King Kraken (L1 Certification) Build Thread

I'm building a King Kraken for use in my L1 Certification attempt this winter. I've had the kit (plus 2 baby krakens for my kids) for a while now, and It is high time I got started building it. I promised Layne I'd post a build thread, so here goes!

First up, those spirals aren't going to fill themselves, so I guess I gotta do it.



(Also, I need to remember to buy my kids more applesauce next time I'm at the store...)

Nice. NEED to get myself a proper Kraken soon! Watching with interest

I'm toying with the idea of turning the tube coupler for the main BT into a ejection baffle, maybe even trying a zipper-less design for this kraken. If I did my measurements correctly, (assuming that the longer tube is aft) that would give me about 14.5 inches for the motor tube which could accommodate up to an Areotech RMS-38/720, or a CTI 5G Pro-38 case. Since the recommended loads for the kraken fit in much shorter cases, I think I'll be okay. (I'm leaning towards flying CTI loads, but that is somewhat dependent on the on-site vendor for my club working out a distribution deal.)

I would also have about 6 inches of space in the forward end of the rocket to pack the shock cord, chute, and my altimeter2. It might be a tight fit, but I tested it yesterday, and it's doable.

Of course, I might just scrap that plan, build the kit as instructed, throw in a nomex blanket for wadding, and call it a day.

Salvage-1 said:

Nice. NEED to get myself a proper Kraken soon! Watching with interest

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I hope you're not holding your breath, I can see this build going very slowly. (It's taken me a month just to get started.) I have 3 months until my first potential certification flight date.

Jumping ahead a little bit until I decide what to do about that "baffling" issue, I chose to do some prep work on the nose cone.

Unlike the esteemed Mr. Pemberton, I have had little luck with using unorthodox cutting implements with my rockets, (I guess my melon-baller just isn't sharp enough.) so I had to resort to the more traditional x-acto blade in the following squidly canard insertion procedure.

One of my wife's tape measures is pressed into service to mark the forward cutting point, then one of the canards is used to measure the aft point. This is repeated on each side of the nose cone using the mold lines as a guide.


The x-acto knife is used to remove material over the course of a 42 minute episode of Farscape on NetFlix. (You may also notice that the molding lines are a lot less prominent.)


The squidly canards are inserted for a test-fit. I need to shape them and pick up some epoxy at the hobby shop before they are permanently attached.

Thank you for sharing your build! I Wonder if I've seen you at LUNAR launches. I'm the tall guy with crazy gliders and a sane 3-year-old daughter in tow.

Ari.

rbelknap said:

(Also, I need to remember to buy my kids more applesauce next time I'm at the store...)

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Applesauce filler? YUMMY!:rofl:

Awesome kit! Eagerly awaiting more progress!

iter said:

Thank you for sharing your build! I Wonder if I've seen you at LUNAR launches. I'm the tall guy with crazy gliders and a sane 3-year-old daughter in tow.

Ari.

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Hey, did I ever send you the photos and videos I took of your RC boost glider at the last LUNAR launch?

Good start.....

maybe you should sharpen you melon-baller?
:tongue:

qquake2k said:

Hey, did I ever send you the photos and videos I took of your RC boost glider at the last LUNAR launch?

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No, but I wants them! ari [swirl] 30pins.com

Ari.

Pantherjon said:

Applesauce filler? YUMMY!:rofl:

Awesome kit! Eagerly awaiting more progress!

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Wouldn't this belong in "Have your rocket and eat it too?

rbelknap said:

The x-acto knife is used to remove material over the course of a 42 minute episode of Farscape on NetFlix.

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Good choice!! Sure you aint making a Moya?

Salvage-1 said:

Good choice!! Sure you aint making a Moya?

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I have actually considered trying to do a Moya PMC and make it flyable. I'm not sure enough with my modeling skills to attempt that just yet. I suppose I could try a Leviathan-esque paint scheme, but I already have another idea in mind for this rocket. (Of course nothing is set until the final clear-coat goes on...)

Pantherjon said:

Applesauce filler? YUMMY!:rofl:

Awesome kit! Eagerly awaiting more progress!

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Not sure how filling the applesauce would be. (My kids are always asking for more, so it obviously doesn't fill them up.) I've found the cups (after being rinsed out) make great little mixing containers for paint, CWF, etc.

blackbrandt said:

Wouldn't this belong in "Have your rocket and eat it too?

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I think it would, at that. I also would have enjoyed seeing that launched with an experimental sugar motor.

iter said:

Thank you for sharing your build! I Wonder if I've seen you at LUNAR launches. I'm the tall guy with crazy gliders and a sane 3-year-old daughter in tow.

Ari.

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I think so, I certainly remember your gliders. I spent the day working the Saftey Check table at the June Moffett launch. I had my 2 boys with me at the May launch. (If you check the May gallery, that's my crashed Future Launch Vehicle near the top.)

The cups and the big yogurt containers, not only are they good for holding small parts, but if you don't need it, shove a centering ring and a body tube in the top and 3-2-1 Launch! Oh yah, you need a Huge Cesaroni 6XL in there as well.

Pem Tech said:

Good start.....

maybe you should sharpen you melon-baller?
:tongue:

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Probably, but even with a sharpened melon baller, I still haven't worked out how you get those nice straight cuts. :tongue:

rbelknap said:

I spent the day working the Saftey Check table at the June Moffett launch. I had my 2 boys with me at the May launch. (If you check the May gallery, that's my crashed Future Launch Vehicle near the top.)

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The parachute comes out but fails to inflate? It's a beautiful build, crash notwithstanding. I want to help out with club duties, but I'm afraid my daughter gets bored too easily--I'm glad she wants to come fly rockets at all, asking her to wait while I help other people fly is too much. Maybe when she's a little bit older...

Are you on the LUNAR facebook page?

Now about them videos...

Ari.

iter said:

The parachute comes out but fails to inflate? It's a beautiful build, crash notwithstanding. I want to help out with club duties, but I'm afraid my daughter gets bored too easily--I'm glad she wants to come fly rockets at all, asking her to wait while I help other people fly is too much. Maybe when she's a little bit older...

Are you on the LUNAR facebook page?

Now about them videos...

Ari.

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The ejection charge fired after the rocket impacted the Tarmac. I never did get a good flight out of it. I still want to build another one at some point.

I hear you about trying to work a launch with kids in tow, that's why my boys weren't at the last one.

No, I'm not on Facebook, but I am on the LUNAR mailing lists.

iter said:

No, but I wants them! ari [swirl] 30pins.com

Ari.

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I just emailed the photos to you. Sorry it took so long!

Thank you for the photos! I'm posting them in the SkyFun thread.

Ari.

Not as much done today as I would have liked. We took the boys to the beach. Oh, and I got distracted by my secret Santa gift. (I needed something to take my mind off all the sanding I'm needing to do.) I really layed the CWF on too thick, again. I need to find a better method to fill spirals. (Gah, and I still have the interior spirals to fill once I cut the tube fins.)

Made some progress yesterday, will post details with photos later this evening.

Playing with OpenRocket during lunch. I grabbed the Kraken RockSim file from Pem Tech's website and loaded it in to OR to run some simulations with different motors.

I'm picturing a CTI H143 Smoky Sam for its dark, ink-like trail. If I've set the simulations correctly, an 8 second delay puts chute deployment just a hair before apogee right around 2,340 ft. Hope it isn't too windy on launch day, or I'm in for a long walk...

Maybe I should sim some different loads and see what happens. (Low-n-slow for a cert. flight would be a-ok with me.)

2K should be much of a walk, even up to about 15mph wind gusts. Perfect looking setup for the L1

Yeah, I simmed some more motors (both CTI and AT.) That SS with an 8 second delay deploys closer to apogee than anything else I tried out. Of course, I should run the tests again once I have my KK built and the final weights and CG put in.

Throwing a guess out that the final build will be about 5-10% heavier than the RockSim file suggests (based on my epoxy based stuff) then the apogee should be lower and therefore event will be after apogee based on same delay times. All depends on how you build and what chute you choose.
Preparing for getting the same kit, I have been playing with Rocksim and settled on my fav, the H225WT-9, but may change to SS or SK

Good plan. Smokies for the squideriferousness! H-143 should do you well!

Later!

--Coop

Hey Layne, I have a question about the mystery CD; There are 2 versions of the King Kraken rocksim file on here:
One is "king Kraken Productionaltered.rkt" with a date of May 12th 2009.
The other is "king Kraken Production.rkt" with a date of Sept. 7th 2009.

The only difference I see is the width of the fins, thus affecting the mass and the CG calculations. Which one is closer to reality? (For what it's worth, the "unaltered" one (9/7/2009) seems to match the one I downloaded from your website.)

rbelknap said:

Hey Layne, I have a question about the mystery CD; There are 2 versions of the King Kraken rocksim file on here:
One is "king Kraken Productionaltered.rkt" with a date of May 12th 2009.
The other is "king Kraken Production.rkt" with a date of Sept. 7th 2009.

The only difference I see is the width of the fins, thus affecting the mass and the CG calculations. Which one is closer to reality? (For what it's worth, the "unaltered" one (9/7/2009) seems to match the one I downloaded from your website.)

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Yeah, go with the September 2009 file. There were some questions about the cross section and mass of the tubes so the other one was whipped up. I'll have to remove it and re-burn the CD's.
You wouldn't believe some of the alterations I've been asked about: extending the airframe, adding Ebays, changing the tube length and diameter, cluster mounts etc... etc...

We love it....

:grin: