MrGneissGuy
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- Joined
- Jul 27, 2010
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I gave into temptation and opened the package a couple of days ago and started it. I had planned to take my time on it, but it's a pretty straight forward kit and I think it will go pretty quickly. Most reviews I've read on this one are good and have not had any modifications. I have read a few that say the parachute is too small, so I'll have to research that some more, and I read one where the person said they added some additional nose cone weight. Maybe I better run some OpenRocket on this one just to see if I want/need to mess with either of those things.
I sanded the seams on the nose cone down and then used some filler on the BT spirals first. The filler had dried out some, and even after adding water, it still didn't seem to do the job really well. I gave it two attempts and got most of the spirals out, though it looks like there is a spot or two that aren't perfect, hoepfully I can fix that in the priming/sanding phase. I guess it's time for some new stuff to fill in spirals.
The next step was assembling the motor mount. This is the first time I've used epoxy in a build, so it's not the neatest work in the world. Good thing I started with the motor mount that won't be as visible. I had to do a little sanding on both the inside and outside of the centering rings to get everything to slide in place, but not much. I strayed from the instructions a bit here. Where it says to insert the mm until the end is flush with the end of the BT, I installed the lower centering ring about 1/4" higher on the mount and left about 1/4" of the mount tube sticking out beyond the BT. I did this so that it will be easier to secure the motors in place. If I end up getting a retention ring, I have room to mount it, and if I don't, I have some tube for tape so the motor doesn't pop out from the ejection charge (this came from some of the Apogee hints and tips).
Fillets are in place on the motor mount and it is dried. Next up is sanding and attaching the fins. We're heading out today for some New Year festivities, so I probably won't be doing anything today or tomorrow. Sunday I have to watch the Colts secure the AFC South Championship,
:horse: :wave: :clap:
but after that I may do a little more work. Until then, here are a few shots...
I sanded the seams on the nose cone down and then used some filler on the BT spirals first. The filler had dried out some, and even after adding water, it still didn't seem to do the job really well. I gave it two attempts and got most of the spirals out, though it looks like there is a spot or two that aren't perfect, hoepfully I can fix that in the priming/sanding phase. I guess it's time for some new stuff to fill in spirals.
The next step was assembling the motor mount. This is the first time I've used epoxy in a build, so it's not the neatest work in the world. Good thing I started with the motor mount that won't be as visible. I had to do a little sanding on both the inside and outside of the centering rings to get everything to slide in place, but not much. I strayed from the instructions a bit here. Where it says to insert the mm until the end is flush with the end of the BT, I installed the lower centering ring about 1/4" higher on the mount and left about 1/4" of the mount tube sticking out beyond the BT. I did this so that it will be easier to secure the motors in place. If I end up getting a retention ring, I have room to mount it, and if I don't, I have some tube for tape so the motor doesn't pop out from the ejection charge (this came from some of the Apogee hints and tips).
Fillets are in place on the motor mount and it is dried. Next up is sanding and attaching the fins. We're heading out today for some New Year festivities, so I probably won't be doing anything today or tomorrow. Sunday I have to watch the Colts secure the AFC South Championship,
:horse: :wave: :clap:
but after that I may do a little more work. Until then, here are a few shots...