Okay, this is gonna get weird..but "cool" weird, not "freaky" weird. Hang with me for a minute or ten? 
One of my other hobbies is Model Rocketry (like Estes & stuff). I'm also a fan of astronomy & space exploration (my aunt is ex-NASA, worked on Apollo when I was a kid), so I like building scale models of real rockets. Actually won a couple of local NAR Sport Scale contests with this one years ago. 1/24 LTV Scout (on the right):
Anyhoo..while we've been packing for the move, I stumbled across what was supposed to be my follow-up project. Kitbashed Atlas-Agena, from the Estes 1/35 Mercury Atlas kit.
Partially consumed 12-pack included for size demonstration (and an explanation for this message?).
Earlier this evening, Logan (SWMBO's son) & I were playing with his new Hot Wheels set, and it has one of those "color change" cars, the ones where you splash either hot or cold water on it, and it changes to a completely different color...
And I had a crazy little idea. Here's why I'm looking for a color change.
Folks who build Atlas models for contests always have a problem. The early (real) ones were very lightweight in construction, the pressure from the weight of the fuel in the tanks was actually used to help hold the structure firm during the aerodynamic stress through the lower parts of the atmosphere. Problem for the modeler is that when they're unfueled, they're bare metal:
But when they're fueled & launched, they appear white because of the ice condensation (liquid oxygen only remains liquid below something like -300deg F, right?) on the outside of the vehicle.
There is no standard rule in the book about how an Atlas of this vintage (late 50s to late 60s) should be painted, so it's kind of up to the individual judges. Problem for us Atlas lovers is that models are judged twice: first, while lying on the table, and then again in flight.
The judges who think an Atlas should represent the un-fueled vehicle take points off in the static judging if you've painted like the condensation is there, and the ones who think you should model the fueled-up vehicle take points off if you fly a bright silver thing that doesn't look like the old NASA photographs.
Which brings me back to temperature-sensitive "color-change" paint. Does anybody know how that stuff works? Can it be replicated at home? And if not..is there one that is clear at one temperature, and pasty white at another? What I'm wondering is if I could find a way to have the thing bare metal on the static bench, but icy white on the pad. I'll worry about the fact that water is involved later, if doing something like this is actually possible.
Sounds good anyway.
