I might suggest no more than 1.25" tall and 4.5" wide for the name decal. On a piece of ST-13, 1.25" is a little less than 1/3 the distance around the tube. That's plenty of height. Let the text fill a block this size without exceeding it. Keep in mind the decals everyone will probably be applying -- self-made decals. Large decals have a tendency to tear and break unless they're several layers thick. You also only need one of these...

For the fins, if you put the torch close to the root edge/leading edge area, then the flames can easily trail off toward the tip edge/trailing edge area. The effect works when the rocket is held horizontal instead of vertical. Many of the Estes rockets use this orientation for their fin decals, you know, so it wouldn't be "out of character" to do it this way. Use your "skew" and "distort" features to adjust the actual dimensions to the fin outline.

If you want the image on both sides of one fin (this is likely how I would have done it), or on facing sides of two fins, take that "left-hand" image and flip it 180 degrees horizontal. True, this makes it a "right hand", but this is just a model. Keep it simple, and it usually works best. Just don't put any text with the image until after you've flipped it...

The shamefully gratuitous BARCLONE logo is attached.

Craig

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Craig,

Thanks for the pointers. Great minds think alike (or at least in the same circles), because I was thinking how simple it would be to "flip" the image once I got it into the computer. That, and how most people will be "building their own decals."

Unfortunately, I need to get real life out of the way before I can get to this. Having to pay bills with the end of the month looming in sight is a bit inconvenient, yes?

(Oriental voice) "Gratuitous though it is, shameful perhaps it is not."

I especially liked the secret message discernable only by electron microscope: "By this time tomorrow, I'll rule the world!" "Well, okay. Good luck with that."

Oh, sorry. Apparently I've seen the commercial for the Sponge Bob Square Pants movie at least *once* too often.


Cheers,

--Jay

Jay,

Plankton's going to get you...

You missed the smaller one which reads "And if you can read this...I already DO!"...

Craig...

Jay,

I'm working the plan up into a PDF form for you, with the fin template, alignment guide, and whatever decal patterns you decide on. This will cover the tedious, "step-by-step" hand-holding we always see in 'professional' plan sheets.

There's a few tweaks I've picked up concerning the motor mounts and attaching the Kevlar thread that RS doesn't touch, and I like to add these to all of my instructions. If you've read my other PDF plans, you know about the way I finish (try to finish would be more accurate...) models, so if you do things differently, let me know and I'll include your method instead.

Craig...

Craig,

I downloaded your "Centuri Probe" PDF file, and (Ed Grimley voice), "I must say," you've already got a pretty professional layout! I'll need to take a closer look, and get back to you with specific suggestions for the Prometheus design.

I would have made progress on the decal design last night, except for the fact that I got a package in the mail from SEMROC! ...and actually cut the body tubes, assembled the ersatz "payload bay," installed the engine mount and shock cord, and just generally had an amazingly good time.

I (re-)discovered you need to mark the fin locations *before* you install the engine mount.


Cheers,

--Jay

Thanks. Glad you like the format. I'm tweaking that, too, in the Series III group...



Carl and Sheryl really know how to take otherwise grown adults and turn them into a bunch of overenergetic kids, don't they?



Picture confusion on my face here...

Depends on the design. A lot of times, I install the mount first to keep the tube from collapsing while I mark it, or sand it, or otherwise do something with it. That's one of the advantages of the full-size cardstock alignment guide. You just glue the guide sheet to a thicker piece of cardboard (I may not have mentioned that step in the sequence, I just started adding it to the new Series III plans...), remove the area inside the outline, trim off the "corners" at the root of each fin, and slide the whole thing down over the tube. Then, you just put the fin in place and glue it down. The guide will hold the fin exactly in position.

The instructions for the Centuri Probe do have the mounts in place before the fins are attached. The only really important thing to remember is attaching the Kevlar thread to the sustainer mount before gluing that into the tube. Kinda hard to do afterward...

Craig...

And this is why typing at 1 AM is not the wisest thing...

You were talking about "marking" the tube before installing the mount...

I had to mention it somewhere in the sequence. It's only important that you mark the tubes before attaching the fins...

Another one of those "difficult to do after the fact" steps...

Craig...

(Austin Powers voice) "Yeah, baby, YEAH!" And I hope they keep up the good work for many years to come!



*Or* (as I should have clarified) *if* you are using the traditional Centuri "tube cross section with fin lines" marking guide. It's hard to set the aft end of the outer body tube down flush on the circle when you have an engine hook protruding from the inner body tube.



I'm thinking this would work nicely for a five-finned rocket (Vector-V), since my "old-school" plastic Estes Fin Alignment Guide ("jig") will only correctly align fins on 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6-finned rockets.



(scoffing) Shyeah.


Cheers,

--Jay

Although it uses six fins, check out the Ascender plan. I use a cardstock guide on this one, and it works quite well. The Vector-V would be even easier. Same principle.

If you glue some 6" (adjust the height to suit the rocket) balsa standoff posts to the guide, you can use it in combination with a SEMROC Rocket Rack to make the job even easier. The rocket rack holds the rocket straight, while the posts set the guide at just the right height without flopping around.

Craig

I don't think it takes THAT much with this group!

__________________
Carl McLawhorn
NAR#4717 L2
semroc.com