QCC Explorer

[closet astronaut]

Here's one I reciently built

[closet astronaut]

Close to completion.

[closet astronaut]

It's a done deal.

[closet astronaut]

Got to do three launches, all went off flawlessly.

[Rocketbuilder]

Don't throw away those balsa leftovers; they make for an endless supply of glue applicators!
Looks like it came out pretty good. When I built mine, I decided to leave off the black stripe decals on the body tube, and the red triangles on the intake mostly out of laziness, but I was very pleased with the clean look. I just love that design! (the designer, John Boren, is on TRF, he uses the handle Jumpjet.)
What engines did you fly it on?

[KenRico]

Got to do three launches, all went off flawlessly.

Did you utilize C, D or E power on your flights ?

Kenny

[[POW]Eagle159]

I most ask, why are the pictures .GIFs ???
Thats why they are grainy and small.......


I like this rocket too, a C11-5 is perfect if you build light.

[closet astronaut]

The engines I used are D-12-3,s. As far as the photo format I had to figure out why I couldn't post pic's at first, I figured out the files were too larg, they were all MB so I found an image convertrer but haden't quite figured it out yet. But I've got it down now, I've posted in my other thread some new pics and thet look alot better, I went to converted jpeg. It's kind of a drag only being able to post five at a time here, on the other forum I'm on you can post a whopping fifteen at a time which makes from some great detailed build threads.

I'm getting better at this, I have figured out to use (15x20 cm) at 300dpi, this way you can click on the photo after the web page pulls it up and get a larger view and magnify to get those really up close views to really see the little imperfections.

Another good thing here is you can go back and edit a post at ANY time, changing potos etc. On the other forum once it's been viewed there's no editing possible.

[Aksrockets]

What did you use to seal the balsa?

Alex

[Jiffycoil]

That's a good looking rocket. Nice job filling in and painting.

[closet astronaut]

I just sanded and used white primer. Depending on what color I'm going to paint I will use the same color primer.

[Rocketbuilder]

Closet Astronaut obviously did a great job without this, but here's a tip for less skilled rocketeers such as myself: If you need to fill something that is nonstructural, such as the gaps in the intake assembly on the QCC Explorer, use paintable caulk- it works great and makes it easy to get a smooth, professional-looking finish. Just make sure the call is the paintable kind!

[closet astronaut]

I must apologize,I thought you ment just filling the fins, actually I did use a filler on the intakes, automotive body filler putty, the red stuff you use to fill the fine imperfections after sanding the bondo. Actually this stuff works great for wood. You can see it in the third photo of post two. On the fins I have found just sanding with an 80 grit to get the roughness down then using 120 grit for the smooth finish. After this I prime with a good sandable primer, then another light sanding with the 120 again, then the paint.

This is why I hate painting, sand, fill,wait for fill to dry, sand, prime, wait for prime to dry, sand again, prime again, wait for prime to dry..AGAIN, paint, wait for paint to dry, inspect for imperfections, sand bad areas, paint ..AGAIN, wait for paint to dry...AGAIN!
Blah...blah blah...blah blah.

On the Warrior I didn't even sand the fins...I was side tracked on this one, I was building this one at the same time I was rebuilding the Alas, I did both in one day, I already had them glued on before realizing I didn't sand, so I heavy primed and I figured the decals being so large would distract the viewer. But as I said before, using the size of photos for the post, you can click on the pics after pulling them up magnify and see all the bumps and roughness through the decals. Oh well, when it's ripping of the launch pad at mach 1 you'll never notice.