Steampunk 1

[Aquaman33]

I think builds like this need a back story.

In my mind the full size version of this rocket was built by this guy in his back garden using very limited resources.



Credit to http://www.thedarkpower.com/php/sp-astronaut.php for this amazing sculpture.

[OverTheTop]

What a great link! Tutorials too

[Aquaman33]

Made 2 exhausts/vent pipes.

Will be mounted about half way along the body tube.



The mitered end will be attached to the body tube so the pipes point down at a 45 degree angle.

[Aquaman33]

Quick progress update.

Fins, pipework and dummy panels have all been attached. Still a bit of work to do on the fins.

Rear end shots:









Please excuse all the dodgy epoxy work.

Fake strips of sheet metal with rivets added where the body tubes join and at the nose cone. Also added a porthole.





Happy with progress so far, but paintwork will be critical.

[lorstin]

Can't wait to see the finished item

[Aquaman33]

Full height shot.

[Aquaman33]

Starting to give some more thought to the paintwork.

For the fins and body tube I will choose a couple of these:



The Rust-Oleum Copper and Aged Copper are my favourites.

For all the details I'll use silver enamel paint and metalic sharpies:



And then finally I'll do a bit of weathering with Rub-N-Buff, rust acryllics, engine grime wash and black enamel for oil stains:



I haven't done any weathering before, so it should be interesting.

[Aquaman33]

Started the paint job with a coat of Rust-Oleum copper.

Don't think I would buy this stuff again. The paint is really thick and the nozzle clogs easily. The can is designed to spray from any angle so you can't clear the nozzle by inverting it. I ended up switching to a normal nozzle, but still had issues. Lots of propellant was coming out but very little paint.

Also its supposed to produce a hammered finaished, but this didn't seem to work for me. Maybe because i wasn't saturating the rocket with paint.

Anyway I got a reasonable coat on there.





Close up of the styrene exhausts.

[Aquaman33]

It's been a while since I last updated this thread.

Made some progress with the paintwork.

Contrast between copper and aged copper:




Happy with the 2 tones.

I decided not to fill the spirals on the body tube because I thought they would add to the steampunk look. Starting to regret that decision, but no going back now.

[Aquaman33]

.....and some silver added to make the details pop.

[SpaceManMat]

Wow, very nice paint love the overal effect.

[lorstin]

Hi Aquaman33, did you have a hand in this?

https://www.steampunktasmania.com.au/

[Aquaman33]

Hi Aquaman33, did you have a hand in this?

I wish I did. It's fantastic.

[Aquaman33]

I finally finished the paint job and have successfully flown the rocket twice.

Maiden flight was at NSWRA's Whalan Reserve low power launch 3 weeks ago. It's second flight was at NSWRA's high power launch at Mullaley.

On both occasions it flew really nicely on a D12-3. Its slow and steady off the pad, but looks good in the air.







The weathering paint work was very experimental and I definitely went too far with it, but you live and learn.

A few people have commented that the pipework between the fins could have been tighter to the body and therefore created less drag, but it was never designed to break any altitude records.

I wanted this project to be something a bit different and judging by all the comments at launches I succeeded. Its a great conversation starter and kids seem to love it.....so mission accomplished.

I'd like to fly it on an E motor one day to see how it goes.

I'll post some pics of it flying shortly.

[Aquaman33]

A photo from Mullaley.