New scratch build, the Jersey Bomber

What the HECK is wrong with me??? As if I don't already have enough rockets and projects, now I'm planning another one! Sheesh!

Anyway, this will be a 4" Mosquito upscale that I'm calling "The Jersey Bomber". The nickname came up in a Google search, and apparently it's slang for a large mosquito. This one will be 4" diameter, 32" tall (I'm stretching it a bit), have 1/4" plywood fins, a 38mm motor mount, and a fiberglass elliptical nose cone. I think it'll be a fun build, even if I don't need another rocket! I haven't decided on colors or graphics yet.



View attachment Mosquito_4in.ork

That should be a fun build as well as a great flying rocket.How about a candy apple red and blue metal flake?

Hey, metallic blue and red sound good. It'll go with the decal.

I like it!

That's a winner,Stickershock decal?You should look at Duplicolor's different options,there's a metal flake for both colors.

Just playing around.

Cool! I always love your builds and build threads. You just have a way of doing them that makes them that enjoyable to read. I often read through your build threads -- even if I've already read them many times, to just entertain myself. I can't wait to enjoy yet another one of your builds alongside you and the rest of TRF!!

rocketgeek101 said:

Cool! I always love your builds and build threads. You just have a way of doing them that makes them that enjoyable to read. I often read through your build threads -- even if I've already read them many times, to just entertain myself. I can't wait to enjoy yet another one of your builds alongside you and the rest of TRF!!

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Why thank you! That's very kind of you to say!

I had some problems with the fin template in Open Rocket, so I had to get creative.

I have a 4" LOC body tube that has some wrinkles in it. I decided to see if I could save it. I sanded the wrinkles a bit, applied some Bondo spot putty, and sanded that off.

I think it'll be okay. That Bondo spot putty sure sands easy, but I still hate sanding.

I used BCC0412 Inferno Red Met,a Chrysler color.I got it at AutoZone.I see that's it made in Cleveland. A 8oz. can a little pricey,but nice finish.They had a lot to chose from.Is the metalSpecks a two part process?

This will be a neat rocket to watch build.
Leter rip!

JP

cjp said:

I used BCC0412 Inferno Red Met,a Chrysler color.I got it at AutoZone.I see that's it made in Cleveland. A 8oz. can a little pricey,but nice finish.They had a lot to chose from.Is the metalSpecks a two part process?

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What did you use the metallic red on? I can't find any instructions for the Metal Specks paint. I don't know if there's a special undercoat or not.

qquake2k said:

What did you use the metallic red on? I can't find any instructions for the Metal Specks paint. I don't know if there's a special undercoat or not.

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I used Rust-olium primer under the Dupilcolor,but that was a mistake.Make sure you use Duplicolor primer to play it safe.The staff at Autozone should answer any questions.The nose cone on my "Vapors"is painted with that color.Put Future on as a top coat.

qquake2k said:

I still hate sanding.

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NO....REALLY? I thought everybody loved sanding. :wink: :lol:
Whats the span on them legs?
The DP-red is what I used on my "Ball-Buststar".WICKED nice color!
Anywhoo..That bugger will be a head turner.
A scratcher that will give you an itch ,the more you scratch this one the more you itch???????
I dont know, .......to early to be witty .....:yawn:

Got the centering rings cut out with a 4-1/4" hole saw, and sized on the lathe. The center holes were cut with a 1-9/16" hole saw.

qquake2k said:

I think it'll be okay. That Bondo spot putty sure sands easy, but I still hate sanding.

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But not as much as paint ..... Looking good.

I sanded the center holes with the Dremel until they fit snugly. Got the rail button blocks epoxied to the centering rings, and the blocks for the tee-nuts. I was going to use a forged eyebolt, but decided to use a u-bolt instead.

Duplicolor Metal Specs paint is a single can, their Metalcast line uses an undercoat - both very nice products.

Another great build in the works! Always enjoy your build threads. Very informative.

Got the rail button blocks sanded. Made a backing plate for the u-bolt out of a piece of 3/4" x 1/8" aluminum bar. And got the tee-nuts put in.

While probably not necessary, I staked the ends of the u-bolt with a center punch. Then coated the u-bolt nuts and tee-nuts with epoxy.

Agreed on the DupliColor MetalSpecs. I am a bar and I had no problems with them. I used the DupliColor filler primer (gray) then DupliColor Sandable (white) then MetalSpecs. I am very happy with the results. I have NOT clear coated any of my rockets yet! I don't like taking the risk of destroying my work on the last step.
Cool build, paint scheme & name.

I'm using 1/4" birch plywood for the fins. Ever the frugal (cheap) one, I always try to save as much of the material as possible. So I cut a portion off of the plywood that I didn't need for the fins. As usual, I pinned the blanks together with 1/4" dowels, so I could cut and sand them together.

It was an easy matter to cut the round ends of the fins with the bandsaw.

Nice repair! Will the Bondo reinforce the weakness that the crinkle made in the tube? Are you going to slip a coupler on the inside of this repair to reinforce it?

Using my stationary belt/disc sander, i match sanded the fins, then made the last cuts. I gave the sides an initial sanding with my cordless sander.

I really hope you won't be dissatisfied with your choice of colors. That hard red on that hard blue is something we discouraged people from choosing when I was in the sign business. We had sample signs all over the place showing folks what the right choices were VS the....not so right. The blue & red made reading the text way harder than using text on a more contrasting background. Might check with Mark @ Stickershock for his opinion. Just some graphic food for thought. Love your drippy font!