Going For My Canadian Level 1-3 HPR Certification! - Wildman Shape Shifter Jr...

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Got the av-bay bulkheads assembled.

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I've seen a lot of the time people glue the two discs together, but I didn't do that as the eyebolt/nuts seem to keep the discs centered and pressed together just fine.


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Yes, but throwing a drop of CA in there will keep the discs from rotating.
 
Took my HPR test today. Passed with a full 100%. Pretty pleased:) Now I've just got to get the rocket finished and FLY IT!


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In the end I didn't end up placing to order for most of the parts I needed to get in order to finish this build until last Monday; but It's now in the mail and on its way to my house. Tracking says it'll be here on the 15th:)

Among other things I not related to this build I got:

- PML adjustable density expanding foam
- Aero Pack 38 to 29mm MMT adapter (So I can fly this on some 29mm loads)
- A 54mm Airframe bulkhead so I can do the glueless NC mod.
- 4 packs of rail buttons (one of which will be used for this build).

Stay tuned... If I'm lucky, my package could arrive on friday, In which case I'll be able to resume work on the Jr. this weekend!
 
Well much to my surprise my package containing the parts I need arrived today... Considering tracking told me I'd be here on the 15th, that's pretty good!

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Reading the back of the Expanding foam bottles, I can tell it's some pretty toxic stuff. Gonna open the windows and wear proper breathing protection when I use it.


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Reading the back of the Expanding foam bottles, I can tell it's some pretty toxic stuff. Gonna open the windows and wear proper breathing protection when I use it.

it's smell nothing , actually yes but it's a nice smell
 
Alright, got lots of progress done this evening.

Installed the rail buttons and foamed the fincan.

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Foaming proved to be relatively straight forward. I practiced a bit with the foam beforehand. To get a feel for it, which was a good thing as I kind of made a mess on my first try!!

Pouring the foam into the fincan was a breeze. I didn't pour quite enough to fill the fincan completely so there's about a 3" or so of empty space between the foam and the rear CR. I considered doing a second pour, but I decided not too as it seemed kind of pointless considering the fincan is about 90% filled (and it made for a lot less foam that needed to be scrapped away in order to install the CR and Aeropack).

The fins now feel rock solid. As a matter of fact, I had a bit of an accidental "fin test". I had the booster standing on its end with the fincan section in the air when I, being a clumsy teenager, knocked into it and caused it to fall over onto the concrete floor. It landed directly on the fins with enough force to cause the whole booster section to bounce a few times (which nearly gave me a heart attack!). After picking it up and thoroughly inspecting it, I determined that no damage had been done. The fins still feel as though they've been welded on :grin:

The foam cures pretty quickly. I only waited about an hour after pouring to scrape away the excess, and by then it was all hardened up. I only ended up using about 1/4 of each bottle, so I have quite a lot left. Might just foam the mini too...

Tomorrow I'll install the rear CR and Aeropack.




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So this morning I glued on the Aeropack and rear CR. I used JB Weld on both. Everything went smoothly. The rear CR was a tad tight, so I used a rubber mallet and a wooden stick to gently tap it in.

For the first time ever, I mixed up just the right amount of epoxy for the job (though the rear CR has a slightly smaller fillet around it then I would prefer but I digress).

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Once that was all epoxied together, I put a piece of wood with a 2lb weight on the Aeropack, to make sure it stays in place while the JB Weld cures.

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And finally, as JB weld cures faster and stronger next to a heat source, I placed a light next to to it.

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That completes all of the structural work on the booster. :)

Stay tuned!:)






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So I went to my local Canadian Tire this evening, and got the various parts needed for the av-bay and Glueless NC.

I won't bother explaining the details of the Glueless NC, as CJ has already done that in his 3" Darkstar build. (An index can be found here.)

One thing to note that isn't shown in the pics, is the fit of the aluminum tip is really loose. A few wraps of masking tape took care of this, and also ensures the tip stays centred.

Here are the pics:

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The nose now weighs 330 grams. In all honesty, I expected it to come out heavier so I'm pleased.
 
Very nice! Always easier to add weight later if you need it, than try to get rid of it. With the Shapeshifter I'm sure you won't, but that nose would also fit a Jart...
 
Looking great Sabastian! I really like the NC tip.....looks BADAZZ!
 
Thanks guys.

As of today the rocket is now officially flyable!:smile: That being said, it's still far from being finished...

Ok now of the details.

I assembled the av-bay (sort of). Currently the rocket is not dual deploy capable. I did only the minimum assembly on the av-bay needed in order to have a secure shock cord anchor point. Altimeters, sleds, switches, air sampling holes, etc will come after the cert flight.

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Also drilled holes for rivets (three to secure the Av-bay to the upper airframe, and one to secure the nose (which will obviously only be used in single deploy flights). While I had the drill in hand, I also drilled two 1/8" vent holes. One on the upper section, and one on the booster.

Purely for cosmetic reasons, I decided to apply a fillet around the rear CR using Rocketpoxy that I tinted black, since trying to paint that area would be difficult.

I also started working on the recovery system. I'll be adding a pull pin sonic beacon (aka personal alarm) to aid in finding it on the ground.

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Weighing her, she currently comes up to 2067 grams; so definitely on the heavy side. OR is telling me says around 1700' on an H and about 4000' on a J. I also measured the location of the CG: approx. 37" for the NC tip. That gives me ~ 1.6 - 1.5 cal of stability on a Pro 38 6XL motor (The biggest this can take).

Next up: the long and tiring finishing process... at least I get a stickershock reward at the end!:grin:
 
That looks great! !
I see finishing the same way: long and tedious, but stickers hock is always rewarding in the end ! :)
I can personally vouch for the sonic beacon personal alarm thing. After flying my Argent to nearly 2000 ft. The personal alarm led me right to it!
 
That looks great! !
I see finishing the same way: long and tedious, but stickers hock is always rewarding in the end ! :)
I can personally vouch for the sonic beacon personal alarm thing. After flying my Argent to nearly 2000 ft. The personal alarm led me right to it!

Thank-you!

Have you built your DS Lite yet? If not I recommend you try out the Glueless NC. I find It's pretty cool.
 
And so the finishing begins!

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I put some Bondo spot putty on the fillets. (Also started filling the spirals on the tube for a 29mm project).

This was my first time using Bondo, and one thing I didn't count on was the smell... Might have to start using it outside from now on.

I'll let that dry, sand it down and then repeat until the fillets are perfectly shaped.


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Fillets sanded. There are a few spots that still need work, but I find for the most part they look pretty good.




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Ok I have 2 questions.

My kit came with 4 black shear pins and two white ones. The white ones appear to be a bit thicker and shorter then the black ones. My question is which ones go where? I suspect the two white ones are to secure the booster to the av-bay. And maybe use the black ones for the nose? Have I got this right?
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Also, even though I won't be setting up the rocket for dual deploy right away, I'm thinking I'll drill the air sampling holes on the switch band now, so as not to risk scuffing up the paint. But first I'd like to know what size holes to drill, and how many?

Thanks!




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Ok I have 2 questions.

My kit came with 4 black shear pins and two white ones. The white ones appear to be a bit thicker and shorter then the black ones. My question is which ones go where? I suspect the two white ones are to secure the booster to the av-bay. And maybe use the black ones for the nose? Have I got this right?
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Also, even though I won't be setting up the rocket for dual deploy right away, I'm thinking I'll drill the air sampling holes on the switch band now, so as not to risk scuffing up the paint. But first I'd like to know what size holes to drill, and how many?

Thanks!




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After quite a bit of searching on the forum, I came across one of CJ's Jr builds. For shear pins he used 2 on the nose spaced 180 degrees apart which is what I decided to do. He also drilled a single 1/8" vent hole, which is what I did as well.

The plan is when I'm flying single deploy, the nose will be held in place by the two shear pins and a single rivet. When I fly dual deploy, I'll remove the rivet, and rely on the two shear pins to do keep the nose in place until the main event. The hole on the nose for the rivet serves double purpose as a vent hole when I fly dual deploy, which could come in handy for flying a second altimeter, such as a Jolly logic Altimeter 1 or 2. (Gotta love the glueless NC!)
 
He also drilled a single 1/8" vent hole, which is what I did as well.

Just to pass along what I did - I used a single 1/16" hole, based on the (av-bay volume in cubic inches / 400) formula in Modern HP Rocketry 2 (which was itself attributed to the RRC2 instructions).

My av-bay is almost exactly 1" radius and 7-1/8" long, so (1 * 1 * 3.14 * 7.125) / 400 = 0.056" or just under 1/16" inch. I second-guessed myself because that *seems* really small, but it's flown three times and seems to get accurate readings.
 
I actually have three 1/8" vent holes.

One for the av-bay (Now that I think of it I believe the correct term is "static port"). One on the booster, and one on the upper body tube.

It's good to know 1/16" does the trick, cause then for sure 1/8" will work. (And here I was thinking 1/8" was a tad small!)




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