Started building a Wildman's 3" Darkstar this week. Since it has been well documented in CJ's thread, I won't be going into great detail with this thread. I'm using his thread starting at post # 95 where he finally decides to do a "mostly" stock build, with some trimming of the components to improve performance. The main reason for this thread is to show others how a relatively inexperienced fiberglass builder interprets CJ's massive thread and uses it for my third fiberglass build. My first Wildman rocket was the DS Jr. which I built last year. I documented my second build "Energizer Bunny" here:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?48279-The-Energizer-Bunny
I started this build with lots of sanding. Using 60, 80 and 120 grit sandpaper I sanded body tubes to match up with the N/C and switch band. Sanded centering rings to fit on the MMT, they were already small enough to fit inside the fincan, so that saved me some work. Sanded bulkheads on one side so the epoxy would bond well for my avbay ends. Forgot to sand the smaller BH's to fit inside the avbay coupler, so I had to go back and file them down after I had glued them together.
I built the N/C just like CJ describes in his post # 100 and continues for about 20 posts..... I used one of the smaller black bulkheads because it was big enough to fit over the end of the short coupler for the N/C. Then I cut out a smaller BH from 1/8" plywood that fit inside the coupler and drilled a 1/4" hole to match. I got my eyenut from Fastenal, couldn't find it anywhere else. Bought some extras for future builds. I also used them in my bunny and DS Jr.
When I set up the epoxy station in the laundry room, I actually started taking pictures:
By that time I had matched up my joints pretty well and marked them with a silver sharpie:
I skipped over a bunch of posts about adapters and jumped back in at post #134 to start fitting the MMT together. Here is my MMT with the 3/8" kevlar routed through the slots in the top CR and all the other CR's fit according to CJ's suggestions starting at post #145:
To get here, I had fitted the fins and Ca'ed the CR's in place after sanding the MMT with 60 grit, and attached the Aeropac adapter with JB weld. After starting a thread about snap ring motors, I decided not to adjust my MMT to accommodate the larger thrust ring on LOKI motor tubes. This was addressed in CJ's post # 165. If I ever do fly a LOKI motor, I will get the 54mm cases that are made with thinner thrust rings. I also taped off the BT and fins for the external fillets.
Next, I mixed up some Proline 4500 hi-temp. epoxy to fillet the CR's in place and sandwich the Kevlar to the MMT. First batch was 5x the 5.5 to 1 ratio for 32.5 grams of epoxy. Finally got to use my little scale for mixing up small batches of epoxy by weight, not like I did on the DS Jr. I used plastic spoons to move the resin from the can, and a syringe to add the hardener to separate little plastic cups that you get applesauce in:
When I added the resin to the hardener, there was still a little resin left in the first cup, so I added a little extra before mixing it up for a while. Then I spread it onto the MMT:
I had enough to glue the avbay lids together too, and was surprised how little mess I had made when done:
When I fitted the MMT in with all the CR's in place, I noticed that it was loose enough to wobble around at the aft end, so when I started gluing all the fins in place I screwed on the tailcone, which has a notch at it's leading edge that matches up with the BT:
This kept the MMT perfectly centered while I stuck all the fins in place. The next step was installing the fins, so I measured out a smaller batch of Proline to butter the fin roots, and started at the back with the aft fins. Using a cardboard fin guide, I slid the aft fins in place and fit the fin guide in place to hold them straight. Got a little ahead of myself and didn't check CJ's thread before I did this, or I would have used a little CA glue to hold them while they dried. No, I had more epoxy, so I went ahead and stuck the forward fins in too, and clamped it all down. Fortunately, the fin guide held everything tight and when I checked the lines I had drawn while fitting the fins, everything stayed in place.
Today I'm injecting internal fillets using West Systems 105/205 epoxy with chopped carbon fiber added. This weekend I will probably be doing the external fillets with Proline, and I will post up my progress then.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?48279-The-Energizer-Bunny
I started this build with lots of sanding. Using 60, 80 and 120 grit sandpaper I sanded body tubes to match up with the N/C and switch band. Sanded centering rings to fit on the MMT, they were already small enough to fit inside the fincan, so that saved me some work. Sanded bulkheads on one side so the epoxy would bond well for my avbay ends. Forgot to sand the smaller BH's to fit inside the avbay coupler, so I had to go back and file them down after I had glued them together.
I built the N/C just like CJ describes in his post # 100 and continues for about 20 posts..... I used one of the smaller black bulkheads because it was big enough to fit over the end of the short coupler for the N/C. Then I cut out a smaller BH from 1/8" plywood that fit inside the coupler and drilled a 1/4" hole to match. I got my eyenut from Fastenal, couldn't find it anywhere else. Bought some extras for future builds. I also used them in my bunny and DS Jr.
When I set up the epoxy station in the laundry room, I actually started taking pictures:
By that time I had matched up my joints pretty well and marked them with a silver sharpie:
I skipped over a bunch of posts about adapters and jumped back in at post #134 to start fitting the MMT together. Here is my MMT with the 3/8" kevlar routed through the slots in the top CR and all the other CR's fit according to CJ's suggestions starting at post #145:
To get here, I had fitted the fins and Ca'ed the CR's in place after sanding the MMT with 60 grit, and attached the Aeropac adapter with JB weld. After starting a thread about snap ring motors, I decided not to adjust my MMT to accommodate the larger thrust ring on LOKI motor tubes. This was addressed in CJ's post # 165. If I ever do fly a LOKI motor, I will get the 54mm cases that are made with thinner thrust rings. I also taped off the BT and fins for the external fillets.
Next, I mixed up some Proline 4500 hi-temp. epoxy to fillet the CR's in place and sandwich the Kevlar to the MMT. First batch was 5x the 5.5 to 1 ratio for 32.5 grams of epoxy. Finally got to use my little scale for mixing up small batches of epoxy by weight, not like I did on the DS Jr. I used plastic spoons to move the resin from the can, and a syringe to add the hardener to separate little plastic cups that you get applesauce in:
When I added the resin to the hardener, there was still a little resin left in the first cup, so I added a little extra before mixing it up for a while. Then I spread it onto the MMT:
I had enough to glue the avbay lids together too, and was surprised how little mess I had made when done:
When I fitted the MMT in with all the CR's in place, I noticed that it was loose enough to wobble around at the aft end, so when I started gluing all the fins in place I screwed on the tailcone, which has a notch at it's leading edge that matches up with the BT:
This kept the MMT perfectly centered while I stuck all the fins in place. The next step was installing the fins, so I measured out a smaller batch of Proline to butter the fin roots, and started at the back with the aft fins. Using a cardboard fin guide, I slid the aft fins in place and fit the fin guide in place to hold them straight. Got a little ahead of myself and didn't check CJ's thread before I did this, or I would have used a little CA glue to hold them while they dried. No, I had more epoxy, so I went ahead and stuck the forward fins in too, and clamped it all down. Fortunately, the fin guide held everything tight and when I checked the lines I had drawn while fitting the fins, everything stayed in place.
Today I'm injecting internal fillets using West Systems 105/205 epoxy with chopped carbon fiber added. This weekend I will probably be doing the external fillets with Proline, and I will post up my progress then.
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