NK-33 Rocket Engine

[TimT64]

The Russian NK-33 engine was developed in the late 60’s and was planned for use to power the N1-F launch vehicle. The N1F was to be the successor to the ill-fated N1 launch vehicle. After the Russians attempt to get to the moon ended in failure and the program was cancelled the stock of engines were mothballed. In the mid 90’s Russia sold 36 of these engines to Aerojet who modified them slightly and used them in the first stage of the Antares 100 series launch vehicle

 

The kit is a 1-12th Scale resin 3d print and was purchased from Accura Space models https://accuraspacemodels.com/

 

Good clear, comprehensive instructions

 

 

 

Separate painting instructions

 

 

 

Decals

 

 

 

 

 

Pieces individually bagged

 

 

 

Snap of the engine bell next to a coffee mug for idea of scale

 

 

 

 

A start made with dry fitting all the parts.

I am absolutely blown away by the quality of the printed parts and the fit is superb. The amount of fettling, filling, and sanding is going to be at an absolute minimum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bertie McBoatface]

I can't wait to see this painted. 🤩

[Uncle Monty]

That's a big engine alright 😀

 

[TimT64]

With all the dry fitting completed all the parts were primed. The bulk of them were primed using UMP (Stynylrez) black gloss. When the topcoat was painted a few parts showed print lines. These became apparent only after the application of the metallic, which was Vallejo. These were stripped back and reprimed using Alclad black primer with micro filler. Whilst this was successful in “covering” the print lines it left a bit of a rough surface, which is not the best for applying a metallic coat to. It does say in the instructions of the Alclad to buff up the parts after application, something I did not do. I will call that a lesson learnt and not go down that route again as it seems to be making unnecessary work especially considering there are other products that would not need a post painted “sanding/buffing session” to make the finish acceptable.

I am slowly starting to drift away from using  water based acrylics now that I have come up with a way of spraying lacquers without stinking the house out. (In a moment of inspiration I realised that if I placed my spray booth on the cooker top under the powerful extractor hood I can spray and all the smell is gone by the time the wife comes home!!!!

The next time that I build a resin kit that will be painted in metallics I have this plan.

Undercoat with black Mr Color surfacer 1500 mixed 50/50 with MR Levelling thinner. This is a fantastic micro filler, and gives a lovely smooth surface, it also keys really well to the resin. If a high gloss finish is required then a coat of Mr Color GX2 will be applied over the surfacer prior to the topcoat

 

 

 

 

Then topcoats of metallics applied, using Vallejo acrylic paints

 

 

 

 

 

Some very light weathering applied. A black panel line wash used on the lighter aluminium parts. photos here show the wash applied, but not yet toned down. Most of the wash was removed using odourless thinners

 

 

 

 

There are a couple of gas spheres and a small section of pipework that required a green finish, with a high gloss sheen. These were painted with Tamiya acrylic paint, and top coated with VMS clearcoat

 

 

The darker magnesium coloured turbo pump was treated to a panel line wash using a grey colour. The effect is very subtle, but enough to accentuate the nuts and bolts

 

 

 

With all the parts ready time for assembly to begin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos of the finished model can be seen here

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/387-ready-for-inspection-sf-amp-realspace/&do=add

 

[xebec]

On 5/7/2022 at 11:09 AM, TimT64 said:

I am absolutely blown away by the quality of the printed parts and the fit is superb. The amount of fettling, filling, and sanding is going to be at an absolute minimum

That is very impressive- looks like a high-quality casting rather than a print. This is going to produce a lovely model.