Boyce Aerospace Hobbies
 

Has anyone bought one of the 3D printed rockets from this company?

http://boyceaerospacehobbies.com/

They seem interesting and new ones come out right and left. But I've never seen a picture of what one actually looks like. I wonder what the surface finish is like, what kind of effort it takes to paint them, and how durable they are.

I have the 1/125 Saturn 1B. Take it from me there is a lot of finishing to be done.
A lot of sanding. A lot of priming, and then more sanding. No decals. Make your own.
I will say they seem to be pretty durable. If you get any of these rockets, be prepared to
put a lot of work into them.

Here are some pictures I took off my Saturn 1B.

Here are some shots of my Saturn as I was starting to get this rocket in shape for the first coat of white paint.
A month later, and I'm still not close to putting on the white.

Is this the same Boyce Aerospace that was around in the mid 90's with tiny little resin cast Saturns, vacuum formed wraps, etc. that Neubauer took over?

Nevermind. I see on the website that it's the same guy.

I have several. There is indeed tons of sanding to get the tiny ridges from the printing process out. Beautifully done with lots of nice detail, but unless you have time to render the proper finishing techniques, don't think you'll be at the field tomorrow with one. However, if you're not worried about the ridges, paint and go! Can't tell 12 feet from the pad anyway!
Allen

They did a great job on making me a nose cone for my 4" Gemini Titan . They now offer it as part of their line up. The original resin cone got broke being dragged across the field. I also recently bought their 4" Redstone cone. I have not built a booster for it but it looks pretty good.

Why not just modify a non-flying plastic kit? Are these 3D printed kits lighter or cheaper?

I bought the fin grids and landing legs for the Space X Falcon - 9 kit not too long ago. Excellent quality. Posted elsewhere on this forum the installation along with some pics.

Is it possible to spray the rocket down with primer and sand that to get a smooth surface?

I assume the 3D printing material is much sturdier than typical plastic models.

Sure, it's possible. But that would add a lot of extra weight, I would guess. My thought is to sand as much as you can (or can stand) then use filler/bondo, then prime. The hardest areas to sand are the angles, such as where fins meet surfaces or (especially) where body tubes meet body tubes, like on their Saturn IB. Difficult to get in-between and sand those ridges out smooth.
I use a small dremel flat surface sander to hit the easy-to-get-to sections, elbow grease sanding for other areas, then filler for the rest. Prime, sand, and paint as you like. Decals would be a bit more problematic.
Boyce should sell decal sets (or better yet, include them) with these models. They would sell more, I imagine, then.
Allen

Yes, I was thinking the Saturn IB fuel tanks would present a challenge. The reaction control pods on the service module don't look easy to deal with either.

It's ABS plastic, which is quite tough. His Saturn IB is a reproduction of the Cox RTF one (as are his Little Joe II and Nike-Zeus). I have one of his 3-D printed Cox Nike-Zeus replicas, and while it will require some sanding, I'm pleased with its fidelity and durability. Ditto kudos for his "after market" landing legs and grid fins, which are scale accurizing parts for SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Fairing model rocket kit!

It is the same Boyce's, Alex and Sheree are currently doing a 1/17.5 Mercury Redstone Capsule (aka their 3.90) and a 1/21.8 Mercury Atlas Capsule custom for my 5.38" Loc airframe based Merc Atlas scale model. The sample photos of the custom work that Alex sent me appear to be great and he is also doing the Capsule adapter for me that adapted the Mercury Capsule to the Atlas missle. I thought his prices were quite fair, of course I don't have the products in my hand yet but their (both Boyces') communication via email has been excellent.

Hmmm...If they're also producing the other Atlas parts, it would be easy for them to offer an Atlas D ICBM model, by producing an Atlas D re-entry vehicle at that scale.

I would contact the Boyce's, from the products page on their website they don't currently produce any Atlas parts, AFAIK the Mercury Atlas Capsule adapter they did for me is the first they have done, and the Merc Atlas Capsule is a reworked 3.90 Merc Redstone model with the correct features and slightly downscaled for my purposes. Hopefully they will add more Atlas parts as I would love to have some of the bits like fittings for oxygen lines, the turbine exhaust tube, vernier motors and stuff. Hmmm, maybe I need to get back in touch with Alex about all those bits.....

From my experience, they sometimes have parts before they're listed on the website (which makes for nice surprises!).

Boyce Aerospace Hobbies is announcing they're releasing a new Pershing flying model rocket kit: Got this notice in my personal e-mail today (twice, in fact): "Hi, we are excited to be releasing a 1/15th scale Pershing 1A kit, our second BT-80 kit! Just $60.00 Plus Free Shipping! Save $17 from our Ebay price! "

Thanks to you, I received two notices, too. :-) I just took a look at their "Products" page, and they've been busy--the new Pershing 1A isn't their only new kit or part! Also:

Since they already offer two versions of the Thor-Able (the Pioneer lunar probe and Tiros 1 rounds), Thor-Agena A (and/or B), Thor-Altair (which used payload fairings very similar to both the "skinny" and "bulbous" Scout fairings), and Thor-Burner II and IIA models wouldn't be hard for them to add to their Thor-Able model line, since these upper stages and payload fairings would just be different nose cones...

I have the Pershing 1A on the way. Ordered it off the web site Friday night :)

New Boyce 1/14 scale Nike Her!
 

Hey folks,
Check out the boyceaerospacehobbies.com site.
He's offering a new 1/14 scale Nike Hercules. Details are there.
I pre-ordered one.
4x24mm to 1x24mm, 2 stage.

It's really pretty.

Allen

Indeed! I got their announcement e-mail about this new kit today (well--yesterday now, at this hour), and I also forwarded it to several scale space modelers I know in the U.S., the UK, and Australia, as Boyce Aerospace Hobbies requested in their kit announcement message (what's next--1:1 scale Redeye, Grail, Blowpipe, and Stinger MANPADS with launchers? :-) ). This Nike-Hercules' scale is Brobdingnagian for me (my apartment), but others are not so limited, and I'm glad to see this kit being made available for them. Also:

With a long-burning composite motor in its second stage, R/C guidance, Sun-seeking guidance (such model rockets have flown), and even infrared or radio homing onto a transmitter-equipped target model (say, an R/C EDF jet, or a Corporal or Lance missile model [the Nike-Hercules had a limited anti-missile as well as anti-aircraft capability]) could be incorporated into such a large model. The "warhead" could be a tempera paint powder or powdered colored chalk "burst" dispersed by an air-agitator-type device activated at intercept (rather like in the Enerjet "Nike-Ram" version of the Centuri Nike-Smoke scale model), which wouldn't actually damage either model.

Would love to have one of these new Nike-Hercules kits, but I NEVER, EVER do "pre ordering" of anything.
I know this probably won't be the case here as Boyce has a great reputation, but I won't ever take the chance.
If they were available to be ordered and shipped as soon as ordered, I would order one tomorrow.
I find the entire "pre ordering" nonsense quite irritating anyway....it feels like someone is trying to eliminate risk from doing business....Ferrari can get away with that sort of thing, short of that, I'm not biting.

If it was "reserve" without paying until able to be shipped, that would be different. I'm not paying for something until it is ready to be sent out.

I would feel the same way, if they were a brand-new company with no previously-developed, available products, and with no track record. But none of these things are the case for them, so--if I were in the market for a scale Nike-Hercules kit of this size--I would happily pre-order it from them.

The owners of Launch magazine were "well established" too.
I'm not taking even a 0.01% chance of not getting a product I pay for.
Even based on the website for this rocket it states they are not even ordering the printer to do the kit work until they have like 40 pre-orders. Financing through ordering ? No thanks.

At those odds, I would never even risk going downstairs to check my mail each day :-) , but to each his own... Being completely trusting is, of course, foolish, but being the opposite is not a pleasant way to live; a middle way, a gray path between the two extremes, is preferable.

I'm totally against the principle of "pre available order payment".
I have no interest in providing short-term financing of businesses unable to produce product without that. The ROI is essentially zero. I don't care if it is for $100 or $100k

You're not charged until Alex has accumulated the 40 orders needed to do the run. As I read it, one is not out anything until he is ready to make the kit.
Not a problem for me, as I have several of his stellar offerings, and he and Sheree have provided similar service.
Wish I could commit to 2!
Allen

That sounds perfectly reasonable (and I trust them). The several pre-ordered books that I have always received, and which were always shipped out on the previously announced dates that were given months in advance, by Amazon.com (they are volumes of Dana Simpson's "Phoebe and Her Unicorn" comic strip compilation [plus a graphic novel] series of books), worked in precisely the same way as Boyce Aerospace Hobbies' pre-ordering (except for Boyce's minimum total orders "threshold"). I placed the book pre-orders online, but my debit card wasn't charged until the books' release dates. After my payments went through (on those same days), the books were shipped out on those days.

Well if there are any extras produced or any left over, I will be in line to buy one.
Just not going to plunk down any $$$ for product unless it is ready to ship.
Like I said before, maybe for a Ferrari, but nothing less.

I have to agree with GH on this one. Getting subscriptions for a kit to raise the cash to buy a 3D printer doesn't make any sense to me. 40 kits at 100 bucks each is just $4000. Surely financing that through a bank loan is an option. Unless the company is overextended and has credit problems that make a loan impossible. Not saying that is the case here, but the thing has a bad smell. I wouldn't put my money up front on principle.

Gotta say I love the kit, though.............

So is one of those limited time zero-rate credit cards that seem to be all over the place right now.

:chuckle:



Too true!

Yep. Something smells awry here, and even if it isn't, I disagree with this sort of thing on principle alone.
No EXISTING product, NO $$$ from me, EVER.

Yeah I agree... too easy for "something to happen" and your pre-order ends up meaningless because "we're sorry to report due to unforeseen circumstances...."

Once bitten twice shy...

You're right; if you can't or won't do the kit work until you have a boatload of preorders, that's not something I want to support or take a risk on. A manufacturer that's not willing to put their own money up to bring the product to market says something to me, something I don't like. I'm not an investor financing 'risky ventures'; I'm a customer looking to buy a product.

Later! OL J R :)

Not to jump in too much, but I do not see how this is any different, than the black Friday Sales, where you were billed before all of the kits were ready or shipped. I have purchased from Boyce Aerospace before, with no issues, and even before they started the 3d printed offerings. I have an early Boyce 4" Mercury Redstone Kit, and have purchased one of their 3d kits off of Ebay, with no problems on any transaction. Just my 2cents as each has their own opinion, and comfort point.

Mike

Speaking of pre-orders, I see Quest is taking pre-orders for its' new composite motors on their website. Customer pre-orders will be filled in April, before the motors are shipped to vendors and retailers. I have no qualms at all about sending my money for a pre-order. Quest has been in business for decades, and they are backed by a parent company that also owns Aerotech.

I have bought and had some custom work done by Boyce. The 4" Gemini capsule was first made for me. I have never had an issue with them . They are fantastic to work with. I have signed up for the Nike Hercules. Have not even receive a PayPal invoice. I am kit #25.

I am glad to see these three latest responses. I have never had the slightest problem with orders from Boyce Aerospace Hobbies, and the facts that [1] this is their first regular kit (as opposed to parts and "semi-kits" or "short kits" [as such model airplane products are known]) and [2] they are a two-person company, make the pre-ordering arrangement perfectly understandable, as this is another step upward for them.