Madcow 4" fiberglass Super DX3 build thread

rocket sok
Onebadhawk
Wildman Rocketry
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When we bought the paint for Bare Necessities's first nosecone the people at the auto parts store were interested and helpful.
 
It happens everytime I go into the hardware store for hardware and paint. My favorite was when I had to bring my IROC into the hardware store to get the right screws for the motor retention. The cashier just stared at it.
 
I dont tell them it's for rockets. Dont want Homeland Security knockin on my door.
 
I love telling them it is for a rocket. I always get the same questions: How high does it fly? Can it be flown again? How do you recover them? They make engines larger than a D?

No visit from Homeland Security.
 
What about Radical Rocketeers launch on the 6th??? :confused2:
Kehoes23 said:
I now got all internal fillets done and the aft centering ring glued on, so far it looks like that the rocket will be ready for Red Glare in April.:headbang::w::
Click to expand...
 
JJSR said:
What about Radical Rocketeers launch on the 6th??? :confused2:
Click to expand...

Sorry I won't be able to go to this club launch, I got family comintments that I can not get out of, I don't think the paint and decals will be done in time for Red Glare, but I will be picking up a J500 motor for the Kailyn rocket rocket to launch next month at RR.
 
After my son's T ball game I spent some time working on the rocket, got the fillets done the way I like them, filled in all the pits and holes and put on a few coats of primer, hopefully tomorrow I can give this rocket some color :wave:
 
IMG_2901.jpgIMG_2902.jpg
the first few coats of white paint, I'll give it a few days to dry and wet sand with 1500 grit and paint on a few more coats of white, then paint the fins and nose cone orange
 
IMG_2903.jpgIMG_2904.jpgIMG_2907.jpg
got some more done today paint wise, after the first coat of paint dried for a few days, I wet sanded the rocket with 1500 grit (after seeing the results, I'm not going back to regular sanding)
I put on a few more light coats on the lower and upper body and a few light coats of orange on the nose cone, what is it with fresh paint and bugs?:y: now I'll wait a few more days and do it all over again, and once I'm done, its on to the fins :boat:
 
It's been a while since my last post, I've been busy painting, wet sanding, painting, wet sanding ect. ect., I am now a few days away to putting the decals on, would it be better to wet sand the final coat of paint and put on the decals? or is it better to not wet sand first? I do plan to put on clear coat when decals are on. :grin:
 
IMG_3054.jpg
got the fins painted, i realy need some sort of painting booth, again got bugs on the freshly painted fins, maybe its the color of the paint, it seems to happen more to the orange color then any other:facepalm:
 
IMG_3055.jpg
here is the first clue of my rocket theam, if you watched the movies then you should know who the cutout is, nose cone is done and has a few coats of clear on.
 
The paint on the fins have been drying for over a week and its time to wet sand them and spend 5 hours putting the decals on, why 5 hours you ask? Well the one decal is big, really big, it takes up most of the rocket body and is all most a rocket wrap, so I MUST take my time when putting this decal on and I MUST hide from the wife and kids when doing so, it's taken me a loooong time to get to this point of the build and want to take my time putting on the decal.
I'll post pics of my progress and when the decals are on and done.:marshmallow::roll::drool:
 
IMG_3056.jpg
here I'm applying the first decal, you can see the other decals that i will be putting on.
IMG_3060.jpg
the completed aft end of the rocket
IMG_3062.jpg
the back side of the aft end
IMG_3061.jpg
the forward end of the rocket
IMG_3063.jpg
the custome lazer ingraving from aeropack
 
IMG_3058.jpg
this is me holding the finished Super DX3, aka Umbrella Corporation, Resident Evil.
I still have to put on some clear coat.
Thank you everyone for your advice on this build, I had lots of fun doining the build and sharing each step with you.
My next build will be the up scale Estes RamJet that I got from K&S Rocketry
 
Kehoes23 said:
View attachment 127986
this is me holding the finished Super DX3, aka Umbrella Corporation, Resident Evil.
I still have to put on some clear coat.
Thank you everyone for your advice on this build, I had lots of fun doining the build and sharing each step with you.
My next build will be the up scale Estes RamJet that I got from K&S Rocketry
Click to expand...

Your build turned out great, I love the theme... Now burn that baby!
 
A special thank you goes out to Mark from sticker shock, he did awesome work on the decals, and worked with me to get the right look on the decals.
Thanks again Mark :cool2:
Check out his web site:
www.stickershock23.com
 
That is absolutely amazing. Mark always goes above and beyond.
 
I finally got the recovery system put in the DX3 and put it on a scale along with the empty 54/1706 case, the final weight is 11lbs, I will be launching it on the k550 motor at MDRA, but a two and a half hour drive is far to do a single launch, but I might wait till Red Glare in the fall, this way I'll have more time to save up money for more motors.
 
Kehoes23 said:
So, when I was at the auto store the other day picking up spray paint I had a interesting talk with the sales clerk, this is how it went.
Me: finally the weather is nice enough to start painting again
Sales clerk: oh yeah, what are you painting?
Me: high power rockets.
Sales clerk: ???
When I said high power rockets, he looked at me like I had three heads, I guess that was not the answer he was looking for.
Has something like this happen to anyone else? This is the first time it's happen to me and thought I would share my story with TRF.
Click to expand...

Eh what was origionally going to be a couple minute run to the local mom and pop hardware store turned into an hour of me explaining what I (we) do and showing pictures of rockets to the older guy and his son. all because they asked me what i was working on when i was purchasing multiple epoxy kits and a lot of sandpaper.
 
While I was at the Radical Rocketeers club launch (www.radrocketeers.org) I put my Resident Evil rocket on the scale with everything installed except the K550 reload (I'm still saving up for this reload) and the final weight comes to 10 lbs 13.4 oz, so I'm thinking that a J500 should get this up high and fast, but I'll have to do the math on this later :wave:
 
Nice build and good thread, especially for some one new to HPR. I have a few questions about the electronics though. When do you choose to have the duplicate DD systems? Should it be all HPR or just Level 2+. How do you wire such a system? Do they fire at the same time or sequentially? Thanks
 
docK said:
Nice build and good thread, especially for some one new to HPR. I have a few questions about the electronics though. When do you choose to have the duplicate DD systems? Should it be all HPR or just Level 2+. How do you wire such a system? Do they fire at the same time or sequentially? Thanks
Click to expand...
Thanks, the whole point of the thread was for people new to HPR and DD, in a way it's an in depth how to.
I chose duplicate altimiters for the redundancy, one primary and the other as a back up. This build took a lot of time and money, so I wanted insurance so to speak.
You don't need two altimiters for level 1 or level 2 rockets, just for level 3. It's up to you if you want two altimiters or not.
The altimiters come with instructions on how to use, program and wire them up, on my altimiters, they are wired seperate from each other, one does drouge and main as primary while the other does drouge and main as backup.
This is how I have mine programmed:
Primary altimiter; drouge parachute deploy at apogee, main parachute deploy at 700'
Back up altimiter; drouge parachute deploy at 2 seconds after apogee, main parachute deploy at 500'
I hope this helps, if you have any more question, please ask and I will try to answer them the best I can.

The ejection charge wells I got from www.blastcaprocketry.com I have the medium blast caps
The wires I got from www.doghouserocketry.com
The altimiters are from:
Strato logger SL100 www.perfectflitedirect.com
RRC2 mini. www.missileworks.com
 
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Kehoes23 said:
Since my DX3 build is on hiatus for now, I went back to finish my Mega Der Red Max, I need to paint and throw on the decals. What would be the best way put on the big body wrap, it's a water slide decal and don't want to rip it when putting it on, I have never worked on such a big water decal before, any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Not sure if anyone answered you on this, didnt find anything in the thread, but I hope it helps. For mine I measured 1/2" down from the end of the BT and painted it black 5 3/4". while that was drying I cut the large wrap in half and applied it in two pieces. That made it alot easier to work with and having the BT black underneath kept the red from bleeding through the jolly rogers.
 
dgreger said:
Not sure if anyone answered you on this, didnt find anything in the thread, but I hope it helps. For mine I measured 1/2" down from the end of the BT and painted it black 5 3/4". while that was drying I cut the large wrap in half and applied it in two pieces. That made it alot easier to work with and having the BT black underneath kept the red from bleeding through the jolly rogers.
Click to expand...
No, no one did, but thanks for the advice. :handshake:
 
So, I've been saving up money for a K550 reload for the Resident Evil Super DX3 when my fellow club member offered to sell me a PML 1/2 scale patriot kit still in the box for a $100, so, the reload for the Super DX3 in on hold since this is one deal that I would be foolish to pass up.
 

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