Loc Esoteric & Top Gunn: Dinosaur builds!

Looking good Eric! Wish they were still those prices today

LOC said:

A gathering they say.... Sounds like a good time to me... I might even have a cool location!!! lol

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I would totally come to that!

Is that a glass tube on the Esoteric? Blasphemy.

patelldp said:

Is that a glass tube on the Esoteric? Blasphemy.

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Lol - for shame!

Seriously though, super awesome. Love it! Great stuff as usual, Eric.

bob jablonski said:

This has got to be one of the cooler threads in a while

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I agree .

patelldp said:

Is that a glass tube on the Esoteric? Blasphemy.

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Either blasphemy or a maybe a hint of things to come? It'll be interesting to see developments once Dave and Jason get settled! In the case that I neglected to mention it, I was fortunate enough to visit the new operation last week; I'm having all-to-do holding my tongue!

Thanks guys!

bob jablonski said:

This has got to be one of the cooler threads in a while

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pyrobob said:

I agree .

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Best part about it, IMO, is everybody stopping by and commenting, story telling, re-living and reviving the past!!! Let's keep it up!

And the last couple years seen a resurgence of classic LOC kits. Aerotech coming out with the DMS motors did not hurt. Not much more money than a reload and dont need a bunch of cases to buy for cluster kits

ECayemberg said:

Best part about it, IMO, is everybody stopping by and commenting, story telling, re-living and reviving the past!!! Let's keep it up!

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That's the best part. I got a chance to fly with Ron Schultz at launches 20 years ago and I scraped enough together for a few 5 inch kits and the custom engineering rockets were dreams I had. Between Ron Schultz, Jack Thompson, Ross Dunton (Magnum) Phil Prior and a whole lot of others LOC was what I flew the most. Thanks to County Line Hobbies, I've completed a LOC Ultimate Max, waiting to get the others. Especially the K-Load.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, holidays, New Years! I had a few spare hours over the "break" to get some stuff done....not much in the way of rocketry, but here's a quick photo update of the modest progress.

Decided to glass the lower section of the Esoteric....originally was just going to do the fins tip-to-tip. More work after everything was attached but oh well.

Wetting:



Wet:



Epoxy cured, glass edges trimmed, a bit o' spot putty applied for good measure:



Sanded....



....and even primed. 22 degrees made the filler primer grumpy after a few minutes, but what choice do I have?



Eric (3stoogesrocketry) mentioned the tubing crinkle on the Top Gun from the most recent flight. Ground off the paint and glassine paper, applied a few layers of glass in the affected area to restore strength above the fins. Top Gun in the background, refinished nosecone and payload section for the Esoteric in the foreground...several layers of fill, sand, prime repeat in there.



Lastly, layed up another transition or two. Thank you to those who have inquired...availability is not far off; I just need to talk with the Loc guys this weekend to iron out a few specifics. Although I'm probably partial, I do really prefer the glass versions over the balsa. The balsa was neat for nostalgia purposes, but I like the lightweight, ease of finishing, and hollowness (options!) of the glass version.



This week is going to be beyond crazy busy...I was hoping that I could carry some of this momentum from the holiday break into more progress this week, but that just ain't gonna happen!

Thanks for following!

-Eric-

Your getting good at making those transitions! Sure would like to have a couple of those 😄

Has gotten really quiet here, will spark up the conversation.

I am getting ready to build a top gun from 11.5 PML glassed phenolic.

Have the slotted tube, centering rings with 1x98 and 6x54 mounts.

Hoping someone can help me with the fin pattern. Maybe LOC can even help.

Also hoping for the rerelease of the top gun as most of us on here are, then I would just buy the kit and upscale.

Really want to do this upscale with all dark matter motors M or N and 6 x J or K

wadavidson said:

Has gotten really quiet here, will spark up the conversation.

I am getting ready to build a top gun from 11.5 PML glassed phenolic.

Have the slotted tube, centering rings with 1x98 and 6x54 mounts.

Hoping someone can help me with the fin pattern. Maybe LOC can even help.

Also hoping for the rerelease of the top gun as most of us on here are, then I would just buy the kit and upscale.

Really want to do this upscale with all dark matter motors M or N and 6 x J or K

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Hi Bill,

Sorry for the slow progress. I'm a bit stuck right now....I have one piece of assembly to complete on the Esoteric (the E-bay), then it's just priming and paint. The weather hasn't been cooperative here, even for priming. It got really cold, then really warm (for Wisconsin), but wet and the dew point was high, then I got busy with life. Unfortunately not much progress. Give me a few days above freezing without a lot of moisture in the air and I'll get some more sanding/filling/priming done.

Cool to hear about the big Top Gun! I look forward to watching that one go together!

I'm pretty sure that Loc can help you with fins/dimensions. And I think those eagerly awaiting the potential return of some of the limited run classics will be rewarded with a little patience. The other thread showing some 5.5" military style rockets might give indication that Dave and Jay are getting settled and we might start seeing *new* offerings from Loc in the near future....I know I'm excited!:horse:

-Eric-

I have found the file to cut the top gun fins. However, I can'tbe certain of the orgional dimensions. The top gun was one of the few that were NOT in Ron's old notebook as far as I can tell. But we do have a file and have actually cut a set!

LOC said:

I have found the file to cut the top gun fins. However, I can'tbe certain of the orgional dimensions. The top gun was one of the few that were NOT in Ron's old notebook as far as I can tell. But we do have a file and have actually cut a set!

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I can help here! I have 2 Top Guns...the ol' one that I'm restoring in this thread...Ron S's 3rd prototype that belonged to Al S, then Eric S, etc. I also have a Barry-cut re-issue from late 2014: the fins are definitely different sizes. Shape is similar, but the newer version (I suspect from the current burn file) is larger. I'll bring the dimensions for both if that is helpful!

Thanks guys!

Eric.. No pressure man.... Your topic has become the home for everything regarding these platforms and we had a lot of guys posting...really cool.

Will post some pics of the upscale parts and I have some ideas to complete a 11.5" to 8" transition.

best

Bill A. D

Have the 11.5 inch glassed phenolic tube with 6 slots and 1 x 98 and 6 x 54 c rings

Bill, those parts look awesome! Keep us posted on progress!

-Eric-

Speaking of progress, yes it's been slow! Busy busy busy!

That said, there's some hope and potential for this week. The weather is mild, so I'm hopeful that I get some primer on these birds....more filling and sanding, and maybe, just maybe a bit of paint!

In the meantime, I made another one of these; and need to make a few more! Hmmm.:cyclops:

What is that logo on that transition???? Very interesting!

wadavidson said:

What is that logo on that transition???? Very interesting!

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This one!

Showed up on the doorstep today!

Contents

Includes retro instructions

wadavidson said:

View attachment 312856 Includes retro instructions

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Bill, that is SO COOL! Can't wait to see what you do with it! Hope to see you at LDRS this year!

-Eric-

Not toooooo much progress on the duo, but I have been working on Esoterics and Top Guns! :cyclops:



The last two days were unseasonably warm. 50 degrees in February in Wisconsin is a rarity, so I depleted my inventory of primer and a couple cans of color.

Top of the Top Gun and bottom of the Esoteric were primed and painted. Still in primer with a 4' tube from another project as the placeholder in between.



Top of the Top Gun on the right in blue and Esoteric top in red on the left (sans transition).



-Eric-

Eric

I am sure you are very familiar with at least one of the parts.
Transitions look great and are very robust.

Dave and Jay did a great job getting this thing together.

I saw on another thread someone saying this was an expensive rocket for paper.
My rebuttal to that would be there are lots of parts to this rocket and it also includes many parts you do not see in kits anymore. Parachute and all shock chords are included as well as quick links, buttons, etc.
Heck, the guys even threw in a shirt.

Sure this is more for the purist and the guys that have been in the hobby for awhile or have been out for some time and are now back (like myself).
Always wanted a Top Gun now I have one!

Looking forward to this build and to what the guys at Loc come out with next.

Nothing more enjoyable to me than watching guys like yourselves take a kit and make it great. Fly the hell out of it, and bring it home in one piece!!! Then as the sun goes down, the beer comes out, we tell tall tales of days passed. That. To me. Is Rocketry!!!

I picked one up from Wildman this past Saturday, and am like a kid on Christmas morning.

Only took me 27 years to get my hands on one as the kids were young and funds were tight.

Thank you Loc, and Eric and all the others that make it possible to enjoy LOC.

Just used a water jet to cut out the Top Gun upscale fins.