Binge Build: A Deluge of Decals, Part 1

 Now comes the fun part of doing any model rocket build - seeing the whole finish coming together with the application of decals and markings.

The first order of business is to design and produce a home-print decal sheet with a number of custom patterns, numbers and other details.

Here is a photo of this sheet included with all of the other kit decals.

Here are the first two models of the build to get the decal / marking treatment, completed December 12th:

The Interceptor. That's a lot of decals!!

...and the Nike-X.   Note the different roll pattern below the front fins.  I totally screwed up the original kit decal when applying it to the model.  It initially went down with a lot of wrinkles.  In the process of trying to carefully straighten it out, it sustained a severe tear right down the 'show side'.  After several attempts to fix things, I only managed to mess it up further. Conceding a total loss, I removed the whole mess.  My decal folder happened to have some nice checkerboard pattern decals, so I cut and applied one of those instead.  

I kind of like it better than the original.

I also did the fin and body decals a bit differently.  They were made to be applied as one piece with a narrow clear area nestled into the fin root. After placing the first one, I didn't like how it looked, so the remaining similar decals were carefully cut apart at that seam line and applied individually.

To make things look even better, I used a black Sharpie to color in the fin/body separation lines and extend the patterns out to the edge of the fins.  This looks way better, in my opinion.

On a whim, I applied some red permanent marker to the aft fin edges, just to break up the black and white monotony.

These two models are now ready for clear coating.

Stay tuned.....

Binge Build: A Plethora of Painted Projects - Day 3

 Scooping snow one day - painting model rockets the next! Gotta love Colorado weather. 

Yesterday's rattle can excursion saw the completion of the Quest Icarus model and the application of the yellow treatment to the Big Bertha.

In addition to these activities, I finished all of the primer sanding on the Icarus, ESAM, and Big Daddy models while keeping an eye on the Bronco/Detroit game.

Binge Build: Project On Temporary Hold !

 I had stated earlier that I had hoped to get all of the models in this multi-model building frenzy done by the end of the year.

There was one small detail in the planning process that was completely overlooked.

Christmas !!!

I had entirely forgotten that, at this time of year, model rockets and anything else get swept off of the BlastFromThePast shop workbenches in favor of sorting, testing, repairing, and modifying the zillions of Christmas decoration light strings that the missus and I use to adorn the interior and exterior if our home.  This year, the amount of lighting stuff was so extensive that the process burgeoned beyond the shop area and took over the entire basement!

We go way beyond mere store-bought decorations and end up designing and building a number of our own lighted wreaths, boughs, and other features.  These require me to build a great deal of custom length and color light strings.

My wife does most of the artistic design work while my role is to be the lighting and electrical engineer.

So, this past week has been a very busy one, full of decoration fabrication and installation.

We're almost done, so it will soon be back to rockets...I hope.

Launch Date: December 2, 2021

Unseasonal warm weather prevailed on Thursday, December 2nd, as five Colorado Front Range rocketeers met at Dove Valley Park in Centennial for a launch session.  In attendance were Jim Gazur, Lee Reep, Frederick Cobb, and David Bauer, and of course, Your Humble Blogger.  Fred and Dave are members of Denver's C.R.A.S.H. club.

Lee Reep started things off with a successful flight of a Hex-3 on a C motor.

My first order of business was to go off to the side and toss my Wasp boost/glider around to adjust glide trim. One errant throw caused the model to stall and nose-dive. SNAP!  There went the glider nose.  No Wasp flight today.  This mishap was a harbinger of how the remainder of day was going to go for the upcoming BlastFromThePast fleet launches....

My first model off the pad was the flagship EAC Viper. The A10-3T motor used for propulsion was a CATO.  As a result, the entire model was gutted, and the front end of the body tube crumpled.  I believe the Viper can be re-built and flown again.  This was the first CATO of my BAR era.

Around this time, Jim Gazur had his first model on the pad - a scale V2 by Spacemonkey, powered by an Aerothech D21. At ignition, the igniter popped loudly without starting the motor. Upon inspection, Jim discovered that the motor nozzle and casing were cracked.  The V2 did not fly this day.

Now, it was time for Dave Bauer to get into the action, with a German-made kit of the Russian Vostok. The model turned in a very nice flight, recovering nearby.

Lee Reep assists Dave in preparing the Vostok for flight.

The next model to come out of the box was my Mark II Rock-A-Chute clone.  Since the only A10 motors I had were from the same pack as the one which had just roached the Viper, I chose to go with an A3-4T.

The model turned in a very nice flight, except for a parachute that did not fully deploy. A post-flight inspection revealed the shock cord partially wrapped around the parachute. The model was returned undamaged.

Lee was the next to put up another bird. This time it was a Launch Lab Bullet Bobby.  The squat little model turned in a surprisingly high flight on a B4 motor and was successfully recovered.

Shortly later, Lee was soon back in the action with a very nice flight of his Dragonfly boost/glider, powered by an A10 motor.

 By this time, Dave Bauer had another bird ready on the pad.  This was a scale Ariane model. The bird turned in a very nice flight:

Jim Gazur was next to launch, with a 1:14 scale Nike Ajax from Boyce Aerospace. The model was converted to multi-stage configuration. The Nike booster was equipped with a Perfectflight Mini-timer set to ignite the upper stage .2 seconds after booster burnout.  Flying on a C11-3 / A8-3 motor combo, the bird turned in a beautiful flight.

My third flight of the day went to a Citation Patriot flying on a C6-5 motor.  The bird launched on a perfect flight trajectory. At ejection there was...no parachute!   After recovering the model from its hard impact, I found quite a bit of damage: two popped fins, a loose motor mount, some body tube 'wrinkling', and even a broken plastic shock cord attachment loop on the nose.

The model can be re-built and flown again.

Lee Reep had a much better outcome with an excellent flight of his Sceptre on D12 power:

Jim Gazur soon had a large glider project on the pad and ready for launch.  This is a Mini Dart 2 Discus Hand Launch glider modified for rocket power and R/C control.  The high-performance glider was flown on a Quest C6-3 motor. The flight started as expected, but quickly transitioned into a tight inside loop with a time period about the same as Jim's reaction time on the R/C controller, so he never could catch up.  He managed to gain some minimum control after the motor burned out--enough to keep it from crashing. 

Later on, after making some trim adjustments, Jim flew the boost/glider a second time, but with nearly the same results. Some additional fine tuning and trim modification should make this model a great flyer.

My next model to hit the skies was the perennially reliable Quest Big Rage, carrying a keychain camera and a FlightSketch Mini altimeter. Boost was perfect on a C6-5 motor.

At ejection, it was noted that there was no deployed parachute on the booster. The Big Rage came in ballistic.  The payload section was on a separate parachute which did deploy and bring the electronics down safely.

Unfortunately, my video cam workhorse rocket was completely toasted, the only salvageable part being the plastic fin can/motor mount section.  This was the model's 8th flight.

Bad day for the home team!  

I did get a very good video from the camera, and good flight data from the altimeter. I will have a blog post done in a few days covering this flight.

I had brought along a couple of other birds to fly, but with my horrendous track record for the day, coupled with increasing wind conditions, I opted out of any further launches.  I just didn't want to risk losing models or toting home more casualties. My fleet definitely took a brutal hit today...

Next, David Bauer was observed setting up a highly unusual model on the pad...

This is a flying pyramid which Dave called the "King Tut" !!!

Boosted by a G64 motor, the model roared off the pad to turn in what became the most spectacular flight of the day!  Parachute deployment and recovery were perfect.  It seems now that Dave holds the new record for highest total impulse used at Dove Valley.  Jim Gazur later wrote, "Now where did I put that box of G80s ?"

Fred Cobb finally got into the action with a very nice flight and recovery of an original vintage Estes Bomarc, powered by a C5-3 motor.

Lee was up next with a good flight of a Jet Freak boost/glider powered by an A8-3 motor:

Dave's next model was this futuristic/sport design, the Fliskits Adfecta.  The bird turned in an excellent flight:

Soon after, Lee put up his final flight of the day - a Mini Marz Lander.  Flying on an A10-3T, the model boosted well.  Unfortunately, the parachute tangled up at ejection, and the model landed hard. Surprisingly, there was no damage!

The next model to poke a hole in the clear Colorado sky was flown by Dave Bauer. This one is the Estes Menace.  The bird turned in yet another excellent flight.

The 20th and final flight of the day was put up by Fred Cobb, shown here prepping a vintage Estes Drifter model:

That's Lee in the foreground examining his recently recovered Mini Marz Lander.

The Drifter, painted in early era decor turned in a very nice, high flight on a B6-4 motor:

With this done, the intrepid group of rocketeers packed up their models and launch gear and headed out to a local ribs joint for some food and 'shootin' the bull'.

A great day for rocketry in Colorado!

A Brutal Day At The Launch Field Yesterday...

 Yesterday, December 2nd - another Front Range group launch at Dove Valley Park in Centennial -

Here's a pic of the pile of mishap victims I brought home.

75 percent of my flights went very wrong!  Yikes!

The Wasp glider didn't even make it as far as powered flight before it was damaged.

Some days are just better than others!

I'll have a full launch report posted here in a few days.

Stay Tuned......

Binge Build: A Plethora of Painted Projects, Day 2 !

 Yesterday was another good day for rocket painting, so a quick trip to the nearby Wally World netted a fresh can of gloss white paint.

The white base for the Interceptor, Big Bertha, and Nike-X models are now finished off.

While I was at it, I shot the red paint on the ESAM - 58 nose, and some metallic silver for the Crossfire ISX nose.

Good weather in today's forecast, as well.

Here is a group shot of all the binge-build models at their various stages of completion:

Cheers !

Binge Build: A Plethora of Painted Projects - Day 1 !!

 Monday, November 29th, turned out to be a perfect weather day for getting outside and shooting paint on some of the binge-build models.  Three of the seven assembled birds have been through the primer sanding stage, so these were today's targets.

The Interceptor, Nike-X, and Big Bertha models all got two applications of gloss white. I ran out of paint before the third and final coats could be applied, so this will have to wait until I can get more.

A couple coats of gloss black finished the Bertha nose and the Interceptor tail nozzle.

Metallic silver was used for the Interceptor antennae and the Crossfire ISX tail nozzle, and finally, some gloss orange now adorns the Interceptor wing pods.

I just may get these birds finished by EOY, after all!  

Stay tuned.....