PEPP 1 Aeroshell REDUX

The marked tube was taken home and I opened up my extremely dated copy of Autocad. I generated a wrap around cutting guide, printed it out and took it back to the shop to try on another piece of BT50.

I laid the result along the central core and aft blukhead and found that the idea was workable but needed some refinement of the template to close up the gaps.

Eventually I hope to buy a dated copy of AutoCAD...

Peartree said:

Eventually I hope to buy a dated copy of AutoCAD...

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I don't even know what the current version is, let alone what its selling for now. The copy I'm using is release 12. When I first got my license, back at realease 2.5, it was about 3.5k. When I left the company, I got to keep one of the licenses that had not been upgraded. I think the other were up to about 14 by then.

I revised the plan, printed another template and cut another piece of tubing. This time, the gaps were much less and it appeared to me that when the central hub was sanded, they would close even more. With a good template plan, it was time to go into full scale production of the fuel tanks.

JAL3 said:

I don't even know what the current version is, let alone what its selling for now. The copy I'm using is release 12. When I first got my license, back at realease 2.5, it was about 3.5k. When I left the company, I got to keep one of the licenses that had not been upgraded. I think the other were up to about 14 by then.

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I hae a version called "QuickCAD" made by Autdesk. I like it a lot!

It as only $25 in the "junk" software bin at Staple. Unfotunately it's now 8 years sold and unsupported.

I recently purchased Delta CAD I don't really like it that much.

Mounting the tank tubes to the rocket was another issue. I decided to glue them down with some support. I bought a dozen balsa BT50 couplers from Semroc and tried an experiment by cutting one in half longitudinally. I then put some sandpaper of a large radius surface and sanded a trough on the flat side of the cut adapter. It seemed to work fine and the decision was made to glue these half couplers to the aft bulkhead and let them provide support for the tanks.

Still waiting on the return of most of my supplies for this project, I began the cutting of the Falcon tanks. I managed to get four of them done in the first sitting and they were not nearly as tedious as doing the nozzles. When they were cut, I glued in the hemispherical tank tops.

All along, I had been contemplating various strategies for making the shroud. I finally hit upon a plan which I hoped would work well. I contacted Stickershock23.com whose vinyl decal work I had seen on TRF and asked him to do the artwork of the shroud along a flattened truncated cone whose dimensions I would provide. I liked the early looks of the artwork but to make sure of things, printed out a full sized shroud on bond paper to test fit it. I'm glad I did. I found a transcription error from the dimensions I had calculated in the EMRR shroud calculator. It had given me the right answer but I transposed a couple of digits.

Y'know - given that next year's NARAM 52 events have been announced and that Giant Sport Scale is one of next year's events, the PePP Aeroshell might become quite popular as a sport scale subject!

gpoehlein said:

Y'know - given that next year's NARAM 52 events have been announced and that Giant Sport Scale is one of next year's events, the PePP Aeroshell might become quite popular as a sport scale subject!

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Actually since it is under the length limit it would also qualify for this years peanut scale.

sandman said:

Actually since it is under the length limit it would also qualify for this years peanut scale.

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How about we team up to kit this one for both competitions?
You take care of the parts and I get the Antacid concession for the ulcers.:neener:

Peanut scale? Really? A 12x18 cluster?

And I thought that was strange.:eyepop:

JAL3 said:

How about we team up to kit this one for both competitions?
You take care of the parts and I get the Antacid concession for the ulcers.:neener:

Peanut scale? Really? A 12x18 cluster?

And I thought that was strange.:eyepop:

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The logistics may be a bit hard to work out...

Michigan to Texas.

sandman said:

The logistics may be a bit hard to work out...

Michigan to Texas.

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Don't worry. I can ship Pepto Bismol anywhere.


I just took a look at the NARAM 52 site but didn't see any peanut scale.

Were you putting me on?

The thought of being able to qualify for both a peanut scale and a Giant Sport Scale with the same rocket is intriguing enough to check out even if my entry would be shamed by the others.

JAL3 said:

Don't worry. I can ship Pepto Bismol anywhere.


I just took a look at the NARAM 52 site but didn't see any peanut scale.

Were you putting me on?

The thought of being able to qualify for both a peanut scale and a Giant Sport Scale with the same rocket is intriguing enough to check out even if my entry would be shamed by the others.

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No - Peanut Sport Scale is this year (NARAM 51) and Giant Sport Scale is next year (NARAM 52). And, yes, the Aeroshell qualifies for both because it is shorter than the length limit for Peanut Sport Scale and it is wide enough to qualify for the minimum diameter for Giant Sport Scale. One of those funny little loopholes you can find it you look hard enough!

gpoehlein said:

No - Peanut Sport Scale is this year (NARAM 51) and Giant Sport Scale is next year (NARAM 52). And, yes, the Aeroshell qualifies for both because it is shorter than the length limit for Peanut Sport Scale and it is wide enough to qualify for the minimum diameter for Giant Sport Scale. One of those funny little loopholes you can find it you look hard enough!

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Thanks for the clarification.

For me NARAM 51 was not possible. 52 would be tough but it is closer and possible. When I read the earlier posting and thought about making an entry in both contests with the same rocket, it just became something I REALLY WANTED TO DO.

I'd still like to go. I non-nonchalantly mentioned to the wife in daughter how nice it would be to visit Colorado next year. Stacey bit the hook but SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED is suspicious.:bangpan:

The project sat in limbo for a long time before I finally got off the dime and ordered the Vinys decals. When they came in, I eagerly unpacked them and took a look. The aft bulkhead was a single piece, a large circle with an inner circle cut out of it. The shroud itself was made in 4 sectors. They were done is a silverish metallic finish.

The decals had to be applied to something and I was using a product like posterboard but with stiffer grain that I got from the local paper supplier. The details on the aeroshell such as bolts and writing was supposed to be black. Stickershock explained to me the expense of trying to do such a design in silver AND black and then provided me with what seemed to be a reasonable alternative. He suggested that he do the decals in silver and let the black parts be cut out. That way, when applied to a black surface, the colors would look correct. That's how I learned how much black spray paint poster board can suck up: A LOT!

One of the reasons this project languished for so long is because of the shear tedium of my method for building up the bell nozzles. I would mark a sheet of label paper in decreasing increments from 1-3/4" down to 1/8" in 1/8" increments and then cut the labels into strip with a guillotine style paper cutter. It was all tedious but the marking for me was the worst. Then I hit on the idea of drawing out the series of lines in Autocad and printing them out on the label stock. That was quite a bit easier. I found that 1 nozzles required 1 and a half 8.5x11 sheets. Since I still lacked 4 nozzles, I printed them out to get to work.

Then after a marathon session of slicing, peeling and sticking, I finally had my last four nozzles ready to paint.

The paint on the posterboard was allowed to dry and then it was time to try out the decals. I started with the ring of the aft bulkhead. The backing was peeled off on the adhesive side and the decal was pressed onto the black poster board and smoothed out.

I then started to gingerly peel back the facing material. I learned that although the decals are quite sticky, they don't stick as well as I would have liked to posterboard.

Finally, the deed was done. This thing is going to be quite a respectable sized oddroc UFO.

Stickershock!

Can you recommend a topcoat for the decals to prevent any chance of peeling?

They're stuck on fairly well right now but dislodging them is easier than I would like. This isn't a cooment on the decals; its more a mater of the material they are adhered to.

JAL3 said:

Stickershock!

Can you recommend a topcoat for the decals to prevent any chance of peeling?

They're stuck on fairly well right now but dislodging them is easier than I would like. This isn't a cooment on the decals; its more a mater of the material they are adhered to.

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John, First off, It's looking awesome, thanks for all the details in your build thread.

The reason they may not have stuck as well as you would have like, is probably the surface you are applying it to. THey stick best to smooth glossy surfaces. so the "posterboard "as you said, may be a little to porous.

I have had many people clearcoat over their decals with anything from cheap rattle cans to full on automotive 2 part clears. all with great results EXCEPT I have heard that Krylon can be a problem.

Always wipe the decal off with alcohol before you attempt. (just a slightly dampened corner is enough to remove any fingerprints etc)

You have so much into the project I would hate to have it go bad over a clearcoat.

I will send you a sample piece that you can test clearcoat before you do the rocket!

I would be happy to do that for anyone ordering Stickershock decals, just ask for some when you place an order!

Keep up the excellent work John!

The last of the nozzles were primed and painted and then allowed a few days to dry. All 12 were then test fitted into the after bulkhead.

They fit fine and were removed so that the back surface of the bulkhead could be primed and painted. Only one coat of paint was applied. The intention is to prevent glaring holidays in the painjob when the structure gets more complex. I fully intended that it would later get more paint.

While the paint was drying, I rethought my plans on mounting the falcon tanks. I decided to take 6 balsa BT50 couplers and split them down the middle to make 12.

I wanted to round the couplers a bit to better fit around the lip on the aft bulkhead but there was not much lip to use as a sanding template. I decided to use the body tube instead since it was almost the correct size. I wrapped it with some sandpaper and proceeded to sand out the middle of each coupler.

After messing with the nozzles and motor tubes for the better part of a year, it was finally time to finish them. I glued each one into one of the holes with yellow glue and worked my way around so that they would all stick out the same length. They were then set aside to dry.