Astron Farside Poll
 

Hey Astron Farside and Farside-X builders...

I went up one thickness step on the fins, too. IIRC, the 1st stage plans called for 1/16" and I opted for 3/32" (along with a 24mm MMT and no canting of the fins).

Doug

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I built a Farside-X as a kid and am sure that I built it according to the instructions (though I don't have it around to prove that). Several years ago, when I built a Farside for a local Classic Model competition I built it from Semroc parts and followed the instructions with respect to the canted fins (and pretty much everything else). It works very nicely.

No cant on the fins for me. Not sure why but I did go with a different color scheme.

Doug,

Did you just increase the booster fins to 3/32”, or use it for all stages? I’ve been thinking I’d use the Semroc kit, but just build a separate booster for 24mm motor, and use 3/32” basswood for fins.

@Sandman That's a beautiful paint scheme!

Gee, thanks. :)

Mine was built completely stock, with the 1/16" thick canted balsa fins

None of the above. I built it with straight fins, but not because of OCD. I am not OCD.

I used 3/32" in all three stages. I had to go look at it first, tho, to be sure :)

I'm not big on basswood, but I've papered a few fins. In the case of this rocket, other than going up to 3/32", I didn't beef up any other pieces.

Altho I did fake the payload section - it's actually noseblow. With the length of the designed payload section, a lot of torque can be imparted to the lower airframe via the transition with the result that the body tube opening tends to get hogged out over time making for a loose fit. And that can also result in the payload section becoming misaligned. So I opted to make it permanently attached :)

Doug

[Edit]BTW, Here's a look from all sides.


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I really like that checkerboard, Doug!

Thanks, John. Trim Monokote is your friend :)


[Edit]BTW, I seem to recall using the checkerboard because it was used in one of the catalog schemes, altho the pattern I used had larger squares, but it was all I could find.



Doug


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John, Your transition turned out really good. I chose to paint mine red. I wanted to avoid applying a tapering stripe to a tapering, rounded object. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it :)


Doug


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Thanks Doug;

I wanted to keep the proportions of the roll pattern down the transition, so I prepared a marking guide, lined things up, masked and painted. Not so much dizzy as it was tedious (!).

Quote:

Build it with straight fins because crooked ones hurt your OCD brain?

FWIW, my rationale to forgo the canting was that, with a more potent 1st stage motor, I didn't think it was necessary. The stability off the rod gained by the spin imparted by the canting can be replaced with higher rod speed instead. And a 24mm C11 or D12 does that. Plus, there's less drag with straight fins.

YMMV.

Doug

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It strikes me that it may have been the Astron Delta that used the checkboard pattern. In the case of your FS-X, I think the proportion of the squares on those fins is just about right. Sharp looking pattern.

Oh, I think you're right - it was the Delta!


Doug


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Yep.
Astron Delta used a Yellow/Black checkerboard pattern.

I remember that my kit (Farside-X) included soft balsa. I used AeroGloss Balsa Fillercoat and painted with dope to get the smoothest, glossiest finish, which I did, but some grain was still visible, and the fins ended up wavy as a result of the shrinking of all the fillercoat and dope. first two flights (B-A-A , and B14-B-A) were pretty good, but snapped one fin at the root from each of the first two stages on landing the first time, lost a fin on the second stage the second time. Replaced it with hard balsa. No wave on that fin.

On the third flight I went for broke with B14-C-C and of course lost the upper stage, but it held together!

I just downloaded the Farside-X plans from Jimz, and printed the fin pattern sheet. I'm going to build the booster for 24mm motor. I'll order the Semroc kit after Christmas. Too much going on now to start the kit, but I really want to build the 24mm booster! I never had a Farside or Farside-X.

I built the Apogee II in the 60s, it was my first multi-stage rocket. At the time, the Farside was 75 cents more (the Farside-X was another dollar or so more than the Apogee II), and thinking about adding another fraction of a dollar for a 3rd motor, that kind of expenditure just scared me off ... ;)

Mine appear to be pretty straight, clearly not built to the plans, it was built in the mid to late 70s when I was a kid and I assume I did the fins like all the rockets before. I had fin warping from the sealer so added the dowels near the fin tips to straighten them out.

Oo! Oo!

Here's mine! Basswood fins. The yellow turned out to be lighter than I wanted.

Built mine with straight fins. Flies great.

The only time I've ever intentionally canted fins was for the Twister, circa the 1970s.

My Super Big Bertha is that color. I don’t remember what paint it is, but I wrote it down somewhere, so I would not use it again. :)

I had a can of Walmart yellow about 20 years ago that looked like that. Seems like it was Sun Yellow.

I looked it up, my SBB is Sun Yellow, but by Duplicolor! (It’s an ugly yellow that has a really beautiful finish ... ;) )

My Mega Mosquito is painted in my favorite yellow — Valspar Gold Abundance. But it’s Lowe’s Valspar, not Ace Valspar, and Lowe’s dropped the Valspar line. The Ace versions have different names for their colors. I am not sure if Ace’s yellow is the same as Gold Abundance.)

Here is that yellow. (If the fins looked splayed, they are. This is a very old scratch-build, before Estes came out with one. I guess when I enlarged the fin pattern 5X I missed getting the angle spot on. I should rename it the Squatty Mozzie ...)

So, Mr. Turk, Mr. Brohm, and Mr. Sams, what yellow did you gentlemen use?

Hi, Lee!

I believe I used Rustoleum #254155 Gloss Sunburst Yellow on my Farside. I use Rusto Farm & Implement Yellow for all of my Goblins.

I really like your Mega-Mosquito. Inspired artwork, too.

Lee, that's a good, bright yellow. For those who want something a little more Goblin-esque (slight orange tint but still yellow), decent name brands will offer Caterpillar Yellow and School Bus Yellow to get you there.

I'm guessing the Farm Implement Yellow is a close match for John Deere Yellow without paying them a royalty to use the name.

BTW, everyone should take a nice long scrap of wood for each of the major colors and give it a base white coat. Whenever you buy a can tape off a strip and shoot a few coats. Jot down the brand and color name or number. That way you've got a record of it that will be there 10 years from now and you can instantly pick out the variety you want for that application.

Good guess. See the pictures attached of the generic tractor with no manufacturer name and the pronouncement of the matching previous colors.

Your long scrap of wood proposal, while complicated :rolleyes: , is genius.

Hi Lee;

The yellow I used was Dupli-Color Perfect Match Chrome Yellow. It’s a lacquer, which I prefer, mainly because it can be re-coated in 10 minutes, and cures up hard. The only “downside”, if you can call it that, is it cures to a semi-satin sheen, which usually means some kind of clear coat is needed depending on the sheen one is going for. But that re-coat time means a whole lot of painting can get done in one day.

Thanks all for the paint info.

John, I may just have to try the Duplicolor yellow lacquer you mentioned as my first experiment with a new yellow. I too am a big fan of lacquers.

I’ve used Rustoleum lacquers with great success, but I believe they are only available in red, black, white, and silver. I’ve used all but the silver, mainly since I’ve never seen it where I get the others. Ace carries Valspar lacquer and I’ve wondered if they were rebranded Rustoleum — same 4 colors available.

Also helpful, I’ve tested both Model Masters and Testors lacquers over the Rustoleum, with no issues. This gives you large can price savings for base colors to use under the little cans of lacquer.

Newbomb,
I’ve never seen Rustoleum Farm & Implement spray paint. I have used Van Sickle brand, lots of Kubota, Deere, and other great “implement” colors. Very rich colors, but go with light coats if you try it. I got runs the first time I tried it (in the paint!).

Thanks for the compliments. If you (or anyone) wants a mosquito decal, drop me a PM with your address. I think the sheet I have had 8 or 10 of them. Several lifetime supplies for me, for sure, even after giving a couple away.

Lee, I'm flattered you asked. But I don't know what it was. I examined the rocket last night, and it's more orangey than normal Rustoleum yellow, which has been my go-to brand and type (enamel). But, when I looked at my stash of paint cans in the garage, I don't see anything that could be it. I wonder if I cooked up something special and put in my airbrush, but, unfortunately, I cannot remember. Sorry. (The truly scary part of this is that it's getting more and more difficult to remember stuff. I'm too young to be getting that old !)

Doug

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To me, it looks like Rustoleum Marigold Yellow. I use a lot of it--including on these models:

That yellow looks good to me!

The rockets do, too :)

Doug


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Not complicated or genius. I just needed an easy way to remember which color came out of which can! This is a really old picture of my original board with various reds. It has more on it now and has blues on the back, IIRC.

Doug,

No worries. If I could never find a rattlecan yellow that is just right, it might just force me to dig out the airbrush once again. But I do think one of the yellows mentioned will be a worthy choice.

I’ll have to get a can of this yellow! Looks like it’s a really close match to my favorite.

Very nice looking models, too.

Thanks! Home Depot used to have it, but I usually have to get it at ACE Hardware now.

The yellow I used on my clone was (old) Krylon "Old Equipment Yellow". I'm not sure what old equipment it was supposed to match, but it seemed very close to the '73 catalog photo. 1/16" balsa canted fins, lots of aero-gloss to get them smooth. I saved half a can for the Farside-X I have yet to build.