Introducing..... The El Diablo

Since the cat is already out of the bag, I thought I would officially introduce my new scratch built level 2 bird. This is basically just a x2 upscale of the BSD-Diablo. You can see my progress and pics here:

https://www.cybergatetech.com/?parent=project&child=rocketry&sub=rocketry/elDiablo

I only have pics of the fins cause the body tubes are still at PML being "customized". But I received notice today that US Composites just sent my 10oz fiberglass cloth. Woo-Hoo. And.... I just ordered a chute and nosecone from Ross at Magnum.

Carl, I also ordered a deployment bag.

The price doc link appears to be broken or missing a picture. The How-to link appears to be broken as well. Will these be filled in later?

It's going to be cool man.

Oh yeah... I meant to disable those. I don't have those docs yet.

Cool.

You are such a tease.

(Man I love that flying pig!)

Guess what was waiting for me when I got home from work? My order from PML as well as the 10oz fiberglass cloth. I was so giddy, I immediately took inventory and started building. You can see my updated pics here:

https://www.cybergatetech.com/phpgraphy/?dir=Rocketry/elDiablo

Tomorrow night, I glass....

I can't wait to see how this thing looks when it's finished.

Tonight I completed the aft CR for the motor sleeve. I also glassed the body tube. You know my motto: It isn't perfect but, hey, it works. I have some imperfections. I also learned alot. You can never have too much 2 hour epoxy on hand. I ran out, had to substitute with 30 min. I also couldn't use the suggested toilet paper blot, it kept sticking to the toilet paper. Anyway, I have updated the pics... take a look... the link is above.

cya.

Hey Phillip:
It's just an idea, but you might try diluting the epoxy mixture by cutting in a 50% volume of denatured alcohol.

The mix will be much thinner and you can brush it on instead of trying to spread it. The alcohol also serves as an excellent carrier of the epoxy and will enable a more complete saturation of the components being laminated. Then too, the working time is also increased.

Denatured alcohol is the only material I know of that can be used to clean epoxy resins from any material or surface before they have cured. But when it is used in conjunction with an epoxy resin, and the epoxy is allowed to cure, the denatured alcohol merely evaporates during the cure time without adversely effecting the quality of the bond.

I'm totally serious! I learned this trick from a master and know that it has worked for me.

The rocket is coming along nicely. The motor mount looks nice and sturdy...not your basic 'J350-only' cert design. You should be able to handle bigger motors and clusters.

If there's one thing I've learned about glassing, it's that you gotta dig in and practice. Get some epoxy filler like Polyfiber Super-fil to help clean up the finish. If you did the glassing over carpeted floor (that's what I thought I saw in the pics), you are braver than I!

ibeblip,
I used the 2 hour epoxy and it was very thin. In fact it was almost like milk. (in texture not color) I used a 4" roller to roll on the epoxy which I would think would even the application better than a brush. Interesting method though, using the alcohol I mean. When it cures, is the bond still as tough as straight epoxy?

I still have lots of practice to do to get this glassing thing right.

rstaff,
Thanks man, I'm learning alot. the motor mount sleeve is designed to allow for clustering and bigger motors. It is only going to be a single deployment so right now height is a consideration. And especially for this level 2 attempt, "Low and Slow" is the chant.

Yes, it is over carpet. The wife had a duck. But nothing got on the floor. I think using the roller helped keep it from running.

Tonight I will try to sand it down and cut out the slots and then deside if I should do a second covering, the right way....

Low and slow is the way I went. My L2 rocket has a 3" MMT, but isn't built near as sturdy as yours.

https://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews/scratch/great_googly_moogly.html

I started it before I knew much about HPR so it would need some beefing up for large motors. It flew on a J350, and I'd like to try it on a 3" full J or a very low end K. Hmmmm, if you ever want to swap wives, maybe I could convice yours to let me try my hand at building my own motors. Nah, not good for you, your fiberglassing days in the house would be over.

I'm interested to see what you concoct for motor adapters!

Great Googly Moogly!!!! Very cool... love it! The motor mount is coming soon. I got my wires crossed with PML and they sent the wrong stuff. So the MM stuff is on its way. I will post pics when it is here.

In answer to your question about Bond strength, I have to be honest in saying that I don't know.
The only destructive testing I've done is by flying the rockets. I've never had one delaminate though.
Fiberglassing is fun to do and you get better at it with experience. But if or when the rocket crashes, you might notice that all the pieces will be closer to the hole where it augered in.

I thought I remember seeing that thinning the epoxy will reduce its strength, but have no clue where I saw it. What that means to the average rocketeer I also don't know. Could be it affects a Mach2 or very high G flight but realistically wouldn't impact a subsonic flight? I bet John Coker would know the answer. John, you out there?

Probably the best policy is to use the right epoxy for the job. However, I'm certainly not above improvising late at night when the stores are all closed. I will certainly keep this tip in mind as I suspect it won't affect most of my projects.

I didn't get much done tonight because I had a late night Scout Budget Meeting (oh joy!). I did however get to trip the glassing on the body tube.

The exciting event of the evening is the arrival of my order from Ross at Magnum. Woo-hoo! It included a PML 7.51" glassed nosecone which was absolutely beautiful! Take a look:

https://www.cybergatetech.com/phpgraphy/?display=Rocketry/elDiablo/img_2048.jpg

He also sent me my first Sky Angle chute. Very, very nice. The materials were excellent, the colors were very attractive and I was suprised that the chute came with its own Nomex cloth. Mark, you need one of these.

Tomorrow I hope to sand and shape the body tube. I ordered some 6oz fiberglass today, I'm thinking about doing a second wrapping to attempt to make it perfect.

Anyway, more tomorrow.

Tonight I epoxied the

https://www.cybergatetech.com/phpgraphy/?display=Rocketry/elDiablo/img_2055.jpg

and then I epoxied the fins:

https://www.cybergatetech.com/phpgraphy/?display=Rocketry/elDiablo/img_2057.jpg

Woo-Hoo.... she's starting to look like a rocket. Tomorrow night I plan on glassing the fins from tip to tip with 6oz cloth.

Back with another report...

Friday I glassed the fins, tip to tip:

https://www.cybergatetech.com/phpgraphy/?display=Rocketry/elDiablo/img_2059.jpg

Then tonight, I gave the whole body a once over with 2 oz cloth. I also reinforced the aft section with another layer of 10oz:

https://www.cybergatetech.com/phpgraphy/?display=Rocketry/elDiablo/img_2067.jpg

Notice the new "system" I made for glassing body tubes. They are mainly saw horses with conduit run through pre-drilled holes. It worked out nicely.

Tomorrow night - Scout meeting, but I hope to trim and sand the elDiablo and complete installing the CRs. More later...

Tonight, I installed 2" worth of CRs....

Question: Do you guys know how much epoxy is needed to seal 2" worth of CRs?
Answer: a crap load.

I wanted to do small epoxy wells on both the fore and aft sides of the CRs, the only way to do it was to pump the CR chamber with about 5 oz of epoxy. Then after 15 min, I turned the rocket over so the epoxy would slide down and cover the opposing CR. Gosh I hope it worked. And man is the rocket heavy.

I want to give the epoxy time to cure. So, tomorrow I will drill vent holes and give her a good sanding. I will be drilling holes for the rail buttons, and then (da-da-da-daaaaa) priming will begin.

I also plan on drilling a few 1/2" holes in the body tube and the motor mount sleeve. The idea is to build an adaptor that includes a 38mm tube for hybrid motors and an alt chamber for deployment. But that will be a later project.

I lied.... bored and hungry I decided to go downstairs for a snack. From the garage came the sad moan, "sand me". So, what choice did I have? I gave her a very good sanding. And I guess it was a good thing cause I forgot about making fillets. I went ahead and poured 2 fillets. Tomorrow I will finish the process and start priming - back on track.

Tonight, I finished the fillets. Now to let the last one dry and shape it in the morning.

I'm actually amazed.... I bought new 105 and 205 West Systems Epoxy specifically for the elDiablo. I know I wasted quite a bit but the cans are almost EMPTY!!! I can't imagine how much money I would have spent for regular epoxy.

Tonight was a slack night cause I ran out of primer.

I sanded and shaped the fillets. I drilled all the vent holes as well as pilot holes for the rail buttons. I also put one coat of primer on her. You can see pics and comments here:

https://www.cybergatetech.com/phpgraphy/?dir=Rocketry/elDiablo/&startpic=19

Tomorrow night: Sanding and 3 coats of primer.

Ran out of primer? RAN OUT OF PRIMER?? OMG !!!!

I thought you were a graduate of the Tulanko School of Over-Finishing? This blaspheme will cause your graduation diploma to be revoked.

You never run out of primer. You must maintain a reserve supply of at least 3 cans each of both white and gray primer.

Oh man.... when Carl hears about this you are in BIG TROUBLE.

OK, my web page is back up now for all those people who wanted to see the art.

I was tired coming back from Whitakers, so tired I couldn't settle down so, I sanded and primed the nosecone. I also epoxied the fore CR on the motor mount.

Tonight, I plan on completly sealing the fore CR on the motor mount and then sanding and more coats of primer to the nose cone and rocket. Pics to follow.

I can't believe I missed the post...no more PRIMER?????!!!!!

(sniff, sniff) I thought I LEARNED you better BOY!!!

I am hanging my head in shame.....

Last night I worked on smoothing out the finish. First I sanded with 120 grit the body. Then added 3 coats of primer. Once those coats were dry, I used hobby filler to fill all the imperfections in the finish. I'm now letting it dry until tonight.

I also sanded the nosecone and then applied 3 more coats of primer.

Both nosecone and body are up to 6 coats of primer. (some has been sanded.)

I learned a new way to do a Deployment Bag this weekend which I will be doing with the elDiablo and the level 3 bird. What you do is attach a small parachute to the nose cone. Then you attach the DBag to the nose cone. The main chute is attached to the body of the rocket. The nose cone nor DBag is ever attached to the body. The main is then loaded into the DBag and everything assembled. On ejection, the nose cone pops out and the small chute pulls the nose cone away from the body. Thus forcing the main out of the DBag. They should both fall to the ground safe and sound. Only trick is finding a small parachute that will gently return the nosecone.

Oh, and BTW: I'm on my 4th can of primer with only 6 coats on the rocket. Now that is a big rocket.

Welp, tonight, more sanding and priming... I ran out of primer again. Don't tell Ken or Carl.

I saw that...that's it!!! Your fired!

You have been busted down to Buck Private.....

We buy you books, we send you to school.... all wasted. Wasted. TOTALLY wasted.

What part of "you must NEVER run out of primer" did you not understand? What part of "you must have 3 cans EACH of both white primer and gray primer on hand at all times" did you not understand?

Dumb guy, dumb guy, dumb guy......

Carl, I really don't think Phil buys into this primo finishing idea. He really doesn't seem to take it seriously. This irresponsible transgression seems to indicate that he may need to be banished from the April activities.

Need I say more?

I am afraid that I must quite agree Ken! Phil has become one of the lost...pretty soon he will be "brushing" on leftover latex from three years ago.

I see it degregrading to total CAOS...unprimed rockets flying with duct tape holding the fins on...

Oh, woe is me, woe is me....