MadCow 1/4 scale patriot

Not sure if this will work.

blackbrandt said:

Go to
go advanced>Manage Attachments.

Load your photos there.

If not, email them to me at bassmattf @ gmail.com and I will post them for you.

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Thank you for your help

Kehoes23 said:

Not sure if this will work.

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The first pic shows the 28" CG point.
The second pic shows the balance point around 30".
With the weight I used in the third pic, I'm hoping with the epoxy, it will balance at the 28" mark.
The rest of the pics shows how I attached the all thread and shock cord and the epoxy weight.

What is the stuff in the plastic cup?

Kehoes23 said:

Thank you for your help

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blackbrandt said:

What is the stuff in the plastic cup?

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It's the lead weight used for emergency triangles, I had an old set of them and decided to use them for the nose cone weight.

Getting ready for fillets, since I cut the tube all the way to the aft end, I put tape on the outside of the tube so the epoxy won't leak out from the fin slots.

All done with the fillets. All I have left is to do the external fin fillets then start painting.

Getting ready to do the first set of fillets. I measured 1/8" for the fillets, since the external fillets are for cosmetic and aerodynamic purpose and not for structural, I don't need a fat fillet. I'll be mixing 1/2 teaspoon each of aeropoxy resin and hardener with 1 teaspoon of baby powder to thicken the epoxy. In about 6 hours I'll do another set of fillets. The epoxy was not thick enough with just one teaspoon of baby powder so I had to add another teaspoon to get it just right.

Since I had to put a lot of weight in the nose cone to balance the rocket, I think it would be wise to have the nose cone come down on its own parachute, and since I don't have a scale to weigh the nose cone I think it weighs around 2 to 3 pounds, I will have to get ahold of a scale to be sure.

The first set is done, I could do all four sets at one sitting but I'm in no rush and I wanted to take my time with this.

Mick2b said:

I used a J381 Skid on my unglassed version, it ripped off the pad but a great flight. I converted mine to dual deploy. Looking good Sean.

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How much weight did you put in the nose cone for the J381? How many/size shear pins did you use for the nose cone?

I'm using this to fill in the gap between the body tube and switch band.

You can see the gap on the left side of the switch band, and on the right side I have it filled in with the putty,
I used some axle greece it was the only thing I had on hand but Vaseline would be a better choice on the payload tube edge that buts against the switch band so the putty does not stick to the tube, we will see when I remove the payload section.

Finally a nice day to do some painting, I threw on a coat of white primer and now I got a lot of pin holes to fill in from when I glassed the tubes, looks like I'll be getting some glazing putty to fill in the bazillion pin holes.:y::bang:

Kehoes23 said:

Finally a nice day to do some painting, I threw on a coat of white primer and now I got a lot of pin holes to fill in from when I glassed the tubes, looks like I'll be getting some glazing putty to fill in the bazillion pin holes.:y::bang:

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Welcome to composites, Amigo.

I find that, if there are enough pin holes, its best to give the entire tube a coat of epoxy and microbaloons and hit it with a powersander. You don't want to be breathing those glazing putty fumes for too long.

Alex

I had bondo glass on hand, so I put on a thin layer on the payload tube then sanded it and applied another coat of primer, looks a lot better and a lot less pin holes, then another sanding and primer coat and the tube should be smooth, then on to the lower section.

Nice build! You've been steady at it too!
Like the Patriot.

JP

JP Morgan said:

Nice build! You've been steady at it too!
Like the Patriot.

JP

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Thanks, but I'm not going with the Patriot theme, I'll be going with something different I'm just waiting for the decals from sticker shock. When it's done it will go up on an AT J350.

Got my decals today from Sticker Shock for the Patriot, man Mark does some great work, I also got decals for two other rockets that I'm working on, one is for the Estes Mega Der Red Max and another is for a Always Ready Rocketry the Predator jr kit.

Got the Patriot in gray primer, got lots of pin holes to fill in. I'm also repainting the mega der red max and putting on new themed decals that I got from sticker shock.

Getting the colors on the Patriot, I used Bondo glass to fill in the pin holes, as you can see I'm painting it brown and white and not the Patriot theme. Next to the Patriot is the Mega Der Red Max, also getting some color this is also getting a different theme as well, I got Sticker Shock decals waiting to be put on once the paint is done.

Got the paint on, got to let it dry for a week, wet sand and apply another coat of paint then add some more brown to the body tube. The Estes Mega Der Red Max on the right needs white for the tube and red on the fins. Can anyone guess the rocket on the left?

Kehoes23 said:

Can anyone guess the rocket on the left?

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Big ol' Ramjet?

tcomfort said:

Big ol' Ramjet?

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That it is, I've been working on this for the past year, it is a K&S rocket just wanted to take my time with it and make it look good when I'm done with the build and paint, I do have Sticker shock decals for it as well. Still not sure when this will be done.

Got the wet sanding done on the body tube, I used 1500 grit with warm water and a drop of dish soap as a buffer. I let the sand paper soak in the water for a few minuets before sanding and when I felt the paper stick I re dipped the sand paper in the water/soap mix, its on the table drying, then I'll tape the parts that are not getting paint, I'll post pics when it's taped, before and after paint.

The blue tape is where the brown paint is going

Got all three on

Here I got frog tape on both sides of the blue tape

First light coat of brown

The paint is done, but got a little touch up to do. I like the way it came out.
For the white I used rust oleum satin blossom, for the brown it's rust oleum gloss kona, I'll wet sand again add decals and shoot with clear

The Patriot AKA Spacetoaster is done, still need to throw on a coat or two of clear.

What font is that? It looks familiar.

Swissyhawk said:

What font is that? It looks familiar.

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I'm not sure, I gave Mark at stickershock free range on the design of the decals and this is what he came up with.