Estes Nike smoke build

So the brown truck showed up today delivery me a new build. Now I know you guys must be saying what is that doing in the High power room. Well in typical fashion for me this sucker will be packed with motors not designed for the kit. I plan on glassing the tube and throwing in a 38mm MMT. oint:

A few questions for those that may know. Being that this is an Estes kit does anyone know if Loc or someone else's centering rings will fit this tube? I don't want to make my own if I can avoid it. I was also leaning toward using the Kevlar socks from giant leap. Anyone know if that will be a pain to cut around the fin slots? I'm also on the fence with the fins. I've been debating on making some from scratch using g10 cores lamenated with balsa and fiberglass. Or glassing the plastic fins? I've never glassed over plastic and not sure it will stick that well. This will be a slow build since I plan on doing so many mods.

Feel free to throw some opinions at me. I'm open to any input.

peestick said:

Being that this is an Estes kit does anyone know if Loc or someone else's centering rings will fit this tube? I don't want to make my own if I can avoid it. I was also leaning toward using the Kevlar socks from giant leap. Anyone know if that will be a pain to cut around the fin slots? I'm also on the fence with the fins. I've been debating on making some from scratch using g10 cores lamenated with balsa and fiberglass. Or glassing the plastic fins? I've never glassed over plastic and not sure it will stick that well. This will be a slow build since I plan on doing so many mods.

Feel free to throw some opinions at me. I'm open to any input.

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Yes, LOC will work and you can also order CR's from Apogee. They sell plywood and G10 CR's, I'd say the plywood would work fine with some epoxy but if you're flying with some heavy motors I would definitely go with the fiberglass.

Plywood (comes in pack of 2)

https://www.apogeerockets.com/Build...gh_Power_Centering_Rings/Centering_Ring_38-75

G10 (comes with two as well)

https://www.apogeerockets.com/Build...ss_Centering_Rings/G10_Fiberglass_CR_38mm_3in

I have no experience using Kevlar socks for glassing, but I know that many fellow rocketeers use it. Maybe someone who has experience will pitch in.

This is what a vendor says about Kevlar socks. You can find it here

https://www.rebelspace.net/product/kevlar-sock-for-body-tubes-from-3-to-6-per-meter/

"Kevlar Sock over 3.9” – 5.5” and 7.5” tubing. A new stretchable Kevlar sleeve made of 100% pure Aramid Kevlar that slides onto your airframe. Laminating your tube is rewarding. But while fiberglass is easy to work with, Kevlar cloth is costly and tricky. Not any more!Now reinforcing your tube in Kevlar is like putting on your socks. Just slide the Kevlar Sock on the tube. Because it’s stretchable -like your socks- it conforms to the tube and compresses down to hold in place (vacuum bagging optional but not necessary).Since there’s no seam overlap, there’s no bump to sand. Because Kevlar can’t be finish sanded, you’ll still need to cover the Kevlar Sock in a thin layer of glass (the Easy Glass Sock is perfect for this). The Kevlar Sock stretches to fit tubes from 3 inch to 6 inch diameter, and we have fitted it over 7.5” tubes ourselves.It adds between 1/64 inch and 1/32 inch to wall thickness.Order 1.5x the tube length for up to 4” tubes, and 2x the tube length for 6” tubes."

Note the part above about not being able to sand Kevlar. Kevlar should always be covered by another layer of laminate if you desire a smooth finish.

danielsadjadi said:

Yes, LOC will work and you can also order CR's from Apogee. They sell plywood and G10 CR's, I'd say the plywood would work fine with some epoxy but if you're flying with some heavy motors I would definitely go with the fiberglass.

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No reason to use fiberglass and epoxy. Plywood works fine, as does wood glue.