3" Darkstar

Finally finished my 3" Darkstar from the Black Saturday sale. Nothing overly special, built pretty much the same way as other kits I've done. I opted not to do the nose cone AV bay thing and stick to the traditional coupler AV bay setup. The bolts seen from the outside are functional, although WAY over the top for what is needed to hold things together. The bolts back by the fins are just decorative. Went with the Adept 22, not sure why when there are far more modern altimeters available.... Rail buttons from railbuttons.com, Aeropack motor retainer, lucky! No idea what motor I'll fly it on. Something J or K I'm sure! Pretty sure it can handle whatever I can give it. Paint is Kustom Shop with chintzy spray on clear. Really need to go with a urethane clear... someday.
-Ken

Well...... it's about time Ken, "builder of fine rockets"....LOL!

Hope you have a nice maiden flight. Look very nice.

Don't know about leaning it on a shovel though......bad mo-jo!

Nice rocket, interesting backdrop for the Av-Bay though one of my favorite big boy toy stores...Grizzly.

Stunning paint. How did you plot/mask those perfect compound curves on the nosecone?

Where did you get the battery holder for your sled?

Very nicely done as always, Ken.
Love the battery holder - I've been thinking about doing something similar of late.
Give us flight reports when it flies,

s6

masking was done with 3M line tape. It's like $12 a roll! Battery holder was from Amazon I think. They are for electric guitars.
I'll fly this beast at Hellfire this year!
-Ken

Looks good Ken

Very nice looking build. Paint job is very nice. I also liked your AV Bay set up. Never thought of the battery holder idea you used from a guitar. I'll have to check into that for future.

kenstarr said:

Finally finished my 3" Darkstar from the Black Saturday sale. Nothing overly special, built pretty much the same way as other kits I've done. I opted not to do the nose cone AV bay thing and stick to the traditional coupler AV bay setup. The bolts seen from the outside are functional, although WAY over the top for what is needed to hold things together. The bolts back by the fins are just decorative. Went with the Adept 22, not sure why when there are far more modern altimeters available.... Rail buttons from railbuttons.com, Aeropack motor retainer, lucky! No idea what motor I'll fly it on. Something J or K I'm sure! Pretty sure it can handle whatever I can give it. Paint is Kustom Shop with chintzy spray on clear. Really need to go with a urethane clear... someday.
-Ken

Click to expand...

Nice job, that paint job is excellent! Can you go into some detail about the electronics bay components you have pictured? Thanks.

AV bay is pretty simple. Electric guitar battery holder from Amazon. Heavy duty push button switch (can't remember who on here also uses them and gave me the idea) from Del City. The goofy Adept22 has a common + and I hate stuffing 2 different wires under there, hence the euro style barrier strip (local electrical supply house). Board is Hobby Lobby thin plywood with fiberglass laminate on each side. That's about it for the AV bay!
-Ken

Thank you. I really like the battery holder idea.

I like those heavy duty push button switches. I picked up a few after Mike at Binder Design recommended them in a thread a while back.

Pretty sure that's where I got the idea.

I use similar switches on my bigger rockets. I learned about them from GaryT.
I get them from DelCity (RV electrical parts supplier).
Here's my own 3" Darkstar AV bay with them:




s6

stealth6, that is a good looking AV bay!