Summer Build off Contest: "MAGIC DART"

Wow that is looking great. Good job

I didn't really grasp how slender that is until seeing the picture. Gonna be a real attention grabber on the launch pad.

Also the photo against the black background is amazing.

neil_w said:

I didn't really grasp how slender that is until seeing the picture. Gonna be a real attention grabber on the launch pad.

Also the photo against the black background is amazing.

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I knew it was going to be a rail of a rocket. That's why I was concerned with the BT 50's. CA makes those tough as nails and that mopping technique, made for a super slick/even coating. The black backdrop is something I made a few years ago for this very thing. A non reflective material suspended from some old bed canopy bars I had. I had to dig about 12 rockets out of the way so I could use the table underneath it. I swear....Rockets have completely taken over my house!

I have a bit of commando cloth leftover from a previous project, I'll have to see if I can set it up like that. Better than looking at background crud.

If you've ever been inside a large photo production room, these places use large backdrops that hang from the ceiling and curve forward on the floor, eliminating the floor/wall joint and gives the appearance of someone or group of people standing in a blank atmosphere. This is how I set my table up. You can't see the wall or the table the rocket is setting on. I don't always use it for a number of reasons and, like you said, you end up with all that background crud.

Any tricks that might make the nose cone fall pointy end up (to keep it from breaking when it hits the ground)? I am assuming the planned attachment point is going to be the base of the nose cone inside the rocket.
Was thinking maybe an external attachment site at the BT-5/base intersection, maybe a piece of Kevlar thread or other strong but inconspicuous cord (could be removable, attached only for flight.)

BABAR said:

Any tricks that might make the nose cone fall pointy end up (to keep it from breaking when it hits the ground)? I am assuming the planned attachment point is going to be the base of the nose cone inside the rocket.
Was thinking maybe an external attachment site at the BT-5/base intersection, maybe a piece of Kevlar thread or other strong but inconspicuous cord (could be removable, attached only for flight.)

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The separation point is at the BT 60. Here on our really grassy sod farm launch fields, a great many landings have occurred that would likely get damaged if it were like that "playa" out in the desert or something. That whole upper nose section is rather light in comparison to the rest of the rocket and likely to withstand a hard surface landing better than you might think. The worse that could happen to it is get dinged. Not going to worry about that BABAR. I've had quite a few chuteless mishap landings here, and rarely but never have to exercise shovel recovery. All my rockets are extremely light weight by design.

There’s really not a lot to show in this pic. It’s more of an update post. All of the recovery lines have been installed. Seams and little gaps were and still are, being doctored. All wood has been sealed and sanded and the BT 60 was prepped for a launch lug. The only things left to glue are both halves of the airframe, the nose assembly and a second lug on one of the fins. Fortunately, I will be able to turn the BT 60 around and adjust for that 2nd lug alignment once I get the forward lug on and dry. I don’t like the fit of the 60 coupler at the separation point, as it’s not as smooth as I would prefer. I’m going to treat that with CA and sand down for a good fit.

Now, anybody got a clue what those fins on the black foam core are for? In case you can’t see it, there’s a slight angle on the leading edge of the fins on the right. (hint) both sets of fins are a two piece assembly.

Almost everything is glued. After treating that coupler at the separation point, it got a good sanding until the desired fit was acquired. Both lugs are already drying with fillets…...( FILL – ETS, for those of us with a clue about pronunciation) and smoothed out my Bondo areas. So….I’m ready for some F&F….yay………….Here comes the dreaded sanding stage. You can bellyache about this all you want to, but you KNOW you’ll be happier with the end result. Might be a few days before I get primer on this bugger. Mother Nature finally came around and started peeing on these poor trees, veggies and terribly dry grass. We were overdue for this so, I’m not going to complain. We get a few more days of it too. :smile: I’ll glue the nose section and fin section on after I sand the F&F so it’ll be way easier to handle. Doesn't look much different than the dry fit, but I know how you guys love pictures.

That is, undeniably, very cool. Whatever the paint scheme for the main shaft and fletching, I do hope you'll be using silver paint for the nose cone, BT-5 behind it, and the first transition at least.

jqavins said:

That is, undeniably, very cool. Whatever the paint scheme for the main shaft and fletching, I do hope you'll be using silver paint for the nose cone, BT-5 behind it, and the first transition at least.

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Thank you. The rocket will be black from the bottom airframe to the top of the shroud. The rest will be done with this automotive silver I bought recently. If this silver looks 1/2 as good as the copper I bought, I'll be happier than a duck in a pond!

Gary Byrum said:

Thank you. The rocket will be black from the bottom airframe to the top of the shroud. The rest will be done with this automotive silver I bought recently. If this silver looks 1/2 as good as the copper I bought, I'll be happier than a duck in a pond!

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So you aren't making the fins look like colored feathers?

dixontj93060 said:

So you aren't making the fins look like colored feathers?

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The original dart I used for trace, has those plastic blade fins. Not feathery at all. There are darts that have that feather look you mention, but these don't even look like that, and I'm cool with it.

dixontj93060 said:

So you aren't making the fins look like colored feathers?

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Gary Byrum said:

The original dart I used for trace, has those plastic blade fins. Not feathery at all. There are darts that have that feather look you mention, but these don't even look like that, and I'm cool with it.

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Just so. The sort of darts I showed in post 12 are made with feathers, but the sort Garry is modeling ("pub darts" if I'm not mistaken) never are. If I ever do the other, I wonder if I could use real feathers. Hmmm... (strokes chin, and wonders why there doesn't seem to be an emoji for that.)

jqavins said:

I wonder if I could use real feathers. Hmmm... (strokes chin............

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I suppose you could use real feathers, but why? They're pretty flimsy you know. And with that in mind, if you opted to strengthen them up, you might as well use a feather shaped wood or plastic fin, and make it look like a feather. I can see an MMX version using real feathers. But I wouldn't expect them to last more than a couple of shots. My dad used to make his own arrows with real feathers, but he also made a burn template (a hot wire) and sear the edges to the desired feather/fin shape. This helped to keep them from splitting, even though they still did. Of course, he had to replace them often.

Getting through all of this SANDING & poor weather conditions really has slowed down the progress these last few weeks, but it's finally coming around. I'm hoping to get this bird done before the launch in Camden next month, so I'm praying someone has a video camera. Mine broke. Apparently I didn't do too bad with all that sanding. I only had one area that needed some filling attention after I primed it. And today, I got the flat white base coat on. I'm excited to see how well this automotive silver is going to look. I have 2 rockets now that will be getting that kind of paint job. The base coat will have plenty of time to dry. Mother Nature is threatening us with more humidity and possible rains on into next week. Here's looking at it prior to final stages of painting.

That really looks scarily like an actual throwing dart. Does this count as a scale model?

neil_w said:

That really looks scarily like an actual throwing dart. Does this count as a scale model?

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I suppose, if I knew what the actual width of the dart barrel was, I feel certain a scale percentage could be figured out. I used a pic I found online and went from there to size it up to a BT 60.

I don't see why it wouldn't count as scale even if the numeric value of that scale is unknown. "It's an accurate X:1 upscale." Works for me. Hey, there's a name variant to consider: X1 Magic Dart.

Gary Byrum said:

I'm hoping to get this bird done before the launch in Camden next month, so I'm praying someone has a video camera.

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Would that the the ROSCO launch in Camden (actually Rembert) SC on the 13th/14th? If so, that gives me a good reason to try to head down; I had been planning to fly the Ellipse by myself in a park or something. But if I can meet you down at Camden the even if no one has a video camera better than a smart phone, at least we could vouch for each other.

Gary Byrum said:

Getting through all of this SANDING & poor weather conditions really has slowed down the progress these last few weeks, but it's finally coming around. I'm hoping to get this bird done before the launch in Camden next month, so I'm praying someone has a video camera. Mine broke. Apparently I didn't do too bad with all that sanding. I only had one area that needed some filling attention after I primed it. And today, I got the flat white base coat on. I'm excited to see how well this automotive silver is going to look. I have 2 rockets now that will be getting that kind of paint job. The base coat will have plenty of time to dry. Mother Nature is threatening us with more humidity and possible rains on into next week. Here's looking at it prior to final stages of painting.

View attachment 296811 View attachment 296812

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Really cool.
This is one of those rockets that, at a launch I would stop whatever I'm doing and say "I have GOT to see this!" and take a video

jqavins said:

Would that the the ROSCO launch in Camden (actually Rembert) SC on the 13th/14th? If so, that gives me a good reason to try to head down; I had been planning to fly the Ellipse by myself in a park or something. But if I can meet you down at Camden the even if no one has a video camera better than a smart phone, at least we could vouch for each other.

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Rembert is actually correct. It just became "The Camden Launch" I suppose, because it's in Camden territory? Kinda like Lugoff is. That's where the hotel is. If you're coming, I'm sure we'll meet each other. Bring that phone if you have no vid camera. I don't use a smart phone so I'm completely w/o video equipment. Be real cool to have at least 2 of the contest birds flying that weekend.

Cabernut said:

Really cool.
This is one of those rockets that, at a launch I would stop whatever I'm doing and say "I have GOT to see this!" and take a video

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Thanks man. I feel certain it's flight worthy. Just praying I did the right thing with laundry rigging's.

We finally got a break in the humidity even though it still hanging in the mid 90* temps. So I painted the entire rocket silver. I love how quick these automotive paints dry. A few days later, I masked off the fins and hit the airframe with Rusto black. When that became easier to handle, I laid down the stripes and the fin applications. So what we have now is a finished rocket. I still have the white dots that go on the transition but I’ll wait on that until the black is bone dry. Cool thing about this silver, it doesn’t flake off or act like those rattle can paints do. Best silver paint I ever used.

All that’s left to do now is take it for a test launch and shoot a video. Hopefully the weather will behave August 13 & 14 when the ROSCO launch is happening. I suppose, posting the video will be the end of the build thread.

Love it when a plan comes together!
This is really great!

That is seriously beautiful.

That looks fantastic!

Thanks a bunch guys. I really wish I had some different colored backdrops that would fill the page. I had to use a hunk of poster board that wasn't tall enough, but at least it helped bring out the most of the black paint.

Beautiful job Gary

Great job... it's really sharp looking.... sorry terrible pun.

Got two launches in this weekend. Maiden on a C11 and another on a D12. Both flights were successful and there is a video to come....I hope.

Congratulations, Gary! Looking forward to the video! F44 next? :cool2: