Mars Lander 3X Build Thread

[David]

With hot air gun, razor knife and sandpaper, finished cleaning-up the landing gear housings. Two of the four housings are glued and clamped for the evening. Other two tomorrow or Saturday. Also, epoxied the four long bolt lugs to the mid-body CR. They were all in good shape and actually had stayed on during crash. I removed them to make salvage and clean-up of the CR easier. Back in place now.

 

[David]

Finished clamping (carpenter's glue) the landing gear housing pieces together. Four housings...looking a bit like Frankenstein...will be straightforward to fill and finish now. Went back together nicely, all things considered.

Had time to cut new aft thrust segments from a coupler. Clamped/epoxied at proper depth. While things were drying, I cut four new 1" leg bumpers from a replacement rubber rod (source: McMaster-Carr). I only found one of four at the crash.

David

 

[David]

While the leg housings are drying, I epoxied the new MMT to the aft bulkhead/CR assembly. The blue tape ensures the MMT remains at the proper location on the CR while the epoxy cures. The aft assembly is resting against the aft thrust segments. The MMT is aligned internally within the parachute tube, so everything dries in alignment. For added insurance, the long bolts are in place and threaded. No surprises this way. Everything lines up.

david

 

[chuck5395]

What can one say? This is simply inspiring.

 

[David]

Epoxied the Av-bay housing back in place.

 

[David]

Ready to link up the Robo-U-joints. And, for the the first time since the crash, the Lander is standing on it's own two feet...er...four legs.

 

[David]

Salvaging the detailed overlays from the crashed main body airframe is important to making the rebuild as authentic as possible. I want to save and reuse these. Used a #11 blade and very slowly advanced the blade underneath the overlays, separating them from the old, dead carcass. Worked pretty well. These are quite reusable.

 

[David]

The descent shroud took a hit upon the crash landing. About a third or so was pretty crumbled and torn. Two wood supports broke off, but recovered and reusable.

 

[David]

Behind the ripped area, I wanted to create a strong backing. A 5X7 index card proved the answer. Traced the conical shape of the shroud and cut it out. Twice. For two thicknesses.

 

[David]

Used carpenters glue to "back" the torn, crumpled shroud with the two curved pieces of notecard cutout, one on top of another, giving two thicknesses of reinforcement. From the outside, I gently pushed and tucked the rips back together as a puzzle against the new notecard backing. Used some thumb pressure to re-curve some of the overlay pieces. Also, the seam had come apart, so that got a reinforcement piece of notecard as well. Glued the two wooden supports back in place. Last photo proves I'm cured of my clamp obsession: notice a clamp lying there unused. I am a little sweaty and shaky, though...

david

 

[David]

The photos show two different areas of the repaired shroud. The repair isn't perfect, especially the most damaged area. Just can't get all the crumbled creases out. The tears themselves actually pretty much disappeared.

So, not perfect. But it's not bad. Once repainted, it won't be noticeable unless close. It's stronger already, but I'm considering adding some foam anyway.

 

[David]

From pieces to primed.

 

[David]

One of four landing gear housings epoxied back in place.

David

 

[David]

All four rebuilt wooden landing gear housings are now reattached and back in place. Starting to apply narrow fillets of epoxy.

 

[David]

With the addition of a second eyebolt, I can use a nice kevlar bridle from Fruity Chutes.

 

[David]

In the continuing effort to "harden" components, not just salvage and repair, I added a thin layer of expandable foam to the inside of the descent shroud. You have to be careful, because anything more than a thin layer will start to get in the way. But, holy cow, this shroud is much sturdier than before. I would recommend this as standard build.

david

 

[David]

 

[Mr Rocket]

I was impressed by the build... but I am absolutely blown away by the rebuild!


:handshake::clap::headbang:oint::headbang::clap::handshake:

 

[David]

The original tagboard nozzle was pretty beaten up in the crash. Early in the rebuild, recall I made a new metal nozzle. But to add authenticity from the original, I want to retain the overlays. So I'm gradually cutting them away from the old and cementing to the new. The work is slow.

 

[David]

Since these guys are all different sizes and curves, I'm taking them off one at a time and cementing into place as I go. The far left photo shows me holding down the overlay farthest from the edge, under some wax paper. The ones closer to the edge I used some small clamps. CA cement is working great here.

The far right photos show the stack of six sequential overlays removed from the old and applied to the new.

Not perfect, but once this gets painted all black, it will be pretty darn good. It just seems right to rebuild with the nozzle overlays, even thought the nozzle is now metal. Some old, some new.

 

[David]

Took about an hour and a half to do the first stack of six nozzle overlays. Now, onto the second grouping. Used the digital ruler to measure the distance and then transferred that measurement to the new shroud to start the second stack. The digital ruler is nice because you can create a tiny scratch on the new surface at the proper distance, rather than mess with a pencil mark.

David

 

[David]

Bill, I appreciate the encouragement. david

I was impressed by the build... but I am absolutely blown away by the rebuild!


:handshake::clap::headbang:oint::headbang::clap::handshake:

 

[David]

The first photo flashes back a few months ago to when I started this Phoenix operation. Back then, started by making a new nozzle from thin sheet metal. The last few days salvaged the nozzle overlays and CA'ed to the new. Felt it was important to maintain as much as possible of the detail from the original, despite the "hardening" changes made. Now, old nozzle is no longer needed. Sorry, friend...

 

[David]

Primer coats applied.

 

[David]

I gotta say…I'm pretty happy with the new nozzle.

David

 

[David]

Main body forward overlays complete. Moving on to aft.

 

[David]

Used same technique to salvage the remaining overlays from the aft section of the main body carcass. (Used no. 11 blade very slowly and carefully to dissect the overlays off the old crashed body.) Can now discard the crash remains. The salvaged pieces are ready for transplant.

 

[David]

Transplanted the aft overlays.

 

[David]

Sand, prime, sand, prime, paint, paint, paint, clear coat. Epoxied new nozzle into place. JB Welded salvaged Aeropack motor retainer. Business end: done.

David

 

[David]

Aft launch lug epoxied back in place.