Another Steam Punk" BAINBRIDGE "

[hornet driver]

I'm not so sure about a new age of science but I like the idea of green dancing girls!!!I did a little tinkering tonight,really not much to see. I went ahead and started to tune the fins. A couple of them were a little tight. I figured the best bet was to fold up a piece of paper a couple times and then fold the fin down into it. I'll let that sit for a couple days. It should push the sides out just enough to smooth everything out--we'll see.You can also see in the picture the retaining wires in their stowed position.-----I think I figured out something that will make me happy with the camera pod. I'm gonna trade out the screws for small bolts. That should give me the effect I want. I'm still pondering on the other camera mount but I'm pretty sure it will be fin mounted---just need to make it punky lookin. While I've got the top stage out I'm going to start working on the lower stage details.----H

 

[hornet driver]

A little tinkering went on today. I went ahead and got the baffle built and installed along with the recovery gear tube. I started with these wooden flats I got at Walmart in the arts and crafts section--ok I have no idea why the picture won't load, lets try again--ARRRGGG!!! well I'll figure it out in a bit. Anyway I used three of them and sanded them to size with the old drill and sandpaper method . After that I cut a quarter moon out off two of the and used a hole saw for the top ring the quarter moons were installed 180 degrees from each other about 1.5 inches apart . the top quarter moon has an eye bolt installed and the final ring was installed about 1.5 inches above it . The eye bolt has a 6 inch wire fishing leader attached-----I'm going to go now and figure out what wrong with this bloody machine--back soon I hope--you may see me on the eleven O'clock news

 

[hornet driver]

MORE ARRRGG

 

[hornet driver]

Well, I'm glad the problem isn't me---

 

[hornet driver]

I had the day off today and got some more rough out done. One thing I had been thinking about was a way to have a streamer for recovering the bottom stage. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced I didn't need it so I ran a test.I added a little weight in the middle of the mmt to mimic an expired motor. Next I took it up to the third story of my building and tossed it off. Sure enough, it just sort off bobbled and tumbled softly down. Still I'd rather it land flat and kinda pancake in. My idea involved some kind of spine that would hold a streamer or small chute ( more likely streamer ). I needed to work this into the styling of an old stream liner locomotive. OK, THIS WILL BE THE STEAM TANKS !! So what to make it from. It had to be durable since it was going to be ejected into the slipstream and most likely hit a fin. The best I could come up with was to shape a foam block and glass it--a lot of work--Then as I was taking the trash out I found this-----Hmm, what if???--------it has a cool shape with some vent looking things--I'll use it as a mold--- I poured in some resin and let it set. This gave me a nice smooth exterior finish. Next a couple layers of glass---After an hour or so I popped this out----It has a couple little flaws but all in all a nice piece to work with. I sanded the base smooth and did a prefit-----OH YEA,That'll work !!

 

[hornet driver]

While this was setting up I roughed out a base for it to set on. That was simply a matter of shrink wrapping a roll of paper towels and glassing over the top of it to get the curved surface I need. I'll cut this to shape later----

 

[hornet driver]

I went ahead and put a thin coat of primer on the piece . This helps to find the flaws I need to fix and gives me a better idea what It will look like. I held it on with a rubber band for the moment--- Yep, that's pretty close to what I envisioned. Got a lot of work to do to finish it and fit it so I'll go to work on that now. I've already figured out the hinging and how it pops up .----H

 

[les]

Wow - looking good

 

[aerostadt]

Hornet Driver, I liked your resin casting idea. What kind of resin are using?

 

[hornet driver]

Hornet Driver, I liked your resin casting idea. What kind of resin are using?

MEK. Just your basic stuff you can get anywhere. Down side, it really heats up and can warp a mold that's not braced externally. In this case I let it get hard and hot and stuck it in the freezer for about 1 minute to knock the edge off. Tricky, but it works.

 

[hornet driver]

I worked on the pod today and got some stuff done, This may take a couple posts to get all the info out to you. I continued to work on the lower part of the pod to get it to meet up better with the rocket. I had to do several mock runs. Once I though I was close, I laid down a piece of 1/16 balsa under the pod to act as a floor. Remember this is all rough out. Once I got the length figured out I sprayed down one side of the balsa so it would warp a little. I needed to get a little curve in it to match the bt, or at least close.-- that little piece next to it is the tongue that will hold the pod closed--more on that later. Next I laid the balsa back on the rocket and placed the tub over it. I followed this by a lite coat of primer so I would have the basic shape to cut out. I want the tub to fit over the plate not on top------I also worked on the swing arm. I had some parts left over from an Interceptor. These are the fin straighteners they supply in the kit. They are VERY hard balsa. I came up with a basic swing arm idea. After some gluing and sanding I epoxied it to the pod and ran 2 small screws in from the bottom this whole assembly is attached to one of the fins ---- ---another post coming

 

[hornet driver]

As you can see from the previous pics I did a little remodeling on the top of the pod. It had an area that I didn't like so a little sanding and filler took care of that. Back to the swing arm. Before it's complete I'll put a fiber glass cop over the end that connects to the fin, it's a potential weak area. I epoxied on the tongue to the front of the pod. This will be trapped by the top stage to hold it down. When the rocket stages, the tongue will be released and the pod will open. Everything is primed up now and drying here's some pics. I think you'll be able to figure it all out---

 

[hornet driver]

Well I used my time today to do some of the detail work.On my previous build I used little half moon pearl things to simulate rivets. I wanted something on this one that looked more like bolts. I picked up a role of fake jewels at Walmart.-----These proved to be a bit of a pain to work with. They don't come off the backer very easy, and when they do--they have little to no adhesive on them. The single ones I put on with a drop of auto emblem glue. I was able to do three to four at a time before the little dot of glue began to set-----for longer runs I simply cut a length of jewels out and used tacky spray on the plastic backer--- --while all this was going on I was also touching up some of the filling on the exterior------I got a coat of black primer on everything--here's where we are at------I'm going to do some weathering on this one and the flat black will be my base color. I still have a laundry list of stuff to do but we are making headway !! H

 

[Nick@JET]

Love your creativity! Looking great

 

[hornet driver]

Got a couple of things done on the old girl today and we are nearing completion. One thing on the list was a shoulder for the cone. I needed something lite and I didn't want to mess with cutting a bt. I figure some foam will do the trick. I had a block sitting around and it was as easy as cut and sand to shape and drill a hole down the middle for the shock cord ----I simply epoxied the foam shoulder to the cone base. once fitted I cut off about half the block , leaving about 1 inch of shoulder in the tube. I also did a little weathering on her. I wanted to keep this lite so it wouldn't over whelm the rocket--been a while since I've done this and I'm a little out of practice (I'll keep working on that )----so here's where we're at-----And what's left to do--Well, I need to make a large chute. I was going to use a couple of those Interceptor chutes I have laying around but I think I prefer one large chute on this one---I need to put the 24mm outboard mmt's in. A trip to Hobby Town should solve that ! Still need to attach a streamer or small chute to the booster section--no biggy--just need to do it. The fins still need to be tuned just a tick--they don't deploy as fast as I'd like(sticky) no big deal. still need to attach a small piece of elastic to the booster cover. I have it in stock and will make it look like an antennae . I did have two changes in the design I made--Originally I planned on a skirt that fit between the stages---it was overkill and not needed so I nixed it. The other change was the exhaust tubes for the outboard motors. I had planned on ducting the ejection charges out to the side of the booster. In the end I decided to let the outboards outgas into the open booster section---the top stage SHOULD be long gone by the time they go off. The perfect solution was plugged motors but that opens up a whole other bag of worms so I just kept it simple. It would have looked cool and helped with the styling but it ain't gonna happen---here's some pics of the area I'm talking about-----more later H---Oh Yea, still need to add the rear camera mount !! RAIL BUTTONS--RAIL BUTTONS !!

 

[hornet driver]

Tinkered a bit today with the B. I went ahead and got the recovery gear in the bottom stage. I had decided I wanted a streamer for it. First thing was to cut a slit in the BT. After that I slid in a piece of elastic and secured it with epoxy. This is actually a couple inches behind the housing. In this location the booster section should sort of pancake in--sort off--. Anyway, I ran up to Wally world and picked up an emergency blanket from the camping section. I cut about a 3 inch section out of the length-----NOTE TO SELF--THESE THINGS ARE A PAIN IN THE BUTT TO WORK WITH !!!!---THEY HAVE A MIND OF THEIR OWN !!!---Once I got the length cut I placed a section of double sided foam tape on one end and then folded it over on itself along with a small dowel. Next I made a small slit and put the elastic through it and used gorilla super glue to secure the elastic to itself.The whole thing fits nicely into the housing . I also added a small section of elastic between the housing and fin, this will initially pull the housing open when the rocket stages. I'll paint it silver later and it will just look like an old steam punk wire antennae.---

 

[hornet driver]

Here's some pics of both stages separated to give some perspective.. I mounted them on a broom stick for the shot------I was planning on making a large chute from the emergency blanket, but it's such a pain to work with I may just go with a couple of smaller chutes I have in stock--we'll see----H

 

[accpool]

You are truly and arti'st, always enjoy your posts.

 

[AfterBurners]

As always outstanding build. Very innovative and continually raising that bar.

It was fun to follow

 

[BABAR]

Is that streamer a drogue for a larger chute or for better visualization post deployment? That booster looks a might heavy for streamer recovery alone.

Build looking good, as always.

Best,

Tom

 

[hornet driver]

Is that streamer a drogue for a larger chute or for better visualization post deployment? That booster looks a might heavy for streamer recovery alone.

Build looking good, as always.

Best,

Tom

The streamer is really just to slow it a bit and keep it turned/balanced on the way down. Although the booster is large , it does not weigh a ton and has a lot of surface area. I gave it a toss off a three story building without the streamer and it Just sort of fluttered down with no damage. I only have a couple of little things left to do, finding a place to launch, well that's another challenge.---H

 

[Scotty Dog]

That thing looks like an "Old Engine Train Wreck" !!!