Estes Cosmos Mariner

rokitflite said:

Momma always said life is like a Cosmos Mariner flight... You never know what you might get...

On that note... At NARAM 50, Saturday I believe, someone launched a CM... I only looked (and ducked) when I heard the shotgun ejection... That thing had the most beautiful glide back to earth! As it got closer I realized what it was and was amazed! I had never seen one fly and had only heard bad things about them, but this one was awesome. I went over and congratulated the builder on an outstanding flight... I wish I could remember his name.

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I remember that flight too and remember being amazed that someone was able to get it fly. I had never seen one launched on person until then. So, there is hope. I never purchased one because of all the horror stories. Had my only knowledge of the Cosmos Mariner been what I saw first hand, I would have bought one in a heart beat....plus it looks cool.

JAL3 said:

At least, whether it works or not, it has now freed up a perfectly good box for the cat to hide in.

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I would suggest the application of rocket power to said feline.

AKPilot said:

Foam . . . cut foam . . . instead of using the plastic shell.

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OOhh....
Sounds challenging. How tough would it be to recreate the complex shape of the shell in foam?

Pem Tech said:

OOhh....
Sounds challenging. How tough would it be to recreate the complex shape of the shell in foam?

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Actually foam can be cut and sanded like wood. Not any foam, but the blue foam will do it. Ask the r/c airplane guys.

Pem Tech said:

OOhh....
Sounds challenging. How tough would it be to recreate the complex shape of the shell in foam?

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I was thinking pour plaster in the plastic body halves, pop out the plaster cast and use it as a mold to re-vacuum form it out of a thinner plastic.

How about this:

Use the existing plastic shell as a mold. Pour in a mixture of 3 parts Portland cement, 1 part fire clay and 1 part BBs. allow to harden then assemble and sand as desired.

It will be a bit heavy but, based on prior reports in this thread, should be much safer for bystanders since it will not make it off the rod. As an added bonus, all the "action" takes place up close and personal and will be easy to see.

would any of that really be that much lighter than just "building light"? One could also pour in foam as you've already got the mold. I'm just not sure the benefit would outweigh the effort as just good build techniques. I may just have to pick up one of these just cause.

El Cheapo said:

would any of that really be that much lighter than just "building light"? One could also pour in foam as you've already got the mold. I'm just not sure the benefit would outweigh the effort as just good build techniques. I may just have to pick up one of these just cause.

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You kidding? Now we're into the challenge of building a good, reliable, one. Liquid foam, foam sheets, resin, casting, I'm sure Auntie-E thought of all this when they built it.

AstronMike said:

This flew well enough on D12s and an E15 put this up a long ways. Yea, none of this made the *glider* itself any better, but an old AstronMike rule is to make a clunky glider look better by getting it a lot higher to start with.

.

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I Like that!!!

Most of my rockets look best from a VERY GREAT distance.

I glued on the starboard elevator and looked through the instructions again. I didn't see anything else I needed/wanted to do before the finishing started so I just gave it a chance to dry.

If you're wondering about the sealer, I had long ago used balsa fillercoat on the elevators thinking that would give me a better taping surface. That's what I thought then though, now that I think of it, the tape sticks to the paint.

The CM was dusted off and set in the booth where it got shot with a new can of Kilz.

The other elevator got the treatment as well.

I'd ditch the crap balsa that I'm sure the kit comes with and use some 4-5 lb/ft2 balsa. Build it light, it'll fly slower, boost higher and more stable, and the lower glide speed will reduce damage on landing. You can't build it like a HPR brick and expect it to boost or glide worth a damn. As far as finishes go on the balsa I'd try jap[anese] tissue and lightweight dope-maybe airbrush some color on top.

aerospike said:

I'd ditch the crap balsa that I'm sure the kit comes with and use some 4-5 lb/ft2 balsa. Build it light, it'll fly slower, boost higher and more stable, and the lower glide speed will reduce damage on landing. You can't build it like a HPR brick and expect it to boost or glide worth a damn. As far as finishes go on the balsa I'd try jap tissue and lightweight dope-maybe airbrush some color on top.

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I'm so far into it now that I'm going along for the ride and see where it takes me.

gpoehlein said:

I haven't tried it yet, but I've been told that those little fabric dryer softener sheets, after they've been used in the dryer, make great hinge material. (I also, supposedly, makes a good fin covering material on the scout).

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I thought they might make good balsa reinforcing material (lightweight, tough, thin), so I saved up a bunch for awhile before getting around to testing the theory. I didn't have any luck gluing them neatly to some balsa scraps. Tried white glue, which I suspected wasn't going to work, and it didn't. Tried CA, and it seemed like it took forever for it to cure and then the surface was still very fuzzy. I gave up on the idea and threw away all the dryer sheets I'd saved. Epoxy doesn't seem to make any sense from a weight standpoint, but maybe it wouldn't be that bad for things as small as hinges instead of entire fin surfaces.

gpoehlein said:

Tyvek paper has also been suggested in the past, but I've not had great luck getting any glue to stick to the slick paper. If you can get it to stick, the stuff won't tear.

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Saved some of that, too, with the same idea. Haven't tried gluing it yet. I'll give that a go soon.

The (free)US Priority Mail envelopes are made of Tyvek and make great hinge material. It'll hold up much better than self adhesive or dryer sheets. I use CA to attach it, although contact cement would probably work too.

AKPilot said:

You kidding? Now we're into the challenge of building a good, reliable, one. Liquid foam, foam sheets, resin, casting, I'm sure Auntie-E thought of all this when they built it.

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That's exactly what I was trying say. I don't think any of that would be worth the effort other than building the existing kit light.

After letting the Kilz dry overnight, the CM was taken out of the booth and sanded with #400 sandpaper. The model was then dusted off and put back in the booth where it was sprayed with the Testors Tan I had originally bought with the kit.

I took the CM out of the booth and noticed immediately that it was a bit rough. THe paint had a flat finish and I want a gloss. To rectify that, I started wet sanding with #600 sandpaper. That helped a great deal but there were a few places where I sanded through the finish. I also noticed some divots that were more noticable now than before the painting.

I pulled out the filler and started to fill in the divots in the original finish.

Hi Jal3,

What glue did you use to bond the two plastic shells to the balsa frame?

heut said:

Hi Jal3,

What glue did you use to bond the two plastic shells to the balsa frame?

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That was so long ago I have a hard time remembering. I do recall that the instruction mentioned something out of the ordinary. I think it was supposed to be some kind of a silicone adhesive. THe guys in the hobby shop had no clue.

I'll look in the garage later and see if I can find what I used.

heut said:

Hi Jal3,

What glue did you use to bond the two plastic shells to the balsa frame?

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I used DAP Aquarium sealant on mine. Lowes/HomeDepot/Ace should all have it. Walmart may have it as well.

Chris

chrisudy said:

I used DAP Aquarium sealant on mine. Lowes/HomeDepot/Ace should all have it. Walmart may have it as well.

Chris

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NUTS!

That's not what I used but I suspect it was a similar product. I forgot to look!

Sorry.

I touched up a bit more on the paint and while waiting for it to dry, Decided to go ahead and attatch the chute.

It was a standard Estes plastic chute and was pre-assembled. It just slipped around the motor pod and fed through its own loop. It;s as simple as that.

Well the tan has been resprayed and dried. I sanded it a little bit and then appled some gloss coating to smooth up the surface a bit. Now comes what I perceive to be the tricky part: masking and painting the silver areas.

I figured that there is no way I would be able to do it in one go so I am going to take it a step at a time, starting from the nose and working back. Accordingly, I masked off the nose where the demarcation line should be by my view of the facecard art and let rip with the silver.

John dont forget to give this thing a few good tosses to check it's balance. I threw mine off the roof of my house and it did okay
Cheers
fred

Fred22 said:

John dont forget to give this thing a few good tosses to check it's balance. I threw mine off the roof of my house and it did okay
Cheers
fred

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This one has taken so much time, sapped so much enthusiam, waited so long, engendered so many preditions of abject failure, taken even more time etc. that I really am going to try and do it right.

I'm lousy with gliders in general. Trimming them is a black art. Still, I am going to proceed very carefully and give it a whirl.

WHen I'm ready to actually fly it, I'll set up the cameras, update my will and general liability coverage, dig out my Kevlar helmet and push the button.

I hope it chases somebody besides me. I'm getting too old for this stuff>

I got another chance to go back to the shop today and took the opportunity to peel back the masking and inspect the results.

So Far, So Good.

It was good enough, and the paint seemed dry enough, that I started masking for the next round.