Estes PS II Kit Bashing

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Daddyisabar

Oddroc scum. Mindsimmer.
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After all the boxes arrived from the Estes Christmas sale it was time to start gluing all those kits together for some good ole fashion kit bashing. Take the Ventris and glue the top haves of Super Neon’s for a Ventris Titan III like cluster rocket. Take the Argent and glue three Super Alphas on it for an Argent Redstone like scheme. Take a Partizon and glue two D Region Tomahawks to it for some bizarre early sixties looking rocket.

The Argent will go on 1 F15-4 and 3 E9-6. The other two will go on 1 F15-4 and two E12-4s. Hopefully enough stock chutes will deploy to avoid a crash landing. With two oz. nose weight the Pad Fuhrer gave me the wavy hand and a “maybe” on the acceptable stability of the Argent Redstone. Lots of inefficient, heavy black powder motors in the back end will send this one to launch with the big boys on the prairie.

The Partizon also got 2 oz. in the cone but I have to watch the overall weight going on just 2 E12s and one F15. CG might still be slightly below Pad Fuhrer specs so it looks like this one might again not pass muster as a cluster.

The Ventris Titan III has no additional nose weight and was not ready for the two week pre inspection period as required by the terms off my odd roc 12 step recovery program (paint job not finished). Still, propellant weight will doom this cluster. But it looks marvelous.

My best hope is to forget the silly clustering and do the smart rocket science thing; use a single 29mm composite and a bigger chute. But I have already glued the motor block in for the F15s. At least these three look like rockets with nose cones up front and motors with fins in back. I have used the Estes motor retainers on all and the Ventris Titan III has motor hooks in the outside pods. All are good signs I am recovering from that silly odd roc phase. With a lot more work in good science and techniques I might just be able to stay on the 4FNC wagon.

PS 2 1.jpg

PS 2 2.jpg

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PS 2 5.jpg

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Holy Crap!!! Those are freaking BEAUTIFUL!!! Most impressive!

Very awesome Work indeed!!!:clap::clap:
 
Nice Work!

My kit bashing (only just beginning) is to use parts of my three Argents and make an Argent, a 2.5" Cherokee D upscale (my L1 attempt?), and a 2" Yellowjacket upscale.
 
These models all look great. Good way to dispose of multiple kits all at the same time ;)
 
Thanks. That was ten kits and some spare parts used to make three rockets. With the sale prices on the D Regions they made cheap strap on boosters to the sale priced PS II's. Can't wait to see what the lucky guys who live next to Frys are going to do with all those PSIIs, MDRMs and Nike Smokes!
 
Wow! These are great! I love the Argent modification, especially. Now I wish I had stocked up on some of the other larger E-powered rockets like the Super Neon XL for strap-on parts. I have quite a stack of PSII rockets from the Fry's sale. Some of them are kind of boring in stock configuration, I think. I'm going to have to try to mix and match some of these parts...
 
Wow! These are great! I love the Argent modification, especially. Now I wish I had stocked up on some of the other larger E-powered rockets like the Super Neon XL for strap-on parts. I have quite a stack of PSII rockets from the Fry's sale. Some of them are kind of boring in stock configuration, I think. I'm going to have to try to mix and match some of these parts...

Thanks ThirstyBarbarian. That is the trouble with these awesome sales that just pop up. Everything goes crazy and all your sound 4FNC rocket planning and design goes right out the window. You start stretching and adding on pods, deleting fins, adding motors and stages. Even worse you might think you can build a rocket airplane or car out of that stuff. Makes it real hard for a reforming odd roc junkie to stay on the straight and narrow. Look at it this way; you got such a killer deal from Fry's on the big stuff that buying some Maxi Alpha's at a usual 40% discount won't kill you for some strap-on boosters. You will still have a big bad rocket for under $50. Just so I don't get in more trouble for contributing to the delinquency of another BAR odd roc flyer, IT WILL KILL YOU to buy the motors at the higher MSRP even with the discounts.
 
Thanks ThirstyBarbarian. That is the trouble with these awesome sales that just pop up. Everything goes crazy and all your sound 4FNC rocket planning and design goes right out the window. You start stretching and adding on pods, deleting fins, adding motors and stages. Even worse you might think you can build a rocket airplane or car out of that stuff. Makes it real hard for a reforming odd roc junkie to stay on the straight and narrow. Look at it this way; you got such a killer deal from Fry's on the big stuff that buying some Maxi Alpha's at a usual 40% discount won't kill you for some strap-on boosters. You will still have a big bad rocket for under $50. Just so I don't get in more trouble for contributing to the delinquency of another BAR odd roc flyer, IT WILL KILL YOU to buy the motors at the higher MSRP even with the discounts.

One advantage I see is that when my wife says, "I can't believe you have 17 unfinished rockets in the garage, and now you want to buy another one!" I can reply, "That's not 17 rockets, Honey. That's one big rocket that comes in 17 different bags. And it's just missing this one piece... "
 
One advantage I see is that when my wife says, "I can't believe you have 17 unfinished rockets in the garage, and now you want to buy another one!" I can reply, "That's not 17 rockets, Honey. That's one big rocket that comes in 17 different bags. And it's just missing this one piece... "

That is a good one. I see you are learning quickly. Another one is to have a wing man if your wife is at a launch or a rocket dinner. Have your wing man say "ThristyBarbarian needs to use a little more power in his rockets, so if he needs to spend a bit more for larger motors it is OK."
 
Very nice work, great visions, I like the argent/alpha's the best.
 
I went a little bit nuts with the PSII sale at Fry's. I got a LOT of kits. Some I intend to give away to friends who I hope to entice into the hobby. And some I bought to send out to TRF members who did not have access to the sale (sent out 3 already and have committed one to another member). Here's a breakdown of PSII kits I bought, what I am doing with them, and what might be left for potential kit bashing.


  • Leviathan --- Bought 3. Built 1 stock and love it, so I want 1 more to build stock. That leaves 1 Leviathan.
  • Ventris --- Bought 5. Sent 1 to a TRF member. Want 1 stock. That leaves 3 Ventris.
  • Argent --- Bought 2 and do not need to build this rocket stock. I really like the kit bash with the Argent and the Super Alphas. If I built something similar, that would leave 1 Argent.
  • MDRM --- Bought 3. Sent 1 to a TRF member and committed 1 to another member. I'm thinking about kit bashing the last one by reshaping the fins and adding pods to the ends -- https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?64212-Pods-on-Mega-Der-Red-Max If I do that project, that means No MDRMs left.
  • Partizon --- Bought 1 and do not need to build it stock. So, 1 Partizon.
  • Nike Smoke --- Bought 2. Sent 1 to a TRF member. I think I would like the remaining one stock. No Nikes left.

I have some friends coming to town this week, and I'm taking them to their first high-power launch on Saturday. After that, I'm going to offer them each a chance to pick one of these remaining kits if they want. So we will see what is left.

It would be great to come up with something alien for the Buck Rogers MDRM to chase...
 
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I went a little bit nuts with the PSII sale at Fry's. I got a LOT of kits. Some I intend to give away to friends who I hope to entice into the hobby. And some I bought to send out to TRF members who did not have access to the sale (sent out 3 already and have committed one to another member). Here's a breakdown of PSII kits I bought, what I am doing with them, and what might be left for potential kit bashing.


  • Leviathan --- Bought 3. Built 1 stock and love it, so I want 1 more to build stock. That leaves 1 Leviathan.
  • Ventris --- Bought 5. Sent 1 to a TRF member. Want 1 stock. That leaves 3 Ventris.
  • Argent --- Bought 2 and do not need to build this rocket stock. I really like the kit bash with the Argent and the Super Alphas. If I built something similar, that would leave 1 Argent.
  • MDRM --- Bought 3. Sent 1 to a TRF member and committed 1 to another member. I'm thinking about kit bashing the last one by reshaping the fins and adding pods to the ends -- https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?64212-Pods-on-Mega-Der-Red-Max If I do that project, that means No MDRMs left.
  • Partizon --- Bought 1 and do not need to build it stock. So, 1 Partizon.
  • Nike Smoke --- Bought 2. Sent 1 to a TRF member. I think I would like the remaining one stock. No Nikes left.

I have some friends coming to town this week, and I'm taking them to their first high-power launch on Saturday. After that, I'm going to offer them each a chance to pick one of these remaining kits if they want. So we will see what is left.

It would be great to come up with something alien for the Buck Rogers MDRM to chase...

Sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun. Lots of transitions to work with in 3 Ventris kits!
 
The Argent was the easiest to build and paint.

well to me it's the most inspiring, you gave me the idea to "kitbash" my own creation, watch for it in my mid power thread, I'm ordering the 4 rockets I'm using tonight or tomorrow.
 
Daddy....these are awesome!!! beautiful job!!


After all the boxes arrived from the Estes Christmas sale it was time to start gluing all those kits together for some good ole fashion kit bashing. Take the Ventris and glue the top haves of Super Neon’s for a Ventris Titan III like cluster rocket. Take the Argent and glue three Super Alphas on it for an Argent Redstone like scheme. Take a Partizon and glue two D Region Tomahawks to it for some bizarre early sixties looking rocket.

The Argent will go on 1 F15-4 and 3 E9-6. The other two will go on 1 F15-4 and two E12-4s. Hopefully enough stock chutes will deploy to avoid a crash landing. With two oz. nose weight the Pad Fuhrer gave me the wavy hand and a “maybe” on the acceptable stability of the Argent Redstone. Lots of inefficient, heavy black powder motors in the back end will send this one to launch with the big boys on the prairie.

The Partizon also got 2 oz. in the cone but I have to watch the overall weight going on just 2 E12s and one F15. CG might still be slightly below Pad Fuhrer specs so it looks like this one might again not pass muster as a cluster.

The Ventris Titan III has no additional nose weight and was not ready for the two week pre inspection period as required by the terms off my odd roc 12 step recovery program (paint job not finished). Still, propellant weight will doom this cluster. But it looks marvelous.

My best hope is to forget the silly clustering and do the smart rocket science thing; use a single 29mm composite and a bigger chute. But I have already glued the motor block in for the F15s. At least these three look like rockets with nose cones up front and motors with fins in back. I have used the Estes motor retainers on all and the Ventris Titan III has motor hooks in the outside pods. All are good signs I am recovering from that silly odd roc phase. With a lot more work in good science and techniques I might just be able to stay on the 4FNC wagon.
 
One advantage I see is that when my wife says, "I can't believe you have 17 unfinished rockets in the garage, and now you want to buy another one!" I can reply, "That's not 17 rockets, Honey. That's one big rocket that comes in 17 different bags. And it's just missing this one piece... "
I am SO stealing that line! LOL! you rock, TB!
 
Launched the Ventris Titan III yesterday.

Ventris Titan 2.jpgVentris Titan 3.jpgVentris Titan 4.jpgVentris Titian 1.jpg

When I left the house conditions were perfect but by the start of the launch at noon we had intermittent rain and wind. In between I was able to get one cluster off during a bit of a lull. On launch it had a bit more kick than I was expecting from the F15, E12X2 combo. It could use a bit longer delay on the pod motors as one did pop before apogee and ripped the stock Estes plastic chute off. The main and the other pod ejected at apogee and it still came down fine on 2 chutes. Next time I feel confident in using 2 E9 6 in the pods for a full POOR BOY dual deploy.


Thanks to Allan Weiman for getting a video, it was a bit crazy out there.

[video=youtube;a1fRWw0ezOw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1fRWw0ezOw&list=UUVxoj9c2Q7YkCt-p9TE29qQ[/video]
 
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I just noticed on the left side of the second photo I see the Pad Fuhrer lounging on the side of the range, and the Commissar is back by his car eating chips. I was just trying to get a last photo of the rocket before its first and maybe last flight, and in the process I find that while I am a Nervous Nelly my Six Levels of supervision seem totally at ease. I guess when you are Level Three you are indeed a Master Jedi who can look into the future and already know the Padawan's rocket will fly straight.
 
Awesome!!!
and you are the Mater Jedi! I guess they figure if this guy can take some tubes and make them look like a Lancaster..and that flies perfectly...then a Titan kit bash is a piece of cake!
 
Awesome!!!
and you are the Mater Jedi! I guess they figure if this guy can take some tubes and make them look like a Lancaster..and that flies perfectly...then a Titan kit bash is a piece of cake!

Maybe I can now go up and say in a deep voice: "When I left you I was the learner now I am the Master!" Then they would say I was ready for the trials and give me the written portion of the Level Two exam.

Or maybe they are just there to relax and see a good mid power flight or crash, either result being entertaining. Lots of time spent on the fire equipment and snacks. Soon I will have it figured out.

But for now I will stick with more power and the same motor combination for the first flight of bigger and heavier Partizon-Tomahawk.
 
The Leviathan is a nice rocket that lends itself to kitbashing very well - I have an extra that I plan to turn into a Tartar missile.
 
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