Estes QCC Explorer Build

[g-train]

I discovered the 40% off coupon from Hobby Lobby after my wife and mother-in-law let me know that it's been around for awhile. Thanks, ladies! :bangpan:

This is what I bought: the Estes QCC Explorer! And for just a tad bit over $12 post coupon, I can't deny it was a fantastic deal! My wife...just rolled her eyes. At least I'm building in the same room that she's watching TV and not in a separate room where we can't hold a conversation, right?

This is what I have so far, besides the marked BT. While constructing the intakes pre-fins, I flipped the bottom of the intake (part with the rounded end protruding) to the wrong side. Trying to correct this, I split one of the balsa side pieces and after a bit of language being thrown into the air, decided that I might as well try out papering and so ended up papering the sides of ALL intakes.



More to follow soon!!

 

[Rex R]

conversation...right. I know us, sparkling conversationalists when we are busy concentrating on something, we are not . it is more like; yes, no, yes dear, OH DRAT . looks like you're off to a good start.
Rex

 

[g-train]

Lol - unfortunately, it happens that way more often than it should, Rex!! Either way, she enjoys this hobby more than she would video games!

More on the Explorer -

Marked the BT again - my original marks were worn off by handling the tube too much. Had better lighting this time so it was easier to see how accurate the marks were. Sanded down the ?wax-like? coating a bit so my glue could adhere better when applying the intake/fin setup. No pics 'cause that's the boring stuff!

Applied the intakes to the tube, installed MMT, and exhaust nozzle. Glued in the 3 inch coupler and the top portion of the after that. Again - no pics, as it's all standard boring stuff! I then popped on the NC quick - no glue, no worries! I DO have pics of the completely assembled, albeit still rough rocket. I'm pretty stoked at the looks of the thing, although there are certain issues that I need to take care of (ie...fillets, filling gaps, deciding on whether or not I want to round my fins and such.)

Pics will be added when I get off of work tonight, as I left my memory card reader cord at home.

 

[modeltrains]

Ya gotta love the female folk Those twist and lock bulkheads in the intakes work ok? Have a QCC sitting unbuilt.

 

[Madison Alum]

Looks good so far. Looking forward to more pictures!

 

[g-train]

modeltrains - they definitely work, although at times I wondered if the were completely necessary. It's a novel idea because it keeps the necessary pieces/parts in the correct position which is nice when you have to fuss with basically keeping 6 pieces held together. Whenever you build it your kit, give yourself some time and a spot where you can concentrate on putting them together. I ended up assembling one to see how it worked, and then assembled the rest at the same time. Don't do it in a rush, for sure! As fussy as they are - I really love the look of the kit and have no issues putting in a bit of effort/time to add something different than a regular 3 fin and body tube rocket!

I used white glue to assemble, as it dries quicker, however, there's a point where you have to round an edge (I'll take a pic) and the white glue is a pain to sand!

 

[HamsterNinja]

I just finshised priming mine(ill paint if it stays togather , its ready to fly. But im not sure how the rubber band shock-core is going to work it seems to grab the shoot. I know your not at that point, but I think I would have add the kevlar line. but im not sure it that will sove the problem.

 

[modeltrains]

Thanks g-train.
Being a bit intimidated by the intakes - which are among the awesomest rocket details seen - have gotten as far as filling spirals and painting nose cone and aft exhaust cone.
(if I've been building models out of plastic and wood for 45 years why do those intakes intimidate me? Not rational.)
Just for grins am painting fluorescent red band around middle of fire engine red nose cone. Found a neat looking color to use on exhaust nozzle detail; Rust-Oleum metallic oil rubbed bronze, is an almost but not quite black with a goldish-brownish element to it.

Often use Aleen's Tacky where white glue is called for. Have on hand Elmer's yellow carpenter's glue; and Testors tube wood glue for airplane models. Used to have some sandable yellow wood glue from Great Planes, seem to have misplaced it.
Yeah, the Aleen's doesn't sand with 100% ease, sort of oka, kinda, but not perfect. Probably ought to get another one of the Great Planes glue.
Of course have a couple different types of super glue, and without looking seem to remember directions calling for that in spots, but I'd rather use a wood specific glue on the assemblies.

 

[modeltrains]

A tip to any others building this one, do all the filling and sanding on your intakes before you put them on the body!

Note made.

 

[g-train]

What intimidated me the most, modeltrains was the part where you talked about filling in the spirals! I wouldn't have a clue where to start! You're right about there being instructions about using a different glue than wood or white. They called for CA, but I don't have any at the moment and didn't want to wait any longer to dig into this build!

pick1e - I agree with the sanding and filling beforehand, although, since I didn't have any wood filler at the time, I decided that I would sand, add a bit of extra glue to the joints/slots and then get some wood filler and finish the process after assembly.

We have had some weird weather here in Nebraska lately! I work at a hotel and a few times last night I was shoveling a combination of sleet, hail, frozen rain, and snow from our walks while it was booming thunder and lightening! It was pretty awesome if I do say so myself. I love thunderstorms, and being able to see that many weather events at one time is pretty spectacular. HOWEVER!! I have been snowed/iced away from my small town home and haven't had a chance to get to the cord for my camera card reader.

There will be pics!! I promise!!

 

[g-train]

As promised!!

You'll see from one of the pics that the aft end of one intake separated slightly from the end of the BT. I assume that when sanding the intakes down against the BT I must have had my hand at an angle or something of the like. Oh well, just means extra filler! I was a tad bummed, but there's not much I can do now.

You will ALSO see that the same thing happened to the fore end of one intake as well. Again - a bit bummed, but that's what filler is for.

All in all, at the moment, I am rather happy with how things are going. This is my first Lvl. 4...ever, and I haven't thrown it away in disgust. Plus, I rather like the ooh's and aah's from family members who see it. What's better than that?

Still a ways to go, but I'm thinking that I may be finishing it up in time to go to THOR by the 20th. I have lots of work to put into it, but I'm excited. Thanks for watching, stay tuned for more!!

 

[modeltrains]

Sure is a pretty fair sized beast in the low power world. Bummer about the intakes not sitting flush. Wonder if NASA uses regular Bondo or if there's a no-grav version?

 

[g-train]

Fair sized? This thing is a monster - at least compared to the selection that I have locally! I already plan on buying another QCC so that I can modify it to a larger motor selection. I didn't see it until after I assembled mine, but another member here had a QCC build where they used a length of angle iron to keep the intakes square when sanding the curve. Oh well! You live, you learn, right? I'll hopefully be getting some filler after work tonight to finish that part and then I'm going to order a nylon 'chute and some tubular kevlar. It's too bad I already installed the MMT, as I would have waited and done the Kevlar yoke. Seems I need to learn a bit of patience!!

This is the pic of the MMT and engine nozzle. Where's the MMT and hook, you ask?? Well...I was running on about 3 hours of sleep, watching tv, and dealing with my brother's P.I.T.A. Pug when installing - in laymen's terms, I installed it too far forward in the tube.

I haven't checked to see how insertion/removal of a motor is going to be affected as I don't have any D/E motors atm. The orange D engine block inserts pretty easily and is only a tad bit difficult to remove as the motor hook ends up being pressed against the inside of the nozzle. I guess we'll see when the time comes, but I am still excited to finish and fly this beauty of a rocket!

 

[g-train]

Hey all! Finally got to get some time in on the Explorer tonight. Lots of Elmer's Carpenter's filler, drying time and sanding time. Got a few pics that I'll try posting from my phone.

Spent almost two hours sanding down various high spots. I decided to see how the filler would do with fillets on the intakes. These are before pics, as my phone died before I could take more.

 

[cjp]

Hey all! Finally got to get some time in on the Explorer tonight. Lots of Elmer's Carpenter's filler, drying time and sanding time. Got a few pics that I'll try posting from my phone.

Spent almost two hours sanding down various high spots. I decided to see how the filler would do with fillets on the intakes. These are before pics, as my phone died before I could take more.
View attachment 125681View attachment 125682

You've done a great job on your build so far.Don't worry about your mistake,it looks fine.It took me around 30 min. on each intake with mine.There not as hard as one might think,just time consuming.The sanding does take time as there is alot of balsa,but look at your results,it's a very nice job you have done.My wife just rolls her eyes at me.I have a finished basement and spend lots of time down there.After 37 years of marriage,my wife enjoys the piece and quite.LOL.This is a great flying rocket,straight flights.Can't wait to see your with some paint on it.

 

[g-train]

Thanks, cjp! I've been really enjoying this. I'm always excited to get back to work on this beauty of a rocket! I'm doing more filling today and hopefully will get it ready for primer tonight! Been a lot of rain lately however, and the temps are a bit low so who knows when that'll happen! Oh well, just more time spent on a hobby I love!

 

[g-train]

Okay all - reaching critical mass in deciding on recovery options to replace the plastic Estes 18" parachute (I believe, as I don't have it in front of me, at the moment). Any suggestions?? I want a nylon 'chute, and thought about a Kevlar shock cord but am wondering about it being overkill. I don't plan on modifying this QCC. Just want to keep it running 'D' and 'E', as I don't have a large area to launch.


**Went to add more pics of my build, and found out my card reader died!!!!!!! No pics for now. **

 

[g-train]

pick1e - THAT is a good excuse to get the wife involved in my rocket building. She just got a new sewing machine for Christmas this year and has been itching for excuses to use it. Any special way to sew a custom 'chute? Won't have time yet to work on the Explorer until Sunday. Will be doing some finish sanding and need to fillet the fins and intakes.

 

[g-train]

Been having a hard time finding gaps in my schedule to enable me to work on my rockets. Here are a couple updates!



A couple coats of Rustoleum 2x White Primer, a couple coats of 2x Gloss Red. A week or so of cure time on both, and then I taped off my designs and am now working on a few coats of 2x Gloss black.

Hit a setback today putting the first coat of black on however. I don't have a painting stand, as I have no woodworking tools to build one! So - I 'get' to hold this particular rocket by the nozzle while painting. One of my fingers slipped out of the inside of the nozzle and I dropped to Explorer right on the fore end of the BT. NOT happy with that, but I'll live and move on. May have to trim a tad more than 1/4" though. Such is life!

 

[cjp]

Been having a hard time finding gaps in my schedule to enable me to work on my rockets. Here are a couple updates!

View attachment 130119View attachment 130120

A couple coats of Rustoleum 2x White Primer, a couple coats of 2x Gloss Red. A week or so of cure time on both, and then I taped off my designs and am now working on a few coats of 2x Gloss black.

Hit a setback today putting the first coat of black on however. I don't have a painting stand, as I have no woodworking tools to build one! So - I 'get' to hold this particular rocket by the nozzle while painting. One of my fingers slipped out of the inside of the nozzle and I dropped to Explorer right on the fore end of the BT. NOT happy with that, but I'll live and move on. May have to trim a tad more than 1/4" though. Such is life!

Get some dowel rod and a long neck bottle like a wine bottle,that's what I use.Slip the rocket on to the dowel rod thru the engine tube.Get different size rods for your builds.Just be careful on windy days,it may tip over.I paint in the garage with the door open.Hope this helps,by the way I really like the red,will look nice with gloss black.

 

[g-train]

Dowel rods - why I didn't think of this before is completely unreal! Neglected to mention that in the pics above, there is only one intake/fin assembly that has been taped off. Three of those assemblies have been taped identically, and one has been taped in a pattern that I hope will turn out pretty cool. I will be covering ALL in black, so where you see the tape, it will be red.

 

[modeltrains]

We're staying tuned for further updates - looking forward to seeing her painted.

 

[g-train]

I'm lucky enough to have two hands and only need one to operate the spray can, so the other hand holds and rotates the stick.

Lol - I put another coat of gloss black on tonight in the hopes of removing the tape on Saturday. I attempted the use of a smaller diameter cardboard tube that I collapsed to fit into the engine mount and I still succeeded to drop the rocket - again - :y: . Not much noticeable damage, but now I'm scared to even fly this thing if I damage it just by painting!!

 

[bubamech]

The QCC is a fun build. With 40% off it's a great bargain too. Yours is looking great! the paint scheme has caught my attention. I cant wait to see how that turns out. Maybe this weekend I'll finally get the decals on mine.