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Finally finished!

Clear coat dried today and the tiny DS is done. Hope some more of you decided to take on this challenge. A bit tedious but worth the effort.

After next launch, a flight report .


This post copied to the gallery with permission. It appears first because the original post predates the creation of the gallery section.

The PDF file is attached. The second PDF is the one produced by Micromeister.

100_3781.jpg

View attachment DarkStar_MM.pdf
 
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too bad Tim didn't just adopt the black saturday sale for the darkstar 4 :wink:

I think I'm going to go for the original darkstar. Should do some intense flights on big I's and J's! Time to buy a transolve BeepX


Braden
 
too bad Tim didn't just adopt the black saturday sale for the darkstar 4 :wink:

I think I'm going to go for the original darkstar. Should do some intense flights on big I's and J's! Time to buy a transolve BeepX


Braden

what is a transolve BeepX?

Darkstar on a big J1000 is time to have GPS, and radio tracking...9k'ish flight means couple miles of recovery are possible... (mains can come out at apogee)
 
It's a beeper, that's loud! but only good for about 500 feet

But I still would use a radio tracker or GPS unit for flights on "J" motors

and better never pop the main on those flights, one really long walk.
one word, Drogueless!
 
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yes, but if your baro sensor is output high- (malfunctioning) it auto puts the main out since it thinks it is at 0 feet.
I had this happen at 6k...
SUCK... good thing i had a tracker...
and was better than no main at all..

And i have shaken mains on drougles.. sooo..
I plan my flights to potentially drift long ways, i dont count on a perfect flight for tracker use...

I need to get the executive branch to balance my budget for the next year... So i know if its going to be directional tracking. or pinpoint tracking! :) keeping my figers crossed.
 
Here's My Dark Star Mini & my sons mini along with his fleet of Dark Stars so far.

Brandon's Dark Star mini mini, mini & Lite.JPG
From left to right Scratch built Dark Star mini mini, Dark Star mini & Dark Star lite

Brandon's Dark Star mini.JPG

Mike's Dark Star mini.JPG

Mike
 
It's a beeper, that's loud! but only good for about 500 feet

But I still would use a radio tracker or GPS unit for flights on "J" motors

and better never pop the main on those flights, one really long walk.
one word, Drogueless!

Well, we've got a couple people out there that can track rockets past 12,000 feet. Plus our club has a rule, since we don't usually have a ton of people out there (I'd like to change that, two sites, one to 24,000 feet one to 60,000 feet, if you want to exceed 24k, just drive a couple miles back to the other site.) everyone has to watch the entire high power flight until it's down, we didn't lose a rocket all last year, even the once that kissed the waiver.


Braden
 
Here is my mini. I don't have all the Midwest Power dirt off the extreme, But I will geta "family photo" posted soon.

Again, Thanks to Stickershock for a great job!!

Darkstar.jpg

lil rascal 003.jpg

lil rascal 005.jpg
 
Have been looking for a L2 project and have all but decided on the Darkstar 4 or the Darkstar 4 DD. L1 was on a Madcow Little John, so the L2 project will be a major step up in building skills and learning curve with respect to altitudes, deployment techniques, working with 'glass, etc.
Can some of you offer advantages and disadvantages of the standard vs the DD models of the Darkstar 4.
 
The standard is single deploy, motor eject. Long walk for L-2 unless you live in wide open area & can drive to it.

DD has an added Av-bay for electronics, payload & is usually what's used for L-2 These versions have a 54mm motor tube.

Think about the 4in DarkStar Xtreme, which has a 75mm motor tube and kill 2 birds with one stone. Good for both L-2 and L-3!
 
Keep in mind you can always put a reducer in a big motor mount & fly a smaller motor.

My son Brandon has a Dark Star Extreme. He's planning on putting the nose cone in the lower half & put an "I-600" in it for his Jr level 1, & then later a "K" or "L" for his level 2. If it's still in one piece after all that, his level 3.

He has the same outlook on things that I do, "Anything worth doing is worth over doing".

Mike
 
After 6 flights, I'm actually going to buy some paint for my Extreme Darkstar tomorrow. I should have it painted by the end of the week, and then I'll be able to post some pics. At this rate, it might have some decals on it by September!
 
Yeah, I think I'll be needing a few cans myself.
I'm not big on painting either....
I once built a nice 10-12ft. x 6" dia. 20lb+ rocket back about 12-13 years ago.
I went all out and used Dupli-Color spray cans at $5.00 a can and it came out really nice. Too bad it crashed on the first flight:(.



JD



After 6 flights, I'm actually going to buy some paint for my Extreme Darkstar tomorrow. I should have it painted by the end of the week, and then I'll be able to post some pics. At this rate, it might have some decals on it by September!
 
I finally put some paint on it and the sun finally showed up.


DarkStarExtreme.JPG



JD
 
Big to Micro:)
Heres my MM T3 Darkstar freshly finished and flown last weekend.
Gotta Love the Anodized look Yellow & Purple paint. super sparkle in the sun.

MM 379uc08b2_MM DarkStar fincan Yellow close_05-17-11.JPG

MM 379uc08c1_MM DarkStar Yellow& Purple Anodized_05-17-11.JPG

MM 379uc09_MM T3 DarkStar_05-17-11.JPG
 

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Here's my Extreme on the pad, and liftoff on a CTI K490 Green. Holographic decals from Stickershock, naturally. 5500' and recovery ~500 yds from the pad.

CIMG1967.JPG


CIMG2005.JPG
 
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Did you cut yours down as it doesn't look as long as mine?
How much did it weigh on the pad?

Very nice!

JD

Here's my Extreme on the pad, and liftoff on a CTI K490 Green. Holographic decals from Stickershock, naturally. 5500' and recovery ~500 yds from the pad.

CIMG1967.JPG


CIMG2005.JPG
 
One of a very few rockets I've built totally stock. Weight on the pad was right around 18 lbs.
 
Here is my Ultimate DarkStar. ready for MidWest Power 9.

If I didn't lose my "mini" at Thunderstruck, I would have the whole family for a family photo.
Maybe I will have to pick up another.

IMAG0147.jpg
 
One of the newest members of the Micro Maxx Fleet is the T3 DarkStar. A Great flying little Downscale.
Nothing really specal about this build Other then the Finishing with a fairly new Anodized Aluminum look metallic rattle can paint from Krylon called X-Metals. Must be used over Shiney metal base or their Metallic fine metal flake Conversion Base coat. but man do these transparent colors Pop in direct sunlight.
Nifty little flying model as will.

MM 379_MM T3 DarkStar_05-17-11.JPG

MM 379Lp01a_DarkStar on pad 1st flt_05-21-11.JPG

MM 379Lp01b_DarkStar Mid Flight_05-21-11.JPG
 
Just finished my original Darkstar :D Launch photo T/K. Plan on using this for my L2.

20111031-_MG_5411.jpg
 
It's not painted yet, but I did my L2 on it at MWP9 with an L2375. photo courtesy of daveyfire

Level2flightpic.jpg
 
Here is my 3" Darkstar. Yes I said 3". It started out as a 3" Intimidator and I modified the fins into Darkstar fins.DarkStar build 016.jpg
 
It's not painted yet, but I did my L2 on it at MWP9 with an L2375. photo courtesy of daveyfire

Looked great...why such a small motor choice for the cert flight??? (NOT!!!!)

I am interested in the flight data from that one.

Good to see you guys again this year.

Looking forward to MWPX already!!!!!
 
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