanical engineers and tinkerers would look like. 
Sort of the product of a Victorian-era version of Space-X.
Of course, we all know that a steam powered engine could never build up enough pressure to produce the thrust necessary to lift anything in the air.  Even if it could, operation would cease once high enough in Earth's atmosphere.  Insufficient air for combustion.
Making it to the moon to see if it really is made of green cheese would be out of the question.
But it is fun to think about.
Gotta love science fiction.
Anyway, what would the Queen herself (Victoria, that is) say if she could see all of this Steampunk business?

"We are NOT amused !"
 

MPC Lunar Patrol: Part 14 - Booster Rocket Painting Completed

Saturday, May 12th .....
I finally found some time to get paint applied to a few rocket builds, the Lunar Patrol being one of them.
The model was masked for a simple two-color scheme of white for the upper body and silver for the fin/glider tube assembly.
Next step is the application of decals.  I will be using home prints of a scan of the original MPC decal sheet, sized down slightly to allow the roll patterns to fit a BT-20 tube.
This build is slowly crawling to a conclusion.....

Steampunk Protostar, Part 1 - A Marvelously Splendid New Adventure

As if I don't have enough model rocket projects in various stages of completion strewn about the BlastFromThePast workshop , I picked this up at Hobby Lobby today...

This purchase was inspired by a thread on one of the rocket forums concerning the paint scheme for the Protostar kit. 

Estes R&D designer John Boren chimed in, and pondered who would be the first to do a 'Steampunk' version of the model.

"Well, now!"  I exclaimed to myself. "This is truly a tailor-made project for me!"

I certainly can recognize a tossed gauntlet when I see one.

I probably won't do a posted build series on this model, preferring to leave that sort of stuff to the more highly experienced and able bloggers (I won't mention any names, Chris).

I shall, however, post periodic pictures of the model as progress is made.

But first,  I must be off to perform the necessary data gathering by consulting my vast library of picture books on steam engine technology and Victorian-era frillery.

Or, maybe just 'Google' the stuff.

Anyway, this ought'a be fun.

Stay tuned.

Back In The Day, Part 13 - Ridin' The Rails

Back in 1968, my folks bought a new home in the Rustic Hills area of Colorado Springs. The house was located at a T-intersection opposite a short street that went up the hill about a block and terminated in a cul-de-sac. Beyond the houses and yards on this cul-de-sac was a rocky bluff, and running along the base of that bluff were some railroad tracks.  Rock Island Railroad, to be exact.
I recall there was a great deal of freight train traffic on that line. The rail bed through that section had a fairly substantial grade, meaning that trains heading west to east ran very slowly - many times around 5mph tops!  Of course, trains heading east to west would fly down that grade.
In 1968, I was in junior high school.  During the summers my neighborhood buddies and I would be hanging out, hiking around on the bluff or riding our bikes on a pathway paralleling the tracks.  Whenever we heard one of the slow trains approaching from the west, we would make a bee-line for the tracks. 
As the train passed slowly by we would wave to the locomotive engineers and wait.  After they were safely far enough away to not see us, we would climb onto the ladders attached to freight cars as they passed by.  They were going so slowly, it was really just a matter of walking alongside the car, and easily stepping on. 
We would hitch a ride for about half a mile to just ahead of the point where the grade started leveling out and trains could pick up a little more speed.  Then we would just hop off the ladders and go on our way.  Harmless adolescent fun, eh?
That Rock Island rail line out of Colorado Springs is now long since gone.  The rails have been removed and parts of the grade have been made into a walking/biking path.
What's all this got to do with model rocketry?
Last night I was reading the interview with Vern and Gleda Estes published in the Sep./Oct. 2006 issue of Launch magazine.  I was intrigued by the part on page 29 where Vern was describing the shipment of Estes catalogs from the Penrose mail facility, in which Rock Island truck trailers were loaded with catalogs after which they were driven to Colorado Springs and loaded piggyback onto railroad flat cars to be transported to points east.
The article doesn't specify which year(s) this occurred.
Reading that interview article sparked these memories and makes me wonder if any of us kids hitching a ride on those trains did so on one of the flat cars laden with thousands of Estes Industries
catalogs bound for the East Coast...
I found a photo online of part of that same rail line in the process of being dismantled.  This pic is from the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph.  This section of track is a bit further west of where I lived.

Hangin' Out With 'Mr. Cineroc', Part 10 - Wrappin' Things Up

Well, boys and girls, this is likely the final post in the main body of this series about Herb Desind. 

The final letter from Herb  I possess is from late 1978.  I am not sure why we lost touch.  It was probably because of some changes that were going on in my life at the time.  I had just purchased a home, was finishing up college and starting my career in electronics, and got married in early 1979.  Also, I had been appointed as Mountain States Regional Manager for the NAR around that time, so my primary focus in model rocketry shifted  to assisting other NAR rocketeers in getting some sections started, some activities going, as well as planning a large Regional contest (HOTROC-1) in August of 1979. 
 
Even though I had built  Mountaineer III and still had a Cineroc in my possession, I ceased doing any more flying for Herb.  I just had too many other irons in the fire.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading the small amount of information I was able to share here.  I certainly had fun, and a lot of good memories, as I pored through the correspondence and photographic material.

I also thank those of you who wrote responses, both here and on the forums.  There were a lot of folks who knew Herb and had more anecdotes and information to share.

Once I get the Cineroc films I have from Herb transferred to digital format, I may post some updates here on the blog.  Also, I may compile a listing of all the Cineroc flights that Herb mentioned throughout the letters I received from him.  He described a lot of locations and contests where he flew Cinerocs, along with a little info about how many he flew and some references to motor combinations used.  Some of this stuff could prove useful for anyone out there who might be cataloguing and/or researching his vast Cineroc  flight activities.

Quite a guy, methinks…..

Cheers.

It's Anniversary Day!

Just realized that today marks my 2nd anniversary as a BAR.  Happy birthday to me!

Hangin' Out With Mr. Cineroc, Part 9 - One more Anecdote...

In a letter dated September 13, 1978, Herb wrote the following:

"First, I think it is funny as hell how the Estes R&D guy saw your rocket bust.  I am glad the Cineroc is OK.  The reason the film is not thru is that it is too short a time.  The film I would bet still has well over 1/2 unused--so fly that same film pak again on a single stage.  I hope you complete the Mountaineer III soon so you can fly it for me.

I have no recollection of this flight incident, but I apparently described it in one of my letters to Maryland.
To my dismay, I no longer possess any flight logs or records spanning from March, 1978 through all of 1979.  Either I didn't keep the logs in the first place, or, somewhere along the line, I lost whatever notebook they might have resided in, so I have no way to corroborate this particular flight.
Anyway, this letter implied that I, indeed had another Omega rocket (Mountaineer II?) with which to continue flying Cinerocs for Herb after I had lost the original Mountaineer at Breckenridge.  I did not remember whether Herb built this one and mailed it to me or if I built it myself.

This last weekend, I scoured through all of my old-fleet model rocketry photo albums, scrapbooks, and issues of the Cosmic Steppingstone newsletter to see if I could find anything at all about this flight. 

To my surprise, I certainly did!

In the August/September 1978 issue of the newsletter, I found a write-up about a competition / demonstration meet that took place in July1978 at Penrose Stadium in Colorado Springs.  At the time, Skywatchers/ROMAR had ceased being a section of the NAR, so this event was a non-sanctioned contest.  The article says that several rocketeers drove down from Denver to participate.

Here is the news letter article excerpt that is pertinent to this post:

"About this time, the clouds burned off and the weather was turning hot, so Ed Mitton decided to prepare his Cineroc movie camera for flight.  When everything was ready, the countdown was started and the camera switched on. The engine in the booster happened to be one of those that Estes makes once in awhile just for fun...it exploded!  The force of the blast threw the Cineroc 20 feet into the air from which it free-fell.  Luckily it was not damaged."

A little further in the write-up:

As if that weren't enough, some club members had the nerve to suggest launching some more rockets for the benefit of having FUN !  PREPOSTEROUS!  One of the perpetrators of this outrage, Ed Mitton, launched his now very worn Cineroc booster (with static payload section in place of the Cineroc -ed) to test out another of the D12-5 engines from the same pack that nearly caused the demise of his Cineroc.  True to Murphy's Law, the flight went perfectly!"

And another interesting line at the end of the article:

"There were a moderate number of spectators during the course of the meet, including the distinguished Wayne Kellner, one of them fancy R&D guys from Estes."

When scanning through flight logs for early 1978, I found also this footnote to a February 5th Skywatchers sport meet:

"Besides flying my own models, I launched Herb Desind's Cineroc model for a very nice flight."

Also, while looking through my old photo album I found two interesting prints:

These pix are of some displays that were set up as part of a model hobby show at the Citadel Mall in Colorado Springs which Skywatchers/ ROMAR participated in over the weekend of  July 7-8, 1978.  Placed side by side in panoramic fashion, it can clearly be seen that there is a Cineroc/Omega rocket hanging right there as part of the display.

Since I designed and constructed those particular display boards, I am 100% sure that this rocket is the Mountaineer II !  The very same model described in Herb's letter and the news letter article.   The odd thing is I still possess lists of all the models in my old fleet, but this Omega is not mentioned.   Mysterious. That leads me to believe that the model was actually built by Herb, otherwise it would have been recorded in my rocket list along with an assigned fleet number.

Another little gem I found while researching in the ol' model rocket archives is this:

Probably acquired from Wayne at that 1978 rocketry event.

Gee, wonder if the phone number is still any good.....

Launch Date: 28 April, 2018

 

A check of the wind and weather websites revealed that today would be a warm day in Colorado with a minimal-wind launch window between 9:00 a.m. and noon.  It has been well over three months since I have had an opportunity to launch rockets, so I am long overdue for getting in a good flyin’ ‘fix’.

For today’s launch session, I would be flying at nearby Douglas County High School, so smaller power rockets would be the rule.  Off the shelf came the Hornet, the Generic E2X, the newly-built Star Seeker for its maiden flight, and….the Mosquito.
Arriving at the field at 11:00 a.m., I quickly got things set up and ready to go.  Wind speeds were estimated at around 5mph with no overhead clouds, and plenty of sunlight.
The first model prepped was the old familiar Hornet for flight #39. The old bird turned in yet another great flight on an A3-4T engine with recovery by a 10” parachute equipped with a spill hole.  Again, the model was returned with no damage.

Next bird to poke a hole in the sky was the freshly-built Estes Star Seeker. Not wanting to fly this bird in tumble recovery mode as specified by Estes, I equipped it with a 1”x 12” plastic streamer.
The model boosted high and straight on a 1/2A3-4T. 

 Following ejection, I saw no streamer, but observed the model falling in one piece. The cel phone video I took of the flight recorded me saying, “There’s gonna be some damage here”, as the bird was rapidly falling.  Reaching the crash site, I found that the Star Seeker was intact.  The streamer had ejected, but tangled along with the shock cord around one of the fin assemblies. The only damage to the model was a crack in the paint on the rear body tube, probably from engine heat.

I quickly prepped the model for a second flight.  Again it boosted straight and high.  This time at ejection, I completely lost sight of the model- no streamer again.

Spying the model lying on the turf a short distance away, I found it in this condition:

The motor casing had ejected instead of the recovery system. The fin damage was the result of,essentially, tumble recovery.  Easy fixes, though, and the Star Seeker will fly another day!

Next bird to be prepped for flight was the tiny Mosquito.  
The model performed its usual straight, high boost on a 1/4A motor.  The ejection cloud was highly visible against the clear blue sky, after which I caught a flash of sunlight off the model’s silver Monokote wrap.  To my great surprise, I actually detected the model descending in stable trajectory all the way to the ground, where it impacted, hopped in the air a couple of feet and fell back to the turf.  This is the first time I’ve ever witnessed an entire flight of one of these elusive birds.  Up until now, I didn’t think it could be done.  Needless to say, recovery was quite easy.

I quickly had an igniter installed in a new ¼A engine, and the Mosquito on the pad for flight number two.  Again, a nice boost was followed by a highly visible ejection cloud.  This time, I lost sight of the model, but walked in the direction of where I had seen the ejection charge.  I easily located the bird on the ground.  I counted 40 paces back to the launch pad.

 

Flight #2

Well, now, I was having so much fun launching and recovering this little bird, I figured I might as well have another go.  This would be flight #10 overall for this Mosquito.

Flight #3

Again the model flew nicely, and again, I was able to catch sight of its descent and follow it all the way to the ground, where it stuck in the turf ‘lawn dart style’.  Another short, leisurely walk to pick it up.
I had intended to stop at 3 flights, but I still had one more ¼A motor left.  Why not?

Up went the Mosquito again, and for the third time I caught sight of it streaking in for another ‘bounce-on-the-grass’ impact right in front of the soccer net. 








Had the model bounced a little further in the right direction, it might have scored a goal!




I had brought along the Generic E2X model to fly today as well, but found that the low-wind weather window was coming to an end.  Judging from my marker streamer I estimated that wind speeds had picked up to over 7mph, so I opted out on flying the GE2X.

As I was packing up the gear, I noticed this:

First time I have ever seen a starter plug land on the launcher!

7 flights on the day with no lost models and only one real mishap.  I’ll roll with that.

Hangin' Out With 'Mr. Cineroc' Part 8 - I Found 'Em !!

After much moving boxes around, rummaging, and sustaining a cut on my finger, I found two 8mm film reels containing some Cineroc flight footage I had taken for Herb Desind.  These were processed by Herb and sent to me.  The pieces of tape identifying the reels are his hand writing. 

The next step is to get them to one of those outfits that can convert 8mm film to digital and throw them on a CD Rom.
I haven't viewed these films since the late 70s, so I have no recollection of their content. 

The one labeled Bear Creek Park makes sense because that was the location of an annual demonstration launch that the Skywatchers Club put on for the Skyway Homeowner's Association in northwest Colorado Springs.  Bear Creek Park is a lovely location - a well manicured park nestled in the foothills against a scenic mountain backdrop of Colorado Springs' Rampart Range.

Copies of these same flights may reside in Herb's vast collection of Cineroc films, wherever that may be.

Once I get digital copies made, I'll see if I can post any interesting still frames here.

Cheers!