This is my placeholder for an Estes 1250, of the original design. Estes basically just changed the part number from K-50 to 1250 for this kit. But, given that, I need a build of one for the family of Interceptors.

It's basically identical to the K-50. My measurements indicate a slight difference in the balsa shape for the pods, but that's quite possibly due to aging of the balsa grinder. I've read a lot about that in the discussions of Alpha nose cones, so suspect it happened to these kits as well

Here are the parts I gathered up. Almost all of it is scratch. The pods and tail plastics are 3D printed, since I am not good at turning balsa. The nose is a cast from a mold I made of an original K-50 nose. Rings I cut, and tube I cut. About the only piece that I didn't make is the engine clip. Or, motor clip if you have that speaking impediment.

Attached Thumbnails

 

So, rather than repeating a build that is pretty close to the K-50 build that I posted, I'll jump to the end of the build.

Behold, an assembled original 1250 Interceptor replica.

At this point, I decided that since it was so identical to the rocket I just built, I didn't want twins on the shelf. I wanted them to have obvious differences. So, this one gets to be a stealthy version of the Interceptor. Like a version that would be sold to a data gathering organization.

Which, to me, means it gets painted satin black. Not glossy, because it is stealthy. Not flat, because it needs to have decals stick to it easily.

Attached Thumbnails

   

I like the original 1250/K50 better than the reissue, with the "Toothpick" strakes on the rudders and the two-piece wing-pods with the balsa cones.
What Semroc always did "right" in their re-issues was stick to the original design except for revised/modernized shock-cord mounting with Kevlar.
Estes has been hit-or-miss on this.
The biggest notable miss was re-issuing the Phoenix Bird WITHOUT the Enerjet fin-can or plastic cone and using BALSA for both. That was flat out DUMB. It would have taken ONE simple question here on this forum to decide how DUMB that was.
Decisions like that were NOT expected when under Hobbico ownership, and have not seen that sort of thing with the new Langford ownership. Prior to Hobbico and after Damon ownership that seemed to be "normal" under that so-called "management". The business model of turning a hobby company into a toy company is ridiculous in SO many ways. #1 is alienating their customer base.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

Rocketry's a hobby? I thought it was a lifestyle.

I want to see that satin black Interceptor decaled.
Those will make/break that scheme.
No just grabbing/applying F-117A, U-2, or SR-71 "stock" decals either.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

No - high quality stuff. Crayons and finger paints.

Well... Really I used white decal paper, with all decals surrounded by black.

I drew up the decals so they'd be evocative of a secret agency. I found their logo online, and incorporated it too, instead of the USAF emblem.

The tricky part was to avoid the white border surrounding the decals where they were cut out. So, I used a long pointed magic marker from an art store. After each decal was cut, but before it was soaked, I ran the marker around the perimeter of the decal. This got the entire visible portion turned to black, except for the portion printed in color.

But, I had done that before, and found that magic marker can bleed under clear coat. It can flow into the artsy portion - lettering, logos, etc. - which makes for a very unhappy day. So, after experimenting with the actual magic marker to use, and the right clear coat to use, I settled on a satin clear coat with dusted coats. Floor finish was a non-starter, since it stayed wet for too long and did cause the marker ink to bleed.

I used the Papilio Bake-on white waterslide decal paper. I used the bake-on type because it was so thin, not because I baked it. But, for large areas, I worried that its adhesive might not be enough, so I applied a wash of watered down clear Elmers school glue first.

One problem that I encountered, and had never seen before, and didn't notice until several decals were applied, is that it was printed at only 72dpi. I expected 300 or 600 dpi to match the printer, but this time it dropped the resolution. Maybe Inkscape, or the printer, likes to downsample with such a complex full-sheet of image.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Here are the decals applied, but before the clearcoat is applied.

There's a bit of a mismatch between the decal black and the paint black. But, at this point, I'm hoping that the clearcoat will help. Somehow. Maybe by making a more uniform sheen.

Attached Thumbnails

       

That looks stunning.

In my experience the clearcoat helps quite a bit, although not necessarily 100%. Look forward to seeing your results.

CIA huh ? The guys known to keep a LOW profile ?
Even when they operated the U-2 and SR-71, they still had USAF markings for "plausible deniability" !

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

That turned out great!!!!

__________________
Steve