Model Rocket Building Blog
Quest OOP Nike Smoke Build Part 1I've always liked the Nike Smoke with it's clean, rakish lines. That long nose cone and fluorescent fins really set it off. The parts available from Quest are very reasonable. The Nike nose cone is $1.25 and the fin can is $3.00. Their metric tubing is thicker than the Estes BT style. I already ...[Read More]
Quest OOP Nike Smoke Build Part 2The original instruction specs say the rocket is 19.5" long. The plastic nose cone is 8 3/8" exposed. The fin can is 2.5" tall. For everything to add up to the overall length of 19.5", I cut some 35mm tubing to 8 5/8" long. If you know your Quest kits, you may have noticed my motor mount tube isn't ...[Read More]
Quest OOP Nike Smoke Build Part 3Here's the fin can as it came out of the box. It's pretty clean, except for the edges. All four fins will have to be squared up with a sanding block. To make it easier, I'll mask and paint it off the model. Before painting, it'll be washed off in soapy water. I don't know if I'll lightly rough up ...[Read More]
Quest OOP Nike Smoke Build Part 4Two strips were cut off the Popsicle stick, 3/16" X 1 1/2" The original Nike Smoke kit had a thick plastic lug measuring 1 1/2" long. Both were glued together with white glue. Clothespin clamps held both together while drying. After the standoff was dry, it was sanded square with a sanding block. ...[Read More]
Quest OOP Nike Smoke Build Part 5Just to test paint adhesion on the plastic, I lightly sprayed the fin can with gray primer and let it dry. I stuck masking tape down on the dried paint and pulled the tape off quickly. I didn't lift any of the paint so I followed with a light coat of white. I didn't notice this until after the ...[Read More]
OOP Quest Nike Smoke Build Part 6Those bright orange centering rings won't look great on a scale model. Well, if on any rocket, the orange might go along with the fluorescent red and yellow fins on the Nike Smoke! Still, I didn't want the orange centering ring to take away from the finished model. Here is the mask for the black. ...[Read More]
OOP Quest Nike Smoke Build Part 7The nose cone replacement came quickly from Quest. When I joined the two sides there was a pretty evident seam. I don't know if it's an old piece of plastic or an old mold. There was a warp and the tip didn't line up very well. This one is going to take some work. It is fixable though. Here's the ...[Read More]
OOP Quest Nike Smoke Build Part 8Here you can see the deep seams down the sides of the nose cone. I'm going to fill the seams the same way I did the scratches on the fin can. Before filling, I used 220 grit sandpaper on a block, sanding down the raised side of the seam. I then ran a thick bead of CA over the recessed seam. In the ...[Read More]
OOP Quest Nike Smoke Build Part 9That dried CA is very hard and will take some careful sanding with 220 grit on a block, followed by 400 grit. While sanding the CA down to the seams I took a little off the plastic "transitional" edges. Those edges lost their sharpness. The picture at the right shows a strip of 20 lb. paper I cut ...[Read More]
OOP Quest Nike Smoke Build Part 10Here's the nose cone sprayed white and finished. One of the filled seams is facing the camera, right above and next to the light relection. Filling the seams was a more work than I would have liked from a kit, But the end results were worth it. Before anyone comments about the gloss finish, it ...[Read More]
OOP Quest Nike Smoke Build Part 11This is a complicated fin mask. With all the angled tapering at the root edge and the ends, there is eight masking lines on each fin. Or to put it another way, each fin will have eight pieces of tape around it's base. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but there is Scotch tape right at the ...[Read More]
OOP Quest Nike Smoke Build Part 12Here's the complete mask, ready for the fluorescent Red/Orange. As I mentioned before, this is a complex mask. It required twenty pieces of Scotch tape just around the fin root edges. On top of that, masking tape holds the piece of plastic over the already painted yellow fin. I went over all the ...[Read More]
OOP Quest Nike Smoke Build Part 13Here's the dry fit, awaiting the stenciled "UNITED STATES" decal. The decal has been drawn up on Corel Draw. I'm waiting on another project so I can print for two rockets on one decal sheet. After the decal is applied, I have to decide whether to spray a flat coat or gloss coat overall. Flat ...[Read More]
OOP Quest Nike Smoke Finished! DecalsI finally printed off the Nike Smoke decals today. Usually I'll wait until a few models are ready for decals, three rockets were combined on one sheet so there wasn't much waste. The decals were drawn on Corel Draw then printed on my HP Officejet Pro 8000 printer. Decal paper is from: htt ...[Read More]
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