My first scratch built - The Christmas Express

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Cabernut

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My goal is to see what I can build with $0 and with non-rocket materials that I find around the house. By non-rocket materials, I mean nothing that was originally made for rocketry.
I started with a Christmas paper roll tube which is 1.5" in diameter and 30" in length. I made fins out of the thin cardboard packaging for a cheap android tablet. I cut out 6x fin shapes from a paper template, 3 with the cardboard grain vertical, 3 horizontal. Then I glued pairs vertical & horizontal grained pieces to end up with 3x fins, 4mm in width, with reasonable strength.


For the motor mount, I took a section of toilet paper tube and wrapped it around a used 18mm motor, then cut it to size. For centering rings, I used the center of old DVDs cut to size. For the metal retainer, I cut a small piece from a special edition Terminator 2 DVD, which came in an aluminum case. It was already bent up so no loss there.


Now the nose cone. I made a plastic form from a thin piece of plastic rolled up. I took office copy paper, coated with wood glue, and rolled it around the form, let dry, then rolled another layer. After that was dry, I sanded thoroughly until it was smooth.


The coupler was made from remaining toilet paper tube as were the launch lugs, which i wished turned out better.


I still need to make the parachute and cord, perhaps a piece of a garbage bag cut into a hexagon. Then "borrow" some of my wife's sewing thread for the lines.
All in all though I pretty happy with it so far. Almost a meter in height. According to OpenRocket, it should weigh about 140g with engine and get up to ~360 feet with a C6-5.


We'll see once it's complete, painted and launched. Not bad for a $0 budget.
 
Completely awesome!

I love it when someone does a rocket like this.
Btw, that is a very sharp looking rocket.
 
Completely awesome!

I love it when someone does a rocket like this.
Btw, that is a very sharp looking rocket.
Thanks!

I asked myself after making the parachute from a garbage bag ans sewing thread, In keeping with my goal of using every day household items and spending $0 on it, how was I going to make a shock cord? I went for it and cut and glued 7 rubber bands together with contact cement, then once dry put two office staples each bond.



I ended up with a good two feet. Long enough for this one.



Attached it to the body the usual tri-folded paper glued to the side way, tied on to the eyelet and voila! Construction done. I also have two coats of primer on that's been sanded with 2000 grit.



I have some acrylic paint in various colors. I'll see what I can do there.
 
Nice "Trashinator" ! :wink:
I do like "Christmas Express".
What did you use to cut the DVDs and what type of sticky stuff did you use to adhere them to the id of the bt ?
Anywhoo- A little primer and an app of pigment and it'll be a wrap.

Again..Nice job!
 
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Great use of the DVDs as centering rings, I usually cut mine out of cardboard

And a tip for the shock cord: I always tie the rubber bands together with a good square knot, saves a little time.
 
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Great job! I like pointy rockets!

Just one note...the staples may actually weaken the rubber band more than using just the cement since it adds holes which can spread and break. I'd recommend doing a side-by-side test of one joint with just cement and another with that and staples. I've glued rubber shock band together before without issue and it seemed as strong as the regular band.
 
Nice "Trashinator" ! :wink:
I do like "Christmas Express".
What did you use to cut the DVDs and what type of sticky stuff did you use to adhere them to the id of the bt ?
Anywhoo- A little primer and an app of pigment and it'll be a wrap.

Again..Nice job!
Thanks!. I cut the DVDs with an x-acto and patience, sanded the edges with 180-grit. I glued them with gobs of wood glue next to a corrugated cardboard ring. I should have used epoxy since wood glue doesn't hold well with plastic...
Well it's complete as it's going to get. Still spent $0 using stuff from around the house. I didn't have any red or green paint laying around for the Christmas theme, but I did have black and yellow acrylic paints... I'll post some pics soon. It looks like the fins warped a tiny bit from the paint. Honestly I'm afraid to launch it on anything more than a B.. We'll see though once I get another chance to launch this and a few others.
 
Here is the finished product - I may have to find a way to "iron" the fins straight. Laminated cardboard warps a lot when painted. I'll also have to tighten up where it separates on deployment, wiggles a bit. After that, I'd feel comfortable launching it on a B6-4 and then a C6-5 after I know it works good.

 
Very nice indeed! I love trash rockets. However, I have gotten lazy in my old age and now always (never say never!) use commercial tubes for the motor mounts and commercial 'chutes since I have a huge number that can move between rockets (and even more never assembled).
 
Wow looks really good!!
Very nice work, the NC turned out looking great.
 
Thanks I appreciate that, you should see it up close though. Painting with brushed acrylic does not make for a smooth finish...

I'm hoping I will be able to launch it this December...

After Christmas I'll have some more tubes to try another, but I think next time I'll wrap a layer or two of office paper around the tube for better strength.

OR

I might do something with these for my next scratch-built...

51 inches of 3" mailer tube MWahahahaw
 
I personally prefer the mailing tubes. They are reasonably compatible with commercial cones and are sturdier than wrapping paper ones, for example. They are not as good a real rocket tunes but can me had at a moment's notice. I like the ones from the Container Store, which come with a full-length telescoping tube. Good for couplers, nose cone shoulders, extra strength, and tube fins. Glue six tube fins around a core of the same inside tube and you get an easily replaceable fin can. As an added bonus, the inside fin surface is flush with the main body and thus no standoffs are required for your lugs or buttons.
 
Launched the Christmas Express today, Christmas Day 2015. Winds were very light, about 4mph, temp was about 45F.
First flight was a failure, not damaged much though so it flew a second time which was a success.

First flight on a B6-4 to about 70ft. Not quite high enough as the ejection charge went at the same time as the lawn-dart impact with the ground. Nose cone impacted about 4" into the soft dirt but was undamaged. Upon eject the body recoiled back and dented the edge of the coupler. No big deal as I was easily able to set it up for the 2nd flight.
[youtube]PD2mOvYaP2o[/youtube]

Second flight was great. Launched on a C6-5. Awesome slow liftoff. Enough Newtons this time to get it up to about 250ft. The fins were slightly warped, resulting in a bit of swirl on the way up. Deploy was perfect, good flight overall.
[youtube]vUrmL3SDQ-A[/youtube]


I think I may semi-retire this one. I may build another copy from rocket parts including balsa fins. I like the design of this one.
 
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