SemRoc Estes Midget

Take us through your build strategies and ideas.
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#11 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by Commander »

Closer.... Closer...

Airbrushed the white using Brodak Insignia White.
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Trident
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#12 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by Trident »

Looks smooooth! How do you like the Brodak dopes? I hear the sanding sealer is amazing. When I run out of my Deft Lacquer Sanding Sealer, I'll try it. May have to try the dope colors also. I'm dying to try my airbrush again.
Lee

Bulds: Estes Saturn V, Super Sky Hook, Farside-X
Awaiting Paint/Detailing: Estes Saturn 1B
Completed!: Der Saturn Max, Bandit XL
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#13 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by Commander »

Trident wrote:Looks smooooth! How do you like the Brodak dopes? I hear the sanding sealer is amazing. When I run out of my Deft Lacquer Sanding Sealer, I'll try it. May have to try the dope colors also. I'm dying to try my airbrush again.
As mentioned in Post #6, I have nose cones down quickly and easily with the Brodak Sanding Sealer. This entails dipping the nose cone down to just into the shoulder line into a pint size can of the Brodak Sanding Sealer. I then pull it out and hold it above the can can till the sealer dripping off it takes about 45-60 seconds between drips (usually about 4-5 minutes depending on the size of the cone). I then flip the cone nose up and set it aside to dry. a light sanding follows. I then repeat two more times and typically the cone is as smooth as a baby's bottom. I also shoot a coat of primer which typically is more likely to be a coat of either flat white or flat black generic paint from Walmart.

Not that I'm not happy with the sanding sealer for the fins, but generally I am always experimenting with different techniques for filling the fins. On the midget I did brush on 4 coats of the sealer, but then I used two coats of the sandable filler primer from Rustoleum. I than covered one gain hollow which would not fill with the Bondo Spot Putty, another coat of filler primer, a coat of Krylon silver a cooat of filler primer; two coats of flat white and two coats of the Insignia White.

I keep feeling like I must be doing something wrong with the sanding sealer or I am just way more finnicky than some.
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#14 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by Commander »

Second color added today. She just needs a fine sand, decals and gloss coat. Then it's time to fly.
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The blue is Brodak's Caribbean Turquoise which I think needs a bit more blue to be an exact match to the 1973 catalog.
:arrow: link Of course I really didn't feel the need to match it exactly at this time, especially seeing as I am having fun trying to get a paint mixture where it isn't drying half way to the model. Brodak has a retarder, I may have to break down and buy some to try it out. :(
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#15 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by Commander »

Did a little touch up work with one of my smaller airbrushes. I must say it is nice to be able to go in and recolor a dot from a sandthrough without having to mask up the whole thing.

Gloss coat and stickers this weekend and my quickie build will be finished almost three months after starting it.
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#16 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by Commander »

Nearly finished, a little early for the glam shot, but...
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Just needs a final gloss coat to seal and protect the decals, then we can call this one done.

Not as detailed a build thread as I would like, but as I mentioned previously, this was supposed to be a "speed build" to get me through a building slump (actually a finishing slump, as I have numerous projects in some sort of progress).

I'm not overly happy with Carl's decision to keep it fitted for the shorty engines and the stop gap measure to fit a mini engine, but short of producing shorty engines, I have no way safety code acceptable way to maintain the nostalgia involved with rockets designed for the engines.
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#17 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by Joe Wooten »

Commander wrote:I'm not overly happy with Carl's decision to keep it fitted for the shorty engines and the stop gap measure to fit a mini engine, but short of producing shorty engines, I have no way safety code acceptable way to maintain the nostalgia involved with rockets designed for the engines.
Safety code acceptable...... it's easy to cut off A8/B6-0 boosters and A8-5's to fit in this Midget. The NAR does not have 24/7 monitors on all members.
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#18 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by Commander »

After all these years you expect me to go rogue? :o Manufactured engines are an absolute, no adaptations or fiddling allowed. :roll:
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#19 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by luke strawwalker »

Commander wrote:After all these years you expect me to go rogue? :o Manufactured engines are an absolute, no adaptations or fiddling allowed. :roll:
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Later! OL J R :)
My MUNIFICENCE is BOUNDLESS, Mr. Bond...
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#20 Re: SemRoc Estes Midget

Post by Joe Wooten »

luke strawwalker wrote:
Commander wrote:After all these years you expect me to go rogue? :o Manufactured engines are an absolute, no adaptations or fiddling allowed. :roll:
giveyourselftothedarkside.jpg

Later! OL J R :)

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