Centuri's Early Concept Rocket

Here is the tail transition from the other end... that piece of cardstock is glued. It helps to guide me during the sanding and carving process. the cardstock will be later sanded away...

Here is a pic of everything I worked on today: the body, NC, tail transition and the NC adapter.

I printed a lot of patterns on cardstock to guide me during the carving and sanding process. on this pic you can see at least four of them: one on the body to help me with the oval shape; the one on the far left to help me keep the curve along the body (i slided that one to see where i needed to sand more...) and the two other one to help me with the general shape of the transition.

here is a dry fit of the NC, the body, and the tail transition...

last one for 2nite: and here is a look from the NC end... check the shavings on the floor...

I am taking the rest of the nite off... some chinese food, a movie and then to bed. Tomorrow I plan to work a little on the tail transition and then it is to pry open the body...

I hope you are enjoying these pics... I am having tons of fun with this rocket!!!

Definitely enjoying this from afar! You must have a ton of patience. Keep the pics coming. I'll be following this thread closely.

Geof

Not much done in the last couple of days: alergy season is kicking my butt.

I drilled a hole on one of the ends of the body and inserted a pen to pry apart the body of the rocket. It easly came apart since I had glued paper on both sides, then when it dried I placed small dots of white glue on the paper sides and glued them together. You can also see the rear transition I am making out of balsa... it is comming out very nice.

here is a different view of the separated balsa planks. there is also the balsa transition...

I have been looking for a way to carve out the wood of the body balsa blanks to acomodate an Estes BT-50. One idea is to cover a big dowel with sandpaper, put it on a lathe, and sand the inside of the body little by little while it rotates. I will have to glue a cardstock guide at each end to get it close to what I want. For this I may have to wait until next week.

Any other ideas on how to carve out the wood?

For now I have painted the NC and the transition with Kilz primer, not the one that has been talked about on TRF. The balsa is delicate and it got a few dents while handling it so I decided to paint it to add a little protection. No pics, sorry.

Regarding your next step of 'coring' the body, you might PM "sandman" & invite his comments. Based on his work with BNCs & such, he will likely have insight for you.

Just a thought. Gordon does fantastic work!

Glen

Got your msg. I searched on Forstner drill bits but could not find one that was at least 11" long. I do not know if they is some kind of extention for them. Will keep checking.

... in the meantime, I have finished the balsa transition and painted it as well as the NC. I also put paper guides at the ends of the Body blanks as guides. One thing I have to consider is if I go with the dowel/sandpaper on a lathe to sand the center is that as i keep sanding the planks may just break along the center so I have to do some kind of re-enforcing before I do this. I am thinking about glueing paper around the planks. Paper is easy to sand off if I want to, plus, I would not have to deal with using any kind a filler for the wood. This would only work for the bottom 9" because at the other end it tappers.

Attached is a pic of what the body, the NC and the lower transition looks like as of today. The transition cracked a little, nothing that can be later fixed when it is assembled.

I apologize for my ignorance of wood working tools. The project's body is 11" long and I was thinking that I needed one at least that long to gut the body. Maybe if I find a 6" long bit I can start on one end, then do the other end. To do this I would have to glue the planks back togeter (no problem there). The tricky part would be to keep the body at a 90 degree angle, which I think I can accomplish with a few wood presses and a small square.

Mr Sandman (sorry for picking on your brain), please advice.

V/R,

- rosko racer

p.s. I am having so much fun working on this one that I have pushed four other projects to the back burner...

I just cut the fins for this project using 3/32" balsa. Next will be to sand the leading and trailing edges of the fins.

This project is looking totally cool!

Hmmmm .... this would be a good point to stop and make a nice mold of that body / NC / tail-cone so you can build fiberglass components later.

You know, for the kits.

You ARE going to kit this, right?

Originally posted by wilsotr
Hmmmm .... this would be a good point to stop and make a nice mold of that body / NC / tail-cone so you can build fiberglass components later.

You know, for the kits.

You ARE going to kit this, right?

Click to expand...

Whoa! Tim slips right in with the Jedi mind trick! Way to go!

Hey Rosko,

Now would be the time to pull a Watto on 'em....

"Your Jedi mind tricks won't work on me! Only money!!!"

Later,
EV

FUDU JEDI!!!

... as to making a kit out of this one, I have no clue how to do it but I will contact someone that I know has done this before and seek out advice... I think the idea is good but I have never done anything with fiberglass or vacuum forming... will have to do some research. Wilsotr, should I continue with the gutting or stop here and consider your idea before going any further?

I think I solved the problem of "gutting"the planks: using a table router. I talked to the guy at the woodshop and he recommended that I use the router with a 1" roundnose bit. Got it for $21.00 at Home depot, and while I was there got a can of the KILZ sealer-primer-stainblocker. I am going to try it tomorrow and see how it comes out.

Here is a pic of the roundnose bit...

fin teaser here...

I'm sorry I completely missed this thread.

I could have saved you a lot of work...or not.

This is the way I would do the main body. It's lighter (a LOT lighter) and easier than solid balsa. And I believe the aveage skill level 3 builder could duplicate this technique if it's layed out as a kit.

Start with a BT-55 (that seems to be about the size I think 1.325" O.D.

Carfully cut it lengthwise completely in half. Actually BMS can laser cut a tube lengthwise!

Have custom centering rings cut (at least 3 or 4 per model) with a slight indent between the halves.

Use 1/16" basa for the "flats".

Install your BT-50 motor tube.

Not exactly "easy" but a lot easier than carving a solid block of balsa.

The pic is just the cross section but I think it gives you the idea.

I made a few changes to the drawing to help make it a bit easier to follow.

I did go to the woodshop this afternoon armed with a roundhead bit for the router table and gutted the body planks. They came out great, exaclty what I wanted it to be. Attached is a picture of one of the fins, the bit I used, a couple of shots of the plank's ends after the gutting, and a dry fit of all the components.

I weighted the parts this morning before going to work and the total weight (body, nc, fins, transition, internal BT) was about 3.75 oz or approx 110 gr. The body itself was about 2.6 oz or approx 70 gr. Now it is about 2 oz or about 55 grams. I will work on the rest tomorrow evening or on saturday. I think this is going to be on the >4 oz range when it is completed.

Today on my way back from the woodshop I stopped at Michaels and with my 40% off any item I bought 1/16" and 3/32" balsa sheets so that I can try Sandman's idea. I may also go to the trophy shop and try laser cutting a set of wings and a BT-55 in half. The centering rings may get done this weekend.

The last thing is a name for this one. I have one in mind inspired on an old anime series from late 70s early 80s. Will not tell until I am satisfied with the name...

Originally posted by rosko_racer


The last thing is a name for this one. I have one in mind inspired on an old anime series from late 70s early 80s. Will not tell until I am satisfied with the name...

Click to expand...

Oh lord not Voltron please

Judging by the original looks, do you all think it looks like a futuristic passanger liner or a low orbital transport?

Voltron, nah... too recent.

... well, according to my "research" the old anime series was from 1972 and aired about 89 episodes... I'll leave it there for you to "ponder"....

A Google search of "89 episodes Anime 1972" results in "Android Kikaider"...

I've always felt that particular Centuri design reminded me of an Orion from 2001...so I'd have gone with an "Uprated Orion IB" (you know us rocket guys, gotta get numbers and jargon in the name, somehow!)

DeanHFox: Sorry but that is not the correct answer. I apologize but gave out incorrect info: the anime is from 1972 but it appears that there were only 85 episodes.... continue your search.

Update: I glued the two planks together...
I first glued the bt-50 to one of the planks and let it dry... well the wood "stretched" sideways and when I placed the other plank on top it was wider. I had to "crack" one to accomodate to the size. Nothing a little filler and sanding would not cure.

And so, in my debate to which engine should I put in this one here are my choices: an 18mm engine, which may be way underpower; or a 24 mm engine (D12-5 or -3), which may be just right. I am going to use RockSim to see what comes out. I did purchased this software recently and arrived yesterday. have not installed yet.

My problem is that with the BT50 already inside the planks I cannot remove it to put an engine lock if I go with a 24 mm engine, it will have to be secured by pressure (of course with an engine block at the end...).

I am asking for your opinion on the engine problem here. Hack at it. In the mean time I will be working onthe body today...

...thinking of Gatchaman aka Battle of the Planets aka G-Force?

...The Phoenix?

Heh...if you name this thing 7-Zark-7, I'm just gonna break down and cry.

(although I still think that "BotP" had/has the coolest musical intro/outro of any anime show...even better than Star Blazers, IMHO).

In any event...a way cool build, and keep up the build reports!

Dean

DeanHFox, you did guess, "The Phoenix". I am naming it the CEST 2A "The Phoenix". CEST for Centuri Earth-Space Transport. The 2 for the only other one made as far as I know. The first one done by Centuri in the late 60s early 70s. The number is for the technique used during construction (balsa carved body). My plans are to do another one, the 3A, using the technique that Master Sandman suggested. I know there is another member doing one and I think he doing it the same way Sandman suggested. I may post some pictures tonight.

So far I have glued the planks with the BT50 inside, glued the transition and added an balsa adapter to the NC. I am also doing some filling....

An excellent name for an excellent rocket!

Looking forward to seeing the finished product, Rosko. I'll be humming the tune to BotP as I read it, now.

(and for those of you who've never heard the "Battle of the Planets" tune(s), here's a link: https://www.melaman2.com/cartoons/singles/mp3/battle-planets.mp3
)

here is the body with a coat of Kilz primer/sealer. It is drying in the garage as we speak. I guess that now I have to leave it alone until the smell goes away.