L3 Certification Build: 8" Upscale Frenzy

I saw some of Nathan's painting at LDRS, and let's just say that pictures don't do it justice. My theory on him not being a human but instead a paint god is more and more confirmed....

Don't believe him, it's all done with Photoshop.

I've finally finished with all of the internal fin fillets and am now ready to attach centering ring #3 which will seal up the fin can. I had a little epoxy that flowed over the bottom edge of the aft fin tabs which I had to remove with a sharp blade, otherwise the CR would not make a tight fit against the bottom of the fin tabs.



I'll attach the CR by applying a thick coat of epoxy to the airframe tube, motor tube, and fin tabs, then insert the CR and press it up against the aft fin tabs. Then quickly apply painters tape to the bottom side of the CR to prevent any epoxy from seeping through before standing the tube in a vertical position while the epoxy sets.
After that I'll put fillets on the bottom side of the CR. Then I'll need to do the rail guides before installing CR #4 with the motor retainer because the aft rail guide will be between CR #3 and CR #4.

Nick@JET said:

Hate to add to the pressure, but All of TRF is going to watch the Nathan paint job on this one!

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They may get bored and lose interest because I expect the paint job to take about 2 months.

Nathan said:

They may get bored and lose interest because I expect the paint job to take about 2 months.

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The paint job is the part I am waiting for.

Nick@JET said:

Hate to add to the pressure, but All of TRF is going to watch the Nathan paint job on this one!

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Lol,,
Yep,, Even I wanna see this process..
Please Nathan,,
Don't forget,,
Lot's of explanitory pic's...

Teddy

Your internal fillets look better than my external fillets.

Bat-mite said:

Your internal fillets look better than my external fillets.

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Amen to that.... I'm surprised he hasn't started to polish his internal fillets yet

The av bay is finished. I will be using the same sled that I use in my Formula 150 which has flown 3 times. It has a RRC3 primary and RRC2+ backup.

After I posted that I realized that that old picture of the av bay sled has a Raven backup altimeter. I have since replaced that Raven with a Missleworks RRC2+.

What are the terminal blocks on the sled for?

The unusual wiring of the Raven requires a 3 wire to 1 wire connection for the switch connector which I found easiest to do with a terminal block. Since I was using a terminal block for the Raven switch connector I used one for the RRC3 also.

Nathan said:

The unusual wiring of the Raven requires a 3 wire to 1 wire connection for the switch connector which I found easiest to do with a terminal block. Since I was using a terminal block for the Raven switch connector I used one for the RRC3 also.

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Rumor has it there's a product to fix that...


https://additive-aerospace.myshopif...ircuit-terminal-expansion-for-raven-altimeter

Centering ring #3 is installed. It was a tight fit so I had to tap it in place with a rubber mallet and a piece of wood to get it to seat all the way up against the fin tabs.



Shining a light through the airframe shows that the epoxy above the CR flowed down and made a good joint on the forward side.



And the nose cone is finished. Just needs some shear pin holes.

Beautiful work Nathan...
Don't you just love being able to actually see the epoxy flow
to know for sure you got where you want it,, lol...

Teddy

Yeah, and good thing too because if it wasn't right at that point it was too late to change it anyway!

I built a Frenzy XL back in 2013 with the intention of using it for my L3 cert flight. It has been in limbo for a few years now as other things have come up that are taking priority. It is about 95% complete. Still need to put the tailcone on and finish up the avionics bay. It does have the "XL" decal on it now. ;-) Hopefully will get it finished and flying this year or next.

Rail buttons are installed. These are unistrut buttons.


The rail buttons are attached with removable 1/4" bolts so I can easily replace them if they get damaged. I can also switch between unistrut and 1515 buttons because they both use 1/4"-20 bolts. Not sure if I would ever want to use 1515 buttons on this rocket but it's an option. The bolts are screwed into locknuts that are held in place with epoxy putty. The epoxy putty doesn't have to be strong enough to hold the rail buttons on; the nuts hold the rail buttons on. The epoxy putty only has to be strong enough to prevent the nuts from rotating. For the upper rail button I filed down the bolt so that it doesn't stick out past the nut and possibly snag the recovery gear.

Nathan said:

Rail buttons are installed. These are unistrut buttons.

The rail buttons are attached with removable 1/4" bolts so I can easily replace them if they get damaged. I can also switch between unistrut and 1515 buttons because they both use 1/4"-20 bolts. Not sure if I would ever want to use 1515 buttons on this rocket but it's an option. The bolts are screwed into locknuts that are held in place with epoxy putty. The epoxy putty doesn't have to be strong enough to hold the rail buttons on; the nuts hold the rail buttons on. The epoxy putty only has to be strong enough to prevent the nuts from rotating. For the upper rail button I filed down the bolt so that it doesn't stick out past the nut and possibly snag the recovery gear.

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Muy Bueno......

Teddy

looks like you will be ready to fly this weekend

djkingsley said:

looks like you will be ready to fly this weekend

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First Level 3 attempt at the sod farm? :wink:

djkingsley said:

looks like you will be ready to fly this weekend

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:shock: You don't really think I would fly a rocket without paint! . . . I'm hoping to have this ready to fly by this fall.

I can't make it to MDRA this weekend, see you in June.

Nathan said:

:shock: You don't really think I would fly a rocket without paint! . . . I'm hoping to have this ready to fly by this fall.

I can't make it to MDRA this weekend, see you in June.

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Ohh myyy,,
I can't believe what they were suggesting..
I am as shocked as you are Nathan....
Just terrible,, actually, shameful......
I am appalled.....

Teddy

Onebadhawk said:

Ohh myyy,,
I can't believe what they were suggesting..
I am as shocked as you are Nathan....
Just terrible,, actually, shameful......
I am appalled.....

Teddy

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Blasphemy to suggest that Nathan flys naked, or his rocket!

Nathan said:

:shock: You don't really think I would fly a rocket without paint! . . . I'm hoping to have this ready to fly by this fall.

I can't make it to MDRA this weekend, see you in June.

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Nathan those fillets are almost as good as your paint jobs.

djkingsley said:

Nathan those fillets are almost as good as your paint jobs.

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Ha, thanks but those are just sloppy internal fillets, I'll be starting on the external fin fillets soon.

Nathan said:

Ha, thanks but those are just sloppy internal fillets, I'll be starting on the external fin fillets soon.

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OK, now you're just bragging.

Glenn and Dave told me that Nathan often flies naked after everyone else has gone home. I cannot verify this.

Bat-mite said:

Glenn and Dave told me that Nathan often flies naked after everyone else has gone home. I cannot verify this.

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I was told this as well...
Especially after a brisk rain...
But I was asked not to speak of it....

Teddy

Okay getting back to the very serious business of rocket building . . . I mounted the Aeropack retainer on centering ring #4 and then installed it.



All centering rings are now DONE! Next step: installing the baffle in the payload tube.

All kidding aside, it's looking great. I hope I am there for your flight.