Estes MIRV upscale

I recently launched a MIRV kit and I was impressed with it till it crashed lol (1 flight) and I figured I would try to upscale it a little bit so I could add a streamer or a small parachute for a better recovery I have figured out most of it I'm just not able to figure what to build the manifold out of I would rather use plastic but unsure of an acceptable type. Any help would be greatly appreciated

If you have access to a 3D printer you should be good. I use PETG for charge Wells and they hold up fine. If you can figure out a way to make the manifold removable that would be perfect.

Unfortunately I don't have access to a 3D printer all i have is a drill press and a dremel lol

EGRyan2410 said:

Unfortunately I don't have access to a 3D printer all i have is a drill press and a dremel lol

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You likely have more access than you think. 3D printing can be a little intimidating to get started with but once you get into the swing it's pretty awesome. You do *not* need your own printer.

• There are commercial services that will 3d-print if you supply the file (e.g.: 3dHubs, Shapeways)
• There are commercial maker spaces that have 3D printers available (and often laser cutters, CNC machines, etc.)
• There are "public" maker spaces at places such as universities. Some public schools have printers that you can use.

In other words, there are printers *all over the place* nowadays that you can use. The process and cost vary widely; you'll need to do some research to figure out your best option.

For my first forays, I used TinkerCad (free and *incredibly* easy to use online CAD) to generate some files and used the built-in linkage to have my files printed on 3DHubs. That got me started pretty nicely.

For the part that you're trying to fabricate, 3D printing is really ideal. Don't give up on it! You may or may not find it challenging to find somewhere to print using the desired material (on 3DHubs at least, many of the printers will only do PLA or ABS; other materials cost more).

+1 on Tinkercad!

If you give me some dimensions I'll be happy to throw together a CAD file in Tinkercad for you. Tinkercad looks simple but you can do a lot with it- I spent way too long with it on my Saturn 1B (see my avatar) and came up with this...

its funny that tinker cad is built by autodesk because I use auto cad for designing stuff I just cant seem to import the files lol

maybe someone can convert this? I have been trying for a while and I can seem to get it lol

View attachment mirv manifold.dwg

Ok so nvm haha I figured it out that's for all the help I had no idea about 3Dhubs or tinkercad it all worked out great and its not as expensive as I thought it would be. I do really appreciate the help

I look forward to seeing this one. How big are you going...I got to dreaming on this one after you posted about it, and was thinking the 29mm Estes BPs staging to some 18 mm bps would be sweet.

If I understand it right it's a 1.3 upscale so not to much bigger I'm planning 24 mm stagging to 18mm. I will try to post the build as I go I just suck at doing write ups lol

EGRyan2410 said:

If I understand it right it's a 1.3 upscale so not to much bigger I'm planning 24 mm stagging to 18mm. I will try to post the build as I go I just suck at doing write ups lol

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That should be real nice. Looking forward to seeing it play out.

just use regular cardboard body tubes/couplers and centering rings, vent them, and coat the inside with lots of white glue or epoxy. You could use some of that metal dryer duct tape, it may wear out over time.

Just as an FYI, erockets has mirvs on sale crazy cheap, right now, less than $15 if you need a sample.


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Just as a suggestion, may either want to upsize the vent holes (more than relative scale) or put vent holes in the sustainers.

To be honest I didn't even realize it had vent holes till you said something lol I should probably update my design, thanks BABAR for the suggestion I didn't think about needing to vent the manifold

Would also consider either mini rail buttons or upsizing the launch lug on the booster (larger than just to scale.). On my stock MIRV the small lug on the booster broke very easily.

I think your engine choice 24 to 3x18 should be excellent. Recommend smallest sustainer engines available for first flight.

I had planned to go to 3/16 launch lug and use a larger lug for the inner lugs holding sustainers together for better stability I'm still in the designing part of this I'm try to take my time and not get ahead of myself (im a 30 yr old kid lol) i want to make sure everything is right befor i start building. With that stated I do really appreciate the suggestions , as for engines I think 24 to 3x 18 will fly well too. My plan is to maybe use a c11 to 3x a6-4 but taking the overall size when it completed I may just go d12, i rather not use "e" engines I'm not trying to go over 1k alttitud lol. I just enjoyed watching the kit fly but feel it would look better and fly better with more motor under it

EGRyan2410 said:

I had planned to go to 3/16 launch lug and use a larger lug for the inner lugs holding sustainers together for better stability I'm still in the designing part of this I'm try to take my time and not get ahead of myself (im a 30 yr old kid lol) i want to make sure everything is right befor i start building. With that stated I do really appreciate the suggestions , as for engines I think 24 to 3x 18 will fly well too. My plan is to maybe use a c11 to 3x a6-4 but taking the overall size when it completed I may just go d12, i rather not use "e" engines I'm not trying to go over 1k alttitud lol. I just enjoyed watching the kit fly but feel it would look better and fly better with more motor under it

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Don't worry, I'm a 38 year old kid. Getting older is inevitable, maturing is optional.

Agreed 100% lol

I'm a teenage kid but I don't plan to grow up too much... I have a bit of what I call "meadowgrass syndrome"... Ooh, what's that new gadget? I wanna try it!

Should have been more specific on upsizing the launch lug. I think the attached LENGTH of the lug on the original kit is wayyyyyyy too short. So in upscaling it, would go with a longer than proportional length. 3/16 rod should be okay, although I really like going with the mini rail buttons as the birds get a little bit bigger. Less "sway" on the pad from a rail than from a rod.

Tom

I had planned to do that as well I do agree they are super short and it seems to make keeping it all lined up rather shitty

....deleted, brain fart...