The Golden Dyna Soar

 blather, models, projects  3 Responses »
Sep 122012
 

For several years I’ve been looking for  a cost effective way to “gold plate” display models without actually plating them in gold. I know it’s possible…. cheap plastic toys are often “gold plated” by way of vapor-depositing aluminum on them, then putting a yellow-tinted clearcoat over that. The results can be quite successful. For example:

Aluminum plating these things is cost effective because it’s done on an industrial scale. Getting it done on an individual part scale? Meh.

I’ve tried every “gold paint” that I can find, and not a one of ’em actually looks like gold. The best of them looks like… gold paint. So, yellow-clear-coating “chrome” seems about the only way to go.

The closest you can come to “chrome” without actual metal plating is one of a few specialty paints. I’ve heard good things about “Spaz Stix Ultimate Mirror Chrome,” but have not tried it.

One thing I have used with some notable success is Alclad II Chrome in an airbrush. Applied properly, it’s not quite an actual mirror surface, but it looks pretty damned good. So, I decided to try yellow-clear-coating Alclad Chrome to see what I get.

First up… I took a 1/24 Dyna Soar display model and chromed it. This was a model built from all the parts that stink… the original body mold was seriously flawed (and has been replaced with a mold that’s great, producing awesome castings), and the smaller parts were early castings that were munged up in various and sundry way. It was assembled as a fit check, and to be used in sizing things like the display stand and the packaging. Since it is and always will be a serious mess, I didn’t go overboard in surface prep. When using Alclad Chrome, proper surface prep is vital, but this was just a test… and on the whole the results looked pretty good anyway:

I then oversprayed part of that with Alclad clear yellow. The results:

Well, it’s better than gold paint, but it’s still far from being mistaken for actual gold. The yellow seemed to dull the chrome… I wonder if the yellow ate into the chrome and fuzzed it out some. perhaps yellow dye (food coloring?) in something like nitrocellulose lacquer might do the trick…

In any event, I liked the chrome enough that I think I might make me a chrome Dyna Soar one of these days. I’ll be the only kid on my block with one.
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 Posted by at 4:45 pm

Finally, a Jonny Quest worth watching

 awesomeness, blather, history, models, science fiction  2 Responses »
Sep 102012
 

The original run of “Jonny Quest” was well before my time, but due to the magic of reruns, I discovered it’s childlike 1960’s awesomeness early on. And I’ve found that ever successor version of “Jonny Quest” has stunk on ice in comparison.

Someone with way too much time on their hands decided to pay tribute to the series by re-creating the opening sequence… stop-motion style. And if you like it and want to see a *whole* episode done this way, they’ve set up a Kickstart funding project for you to put your money where your geeky, geeky mouth is.

 Posted by at 10:28 pm

Anatomy of the SST

 aircraft, drawings, history, models, projects  1 Response »
Sep 102012
 

From an ebay auction, a 1966 Boeing cutaway drawing of the early swing-wing version of the 2707 SST. While the wing would have made low speed flight, in particular takeoffs and landings, more efficient and comfortable, the technology of the time would have made the wing pivot and associated systems simply too heavy and complex for a commercial system such as this. Thus the final 2707-300 SST did away with the variable geometry wing.

But damn if it wasn’t sexy.

Photo of display models (from this auction)

 

 Posted by at 9:20 pm

A Herd of Dyna Soars

 models, news, projects, spacecraft  3 Responses »
Sep 052012
 

Work progresses on the 1/24 scale X-20 Dyna Soar. Shown here are five of them… three under active development, two more on standby. The three are spoken for by clients, the other two are open. If you are interested, send me an email:

Also visible: an industry standard feline scale reference… and one of the printed “extras” that will come with the model. Note that the re-entry heat shields over the windscreens have embedded rare earth magnets to hold them onto the Dyna Soar. Not shown: the display stand and carrying case that will also be provided.

 Posted by at 11:57 am

Bell Fold-Rotor Concept Model

 aircraft, models, projects  1 Response »
Aug 262012
 

A photo of a Bell Fold-Rotor concept. The Fold-Rotor was a tiltrotor design that used the props for vertical flight and to get moving forward, but for high speed used other propulsion systems (in this case, the turboshaft engines mounted in the fuselage that drove the wingtip props would disengage and become straight turbojets), and the rotors would stop and fold back to reduce drag. It was an interesting idea, but it still had all the weight of a tiltrotor system, and then some, but with added complexity.

 Posted by at 12:47 am

Anybody want an X-20 Dyna Soar?

 aircraft, blather, history, models, projects, sales & specials, spacecraft  2 Responses »
Aug 252012
 

A customer contracted me to build him a 1/24 scale X-20 Dyna Soar display model. Photos below of preliminary castings, produced in the last few days using a silicone mold that turned out to be too thin. There are flaws in the too-thin mold that came through on the cast, but which wouldn’t exist on a second mold which I plan to make. And obviously the ginormous hole in the tail end wouldn’t exist on a finalized model.

The entry shield will be held on with neodymium magnets, and there’ll be a few more details along with some printed goodies (at least one of which should be *really* impressive) as well as a new stand. There will be specially printed markings, and a choice of finishes… ultra-glossy nitrocellulose lacquer, or satin nitrocellulose lacquer.

The new mold will require that I buy $500 worth of silicone. Anyone interested in an X-20 of their very own? There won’t be too many of these made. If interested, send me an email:

Again, the model shown here is not a final version, just something of a “prototype.” The actual models will look substantially better.

 Posted by at 9:20 pm
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