I'm go'n "OLD SCHOOL Cardboard" fun flyer with "Crazy Jim" seal of approval build!

Yuuup....you read it right, I'm building a scratch cardboard fun flyer. I haven't done this in 6yrs!

I want a light weight ,flies on 24-29-38mm motors, kewl looking rocket. One that will scoot on cheap little motors, & gets the "Crazy Jim" seal of approval. I have always been fond of rockets with the tube transitions going from one size to another

Also has to be dual de-ploy for the new RRC3 altimeter AND........

........designing a new Av-bay utilizing the LOC transition reducer/coupler. This one being the 3in to 54mm like the Norad uses. I have figured out a rather simple solution to doing it. Basically sticking a 54mm av-bay into the reducer. More on that later.

This will be built from "stuff" left over from everywhere. It started with an upper section Wildman gave me from a crashed Little Deeter" & more stuff from my pile of Cr@$ plus a couple of fins and tubes I got from LOC.


I will be using some techniques from fiberglass rockets and some new ones I've come up with for cardboard. I also have this new type of rocket epoxy 1 to 1 mix that is VERY interesting. I'm doing some proto work with it & it's looking GREAT.

It's called Rocketpoxy and is tintable to many colors!

This came with the black.


Here the specs on this new stuff and more pics. It already comes with fillers added for gluing and fillets. Not for laminating...it's too thick. But it does not cure rock hard, it has a bit of give, according to the specs 6%

More about all this as the build goes on. I like it cause it sticks to plastic which I needed for the transition to work.

Soooooo...........let the fun begin............... OLD SCHOOL STYLE! :smile:

I don't even know how large the motors this thing will hold. Just begin to build and see what happens. Ya'll will have to follow along to see what it will look like.....didn't bother with a sim file.



First:
Fincan will be 3in LOC tubing. I got a 2ft section so that will do. Dug out an OLD fin guide marker & marked off positions for 3 fins.

Then dusted off my old angle for marking lines and cutting slots. I use rubber bands to hold in place while marking/cutting.

Lazy..... so after drawing all 3 lines. I use a fin to get slot thickness. Just hold it against the angle and trace the other side.....done.

Fin slot is 1/2 from edge of tube and only a partial tab....saving weight here. I forgot just how easy it is to cut slots, especially if you use the metal angle for a guide.
All told the whole process took 45 minutes.

Now you are talking!

I like the do as you go attitude... Makes it more fun.

Great looking build so far, like the fins :3

I like this already. Continue...

Hey old man, I just got the parts to replace my 7.5" Standard Arm,all Loc paper of course!! See you in 3 weeks at Orangeburg??

grouch said:

Now you are talking!

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Rockets talk...........people mumble! LOL

Orion14ed said:

I like the do as you go attitude... Makes it more fun.

Great looking build so far, like the fins :3

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Even I don't know what it will turn out like yet. Kinda.............Sorta...

MasonH said:

I like this already. Continue...

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Continue we shall.........

jimzcatz said:

Hey old man, I just got the parts to replace my 7.5" Standard Arm,all Loc paper of course!! See you in 3 weeks at Orangeburg??

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Sorry buddy I sure do miss you sorry b@$trd$....but I'm stuck in Ohio trying to sell this house.

Here is my "old school" fin beveling jig, so simple a caveman could make it.
Just a scrap board and paint stirrer C-clamped to a table, on top of some 60 grit.
Distance between the wood gives you your bevel angle. By the way these are Baltic birch 1/8in. thick, plenty strong for this.


Here from the side to see how it elevates the wood.



Just slide the fin side to side till you reach a finished bevel, first the leading edge.
View attachment 129436

Then the trailing edge.


Here's the finished product......not bad at all. I don't miss that G-10 dust one bit.
This is like a rocket building Vacation!

I forgot just how nice it is working with wood. All the CR's fit perfect with no mods!
Well this rocket is on the cheap so I ain't using no expensive motor retention. Just old style CHEEEP T-nuts, mirror clips & cap screw.Jeesh I got a whopping 4.00 in these & it's as rock solid retention as there is....of course...it's old school!!

So: Mark position for T-nuts 180 degrees apart.

Center T-nut on ring and mark through hole....no need to measure anything here!



Yep more Old School....no power tools! Drill away


Insert T-nuts, making sure the spurs are oriented away from inner edge of hole. Tap into place



Flip over and attach clips with cap screw to check fit. Perfect.....of course.LOL


Yuuup...me likey. This motor retention was cheep, quick & easy. Gets the "CJ" seal of approval!:wink:

PS oopps forgot. I put a drop of CA on back side of T-nut..where it went into hole, to keep it in place. that way ya don't worry about getting it in the threads. If your a clutz, put some grease in the thread holes to protect them from your clutz-ee-nus.

My lower airframe is only 24inches long & I want as much room for gear as possible. I cut a bare minimum length motor mount tube 6.5in long. Then peel glassiene for epoxy adhesion.
Fins have a 10in. root,but by using partial tabs to MM I have an extra 4inches of internal space available.


Notch CR for recovery Y-harness.[ borrowed from glass builds] will save a bit of weight by eliminating metal eyebolts and quicklink.


Glue up motor mount assembly & recovery Y-harness. I marked my fin positions through the slots beforehand [lines on mm tube] so I would not interfere with fin positions, with the Kevlar.

Much of the fin extends past the slot on the outside of airframe. I Must remove the glassiene layer under that and on both sides of slots for the external fillets. This allows the epoxy to soak in rather than just lay on top of airframe.


First I put fin in slot and just traced around it ,leaving a template for proper length.


Then I place the appropriate width of masking tape over the slot up to where front of fin will be. Gives me a simple guide to follow with my X-acto knife in one easy step removing the proper amount of paper. Just a very light touch is needed when cutting, only have to cut through top layer.



Catch the edge with knife and pull up glassiene to remove. Now I'm ready to instal MM & tack in the fins.

Jimmy, "peel the glassine"? Are you kidding me the great CJ doesn't know that glassine comes off with water? Just how old skewl are you? And it doesn't take much, use a wet sponge and drag it across the tube. It really does come off very easily.!

More on the new "Rocketpoxy". I really like this stuff, just scoop out the needed amount with mixing stick at a 1 resin to 1 hardener ratio. No need to weigh it, it's not that critical to be exact. I first used it to plug some large holes in BP's then drill them out for smaller tie rods.
You can mix a good amount in cup, wait about 10 minutes for it to thicken even more and plug holes, pull fillets, bond nose weight directly to plastic NC's. I glued couplers right to a LOC transition with it & it AIN"T coming out!

Cup got barely warm...similar amount of normal epoxy would have fired off in minutes and been useless.


I decided to try the supplied black dye, just a few drops , couple of stirs and this stuff was as black as it gets! Pretty good idea being able to die epoxy to match your kit color [referring to fiberglass here] Rocketpoxy has Red, Yellow, Orange, Green, Blue and many other colors available for tinting epoxy with.
One set of epoxy & a few bottles of dye and you can match all your rockets fillets!




I will give this stuff a real work out soon.... Today my 2-stage upgrade for my Vindicator came from Tim @ Wildman.

I will start a build thread on it for instructions for the JR size kits, and use this glue for much of the build.

jimzcatz said:

Jimmy, "peel the glassine"? Are you kidding me the great CJ doesn't know that glassine comes off with water? Just how old skewl are you? And it doesn't take much, use a wet sponge and drag it across the tube. It really does come off very easily.!

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But I'm not trying to remove it from the entire tube, just each side of slots.

Where I did remove it from the tube [motor mount] I did not want to wait for it to dry out or contaminate with moisture. As soon as I peeled it I began gluing .

Link to Rocketpoxy please.

SinfulDarkLord said:

Link to Rocketpoxy please.

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https://www.glenmarc.com Is the website..However the Rocketpoxy isn't listed..Guess it is still in prototype testing.

blackjack2564 said:

...just how nice it is working with wood.

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That's what she said!:rofl:

Great to see this getting started! Hurry up and sell that house so you can make the June launch in O'burg!:wink:

SinfulDarkLord said:

Link to Rocketpoxy please.

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John Olevich is the designer of this stuff.....his day job, formulating epoxy resins for various industrial purposes with GlenMarc.
He built an exotic metal rocket and needed a special glue to hold the composite fins on. Read about it here:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?39069-Accelerator-v1-1-is-progressing

starting at post 18, with results on pg 2. Mach madness project that won it.[by the way it's a glorified metal SpaceCowboy! which has won/survived 3 different mach madness event now in 3yrs! 3 different builder/fliers, but still all SpaceCowboys!]
Glue worked so well he decided to market it.

Pantherjon said:

https://www.glenmarc.com Is the website..However the Rocketpoxy isn't listed..Guess it is still in prototype testing.

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Yes & no . It's been used for glass to glass, glass to metal & a proven performer.
Now I'm doing some everyday low tech stuff.

I'm sure John will show up and give more info on this stuff for you.

qquake2k said:

I think you're having WAY too much fun with this build, CJ!

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You caught me.......yes I AM!!!!!!LOL It been awhile since building was REAL fun instead of work. This is a blast, already got a cluster 29 & 2 24mm ready to start in a G-force scratch build. Will build it so I can airstart the pair of 24mm's,it will just look like a stock G-Force.

and another 1 or 2 stewing in what's left of my brain!

Got the fins tacked in, glue is black only because I was fooling with the tint.


....................................................................................................................................
:dark: WHAT YA"LL BEEN WAITING FOR! :dark:
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Now for the real heart of this build, figuring out how to transform a stock LOC reducer/transition into a working Av-bay. Took awhile and a couple of changes as I went. It works and here it is:

Parts needed:
# 6 threaded rod
nuts--washers-wing nuts



3/16 eyebolts -2
3in bulkplate
54mm bulkplate

AND THE REAL SECRET TO MAKING THIS WORK..... Loc coupler & STIFFY coupler [54 mm]





First cut off the built in caps from each end.




Here's the only catch needed to be dealt with. Where the mold lines are, the plastic is substantially thicker on the inside. Needs to sanded out to use a ROUND BP. IF you have a Dremel or drum sander this is a minor issue. If ya don't like me, I sanded flat spots on the BP's so they fit where it's thicker.

Pantherjon said:

https://www.glenmarc.com Is the website..However the Rocketpoxy isn't listed..Guess it is still in prototype testing.

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Thanks, I will stay updated on this. Theres nothing more awesome than 1:1 mix epoxies and with dye colors available.

SinfulDarkLord said:

Thanks, I will stay updated on this. Theres nothing more awesome than 1:1 mix epoxies and with dye colors available.

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I don't know man puppies are pretty awesome.....

jsargevt said:

I don't know man puppies are pretty awesome.....

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:lol:

jsargevt said:

I don't know man puppies are pretty awesome.....

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Like this puppy?

Naah man, he means this one:

MasonH said:

Naah man, he means this one:
View attachment 129608

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Thats one awesome puppy.

SinfulDarkLord said:

Like this puppy?

View attachment 129607

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DAWWW!

MasonH said:

Naah man, he means this one:
View attachment 129608

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YIEEEGSHH! :eyepop:

MasonH said:

Naah man, he means this one:
View attachment 129608

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I'm not sure even his mother could love that face. Poor dog.

qquake2k said:

I'm not sure even his mother could love that face. Poor dog.

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That's a dog??? Where I am from that is a chupacabra.

grouch said:

That's a dog??? Where I am from that is a chupacabra.

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Those things run rampant back down in Tejas!!