CJ's Vindicator Jr. build, or Wildman's...oop's "did I do that?"

Well I let Tim "borrow" a rocket or two recently to fly, since he had a run of bad luck lately. The rocket godz have been feasting at his expense, that's another story you'll have to ask him about.

Well I built this beautiful "ShapeShifter"Jr, which took more time to get the vinyl in position correctly than building the darn thing. [Stickershock vinyl of course. outstanding design he did on this one]

So I let Tim "borrow" it AND of course he puts the biggest motor that will fit in it for the first flight.... motor eject no less.. ain't using no stink'n dual deploy!

ShapeShifter last seen several miles from Bong, in the top of a tree.

Then there's the "Warrior" at least got 1 flight picture of it. 15 seconds later that one was buried "somewhere".

I got the "WildThang" hidden from him for now. After I get him to re-certify L-1 & if he's a good boy, I'll present him with that one.

So anyhow I'm building a "Vindicator Jr" to replace my loss after finally getting a nose cone. Yep....I'm in the same boat as the rest of ya as far as NC's go!

So here ya go the Vindiacator Jr build..... just gotta keep it away from Tim for awhile.

PS :your on your own if ya let him "borrow" one of yours.

So here are the proverbial parts shot and a mock up of the rocket.

Pic shows a white molded one on the mock up, but it comes with the spiral wound 5 to 1 Von Karmon, as shown in the parts.


Since this is just a fun build I'll be varying off the normal instructions for once and putting a little different spin on the build. Trying to make it as light as I can.

Also Gary T's got me hooked on the black Pro-line high temp epoxy & the SpaceCowboy just re-enforced my belief in it, and pushed me over the edge. That one's survived M 2.5 flights & I doubt there will be any Vindicators pushing that envelope! :dark:

Since building the full size 4in version, it fastly becoming one of my favorite rockets and I'm sure the Jr will be too. I like split fin designs & these are different from the run of the mill.

Fincan is 30in.
Payload 16in.
Von Karmon NC 13in [just a tad under]
1in vent band

Add it all up for a mean looking little rocket 60inches/5ft. that will handle 6xl grain 38mm motors and 29mm with an adapter.

You can also fly it without the payload, just sticking the NC on the fincan with small motors using motor eject. Heck for that matter ya can leave the payload on & move the chute to the fincan and still fly it motor eject on big motors. Of course that will require long walks & a chance of watching it drift off into the wild blue yonder. Lol [ right Tim?]

Awww come on Uncle CJ your stories are always better than Tim's.. He edits the BooBoo's :roll::roll::roll:

First thing to deal with is all the glue residue on the fins. This is from the double sided tape used to hold the G-10 sheet on the cutting table while the CNC does it's work. A little lacquer thinner, denatured alcohol or similar solvent & a rag will make quick work of that.

Next I'll get some of the dirty work out of the way. Sanding the entire motor mount, both sides of all centering rings [4 only 2 shown] & one side of my bulkplates. Using a very course grit paper to help in the epoxy bonding. [60 grit]

blackjack2564 said:

Well I let Tim "borrow" a rocket or two recently to fly, since he had a run of bad luck lately. The rocket godz have been feasting at his expense, that's another story you'll have to ask him about.

Well I built this beautiful "ShapeShifter"Jr, which took more time to get the vinyl in position correctly than building the darn thing. [Stickershock vinyl of course. outstanding design he did on this one]

So I let Tim "borrow" it AND of course he puts the biggest motor that will fit in it for the first flight.... motor eject no less.. ain't using no stink'n dual deploy!

ShapeShifter last seen several miles from Bong, in the top of a tree.

Click to expand...

Location of CJ's ShapeShifter: next to a pond of angry geese. There is a nice bench there though to sit whenever you want to visit it.

jeff2space said:

Location of CJ's ShapeShifter: next to a pond of angry geese. There is a nice bench there though to sit whenever you want to visit it.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I tried to find a place to climb that tree, not a single branch for 30 feet. Possibly the worst spot to land a rocket.......

Dang, I least I can go visit it, now that I know where it is!



Gheesz where is Diane D when we need her? That's is one crazy tree climbing woman. She could get it!

Nobody brought a 12 gauge to knock the tree limb down?

Jim
At least Tim got his WILDCHILD back last Sat. Someone said the tracker came off but he still found the rocket. Old eagle eye Mike Dybul had a line on it.
gp

Hey Gary, wish I could come over & fly with you guys, but am stuck at moms in Ohio, till we get her a room in assisted living.

So close.....yet so far away!


Looks like the rocket godz coughed one back up to Tim!uke:

Cj
I know what you are going through. My Mother who is 83 went to a assisted living about a month ago. Its a hard thing to do. But I feel she is much more safe now.
GP

Normally when I start to build, I'll glue things up in groups to save glue.
It may seem out of normal building order but it makes things go a lot faster with a whole lot less wasted epoxy if any.

So I'm going to mix up some JB weld for the AeroPac retainer, might as well line up the Av-bay bulkplates and glue them with the left over.


First I'm going to make Y harness glued to the motor mount for my recovery gear, instead of the normal single attachment point. Need to file 2 notches in the top CR for the Kevlar to pass through.

Then set up the MM tube with rings on it outside the airframe to postion them correctly spacing wise. One on each end of the fin slots.

Tack them into position [CA] with the motor retainer on, slide into airframe and insert fins for fit. While they are in there mark them with a pencil so when it comes time to glue I know they are in contact with the motor tube.

Check for fit ...remove and glue the retainer on.

Take the BP's for the av-bay, large one first, sanded side up, place on eyebolt [welded or forged] to hold them centered while gluing.

Add some leftover JB, add smaller BP sanded side down.

Repeat with other 2, add nut and snug them down to cure.

Voila! no wasted JB epoxy!

jeff2space said:

Location of CJ's ShapeShifter: next to a pond of angry geese. There is a nice bench there though to sit whenever you want to visit it.

Click to expand...

Man that sucks. Break out the chain saw? I'll take the firewood.

That'll learn ya to never let Tim 'borrow' a rocket from you!:tongue:

Still chilly up north? Wearing a jacket? Supposed to be 80 something tomorrow down here!Oh, now they say it is supposed to be 91!

Carry on with the build 'Grand Master Rocket Builder'!:wink:

blackjack2564 said:

So I let Tim "borrow" it AND of course he puts the biggest motor that will fit

PS :your on your own if ya let him "borrow" one of yours.

Click to expand...

So what your saying is I should hide this wild thang extreme when Tim's around?



please teach us more Master building stuff. I always learn something new.

Only if the term "borrow" arises, then run like he$$ and hide it.:y:




Jon.... 2 days ago western Ohio & Pa got 16in of snow! Needless to say it's chilly & I wish I was in Savannah!

blackjack2564 said:

Jon.... 2 days ago western Ohio & Pa got 16in of snow! Needless to say it's chilly & I wish I was in Savannah!

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Dang!

Had a little bit of 'excitement' yesterday afternoon in Savannah..Smoke WAS real thick and I drove over the bridge on I-16 with a loaded tanker while it was blazing below the bridge!:eyepop:

Time to get the rest of the dirty work out of the way.

Sand fins and slots to fit, numbering them for later.

Sand the root edge of all fins for interior & exterior fillets.

Sand on each side of slots for exterior fillet adhesion & drill holes if you are going to inject.

Finally sand the interior of airframe where all CR's will be in contact .

Dry fit/adjust fins on MM tube.

Fit lower fins between the CR's you've tacked earlier. If ya did it right they fit, if not adjust and re-tack with CA.[mine fit!]


Do the same with upper set and Y-harness, making sure the Kevlar does not interfere with fins.

I remove fins, place assembly into rocket, insert fins just to be sure it all works before I glue!

Remove assembly and encapsulate both Kevlar shock cord ends [or just one if you are doing it that way], making sure they won't interfere with fin placement or get epoxy where fins will hit MM-tube.
One of the reasons I draw lines through the slots on MM when dry fitting, & number everything.

Then epoxy fillet the inside of middle CR's and top of top CR. Don't want epoxy where any part of fins touch assembly or they won't seat correctly when it's time to tack them on permanently.

Here's where I'm deviating from my norm, not going to inject this time....Going to Double Dip. Yep something new. LOL

Mixed up JB Weld slathered it on the root of fin, stuck into slot, mushed it down.
Remove fin, slather some more JB on root and carefully push into final position against MM tube. Checking to be sure I'm tight to tube. [lines drawn previously on side of fins for that] Double Dip!

Didn't do the normal bottom 3, let cure, chip clips and straight edge to align top 3. Just did all 6 at once and put the evil alignment eye to them. Came out perfect! I did check on them every 1/2 hour till they set. Good thing I did 1 slipped a bit & had to be pushed tight again.

Set it all aside to cure for the night.

You can tell in the last pic, I got some good size, beefy, internal fillets this way.

blackjack2564 said:

Dang, I least I can go visit it, now that I know where it is!



Gheesz where is Diane D when we need her? That's is one crazy tree climbing woman. She could get it!

Click to expand...

If its within the range of the WOOSH poles, it should get recovered this coming Saturday.

chadrog said:

If its within the range of the WOOSH poles, it should get recovered this coming Saturday.

Click to expand...

We tried with Mike Dyble's poles (which I think are longer but I'm not sure) and it's not even close. It's worth a shot though.

mannyskid said:

We tried with Mike Dyble's poles (which I think are longer but I'm not sure) and it's not even close. It's worth a shot though.

Click to expand...

Not good news.:sad:

Oh well, it is what it is. Like I said we need that tree climber Diane, she'd get it down!

On to the external fillets.

I'll use my latest trick for keeping the fillets neat. Using a 1/2 in. diam section of PVC pipe, darken edge with magic marker. Then by rubbing same in the V-groove it will leave exact marks where the tape should go to get a nice clean edge on the fillets. It will take several times coating the edge with the marker to get it done.

Finally tape to the edges so all the excess slop is on the tape instead of the airframe or fins.

I'm using the black high temp Pro-Line epoxy for this. Not for it resistance to temp, but for the ease of pulling nice smooth fillets & fairly fast set time.

Just a dream to work with once you get over having to weigh it out to measure.
For these fillets I started with 11grams resin & 2 grams hardener, with the 1/2 tool I'm using to smooth them out, it was way too much epoxy. I actually just used the graduated ml marks on the standard small mixing cups.

I had the NC & couple ready along with the coupler & vent band, just in case so I didn't waste any. Good thing I did.

Anyhow for the next 2 sets of fillets 6grams of resin and a tad over 1 gram hardener was the ticket. As long as your tool is the same diam. should work for anyone.

Poured epoxy into V-groove as evenly as possible.

Then spread it fairly well with mixing stick.

Pull fillets with one smooth stroke, maintaining the same even pressure throughout.

Finally remove the tape, with this stuff I do it right after I pull the fillets, no need to wait. It doesn't lift the edges like West with 406 added.

Depending on the temperature, you should have 15-20 min. pot life, and 1-2 hrs before you can rotate to do another set. It was 72 in the shop. Full cure in about 24.

As mentioned had the coupler/av-bay and vent band ready to use the excess epoxy on.

Coupler 7in. mark 3in to center vent band.

Slide band to mark and draw line around circumference of coupler on both sides.

tape around 1 line and sand between tape and line for adhesion of epoxy. Sand interior or vent band also. I always forget this part to the last minute it seems, after I've mixed the epoxy! Lol

Smear a thin band of glue around the coupler and slide band into position while slowly twisting it to distribute the epoxy.

Had to fake last pic, wasn't going to get any black goo on my new camera.

Pull off the tape & excess glue, set aside to cure.

Big Ooooppps....

Right after above post I realized I forgot this......


Before doing anything to the fincan,first thing, use it as a marking template. Stick the coupler/av-bay into the fincan, and mark all 3 slots onto coupler for use later, as vent hole locations.

Then transfer those lines onto the vent band, so you have vent locations perfectly at 120 degrees apart, with no measuring needed!

That's a great idea for doing the vent holes. Thanks!!

You can see the dark epoxy now [left over fillet material].
Drilled 3 vent holes on previously marked positions.
5/32 bit it the ticket. [This size has been working on 7in. bays 54mm for years now]

Spent some time fitting & rotating each end of coupler/Av-bay into payload section, until I got a position that gave me the tightest fit between them. Then used a tiny bit the key mark the position. Drill into the joint just deep enough to be seen through paint.
Repeated fitting the Av-bay into fincan, same way and marked it also.


I'm using 2 plastic rivets to hold Av-bay into payload. Marked positions 180 degrees [opposite side] apart, 1.5 in. from edge of airframe. Drilled hole with 5/32 bit, insert rivet, then drill the other hole.


Finally drill [1/8in bit] an airframe vent hole in the middle of payload , 8in. from either end.

Then OOpps I did what I never have before..... forgot to check where my marks were before I drilled. Yep I drilled 1 hole in vent band PERFECTLY aligned with a rivet. Oh Well.... it's there now .......& it is, what it is. LOL!
Figured I should mention it,before someone points that out. That one will get some turbulence.