LOHAN and the amazing technicolor spaceplane

Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2014/04/19/vulture_2_paintjob/

Our Vulture 2 livery is wrapped, and it's les noix du mutt

Posted in Science, 19th April 2014 09:44 GMT

Picture special Cue the traditional portentous drumroll and fanfare of trumpets as we reveal today the finished livery of our Vulture 2 spaceplane – a provocative combination of paint job and vinyl wrap which is, frankly, the mutt's nuts.

Fans of our Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator (LOHAN) project will recall we asked readers back in October last year to pitch their motif suggestions, which resulted in a plethora of possible design.

Then, out of the blue, Stelios Zacharias got in touch to insist his four-year-old daughter Ariadne could do better, and attached a sketch to prove it.

This met universal approval, leading the following final scheme:

You can click on any of the photos here for a larger version.

The question of just how to render young Ariadne's design onto our spaceplane was answered when Chris Pyper of Space Graphic Solutions (SGS) dropped us a line to say his team would vinyl wrap it onto the aircraft, an offer we certainly could not refuse.

And so it came to pass, because here, ladies and gentlemen, is the SGS team with the wrapped rocket ship, posing with locals outside The Fish at Wixford, where the Easter decorations provided a suitable backdrop for the shot:

Here we have, from left to right, The Fish's chef Everton Lawson, locals Adrian Brookes and Ron Betteridge, Chris Pyper, Chris's dad and SGS founder Dean McGauley, and SGS vinyl wrap supremo Pete Cox. The banner is a masterstroke by Chris, who reasoned that since he had the means to print it to hand, it would be foolish to pass up the opportunity.

So well done indeed Ariadne, and here's the LOHAN team during the recent Punch and Judy test flights putting the banner to further good use:

From left to right, our motley space crew comprises Drew Cullen, Anthony Stirk, Paul Shackleton, Rob Eastwood and Dave Akerman. Here's the same mob, slightly rearranged, to give you a better view of the wrap. Fear not for the canard, which wasn't bolted on and had slightly detached...

Later in the article we'll return to the wrap and just how it was done, but first you'll want to see the Vulture 2's underside:

Yup, it's a real "gawd bless yer ma'am" moment and no messing, so we'll give patriots a moment to dab the tears from their eyes before proceeding to a photo round-up of how we flew the flag.

You need a montage, even Rocky had a montage

Rewinding five months, our Vulture 2 paint job kicked off with a few supplies...

Primer, paint and masking tape ready for the Vulture 2 paint job

...the application of some primer...

...and the first tentative tin-rattling as I painted the aircraft's pointy beak:

Having started to get the hang of this paint job malarkey, it was time to attack the big challenge: the spaceplane's rear fuselage and wings. With the bird fully primed and sanded...

...I first laid into the rudders, with a few coats of yellow:

Next up was a coat of white...

...which I then masked off as required. The red lines are to indicate the edge of the masking, not the actual tape itself:

I then slapped on a coat of red...

...and removed the masking to reveal the finished rudders (a tip of the hat to our Spanish team members)...

...and the red and white elements of the paint job:

After masking up for the final blue coat...

...and lovingly applying that...

...I went through the same process with the canards...

and voilà:

That's my mate Antonio, who's always keen to lend a hand, and apprentice boffin Katarina, posing with the Vulture 2 shortly before it was loaded into an enormous box for shipping to Blighty, where it had a date with Space Graphic Solutions.

LOHAN's out-of-this-world paint job: What happened next

One very long trip later, the spaceplane landed at a collection of brick buildings amid the rolling countryside outside Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire...

...where I was warmly welcomed by Chris Pyper...

...and vinyl wrap chap Pete Cox:

First on the wrap agenda was to print the design on a really, really big machine:

This has to be left overnight for solvents to evaporate, so it wasn't until the next morning that Pete laminated the wrap...

...and then cut the parts from the sheet. Note the two copies of each element, just in case the first application went titsup:

A rough fit of the wrap...

...followed by test with a scrap piece, to confirm proper adhesion...

...was the prelude to whipping out the heat gun and giving it some welly:

This was a particularly traumatic moment for me, seeing Pete turn up the heat on our magnificent aircraft, but it suffered no damage as the result of its ordeal.

Here are a few snaps of Pete working his magic with gun and fingers:

Pete skilfully trimmed the wrap as required...

...before turning his attention to the front fuselage upper section:

Finally, after several hours, the job was a good 'un:

So good, in fact, that we rushed mob-handed down the pub with the aircraft, took the photo at the top of this article, then proceeded directly to the bar for celebratory liquid nourishment.

I'd like to say thanks very much to SGS for their tremendous work and generous hospitality. My liver is still recovering from the effects of the latter, so I look forward to a return match at some stage, specifically with Chris and Dean.

In that spirit, we invite readers to raise a pint or two to SGS, and all those who contributed to the search for the perfect spaceplane livery, which we reckon is pretty well what we've got. Cheers. ®