Tie Men A BoddL [ TRF Summer Buildoff ]

When I'm not feeding or changing the baby, I'm mostly fiddling with imaginary rockets. So, a little of column A, a little of column B!

Super rough eyeball sketch so far, haven't even taken measurements.

Should end up as a finless spin-stabilized cluster with through-body launch lug and a Special Secret Surprise.

dhbarr said:

Should end up as a finless spin-stabilized cluster with through-body launch lug and a Special Secret Surprise.

Click to expand...

We do love us some Special Secret Surprise!!!:clap:op::w:

If you can pull that design off as a flyable model it will be pretty EPIC!!!!

Best of luck on the build, and we'll all learn some valuable lessons if it flies well!

Wow, that's really out there! op:

If you can make this one fly you can maybe build an Apollo Command and Service module! :grin:

And I thought that I had dreamed up a challenge! I've got to see how this turns out.

Ooo... Neat! Reminds me kinda of the old (big) Star Wars R2-D2 though he didn't spin. Looking forward to seeing this fly!

grapetang said:

Ooo... Neat! Reminds me kinda of the old (big) Star Wars R2-D2 though he didn't spin. Looking forward to seeing this fly!

Click to expand...

Well hey, maybe if this works I need to do a spin-stabilized r2

What is the meaning of behind the name? Is it a play on "Time In A Bottle"?

KenECoyote said:

What is the meaning of behind the name? Is it a play on "Time In A Bottle"?

Click to expand...

It was just "BoddL Rocket", then Jim Croce popped into my head.

dhbarr said:

It was just "BoddL Rocket", then Jim Croce popped into my head.

Click to expand...

Now you did it...made me look for the song...beautiful song man.

[video=youtube;dO1rMeYnOmM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO1rMeYnOmM[/video]

Glad to see you and Daddyisabar are keepin' TRF weird!

Power, nose weight surprise, spinning it off the rod with no fins, that's not weird, that's cool! Well maybe a tad weird but super cool.

Cool, weird, sleep deprived. Who knows, but this buildoff is awesome!

Deployment should be electronic after I run a few tests and consult the budget.

OAL should be approx. 6 in., bt70-bt80 or so.

Debating on turning the nose and details on a lathe, or casting / vac forming.

What say you, peanut gallery?

dhbarr said:

Cool, weird, sleep deprived. Who knows, but this buildoff is awesome!

Deployment should be electronic after I run a few tests and consult the budget.

OAL should be approx. 6 in., bt70-bt80 or so.

Debating on turning the nose and details on a lathe, or casting / vac forming.

What say you, peanut gallery?

Click to expand...

To me it seems like it would be easier on a lathe to match/express the detailing you have in the 3D drawing.

BTW, loving this contest as I'm following all the (crazy) entries.

dixontj93060 said:

To me it seems like it would be easier on a lathe to match/express the detailing you have in the 3D drawing.

BTW, loving this contest as I'm following all the (crazy) entries.

Click to expand...

they're all pretty unique! Some are a little more out there than the others haha.

dhbarr how is it spin stabilized? Canted motors?? Or That special secret surprise?

Yup, canted. SSS(tm) is (hopefully) for recovery

My research assistant demonstrating the original article w/ artwork detail.

LOL! I love the close up of the rocket on the bottle!

I haven't forgotten about this build. Lathe & drill press access should be secured this week on an ongoing basis.

Six 18mm motors in a bt80. Was originally going to use reloads, but didn't get enough 18mm together in time.

Probably two each c6-3,5,7 to ensure recovery goes as planned. But I do have this pile of d21's....

Build Monday & Tue, flight Wed before dark? Fingers crossed I'll at least avoid a DNF

Talk about cutting it close! I would usually have trouble gluing fins and a nose cone to a case in three days:wink:

No time to post, too busy scrambling & snapping pics.

Launch or bust tomorrow by sunset 0_0

It was a good thing I finished the laundry before lunch ; there was a break in the rain so I zoomed over to the park to get a flight before the evening storm.

It flies! My thumb was over the lens for much of the video, but I'll try and extract some frames. As only 3/4 motors lit, I award myself 75%.

Recovery was as expected, pics to follow.

Hrmm, not much summer left ; I wonder if there's a non-spinning rocket hiding in this balsa block?


... or maybe there's two?


Definitely at least one in there.


Yup.


YUP!

As we can see, access to neither a lathe nor a drill press materialized, so I'll have to freehand. Everything.


Some glue and some screws, that balsa keeps trying to get away!


Hrmm, not too shabby ; let's compare vs. the full-sized article.


Stole this 2" tube from a PSII kit, should be just about right. No coupler, so I made a full-length one.

Dimensions are getting pretty close, I'll just have to turn some add'l details. The bottom ring is sliced off of a 2" mailing tube, pretty near a perfect fit.


4x motor mount tubes don't quite fill the inside tube...


... the solution is rather depressing, I'm afraid.


All glued together, slide it into the bottle for an exact test comparison.


.... aaaaaand, this oddroc is now an unplanned plastic model conversion. Try as I might, I could not get that body tube to come out; and it was the only 2" tube I had!

So, explain to the wife that we're short one baby bottle ; and scramble to think how to finish this thing.

Spinning got dropped in the interest of time ; we'll sub in a drag plate instead, shown here for dry fit. It's just a 3.9" CR that I went at with a hole saw and sand paper.


Since I hadn't exactly -planned- to be sending up the original bottle, I'm a bit worried about the attachment. Glass & Epoxy to the rescue!


I laid tape over the glass, then used my rotary cutter to trim 1" strips. Did I mention this is my first time playing with glass ( thanks for the samples TopRamen! )


Trim, fit, trim, fit some more ; the idea here is that I'll affix them on the interior, remove the blue tape, then overblob again with more epoxy.


Yes, I'm using these tiny clothespins completely backwards; but they applied pressure in all the right places!

The original nosecone a) isn't going to work with our unplanned plastic model, and b) came out a bit lopsided. New / better chuck, just go straight for the through-lug!


Not bad. You'll notice no baseplate here ; that's because the nose and the plate were going on side by side, working on each part while the other cured / dried.


At this point I started to really believe I could make it; probably the primer and epoxy fumes.


NOT BAD!

I thought I had grabbed pictures of the laundry getting tied, but apparently not. Here you can see I've come through the whole tube; knot secures the cord, loop goes around all four d21-4's. :shock:


I stuffed one wad in each paper powder cup before inserting the motors, and another in each thrust ring for good measure.


Something something something go-time.


Rocket goes up...


... rocket comes down ...


... never a miscommunication.


Peace out, TRF ; I'm so exhausted I'm going to wait until tomorrow to start building my Summer Santa present, which I will then take to Airfest.

Well done! I can barely manage to get an Estes skill level 1 build done that quick.