New scratch build, the Jersey Bomber

[soxfan121]

hey quake, i've been thinking about doing a micro upscale but i've been having trouble with the fins design in open rocket. how'd you get them to be nice and round in the design like that? did you just slowly move each point until you got the right shape?

 

[cjp]

Jim,any progress on your build?

 

[qquake2k]

hey quake, i've been thinking about doing a micro upscale but i've been having trouble with the fins design in open rocket. how'd you get them to be nice and round in the design like that? did you just slowly move each point until you got the right shape?

No, I used the "Scale" feature in Open Rocket. Double click on the "Fin Set", click on the "Shape" tab, then click on "Scale Fin". This will bring up a dialog box that allows you to scale the fin by percentage. It will automatically scale the entire fin up or down. What body tube size will yours be?

 

[qquake2k]

Jim,any progress on your build?

No, been a little busy. But I might work on it today. I need to epoxy in the aft centering ring, start on the paint, and put the nose weight and eyebolt in the nose cone.

 

[qquake2k]

I got the aft centering ring epoxied in. I use the 1/2" nylon spacers on a block to push it in to the correct depth and keep it level. The messy external fillets are my trademark. :tongue:

 

[kelltym88]

Does that make you a Roc-tologist? That is a nice idea......

 

[qquake2k]

Time for nose weight. Because the fiberglass nose cone is open, I wanted to embed an eyebolt in the resin that will be used to hold the nose weight in place. I put a flange nut, fender washer, and lock nut on the eyebolt, then epoxied the flange nut to the inside of the nose cone tip. I did that so that it wouldn't get displaced during the nose weight and resin pouring process.

 

[qquake2k]

The inside of the nose cone is really rough, and the resin probably would have stuck to it just fine, but I don't want to take a chance of losing my $30 cone. So as I've done with nose weight in the past, I drilled through the tip and put bamboo skewers in it to hold the resin in place.

 

[qquake2k]

I sanded the ends of the skewers with the Dremel to smooth them a bit, then covered them with tape so the resin won't leak out. I'm using steel BB's for the weight.

 

[qquake2k]

I needed to add 4oz of weight in addition to the eyebolt, including the weight of the resin. So I added 3oz of BB's, mixed up the resin, then poured in 1oz of it.

 

[qquake2k]

I always end up mixing too much resin. I need to estimate it better, I mixed more than twice as much as I needed.

You can see the fiberglass cloth inside the nose cone. I'd sure like to see the process used to make one of these.

 

[qquake2k]

Time for rail buttons. I start by measuring 1/8" to the right of the line, to allow for the thickness of the 1/4" fins. I marked the location of the forward block before I epoxied in the motor mount. Using a homemade depth gauge, I marked the bottom of the aft centering ring, then measured 1/2" up from that for the top of the block. Then drilled with a 9/32" bit. Getting sawdust when you drill is a good thing!

 

[qquake2k]

My first pink rail buttons! I got the Rainbow pack of buttons from Rail-buttons.com.

 

[Gary Byrum]

My first pink rail buttons! I got the Rainbow pack of buttons from Rail-buttons.com.

In my best swishy voice...."Oh those will look fabulous on that proposed black shaft...uh...er...airframe? :grin: :wink:

 

[qquake2k]

In my best swishy voice...."Oh those will look fabulous on that proposed black shaft...uh...er...airframe? :grin: :wink:

Well, I was planning on neon pink for the body, with black fins and nose cone. But now I can't decide.

 

[qquake2k]

Got the fins sealed and sanded, and sprayed on the primer. I have a run to fix, I got some fuzz on it from the dust rag, and there's what looks like a spot of epoxy.

 

[Gary Byrum]

Well, I was planning on neon pink for the body, with black fins and nose cone. But now I can't decide.

Ya know, if it were like one of my low power complex builds like I am subject to do, I might question what to do about painting. But honestly, this is 3FNC. Do what you want to on it and forget other peoples opinions. These kind of builds do not require a lot of thinking in regards color choices. The only reason I weighed in in the first place was because of the rule of thumb in the graphics world. Contrast is key. Light against dark is always the better option. The hard red with the hard blue was a red flag moment for me. It's your rocket after all. Paint it what you will.

 

[Cl(VII)]

Kind of off the topic, but I've been wondering something, Captain. You are clearly a prolific builder, I can't imagine the collection you have, so how much does each rocket fly? I assume you have some favorites, and I would imagine a few get cut down in their prime by, shall we say, uh, the realities of gravitational forces. However, the standard scratch build "I like it," but "I don't love it," how much air does that one get?

Keep in mind this is not a criticism, "which one shall I fly today" is an infinetly better problem to have than "I have nothing to fly." I'm just curious what my future holds, and want to start preparing myself, and my wife, now.

-Chris

 

[Gary Byrum]

Kind of off the topic, but I've been wondering something, Captain. You are clearly a prolific builder, I can't imagine the collection you have, so how much does each rocket fly? I assume you have some favorites, and I would imagine a few get cut down in their prime by, shall we say, uh, the realities of gravitational forces. However, the standard scratch build "I like it," but "I don't love it," how much air does that one get?

Keep in mind this is not a criticism, "which one shall I fly today" is an infinetly better problem to have than "I have nothing to fly." I'm just curious what my future holds, and want to start preparing myself, and my wife, now.

-Chris

A rocketeer is always bound to building another rocket. Sometimes it can be a simple design with a high end approach, and then it can be a complex design with a low end approach. Either way or whatever falls in between, is a matter of indulging your crafting skills where you enjoy them the most. There's no rule of thumb on this note. I get a big kick when one of my original designs flies like a bat outta hell on a maiden flight. Butt puckered and all. A great satisfaction for me.

 

[o1d_dude]

With respect to the color schemes, I always prefer one that has high contrast. Makes spotting them a lot easier on my geezerly eyes. That's my birds are always fluoro pink with black trim.

Dunno what I'm going to do when I finally score a Nike. White with fluoro pink fins?

 

[qquake2k]

I got the nose cone sanded and wiped down with alcohol. That fiberglass sure sands easier than the normal plastic nose cones.

 

[qquake2k]

There were some rough areas around where the bamboo skewers went through the nose cone, so I put some Bondo spot putty on them. My Bondo had separated, so I'll let it harden overnight before I start sanding.

 

[qquake2k]

We had some nice weather this morning, so I sprayed on the fluorescent pink and clear coat.

 

[Scotty Dog]

We had some nice weather this morning, SIZE]

Isnt that a normal morning for out west?
Pepto pink?

 

[qquake2k]

Using a trick I've used in the past, I cut half circles from the edges of pieces of masking tape, to put over the forward ends of the fins. It ends up looking cleaner than if left square. And using delicate surface tape, as usual, I masked off the rest of the body. Thanks to o1d_dude for the tape suggestion!

 

[qquake2k]

Isnt that a normal morning for out west?
Pepto pink?

No, I'm in Northern California. We actually have weather sometimes. Not like Southern California, where it's 72 degrees and sunny 365 days a year. And yes, it does look like Pepto pink! LOL

 

[qquake2k]

And sprayed on the Rustoleum 2x black. I love how the black covers. The tape peeled off pretty clean, but...

 

[qquake2k]

There are a few minor bad spots. I think I peeled the tape off too soon. But I can live with it. There was a knot patch in the plywood on one of the fins, that I should have filled with Bondo and sanded before I painted. But I didn't, and I can live with that, too.

 

[Gary Byrum]

Kinda reminds me of the paint job I did on my "Lil Sister" rocket. Lookin' good man.

 

[qquake2k]

Kinda reminds me of the paint job I did on my "Lil Sister" rocket. Lookin' good man.

I love the fins on that! Very cool!