punisher build

First fiberglass, first Wildman, first 54mm. I am going to keep it simple and do what I can to make it a quality flyer.

Finally sanded the motor mount tube enough to get an Aeropack on there, scored for bonus scuff.

Retainer body installed. In doing all that sanding, I made that end of the tube small enough to add noticeable play to the aft centering ring. So, I left a fillet between the tube and retainer body, and will wedge the aft centering ring partially onto this fillet. I am not sure how great that is, but the idea seems sound. Scored for bonus surface area on the JB Weld to JB Weld portion of the bond.

Fins tacked for centering ring alignment.

I look forward to seeing this build. I kind of wish I'd gotten one of these rather than a 3" Darkstar, seems like a great flyer that can take a huge range of motors (full G to small L). It also seems like it's really simple to build. What are you going to fly it on for the first flight? I seem to recall you mentioning something Blue Streak...

SCrocketfan said:

I look forward to seeing this build. I kind of wish I'd gotten one of these rather than a 3" Darkstar, seems like a great flyer that can take a huge range of motors (full G to small L). It also seems like it's really simple to build. What are you going to fly it on for the first flight? I seem to recall you mentioning something Blue Streak...

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Hah, you can convert it! Throw out the payload bay, slice the gap between the two sets of fin slots, and slide the forward fins aft until they are in contact with the others!

Yes, I am planning on a J595 but might fly it with something small next weekend since my avionics may not be ready.

watermelonman said:

Hah, you can convert it! Throw out the payload bay, slice the gap between the two sets of fin slots, and slide the forward fins aft until they are in contact with the others!

Yes, I am planning on a J595 but might fly it with something small next weekend since my avionics may not be ready.

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While converting the entire fin assembly probably isn't worth it, I think I'll build it HEDD like the punisher since they have the same nose cone anyway. Despite the added drag the split fins are really cool. My sims are saying 3500 on an I216 for the full stack Darkstar, HEDD would still allow dual deploy and probably get it to 4500 on an I.

J595 is the 6XL blue 38mm motor right? That should fly great if you have the electronics ready.

Hah, yes I was not too serious about the fun slide, but the real point was exactly how close these two kits are to each other. Having the two kits open side by side on my floor makes that much clear. Funny you should mention, the real reason I started the Punisher first is because I have not decided on where to make the Dark Star separate and deploy from yet. That nose cone gives lots of options!

Oh right, pictures. Motor mount tube with more glue and one step closer.

Covered straps with epoxy, masked off the rest of the tube as my tolerances are tight with the eventual fin lines.

Tape removed and surface prepared for fins. The straps are somewhat steeply angled to avoid too much influence on the eventual injected fillets. I do not imagine the angle will have any influence on strength, and perhaps simply make the rocket favor one side to lean during descent.

The tops of the tube are fairly sharp. I do not like the idea of the straps rubbing during descent, and started applying some tape to cover the edges.

Tape did not go as planned. Removed, sanded a little, added a small square of tape under the strap, then wrapped around the whole bit to limit motion. I will see how this works in practice over time.

Tried my best to get some good glue in for the forward centering ring, wound up with six big drops, three at the fin slots and three more roughly split between said slots. Not great, but oh well, it is only the forward centering ring and injected fillets will help it on the other side too. The rail button is on for fitment and drying only, as I glued a washed and nut on the inside. I test fit beforehand to make sure I could still angle the forward centering ring past it.

High tech fin jig consisting of tape and a chair. I started by doing only one fin on top, once it seemed good enough to move around I rotated and added the others.

The glue started to firm up a bit so I set it upright to dry overnight, and gave a nice big fillet to the aft centering ring.

Starting to look like a rocket!

qquake2k said:

Looking forward to seeing this one fly!

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Thanks! It is going up one way or another Saturday, confirmed the waiver earlier today.

Mixed chopped carbon fiber into two part epoxy, no other fillers. Note the continued use of advanced workplace tools like paper, tape, and furniture.

Inject!

First set complete, glue barely leaking out both forward and aft gaps. Perfect!

A good craftsman can use anything. A crappy craftsman blames his tools.

watermelonman said:

Mixed chopped carbon fiber into two part epoxy, no other fillers. Note the continued use of advanced workplace tools like paper, tape, and furniture.

View attachment 256533

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BTW: Which epoxy are you using? I bought Rocketpoxy during the BSS, but it's really thick compared to the West Systems I used in the past.

West 105/206, which is much thinner than I am used to but I am getting the hang of it. For the injected fillets it was perfect with CF, for the rest the right amount of filler is needed and that seems to come with experience.

Looking forward to seeing this bird fly Saturday.

Got one of my own still in the bag and always like to see and hear from those who have built one in the queue.

All built over pretty carpet! You wife must be very tolerant or trusting .
And I thought my days of an engine rebuild in the living room were gone...

I would add more carbon to your mix and mix it up until it is grey in color. From what I can see in the pictures, the carbon looks like sprinkles. When properly mixed, you shouldn't be able to see the desperate bits. It acts like rebar in concrete when the right ratio and mix is done.

Just my $0.02

o1d_dude said:

Looking forward to seeing this bird fly Saturday.

Got one of my own still in the bag and always like to see and hear from those who have built one in the queue.

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Thanks! I should make it a point to find and meet you, fairly sure we cross lots of paths but never been introduced.

Nick@JET said:

All built over pretty carpet! You wife must be very tolerant or trusting .
And I thought my days of an engine rebuild in the living room were gone...

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Hah, definitely true, although we do rent and the landlord says the carpet is gone when we move on. That said, I am not careless about it.

GRIFFIN said:

I would add more carbon to your mix and mix it up until it is grey in color. From what I can see in the pictures, the carbon looks like sprinkles. When properly mixed, you shouldn't be able to see the desperate bits. It acts like rebar in concrete when the right ratio and mix is done.

Just my $0.02

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Oh, much thanks for the feedback and advice. This is entirely new territory for me! Given the pictures from CJ and comments about more not being better, I kept it somewhat light. Also someone else said that the fiber was more to get epoxy to lay into the joint better, but they could have been wrong. Looking back at the CJ pictures I thought it was dark because he was using dark epoxy, but given your comment it may well be dark due to the fiber, and much heavier usage than I thought.

Not heavier "usage" but heavier MIXING. A little bit goes a long way. Use the same amount you are, but mix it up and you will see the difference. Too much is just as big of an issue. You will see real quick while mixing if you have too much.