L2 Certification, Painting, Planning, Rocket Building

Preparation of area for painting

December 2, 2017 joeadmin

Painting is to commence on the Sunday (3rd Dec 17), but decided to spend a few hours on the Saturday making sure everything was ready and I’m familiar with the operation of the tools.

Making sure the Compressor works satisfactorily
Looking at the operation of the Spray Gun
Making sure the rocket is level and at appropriate height
That we will be able to paint the Nose Cone while the rocket remains hanging

It was a good thing we checked because I noticed that:-

The rocket was not at the right level, it was too high and this would result in tired arm.
The Nose Cone jig was right on top of the rocket, and this would mean I couldn’t hang it up and paint it at the same time. So I moved it to the right

All these might seem like small points, but they all go to help make it a successful paint job.

Here are some more pictures of the area where I will be painting the rocket.

Tape on inside to reduce amount of paint getting on inside of air-frame.

Backing masking tape so that paint doesn't go onto inside of air-frame. — Backing masking tape so that paint doesn’t go onto inside of air-frame.

Toothpick to reduce amount of paint going into threads.

Rocket suspended from garage door at just the right height. Nose cone is also suspected from eye-bolt to the right.

Just double checking that the level of the rocket seems to be at a comfortable height.

L2 Certification, Painting, Planning, Purchasing

Selection and Purchase of Paints and Equipment

December 1, 2017 joeadmin

One of the next tasks is to paint the rocket. I’ve decided to use Two-Paks. I purchased some painting supplies from ColorTek in Cairns.

Two-pak paints – includes gas-can sprayer, Thinner, Primer and hardener.

I’m not sure what colours I want to paint the rocket, so I’ve had to delay the purchase of these.

Painting hardware

I was thinking that I would need to purchase a spray gun and compressor; however my wonderful neighbour has offered to loan me his. Initially thinking that I should use his for priming and purchase my own gun for the base coat and clear, but now thinking we might be able to use his Spray-gun for all coats. His spray-gun is 1.5 mm orifice which means it is sits between the 1.3 mm good for base paints and 1.7 mm which is good for Primers. So his spray gun should be suitable for all coats (primer, base coat and clear).