New North Coast SA Archer Build

Allllrightyy then. Was very excited to get a grip on this revised NCR edition of the SA Archer a short while ago and began construction recently. Upon first inspection, the box and parts look just great. Instructs are clear and concise. the only minor issue I had was that one of the decal sheets was put inside a clear baggie with some other parts so it had a slight bend on it which was resolved by placing it under some heavy books to flatten out. It's worth mentioning only because the packager should know that when you do try to flatten that decal sheet, you have to actually peel the decal open from one corner then press it down to then eliminate any air bubble that got in there when it was bent.



I know a lot of folks are using these motor retainers like aeropak or whatever, but I've been using the old school T-Nuts and screw/clip combos for quite awhile now. So first thing was to build the motor mount using a couple guides that are provided to give you the correct distance between the lower two motor mount plywood rings which is critical so as not to interfere with the thru-the-wall fin tabs. There is a nice picture showing the presumably temporary guides in place with CA(a giveaway for temporary placement) on the motor mount and the placement of the two rings. Each ring has a notch at the bottom that fits in to a part of the guide. The reason I mentioned presumably is that unless I missed it(which is possible), the instructs do not tell you to remove the guides once you have the correct placement for the two rings, however, there is a photo provided after the rings are in place where the guides are clearly removed. Here are a couple photos of the rings in place with one threaded T-Nut in the lower ring to take a #8 screw and a motor retainer clip.


I also started filling and sanding the lower fins and carefully cut the extra plastic off the nose cone for a smooth finish. More updates to come, as well as updates on that Q-Modeling Andromeda, thanks for tuning in!

I have one of these that is done with the exception of paint. They are really cool looking rockets and should fly great.

Definitely captured my interest, I love NCR kits especially the SA-14 Archer.

Thanks folks- another update as I finished up the motor mount and steel cable attachment. Pretty straight forward as the only concern is where the loop end of the steel cable will end up near the front end of the main tube(zipper fears!). I shortened the cable slightly and added a quicklink(not shown yet). The instructions have you attach your kevlar cord and your elastic cord directly to the end of the steel cable loop but I prefer to put them onto a quicklink which has less chance of cutting either one of them with pressure. I plan on running a lengthy nomex sleeve all the way down the steel cable to cover the steel loops at each end.


I also applied some CA to the front end of the main tube for strength then sanded it down smooth. Here is a pic of the motor mount with steel cable loops and quicklink. Also, I show the supplied black length of nylon shock cord and the white longer piece I decided to substitute for the shorter black length. The yellow kevlar is described as an "amarid" line and is also tied to the quick link and will connect with the upper section via Screw eye along with the elastic shock cord.

A little more progress today as I cut the strakes to size. Instructs have you simply put the pieces together in a stack them make a mark one inch from the end and cut down to the corner on each end. I made two stacks of two and cut them with my x-acto razor saw. Now to sand and fill and prepare for gluing to the main tube after the main fins are on...

Good day today to sand and fill the strakes. This baby almost falls together. The strakes are great quality as mine are all nice and straight. I used the Elmers wood filler mixed with a bit of water and applied using a small foamy on a stick. I sanded first with 150 grit and then will hit them with a finer sand down and they should be ready to go on.

Yahoo, more progress- I took a length of 220 sandpaper and held it against the main tube sandpaper side up and slowly ran each root edge of the strakes along the sandpaper to get the root edge more curved like the main tube. This really does help get a good fit with fins this thick.
Next was to epoxy in one main fin. I added some 15 minute epoxy to the root edge of the through the wall fin tab and added Titebond yellow glue to just the root edge of the fin at the front and back edges which touch the outer main tube. I'll be using my old BSD fin alignment guide as shown to help keep the fins aligned properly, but mostly I'm going old school with my eyeball for the alignment, nothing too fancy here.

Ok, moving along here, got the four big main fins attached. Used 15 min epoxy on the thru the wall tabs and Titebond yellow glue on the root edges that touch the outer main tube. Then just got started attaching the strakes. I first scraped some of the wax off on the main tube where each strake will glue down and applied a thin line of yellow glue along the root edge of the strake and applied. The Titebond glue gives you just enough time to align the strakes nicely into position. Two more to go...

Great build and a very nice looking kit ! I need to get one for myself.

I was wondering ,or perhaps i missed it ,but are those strakes plywood or are they Balsa ?

Keep up the fine work !

Cheers

Paul T

sodmeister said:

Great build and a very nice looking kit ! I need to get one for myself.

I was wondering ,or perhaps i missed it ,but are those strakes plywood or are they Balsa ?

Keep up the fine work !

Cheers

Paul T

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Hi Paul! Yeah, this is kind of interesting as the main fins are a nice solid 1/8 inch plywood, but the strakes are a big 1/4 inch balsa. I really like that idea and overall I'm loving building this thing. I'm definitely wanting another to stash for awhile, it's really great! Just doing a lot of gluing fillets on the Big Andromeda btw, hope to update that build soon...

Dseter said:

Hi Paul! Yeah, this is kind of interesting as the main fins are a nice solid 1/8 inch plywood, but the strakes are a big 1/4 inch balsa. I really like that idea and overall I'm loving building this thing. I'm definitely wanting another to stash for awhile, it's really great! Just doing a lot of gluing fillets on the Big Andromeda btw, hope to update that build soon...

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Hmmmm...Balsa ? I would have thought plywood like the main fins.

Keep up the good work ,and post often please :wink:

PS- I can hardly wait for the weather to turn around up here so I can get my Andromeda painted.

Take care


Paul t

Ok, you betcha, more progress here. I got the four strakes attached and now it's time for glue fillets. I was pondering the bigger thickness balsa strakes and what I like about them is since they really can't be through the wall, if you wrap sandpaper around the main tube and run the root edge of each strake across that a few times, you get a really big surface area to glue these on to the main tube. These went on easy and I had plenty of time to align them to the main fins before the line of Titebond glue set(Kid not included).

Looking good! Are you going with the white and decals or a paint job of your own?

YUP...gonna get one of those (the Archer...not the kid LOL)

It is a great looking rocket ,no doubt about it !

The young fellow looks nice also ,and seems very pleased with the rocket build !! :wink:

Cheers


Paul T

Madison Alum said:

Looking good! Are you going with the white and decals or a paint job of your own?

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My original 4" NCR Archer has the red/white scheme so I think I'll do the same and use the kit decals. In fact, I stripped my bigger Archer last Summer, primered and painted white again and applied new vinyl decals from Mark at Stickershock. I hope to fly both of these this weekend, yahoo!

Fillet time! Started getting some fillets on all the fins now as I hope to launch this one unpainted this weekend. Just ran a bead of Titebond II down each fin and ran the finger over it to smooth it out.

Looks great! I just saw this kit on Apogee (was buying rail buttons for my Mega DRM) I think it might be my next purchase after I finish building and flying the MDRM.

OK, just finished putting on the first 1/4" launch lug and then finished the payload bay by installing the plywood bulk ring with screw eye just inside one end of the payload bay.

Looks very nice so far................ I have one of the original NCR kits in the basement still and my Level 1 was accomplished with the Public Enemy Version of the SA-14 Archer Last June in Wisconsin....... Mine is 4" Dia and about 64" tall. I will be posting my documentation on the repair of it soon.

I love that model ... and I am sure you will love yours !!!

Glasspack said:

Looks very nice so far................ I have one of the original NCR kits in the basement still and my Level 1 was accomplished with the Public Enemy Version of the SA-14 Archer Last June in Wisconsin....... Mine is 4" Dia and about 64" tall. I will be posting my documentation on the repair of it soon.

I love that model ... and I am sure you will love yours !!!

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Cool, sounds good, will be looking for your post! Just finished securing the 1/4" lugs on this one and it's basically ready for paint. I think I'll run a flat bead of Titebond II yellow glue along the top of each strake also for added strength. Got a nice 12" nomex sleeve to cover the steel loop and help keep the chute from tangling in there. Can't wait to let this one rip, probably on an F-50 at least, yahoo!
Would love to get started on my 2.6 inch Nike X but can't seem to reach Scott at K and S Rockets for an update on the cut parts, hope he's ok...

Awesome looking Archer!

OK, launch was a bit of a bust as rain and winds took over before I could let 'er rip. But on a good note I started painting primer over the last couple days. Will be adding coats of basic white primer and gloss with sanding in between, more pics to come!

I was just reading over the instructions for this kit and your build, I am planning on making this one of my next builds and have a question about the payload bay/Nose cone. In the instructions it says to attach the parachute and shock cord to the nose cone, which with the bulkhead attached to the coupler would be impossible. Should it say attach them to the eyebolt on the payload bulkhead? And then shouldnt there be something instructing how to secure the nosecone?

dgreger said:

I was just reading over the instructions for this kit and your build, I am planning on making this one of my next builds and have a question about the payload bay/Nose cone. In the instructions it says to attach the parachute and shock cord to the nose cone, which with the bulkhead attached to the coupler would be impossible. Should it say attach them to the eyebolt on the payload bulkhead? And then shouldnt there be something instructing how to secure the nosecone?

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Hello! OK, had to get out my instructs and see what mine said- on page 5 of my instructs it shows a nice photo of the shock cord and yellow kevlar line tied to the screw eye which is attached to that bulkhead at the bottom of the payload which is what I had planned on doing for sure. Mine actually says "Tie the aramid line to the screw eye with a triple knot. Secure the know with a drop of CA. Tie the elastic line to the screw eye with a triple knot. Attach a 36" parachute to the screw eye." in the same paragraph regarding the photo.
I guess I didn't really read that part carefully until you mentioned it but that's what I was planning to do anyway.
I don't see anything in the instructs regarding securing the nose cone but I had a plan for that anyway having launched many a payload rocket. In fact, in the preparation section of the instructs they keep referring to the "nose cone" when talking about the elastic cord and parachute but I just took for granted that these are generic instructs that are included with every rocket meaning that the "nose cone" is simply the section that comes off at separation or in this case the bulkhead at the payload.
On mine I planned to add an old standard Estes shock cord mount and cord from the nose cone to inside the payload just in case they become separated during flight. You could actually glue the nose cone in place if you never want it removed from the payload but I don't like that option. I planned to simply secure mine by adding tape to the shoulder of the nose cone until a good tight fit is achieved and most importantly check that fit just before each flight as weather will affect that fit one way or the other. I'd be a little more concerned about securing the nose cone if this was a really high power bird with bigger motors but on mid-power this should be good. Hope that helps and glad you mentioned it. Oh, mine is just done with primer and getting gloss white this week, yahoo!
Oh, by the way, I planned to tie my parachute onto a loop on the elastic cord just a few inches down from the payload bay screw eye instead of onto the payload bay screw eye itself.

Dseter, thanks for clarifying. I was thinking the tape method for the nosecone or some nylon pins. I agree I would rather not glue the NC in. I guess they wrote the instructions with the mindset that most people will modify the kit to fit/suit their needs/build. Thanks for the response! Ordered mine today from Apogee along with the Birdie Rocket (Couldnt resist!)