Well, boys and girls,
This post pretty much completes the series on the NAR 60th Year Rocketeer Reunion. I had nearly as much fun writing and putting together this material as I had attending the reunion. I hope you all found it informative and entertaining.
There were at least 200 NAR model rocketeers present at this event.
Many old-timers and many newcomers. Past NAR presidents. NARAM contest directors. NARAM champions. Model Rocketry Royalty. Hobby innovators. Rocketeers who wrote many articles or were otherwise featured in the pages of Model Rocketry Magazine and the Model Rocketeer during the roaring heyday of the hobby when the Apollo program was the going thing in the late 60s-early 70s. Model Rocket Manufacturers from companies defunct to new ones to ones that have been in existence from near the very beginning. Fliers of LPR...MPR...HPR. Sport fliers. Competition Fliers. Glider Fliers. Scale Nuts. Oddroc Fans (won't mention any names, Randall).
Attendee NAR numbers ranged from 18, (Bob Kaplow) to 105584, (Dave Hutchinson).
A tremendous cross section of people who at some point in their lives got bit really hard by the 'Model Rocketry Bug', and never looked in the rearview mirror.
The core of the hobby.
As NAR President John Hochheimer pointed out, "This is the last time this same group of people will all be together in the same room representing our great hobby!"
I felt extremely privileged to be there and somewhat in awe of the whole affair.
One last anecdote:
Nearing the closing moments of this highly enjoyable and inspiring event, I caught up with fellow blogger, Hans Chris Michielssen.
"Man, this was great! It's just like being a kid in a candy store!", I said.
"Yep", replied Chris, "I feel like I'm 13 again!"
Thanks for reading!
Cheers!
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
NAR 60 Year Reunion, Part 16 - The Museum of Flight Silent Auction
The final presentation of the evening was given by Pat Fitzpatrick and Geoff Nunn on the subject of the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
Brief updates were discussed concerning the monumental task of sorting and cataloguing the vast amount of material, particularly the Stine, Estes, and Piester collections.
As a fund raising effort for the museum, some very neat items were donated for a silent auction held at the reunion.
The highlight piece was this set of the first three Estes Industries kits: The Scout, Mark, and Space
Plane, donated by Vern and Gleda Estes. The set is attractively mounted and framed and signed by Vern and Gleda. (Sorry about the fuzzy photo).
Another item of interest was this famous first edition Estes catalog, # 261, the one that was stitched by Gleda on her sewing machine. The frame includes a photo of that process.
This next item is one that any rocketeer would be thrilled to have hanging on the wall of their shop:
A canvas print of the box art for the Centuri Laser-X. What a beautiful rendition! This was donated by Lee Piester.
Several other canvas prints were up for auction at the event. These were full color renditions of some famous early model rocket poster/box art, and others were of previous edition Handbook of Model Rocketry covers. Unfortunately, the photo I took of them was too blurry to post here.
Brief updates were discussed concerning the monumental task of sorting and cataloguing the vast amount of material, particularly the Stine, Estes, and Piester collections.
As a fund raising effort for the museum, some very neat items were donated for a silent auction held at the reunion.
The highlight piece was this set of the first three Estes Industries kits: The Scout, Mark, and Space
Plane, donated by Vern and Gleda Estes. The set is attractively mounted and framed and signed by Vern and Gleda. (Sorry about the fuzzy photo).
Another item of interest was this famous first edition Estes catalog, # 261, the one that was stitched by Gleda on her sewing machine. The frame includes a photo of that process.
This next item is one that any rocketeer would be thrilled to have hanging on the wall of their shop:
A canvas print of the box art for the Centuri Laser-X. What a beautiful rendition! This was donated by Lee Piester.
Several other canvas prints were up for auction at the event. These were full color renditions of some famous early model rocket poster/box art, and others were of previous edition Handbook of Model Rocketry covers. Unfortunately, the photo I took of them was too blurry to post here.
FlatCat Boost/ Glider Build, Part 9 - Makin' The Glider All 'Purty'
To start off with finishing the FlatCat, I hit it with a light coat of white sandable automotive primer.
This is more for sealing the grain and providing a better surface after sanding for coloring the model with permanent markers.
The trim weight cavity in the glider's nose made a perfect place to insert a dowel to hold the model for drying.
YELLOW....
This is more for sealing the grain and providing a better surface after sanding for coloring the model with permanent markers.
The trim weight cavity in the glider's nose made a perfect place to insert a dowel to hold the model for drying.
The FlatCat's primer coat is now dry, and all the surfaces get a finish sanding with 400-600 grit paper.
Now I can begin layout of my chosen décor pattern and applying the marker color coats:YELLOW....
ORANGE....
RED....
...and BLACK for the bottom side of the wings and horizontal stab.
The downside of coloring a wood model with markers is that it is nearly impossible to get neat, even color coverage. There will always be marker streaks and mottling. On a boost/glider, aesthetic appearance is the trade-off for having a light weight finish. Still, it doesn't look too terrible.