Wildman Darkstar Junior Build

Finally got one! I have loved the looks of this kit for a couple of years now, and just now finally managed to grab one of my own! Neither the rocket nor I are home yet, but I am hoping we will get there at around the same point in time. When I do have a chance to build it, I will probably be figuring out some sort of Grateful Dead theme to put on the rocket (huge deadhead). Maybe a tie-dye paintjob, or some stickers on the fins. Either way, this is going to be a lot of fun!

awesome! i ordered one too, but haven't gotten it just yet. this will be my first fiberglass kit, so a build thread i could follow along would be great!

I'll be following. The DS is a good looking rocket! A 54 with a 38 hole is just one of those mmt combos you've got to have. Very versatile.

Did you get yours at the Black Saturday sale? I'm still waiting on mine.

op:

Alex

Yep, Black Saturday purchase. I am probably pretty optimistic by starting this thread now, but a man can dream!

Nice snag!

I have really enjoyed my Jr kits. I am sure that you will as well! I am interested to see how you Dead-ify the rocket!

See you on the 21st!

Just shipped out, should be here Friday!

I will be watching. I am hoping to get some wildman jr. Kits in the near future as well.
op:op:

The kit showed up today, and looks great! I have washed the parts and will post pictures pretty soon.

I got mine yesterday, just a pile of parts in a box. I'm a little intimidated! At least I found some instructions on the WM web site to print out and study.

eggplant said:

I will probably be figuring out some sort of Grateful Dead theme to put on the rocket (huge deadhead). Maybe a tie-dye paintjob, or some stickers on the fins. Either way, this is going to be a lot of fun!

Click to expand...

At LDRS in New York last year, I saw one with a Space your Face decal, which was fitting. I think that would look cool on the sustainer along with some psychedelic patterns on the booster and fins.

I have a pretty plain DS jr, but I got my son a DS mini in the sale, so maybe we'll try some tie dye, at least a tie dye parachute would be cool.

I finally got to work on this rocket!

First up, some pictures of the parts.

A dry fit. Very impressed with the looks of the rocket.


This is the nicest nosecone I have ever worked with!

I roughed up all of the parts and then started to work on the motor mount.







I got the rings mounted and the shock cord attachment point set up. I also installed the motor mount in the rocket, but didn't catch any pictures of that. Fins will be attached soon!

Just a tip, I recommend keeping the metal tip in a safe place when you are working on the rocket, it gets scuffed up easily.

Thanks for the tip-tip! I will be sure to not let it get damaged... before it flies that is.

I received mine yesterday! It's my first FG rocket and my level one build too. I'll be following along.

Home again, so this build should get some attention soon! I do have a dilemma though. I need to sort out the retainer for this rocket. I had planned on purchasing a 38mm Aeropac retainer, but all of my engines and casings are 29mm. I have a LOC 38-29mm adapter, but I doubt it will work with the Aeropac. What should I do?

38mm starter set is under 100 bucks from the Wildman or you can buy the Aeropack 38-29 adapter which will work with there retainer .

+2 on the Aeropack 38-29 adaptor. It's the easiest way to adapt down.

I see you are JR-1. Don't know how old you are, but if close to going for L-1:

Buy any H or I reload for certifying......and get the case free! Going on all season [CTI]

It shows on most sites as L-1 29mm L-2 as 38 or 54mm But all I know will honor a 38mm For L-1 also.


Now ya got a free 38mm case. By the way you can get a much larger case than you need also. Just buy an additional larger load.[5grain in this example]
Get a 5 grain case for a 3 grain load, but you have to pay for the spacers. BUT now you can fly 3-4-5 grain loads all in the free case!

I'm not sure how you spaced the CR's, but you may have to sand the fins to get them to fit to the motor tube.

Following other builds I saw on here, I spaced them tight to the fin tabs and didn't fillet the inner sides of the CR's so they'd slide right in. Then injected the internal fillets for the fins, which locked the CR's in place as well.

DizWolf said:

I'm not sure how you spaced the CR's, but you may have to sand the fins to get them to fit to the motor tube.

Following other builds I saw on here, I spaced them tight to the fin tabs and didn't fillet the inner sides of the CR's so they'd slide right in. Then injected the internal fillets for the fins, which locked the CR's in place as well.

Click to expand...

I wondered about that also....especially the way the cord is wrapped around the tube, might prevent the fins from fitting tight to MM. Usually those MM tubes have no extra length to them.

We'll just have to wait & see .............

Don't worry! I thought ahead about the centering rings. I deviated from the instructions a bit by moving the upper ring forward by about a half of an inch. The fins went on fine; in fact, I was going to do the first set of externals pretty soon.

Big progress update on this rocket!
As mentioned in the last post, I glued the motor mount and fins in, but didn't manage to catch pictures of that stage.
Next up, I attached the vent band to the coupler.

I then scored all of the nosecone components to prepare for gluing.



Afterwards, I bonded all of the nosecone pieces together.


Lastly, I put some fillets on the fins, and started on sanding them. Still thinking about paint, but this rocket is shaping up!

What kin of epoxy did you use for the external fillets?


Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

It is PC-7 epoxy paste. Higher strength than 5 minute epoxy, 2 hour+ cure, and very shapable and sandable. I have used it on a bunch of rockets so far and it really helps in the finishing stage.

I will probably have time to continue this build in the coming days! I am ordering the Aeropack retainer soon, and will be sanding the fillets down this weekend. They are pretty close already, though there certainly are high spots. It is harder to work on a project like this in a dorm room than in your dad's workshop, hence the slow progress. April break is only a few weeks away, and I should be able to finish it up most of the way then. First launch of the year will not be until summer, and it will fly on a large H!

I just started putting external fillets on mine last night. I messed got impatient and messed up the first set and had to remove as much epoxy as I could before it fully set. The second set turned out beautiful. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to sand down the first one and give it another go. I'm really loving this build, can't wait to fly it and get my level 1 cert.

Sounds awesome! I haven't done tons on mine recently, but I did get the Aeropack and the fillets have been sanded quite a bit. I have April break in a week, so I will be home and have access to painting equipment. Hopefully it will be painted in a couple of weeks!

I got the retainer a few weeks ago! It is my first aeropack, and I was really impressed even though I have seen a bunch of them at launches.


I haven't glued it on yet, but I will be pretty soon. Here are some pictures of the retainer, adapter, and the casing for one of the first flights.



I applied some bondo to the fillets today to smooth them out a bit. It is gummy still, but I will be sanding them down in the morning so I can start painting tomorrow. I haven't worked on the AV bay yet, but that should change some time this week!

Did you do any internal filleting? I notice you did not mention it.

I did. The slots are wide enough that I was able to use a narrow tool to apply a bead of epoxy along where the fin contacts the motor mount. I also applied a healthy amount of epoxy to the slots themselves before inserting the fins. They are very well attached!