Pat Sparks BOMARC Build

[LSP_Kevin]

2 hours ago, Woody V said:

 

Oops, you're confused. They say to reduce the speed and FORCE, not increasing the DEPTH. 

 

You're right! I wonder where I read/saw that tip, then? I've watched so many videos over the last 24 hours, that they're all starting to blur! I think it might have been one where they suggest that if you're not able to remove the square cleanly from the test cut while leaving the triangle behind, then try increasing blade depth. That was the scencario I had, and so probably the advice that I followed.

 

In any case, I think the hybrid mask/decal solution is the best one here.

 

Kev

[Loic]

Sorry I can not help but wanted to give encouragements... 

Keep it up Kev

[themongoose]

On 9/20/2023 at 1:29 AM, LSP_Kevin said:

I managed to solve my issues with cutting the masks, but of course this led to a new issue - lots of lifting and displacement of the cut shapes:

 

 

I'm not sure if this is completely salvageable to be honest, but also don't know what caused it, or how to prevent it happening again. I suspect I might be better served printing these particular examples as decals, rather than masks.

 

Kev

i do this by printing 2 sets of masks, an inner and an outer essentially. I make alignment “marks”, just open slots in the surrounding mask material, so that i can place one directly over where the other one was. Works great for outlines. Tougher tho to do a 2 color letter over a 3rd base color. For instance - place a positive mask around the entire lettering area, paint the inner most prominent color, place masks for the lettering centered in the positive mask, then spray the outline color. This way you never have to try and cut out or place that thin outline. If i do this again tho i would be tempted to place the inner letters 1 at a time by hand. Even with the alignment marks there were some offset letters in the middle of my words that needed corrected.

 

edit- also, i used tamiya masking material for letters exclusively. The vinyl stretches too easily and it’s harder to get the spacing and alignment even.

Edited September 21, 2023 by themongoose

[amurray]

On 9/18/2023 at 5:05 AM, LSP_Kevin said:

I've thrown everything I could think of at the BOMARC base in an effort to break it up, dirty it up, and spice it up, and while I have mixed feelings about the result, I'm now declaring it done. The launch assembly has been fixed to the base, and the whole thing now just awaits the missile itself - which I still need to finish!

 

 

Kev

I wouldn't worry too much about the base and its appearance.  Remember:  This was a weapon that we never wished to be fired.  Few were, and then only in tests.

[LSP_Kevin]

OK, so a second round of cutting masks was more successful, but I still had some minor shifting and displacement during the cut:

 

 

Thankfully I was able to cobble them back together and get them onto the model:

 

 

I still need to mask out the inner sections of the lower wings, as they need to remain white also (oh, and a small diamond on the spine). These masks will be augmented by decals once the painting is done. I've decided I'm going to use decals for the stars-and-bars as well, but I still need to source some. Hoping to get some paint on tomorrow!

 

Kev

[Woody V]

Glad to see you got the masks sorted out even though you still had problems. Perseverance pays.

 

I know this is no help for this build, but when I was trying to get usable masks for my build I discovered that stencil style lettering worked better. One of the numbers I wanted was an 8 but the mask for the inside of the 8 just wouldn't stay in place but the stencil style was easy because those tiny parts were all held together.

[LSP_Kevin]

Painting starts with the nose cone. It's supposed to be "natural resin beige", whatever that means. I went with RLM79, which is a little dark, but I'm fine with that. SMS Jet Black will hopefully be going down tomorrow.

 

 

Kev

[waxdart]

Outstanding Kevin!

[LSP_Kevin]

A major leap forward with this project today, with the basic paint scheme now in place.

 

 

Lots of touch-ups required, but I'm basically happy with the result.

 

 

 

 

I discovered while demasking that the other side of the fin didn't get enough black paint, and is noticeably thin in spots. So I've left those masks on, and will give it another coat. Once all the black is tidied up, I'll attend to the white areas, and then I can mask and spray those sections that need to be silver.

 

So, we're not done yet!

 

Kev

[Dandiego]

Really nice Kev. Working on 3d prints that are one of a kind is quite rewarding. 

 

Dan

[patricksparks]

Looks great Kevin !!! glad you were able to sort out the masking !!!

 

Pat

[Troy Molitor]

Some really nice efforts going on here Kev.  

Edited October 11, 2023 by Troy Molitor

[LSP_Kevin]

Things are really starting to come together on this project now. Here's a rare look at the underside, showing off the newly-applied silver sections, using SMS Silver:

 

 

The engine intake cones and rocket exhaust nozzle are also ready to go.

 

 

 

Decals and finally assembly await!

 

Kev

[MikeMaben]

Wow !  Nice work Kev 

[LSP_Kevin]

So, the decals are finally done!

 

 

 

 

I used a combination of WW2 stars-and-bars from Fantasy Printshop and some home-made decals for all the red areas. The FP decals turned out to be quite troublesome, continually breaking up and being stiff and brittle, which surprised me a little. Even after taking these photos, I managed to take a chunk out of the under-wing national marking while trying to cut through a panel line.

 

Here you can see the port national marking, and where it broke up while I was trying to settle it around the raised details:

 

 

You can also see that my home-printed red bars are marginally too short!

 

Before applying the starboard insignia, I decided to coat it with some Microscale Liquid Decal film, to help prevent it from breaking up. This improved things somewhat, though not completely, but left a nasty border around the decal, which I'm not sure how to deal with:

 

 

I'm hoping a clear coat or two will help. If this was the kind of project I was aiming to build a competitive model from, I'd probably rip it off and apply a new one, but as this is only intended for display purposes, it's really not worth the risk of having to do it 2-3 more times!

 

In any case, I've got a bit of rehab work to do before I can kick this one over the line.

 

Kev