stealth6
insert witty tagline here
I FINALLY finished my 3" Black Dark Star (from the 2012 Wildman Black Saturday Sale). Phew.
Mine is named "(blame it on the) BlackStar"
This sat in the build pile for a long time. First due to the fact that I had other projects in the queue, and second due to 2013 ending up being a pretty non-rocketry year for me. This past winter gave me a lot of time to build and indulge in rocket stuff though, so I got busy. The build itself went fine, but the finish/painting was a nightmare. I kept running into problems, delays, re-do's, etc. From the time I started painting to the finish was literally months, as I kept putting it aside and coming back to it. I'm "okay" with the final results.
As you can see, I discarded (actually sold) the original fins and shaped my own. I know this will be considered blasphemy by some, but it's what I do, so there. I used Aeropoxy throughout, with silica thickener for the external fillets, and chopped carbon fibre inside. Replaced the nose-tip bolt with all-thread and did the "glueless nosecone" thing (will stuff my BRB-900 tracker in there). AV bay is pretty standard, with an RRC-3 for the main alt. and an RRC-2+ for backup. Standard 1010 rail buttons, although I did three rather than two. All bolts (buttons, av-bay, etc.) thread into embedded pem-nuts.
Unfortunately, this won't fly for quite a while - probably not until late fall. My job is seasonal, and I have to work weekends. I have the winter mostly off, but as of this week I go back to full time. Which means no club launches (which all happen on weekends) until the season is over in November. I had planned on using this for getting my L2 cert, and it really has to fly on J motors at least. I was shooting for finishing this in time to go for my L2 cert at one of the early season launches in the region (Vegas, Phoenix, etc.) but I just missed the mark. I generally fly solo all year which is no big deal with all my other rockets, but I need a club launch to be able to cert L2, to then be able to purchase J/K/L motors, to then be able fly this rocket. So, it will have to wait. Dang. There is a small possibility that I might be able to attend (and fly this at) Hellfire in late July, but we'll see.
Funny story - this is my largest/tallest rocket to date. And that size is a bit unwieldy indoors as compared to my previous fleet, which I'm obviously not that used to just yet. I now have two holes in my ceiling to illustrate this fact (that aluminum tip is pointy!).
Anywho, here's some pics:
Hope y'all like it,
s6
Mine is named "(blame it on the) BlackStar"
This sat in the build pile for a long time. First due to the fact that I had other projects in the queue, and second due to 2013 ending up being a pretty non-rocketry year for me. This past winter gave me a lot of time to build and indulge in rocket stuff though, so I got busy. The build itself went fine, but the finish/painting was a nightmare. I kept running into problems, delays, re-do's, etc. From the time I started painting to the finish was literally months, as I kept putting it aside and coming back to it. I'm "okay" with the final results.
As you can see, I discarded (actually sold) the original fins and shaped my own. I know this will be considered blasphemy by some, but it's what I do, so there. I used Aeropoxy throughout, with silica thickener for the external fillets, and chopped carbon fibre inside. Replaced the nose-tip bolt with all-thread and did the "glueless nosecone" thing (will stuff my BRB-900 tracker in there). AV bay is pretty standard, with an RRC-3 for the main alt. and an RRC-2+ for backup. Standard 1010 rail buttons, although I did three rather than two. All bolts (buttons, av-bay, etc.) thread into embedded pem-nuts.
Unfortunately, this won't fly for quite a while - probably not until late fall. My job is seasonal, and I have to work weekends. I have the winter mostly off, but as of this week I go back to full time. Which means no club launches (which all happen on weekends) until the season is over in November. I had planned on using this for getting my L2 cert, and it really has to fly on J motors at least. I was shooting for finishing this in time to go for my L2 cert at one of the early season launches in the region (Vegas, Phoenix, etc.) but I just missed the mark. I generally fly solo all year which is no big deal with all my other rockets, but I need a club launch to be able to cert L2, to then be able to purchase J/K/L motors, to then be able fly this rocket. So, it will have to wait. Dang. There is a small possibility that I might be able to attend (and fly this at) Hellfire in late July, but we'll see.
Funny story - this is my largest/tallest rocket to date. And that size is a bit unwieldy indoors as compared to my previous fleet, which I'm obviously not that used to just yet. I now have two holes in my ceiling to illustrate this fact (that aluminum tip is pointy!).
Anywho, here's some pics:
Hope y'all like it,
s6