BUILD DAYS 9 - 12
Sorry about the delay but here is my progress so far:
1. I sawed off the nose cone's original "plug" because Rocsim says I have to add 2 oz of nose weight. So I sawed it off, added some lead shot/epoxy slurry (using 5-min Devcon). Then I filled the nose cone with urethane, 2-part foam. I then added a wood bulkhead and epoxied it in very tightly (I roughed up the inside with 80-grit). To that I added a screw eye with a 1/4 hole and I epoxied the nut to it. Then epoxied the whole thing into the nose with 15-min epoxy. Came out great.
2. I epoxied the launch lug to the body
3. I filled all the imperfection in the rocket and gave it all a good wash then an alcohol wipe-down. I then shot some Rust-oleum grey enamel primer onto the whole thing.
4. 2 days later I re-sanded the nose with 600-grit then shot it with white enamel rust-oleum and let it cure. I did the same to the body and then shot it with Testor's Modelmaster "Dark Sea Blue" enamel in 2 coats and let that dry.
I sawed off the original "plug" part off the nosecone so I could add weight. I removed just the very end part (about 3/8 inch).
After I removed the nosecone waist I sanded the edge down until quite smooth (with 400-grit dry). This is prior to sanding.
I added 2 oz of lead shot and 5-min epoxy in a slurry mix and dropped it into the end of the nosecone, tapping it on the table to remove air bubbles.
Once the lead shot slurry was cured it was time to fill the nose cone with 2-part urethane foam. I added 4 drops of water to the foam to reduce weight and density. I used PML 2-part expanding foam
I allowed the 2 part foam to only go up to a line I had measured and marked with a pencil where the wood bulkhead would go.
The completed nosecone with a much better parachute attachment method and proper weight. Yes, this will be a heavy rocket.
Next up I epoxied the launch lug into position after marking a straight pencil line using an L-shaped piece of aluminum molding.
I shot the body assembly with grey Rustoleum enamel primer and sanded it, then filled the fin-can mating gap again. Time to sand then re-shoot with primer
The fillets are almost complete. Note that the imperfections you see are not raised. So I'll sand them again a bit, wipe it all down and then shoot it with another primer coat
Meanwhile let's fill the nose cone imperfections and seams with green Squadron putty. Then wet-sand with 400-grit and shoot it with Rustoleum primer
The completed nosecone, all primered, filled and shot with final color: white Rustoleum enamel. This will get a wet-sand with 1000-grit and then a clear coat with Rustoleum gloss clear.
For the final design I decided on a checkerboard pattern on the tail and just below the nosecone. I hand-cut masking tape squares (a REAL pain) and applied them each by hand. That alone took about 2 hours. The rocket is sanded and alcohol-wiped and ready for its final color coat. Note I already shot the fins and tail cone in Rustoleum white. The final color will be a 2-tone. The blue you see is just blue masking tape. I used blue and natural color masking tape. I also painted the small fins white.
I created my own decal design using Adobe Illustrator (Im an experienced graphics designer, though anybody can do it). I then sent the design to Tom Prestia at Tango Papa Decals (
https://www.tangopapadecals.com/) where he printed them for me (I can't do white obviously).
My next post will be the final, painted rocket. I have a motor mount and motors on order. I am planning on using this rocket for my level 1 cert at Lucerne Dry Lake here in Southern California. I need to join ROC, of course.
