CRC Mid Power Rocket builds

[nute]

good ol hand sanding,(see sandpaper in second pic) first I shape them with 100grit then I smooth them with 220, sometimes I'm not sick of sanding & I do a quick once over with 600grit. I start by holding the sandpaper at a 45ish degree angle then widen/flan it out, sofar I've made the leading edge a bigger bevel then other edges & will prob continue to do it that way.

Interesting. I usually use my dad's belt sander- maybe hand sanding will work better. Do you do that with basswood fins too?

Nate

 

[CRC]

I dont think I've sanded basswood yet. Welll I've been working on a few rockets a a time lately, since my last build needs only paint, here is a few pics of my estes Magician I got, the transition piece was broken/cracked, so I contacted estes & showed them the broken piece, they were nice enough to send me a whole new kit.
Great customer service Estes!! I named this rocket Freebee. I'm going to work on finishing the paint right now, only mod is I didnt use the supplied clear tube for payload section, insted i used a engine mount tube & am saving the clear tube for my other magician kit(one I payed for)

 

[CRC]

Here is my finished rocket named "Freebee", I also got a few others on the go, including one that got destroyed just as i was getting ready to put paint on, I saved what I could & will rebuild it. So Freebee has a longer, thicker SC, no clear payload bay, kevlar chute protector & a 15" nylon chute.

 

[nute]

Looks very nice!
I love the green and black.
I just realized something; the magician looks like an almost an exact downscale of the Argent; I might have to get one now!

Nate

 

[CRC]

That it is Nate, if you use the included clear payload section, it is even closer, the clear payload section is longer then tube I used, just paint the clear section with paint & it looks like a perfect downsize, both mid powered, but one high side, one low side of mid power.
Also thank you Nate! Colours are, key lime,black,white & neon red.

 

[CRC]

So I decided on a name, so I can begin to design the paint for my bt-60/29mm scratch build(my 2nd scratch build) I showed pics on last page of it's construction, it's name is.....GO GO Gadget

 

[CRC]

So here is pics of another build I am working on, this one would have been done already but it got F'd up when I was glueing final piece together(the 2 halves) the coupler then binded & I crushed the tube & the tube twisted & broke. I then had to cut all my savable parts off, order a new tube & try again.
Here is some pics of while it was getting built(the first time)
1st pic: stock parts
2nd pic: what I'm using from stock parts
3rd pic: some of the parts I'm using to build this rocket...my way.
4th pic: I coated the fins in glue to strengthin them up(added about 10-15% weight of fins)
5th pic: I doubled up aerotech centering rings to stiffen then up & add more gluing surface.

 

[CRC]

Here is pics of my SC attachment, it also doubles as a baffle plate, as well as I'm putting a baffle & cooling mesh in....no more wadding for me I hope.

 

[CRC]

Here is the launch lugs & seats I made, I rounded out one side then glued it to LL, then after it was dry I rounded other side to fit BT, result... I got a perfect fit on both rounded surfaces along with gaining the 1-2mm height I needed to clear the retainer cap. Then this is final pic before I tried to glue the 2 halves together....thats what it all went horribly wrong

 

[nute]

Looking good, aside from the obvious
I had something similar happen on my Estes Vagabond build. The glue siezed, and the two tubes had a bit of a gap between them. I was lazy, and just "fixed" it by applying some electrician's tape to it, as it ended up being where the decal would go anyway. That is the worst feeling ever!
Is that kit by any chance an Estes STM 012? Modded to 29mm? :surprised: An E11J (24mm RMS) puts mine to just about it's limit! This thing's gonna move! I like the way you used glue to coat the fins. It should add strength, and perhaps make paint easier. The LL standoff is also a very good idea, on a similar note, am I correct in guessing that the retainer is a larger OD than the BT's OD?
As for the name- this gadget is gonna seriously go, go, and keep going for quite a while! :lol:

Nate

 

[CRC]

Yes it is a stm-012 modded to a 29mm I made a custom 24mm insert for it as well, but I plan on using a F23fj in it. I had to cut down the tabs on the fins to make it all fit nice.

 

[CRC]

I just re read your comment Nate, & I should say, GoGo Gadget is the grey 29mm, & the 29mm modded stm is named Twisted Sister, for obvious reasons. Really they are both around the same height & weight, same bt size, same motor diameter, one of the biggest diff is stm has through the wall fins & 2 sets of them.

 

[CRC]

All right I made a little progress, but I've been busy plowing snow the last 2 days so only got a bit done. Rocket on left of pic is GO GO Gadget, & secont from left is Twisted Sister(the one I had to rebuild) I have not decided what the paint is going to be on Twisted Sister....any suggestions?

 

[CRC]

Here is just a couple of pics of another build I'm working on, right now it's just getting finishing touches on paint. It was another estes Magician, I kept it a 24mm motor, but added a few clear sections & I did my first fin laminating by gluing some cardstock to one side of the fins. I used too thick of cardstock(lesson learned for next time) This Rockets name is "Electron Tube" it has a 4x4 kevlar wadding & a 18" nylon chute

 

[CRC]

Here is a few more pics of the Electron tube getting paint.

 

[CRC]

Here is the Electron Tube completed, cant wait to see this fly on a E15 along with my many new & untested designs

 

[rocketgeek101]

Here is the Electron Tube completed, cant wait to see this fly on a E15 along with my many new & untested designs
View attachment 160747View attachment 160748

Looks great! You really should take a photo of all your builds together! Just saying...:wink:

 

[nute]

Looks great! You really should take a photo of all your builds together! Just saying...:wink:

+1 on all of that!
looks real great!

 

[CRC]

Thank you guys, As for fleet pic, I got all my completed rockets at cofounders house & I just built a painting room in the cofounders Basement, so I plan on doing my painting in there. I got to clear coat my last 2 builds so I will take a pic while I'm there, 1 prob is I need to build another stand since I already have filled up my 3 I built.

 

[CRC]

Here is a pic of the finished Go Go Gadget. It's my 2nd scratch build/design. I'll get a finished build fleet pic today.

 

[CRC]

As promised, here is a picture of all my completed rockets together.

 

[nute]

That's beautiful!
Im Impressed with the paint schemes- barely a single stock one among all of then!

Nate

 

[rocketgeek101]

As promised, here is a picture of all my completed rockets together.
View attachment 160858

Great looking fleet CRC! They're all beautiful! Now you just gotta add an HPR bird or two!

 

[CRC]

Thank you guys! Not bad for half a year into rocketry eh? HPR.....well funny you say that cause the other co-founder of the CRC is taking his written hpr test in 2 hrs with the Calgary rocket club, so wish him luck, cause that will be the first step for us getting into HPR. I was lucky enough to build a fair amount of his HPR so I learned a TON while doing it......mostly what not to do lol JK

 

[gdjsky01]

Nice looking fleet! :clap:

 

[nute]

Thank you guys! Not bad for half a year into rocketry eh? HPR.....well funny you say that cause the other co-founder of the CRC is taking his written hpr test in 2 hrs with the Calgary rocket club, so wish him luck, cause that will be the first step for us getting into HPR. I was lucky enough to build a fair amount of his HPR so I learned a TON while doing it......mostly what not to do lol JK

That's really impressive- counting up those rockets, that's almost three builds a month- more than one every two weeks!
It's great that you've got at least some experience building high power. When it comes time (and we all know it's only a matter of time:wink to go for your L1, that and the Argent build will come in awful handy!
In fact, it seems your Argent is probably built strong enough and heavy enough to take an H128W or H165R for a cert. mine is 18.5 oz sans motor, and it sims to right around the 2,000 ft. range on both of those motors (and that is a very optimistic estimate). If your field is large enough, it's an option!

BTW, I wish your friend good luck!!

Nate

 

[CRC]

Nice looking fleet! :clap:

Thank you!

That's really impressive- counting up those rockets, that's almost three builds a month- more than one every two weeks!
It's great that you've got at least some experience building high power. When it comes time (and we all know it's only a matter of time:wink to go for your L1, that and the Argent build will come in awful handy!
In fact, it seems your Argent is probably built strong enough and heavy enough to take an H128W or H165R for a cert. mine is 18.5 oz sans motor, and it sims to right around the 2,000 ft. range on both of those motors (and that is a very optimistic estimate). If your field is large enough, it's an option!

BTW, I wish your friend good luck!!

Nate

hmmm, 3 per month....well I guess I'm on track for this month too(see pic) I only got 3 builds on the go right now. As for argent/coppertop it would be a last resort for a cert, I'd go with something a bit more heavy duty & use coppertop for a back up, but your right it could come in handy if other rocket got damaged as well as I know it fly's good...on a f50 anyway, in spring I test it with a G77R

 

[CRC]

Great news!!! My friend & cofounder of the Cranbrook Rocket club just passed his HPR written exam.:clap: Looks like I'm going out to Hanna,Alberta at the end of march to watch his cert flight......since he only has the one hp rocket, Coppertop will actually be used as a back up unless he gets a back up rocket of his own. Thats him btw with his rocket(he is not using the small upper fins)

 

[rocketgeek101]

View attachment 160969
Great news!!! My friend & cofounder of the Cranbrook Rocket club just passed his HPR written exam.:clap: Looks like I'm going out to Hanna,Alberta at the end of march to watch his cert flight......since he only has the one hp rocket, Coppertop will actually be used as a back up unless he gets a back up rocket of his own. Thats him btw with his rocket(he is not using the small upper fins)

That's great! I wish him the best of luck. My HPR test is scheduled for the first weekend of April, and the flight will probably sometime in May.

:grin:



Sent from my iPod touch using Rocketry Forum

 

[nute]

Congrats!!
That's wonderful!

Am I understanding this correctly that to get a L1 in Canada you need to take a test? in the states only L2 needs a test.