Summer Buildoff: Roc n Roll Flying V guitar

Flyfalcons said:

[video=youtube;a1hZjhQ9Ps0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1hZjhQ9Ps0[/video]

Click to expand...

Very nice indeed!

Fantastic.

:clap:

Time to get colors on for sure! It's earned it's paint.

Here's another video of the same flight my son Max took, it was interesting, about a half a roll then straight, just a tiny bit of side to side shimmy, you could see it damp out pretty well..

[video=youtube;q2fWmsr_63M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2fWmsr_63M&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Flight looked awesome! Very cool name too!

Great job! Nice flight,

Daddyisabar said:

Great job! Nice flight,

Click to expand...

Even a hardened PadFuhrer would be forced to accept that flight was AWESOME!

rharshberger said:

Even a hardened PadFuhrer would be forced to accept that flight was AWESOME!

Click to expand...

I will show him the video help SKP get a pad assignment with his flying guitar. Two finned guitar rockets ROCK!

Forget mathematics, computers, swinging and cardboard cutouts...videographic evidence is the best. This geetar does rock but, because it is foam, I guess it soft rocks.

Frank, thanks for the video, I am pretty sure my camera doesn't have an infinity focus and I really need to rectify that.

Dick, it does have an engine hook, so after the next flight on an E20, that should qualify it for speed metal.

Flyfalcons said:

Frank, thanks for the video, I am pretty sure my camera doesn't have an infinity focus and I really need to rectify that.

Dick, it does have an engine hook, so after the next flight on an E20, that should qualify it for speed metal.

Click to expand...

:headbang:

Just avoid "Death Metal"!

Ryan, let me see it next time, yours looked like a handycam like mine...maybe not. with the shutter open, go to menu, camera, focus, you then select manual and at the very bottom select the icon on the far right that looks like a mountain, that should set it on infinity, you do lose very tight focus on things a few feet away, but for flights it won't matter. Unless you have the shutter open, it won't be in camera mode and you can't set the focus.

Frank

Flyfalcons said:

Frank, thanks for the video, I am pretty sure my camera doesn't have an infinity focus and I really need to rectify that.

Dick, it does have an engine hook, so after the next flight on an E20, that should qualify it for speed metal.

Click to expand...

Thanks Frank, I have seen that feature and will look into it further.

Finishing work begins. First by pulling the launch lugs in favor of rail buttons, then onto the colors. Unfortunately I'm back at work now, so no garage time for a week. I got one side done with Monokote but that's it. I am also waiting on more finishing materials to arrive. Due to the amount of finishing materials being laid down behind the CG versus in front, I will be adding more nose weight to prevent the CG from moving further aft.

That first picture, it's, uh, reminding me of something, erm, "inappropriate" as my daughter would say. :eyepop: (if there was a "get your mind out of the gutter emoji I'd use it right about now).

Anyway, looking forward to seeing how this thing looks when finished. You sure have a beautiful blank canvas to work on.

Now think about it with the E20 motor nozzle sticking out. That'll cure ya pretty quick.

Just don't CHAD stage it.

Back home and starting the covering process.

The top was kind of a pain. I laid the white down first, cut 1/4" oversize, then used the template to cut a proper size outline out of a sheet of black Monokote. Because of Monokote's stretchy and heat-shrink properties, getting it to lay down with that irregular hole was tough. But in the end, I think it turned out well.

I cut the head of the guitar and added a little over a half ounce of nose weight. This brought the CG further forward than I expected; nearly an inch. This should really lock in the stability of the rocket in flight.

Starting to cover the neck and head. Monokote can do compound curves but not really well, so I'm tackling the tough spots first with multiple small pieces of material. The idea being that the big areas of the part can be done in one piece, which will overlap the smaller pieces in the nooks and crannies.

And just because I need more templates in my life.....

That's looking really nice. Going to really look like an actual guitar.

I wonder what an actual guitarist's reaction would be if you didn't tell them what it was at first.

That should do for today. Up next comes the real fun.

Cabernut said:

I wonder what an actual guitarist's reaction would be if you didn't tell them what it was at first.

Click to expand...

"Hey! Where are the strings? And the tuning machines, bridge, nut, pickups, and controls? This isn't a guitar!"

But it is definitely a cool rocket.

Looks great! I see Chrome and Gold Monokote in your future.

Good guess, half right anyway

I was thinking Chrome for frets, pickups, and bridge; and Gold for the strings.

Yay........another template......this time with maths.

I found some beautiful red wood grain vinyl to use for the fret board. Unfortunately the grain runs along the shorter dimension, so I matched up the grain from a couple different areas and joined them on end. A fret will hide the seam.