Atlas D in 1:240 scale printed on silver paper

[Willard11]

Building the Mercury capsule and adapter is the last step in completing the model. I hadn't built a Mercury capsule since my phase 1 laser printer models days years ago. I found one of these capsules, but decided I should practice building one. The 1st photo shows the model I found from years ago and a FiddlersGreen Mercury Capsule I built as practice. My wife was worried I was planning to build a Atlas rocket to the same scale as the FG capsule.

The next photo shows the Mercury Capsule patterns scaled to 1:240 scale. They are the Precision Paper model and the capsule from the free Delta 7 Mercury Redstone 8 model. The Liberty Bell 7 graphics were removed from the capsule. The next photo shows the major parts cut out and glued to card stock. The next photo shows the parts rolled and glued, then aligned for assemble.

The Escape Tower gave me problems when I tried to cut out the Precision Paper tower. It didn't take me long to realize I was cutting the tower at this small scale. This can be seen in the next photo. When I received the sample Silver Foil paper, I also received a sample of the KJ Crystal Clear Gloss label that an Ink-Jet printer can print on. In the photo to the left is a tower printed on this clear label. I cut and folded a 2nd tower that is to the right of the printouts. The far right is the tower from the Delta 7 pattern.

The next photo shows the assembled parts of the capsules. I over engineered the inside of the adapter by adding a tube to hold the Retrograde Package to the Atlas rocket. The Precision Paper model has just the center cut out of the Adapter Bulkhead.

The next photo shows the Adapter mounted on the Atlas rocket. The last photo shows a comparison of both completed rockets with the Mercury capsules attached. I didn't glue the escape towers since I may do some more work to them. I have found that the pipe at the bottom of the Atlas rocket can fall off when bumped. This is caused because the silver gift wrapping paper has two layers; the silver layer and the base paper layer. The pipe is glued to the silver layer and when bumped the layers separate. I have re-glued them to the base paper layer.

[Doubting Thomas]

Great job on the tiny rockets. Saw a new advertisement this week for one of the cable t.v. companies. A reboot of "The Right Stuff" Not sure if its a documentary or a drama. Humans first baby steps at leaving the confines of this little blue rock. "SPAM in a can"

[Willard11]

Thanks Jeff (Doubting Thomas) for your comments about the Atlas rockets. You are a trailblazer in building models from silver paper. I'm glad I can follow the mile-markers you left along the path.

The 2nd part of the test build is to build a model from the sample silver foil label paper I received. The 1st photo shows the laser printer I am using to print the patterns on silver paper. It has become surplus and is used to print scans for the grandkids. That is why my wife let me print silver gift wrapping paper in it.

The next photo shows the pattern printed on the Silver Foil Label Paper. The Silver Foil is noticeably shinier than the silver gift wrapping paper. I printed an updated Atlas Agena pattern on the silver gift wrapping paper and will be building it with the Silver Foil pattern model. The next photo shows the majors parts of the two patterns.

This part of the test build is to see if the Silver Foil pattern can be built using the same modeling techniques as the silver gift wrapping paper pattern. The next photo shows a change with the Aft Bulkhead only having to be peeled and stuck to the card stock instead of glued. The next photo shows the Silver Foil Main Tank rolled. I wasn't able to use the rubber band because it wouldn't hold it in shape.

The next photo shows the Main Tanks rolled and the Instrumentation Pods glued to them. I used Canopy glue to attach them to the Main Tanks on the models. The next photo show the Aft Bulkhead attached to the models. I drilled holes in the Bulkhead to help attach the bottom pipe. The last photo shows the Main Tank and Tapered Section. So far, the Silver Foil parts have glued much like the silver gift wrapping paper parts.

[Willard11]

There were no issues using the Silver Foil with the large parts of the Atlas model. The small parts will be cut, shaped and glued next. As a test I didn't un-peel the backing paper from the Silver Foil label and left it attached when cutting, shaping and gluing these parts. This may prove to be a mistake in the future, but this is a test build to try different ideas. The 1st photo shows the small parts glued to the Silver Foil and Silver gift wrapping paper models. The same glue was used on both models.

The next photo shows the wire I glued in the hole I drilled in the Aft Bulkhead to glue the bottom pipe onto. This should provide additional support for the pipe when bumped. The last photo shows the completed Atlas rocket with the Tapered Section attached and the engines and bottom pipe glued on. I am going to try and roll the bottom pipe tighter so it is smaller, but I might not be able to make it much smaller. I did roll the pipe before cutting the bend notches as it was harder to roll with the notches are cut.

I will be building the payload sections next and they don't use any Silver Foil on them. While there are some differences in cutting and shaping between the Silver Foil Silver gift wrapping paper, I found the gluing and model building to be the same and used the same glues on both models.

[Willard11]

I built the Mercury Capsule and the Agena rocket as I have described in previous posts. I did use silver gift wrapping page on part of the body of the Agena rocket. I am not sure how much of the Agena rocket is silver, but I have seen photos that this part is silver. I am not sure if the Precision Paper model is for a specific mission or just a generic Agena rocket. I glued the white pieces to the silver part. I am still doing research on the Agena rocket and their missions. The 1st photo shows the 3 capsules and the Agena rocket built during this 3rd test build.

The next two photos show the completed Atlas rockets. On the Silver Foil Mercury Atlas, I replaced the dark color with sky blue where the escape tower attaches to the capsule on the Delta 7 pattern. I also used the tip from the Precision Paper pattern at the top of the escape tower. On the silver gift wrapping paper Atlas Agena, I am not sure how the Agena rocket is mounted on the Atlas rocket so I have a composite of it facing both directions. I need to check the nose cone on the Agena rocket, it may be the angle the rocket is sitting on the stand or a problem with the Precision Paper pattern.

This 3rd test build achieved the objectives of using bond paper for the glue tabs on the silver parts and to try building a model with the sample Silver Foil label. The bond paper glue tabs allows for sharp/defined edges on the silver paper parts. Parts were able to be “kitbashed” from different patterns and Bruno's pattern was able to be wrapped as a “skin” on the Precision Paper pattern. The white parts page was used interchangeably between the silver page models. I still have to do some adjustments on the silver parts pages. The next two photos show Mercury Atlas models I have built and the test fit models for the “kitbash”. The 1st Mercury Atlas model is the one I built years ago in my 1st laser printer starting out phase. The other models were built during this 3rd test build.

The Silver Foil label model is interesting because it allows the parts to be attached to different weight paper. I put it on both card stock and bond paper building the model. I even made small parts without removing the backing. I plan to get some thin paper for the small parts in the future. I'm not sure how the backing will stay together with the Silver Foil over time. This is only a single test build with the Silver Foil label and there are still questions about modeling with it, such as: how well will it print a pattern in a color laser printer(don't have one to test) and can a decal be placed on it without problems? I think it needs a clear coat sealant to protect the toner(all laser printer patterns need this sealant). I can say it is shiny enough to be prototypical for modeling. Modelers doing Space and Aviation models that need Silver paper should request samples from the SheetLabels.com website.

The last photo shows some early test of Paper Kosmonaut's suggestion to build a diorama of the collapsing of an Atlas-Agena on the pad. I have several ideas about how to do it but the pandemic and staying-at-home is keeping me from getting the materials. I also need information about the Atlas launch pads. All I've found about them so far is photos of rockets on the pads.

[surfduke]

If you are in need of my original files for your project they have been posted @:


https://surfduke.com/


More archive stuff will be added soon.


Be safe out there!

[Willard11]

The 4th test build will use the OnlineLabels.com sample Silver foil labels for both InkJet and Laser printers and test different clear sealants on the printed patterns. This test build was delayed somewhat because my sample was bent in my square mail box. Rather than use damaged samples, OnlineLabels.com was good enough to send me another set of samples to a different rectangle mail box. The photos show the 2 mail boxes with the OnlineLabels.com cardboard shipping envelope.

The next photo shows both the InkJet and Laser Silver Foil with a sample of the Silver Gift Wrapping paper I have previously used to build models. Both the InkJet and Laser Silver Foil are shiner than the Silver Gift Wrapping paper. In fact, I can't tell the difference between the InkJet and Laser Silver Foil labels. I had to mark the back to identify them.

For this test build I am using Bruno's 1579 Atlas Family part 1 pattern wrapped on as a “skin” on the Precision Paper pattern. The one with the orange color I printed on the InkJet Silver foil label and B&W one I printed on the Laser Silver foil label. The next photo shows the Silver and White patterns printed. A question asked in the on-line Google Meetings was how well the color prints on the Silver Foil. The next photo show the orange pattern printed on bond paper and the Silver Foil Label.

I am not the first modeler to use the OnlineLabels.com Silver foil labels for building models. There is another thread how best to do aluminum skin aircraft that is using it to build aircraft models. OnlineLabels.com has been most helpful with my test build as it is not their normal use for their labels. I think other than the InkJet and Laser printers option for the Silver Foil label is the type of backing to peel off. The backing options are:
(No Back Slit on Liner Side)
(Vertical Slit on Liner Side)
(Horizontal Slit on Liner Side)
(2 Vertical Slits on Liner Side)
(Diagonal Slits on Liner Side)

Next, comes building the models with the Silver foil labels.

[Willard11]

The proof of the pudding using Silver paper is the model that is built from it. These models are built from the patterns directly from the laser and InkJet printers. The 1st photo shows the parts attached to bond and card stock. The nice thing about using labels is that the parts can be attached to different weights of paper and doesn't require drying time for the glue. The next photo shows the parts cut out and the glue tabs glued to them.

The building process is the same as previous model builds in this thread, so I will only show the major steps and any that differ from previous builds. The next photo shows the main tank rolled and the rubber band use on both patterns. The next photo shows the Instrumentation Pods glued to the main tanks. The next photo compares the LOX Pipes with the left pipe rolled with the label backing still attached, and the right pipe with the backing removed using the label adhesive instead of glue. I think it is a small/tighter roll of the LOX Pipes and I used it for both models. I experimented using Post-It notes strips to try gluing small parts to the models with limited success.

The last group of photos show the completed models from various sides and in close-up views. The Laser printer toner can be rubbed from the Silver Foil in the building process. The InkJet ink is water soluble and the wet glue can make it run/smear on the Silver Foil. Look at the black edges of the front of the Booster Skirt Fairings for examples of this. These issues are not unexpected as we also saw them in the 3rd build with the SheetLabels.com Silver Foil labels.

As they say on TV Infomercials “But wait, there is more....” - Clear Coat Sealants are next!

[Willard11]

I have found Silver Foil to be both shiny and smooth surface. I was surprised how well the Laser toner and InkJet ink adhered to the Silver foil surface when printed. However, during the building process of the models, the laser toner would either rub or flack off the Silver foil and the InkJet ink (being water soluble) would run or smear when coming in contact with wet glue. The purpose of using a clear coat sealant is to protect the toner and ink during the building process.

I found 2 threads on the forum about using sealants on paper models. They are: Question about coatings and What spray are you currently using to seal your card models? I am linking to them for reference about other modelers' experiences and suggestions on using clear coat sealants.

Because of the pandemic, I am limiting the sealants to what I could get curbside or shipped to me. Since the OnlineLabels.com labels are not normally used for building models, they recommended I try Krylon spray sealants for this test build. The 1st photo shows the 4 sprays I used in this sealant test. The last spray is used in model trains to seal waterslide decals. The smaller the can size the more expensive the spray. Glossy spray was used, if available, as an option.

The next photo shows the 4 InkJet Silver Foil labels printed. I am saving the Laser printer samples to test in a color laser printer. I had a weather delay as a cold front came through and conditions were not within the recommended range. The next photos show the spraying setup I used for the test. I used Silver Gift Wrapping paper patterns as a stand-in for the Laser Silver Foil during this test. I only did a single coat spray of each sealant as a baseline for this test.

The next photo shows the patterns after spraying and at an angle to try to show the surface of the Silver Foil labels. This is also to show any running/smearing of the pattern from the spraying process. The next photos show the parts during the building process. The close-up of the Booster Skirt Fairing is to show the black edge where there was running/smearing issues in the uncoated model. The models are in the same order as the spray cans.

The last group of photos show the completed models with the uncoated model to the far left as a reference. There are front and back views and close-ups of the orange part of the models. The last photo is a close-up of the models to show a defect on one of the models.

I would like to receive feedback from other modelers before I do the summary report on this part of the test build.

[Don Boose]

Joe -

This has been a fascinating thread. You have done an enormous amount of research and trial and error. The latest results are excellent: both colors and the detail of the graphics.

Thanks for sharing the results of your work.

Don