Goonies

[kuririn]

I've had the plans and parts bagged for clone builds of the original Goonybirds in my build pile for some time (years?) now.
Since I'm on lockdown for at least 20 more days it's time to start this project.

The six original "Goonies" were (in no particular order):
1. Zoom Broom
2. Sky Shriek
3. Galaxy Guppy
4. Cloud Hopper
5. Missile Toe
6. Star Snoop
https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/estes73/73est16.html
Picked up six Estes Jetliners on closeout way back when, they were cheaper than the Baby Berthas so will be using those for parts.

SO LET'S GET IT ON!

 

[kuririn]

#1 - Galaxy Guppy


Parts:


Plans/scans from JimZ's and YORP.
Cut body tube to 5".
Cut off tab on engine hook (for convenience), reversed the ends, and assembled motor mount.
Subbed kevlar leader for tri-fold anchor.
Instead of gluing centering rings at the ends of the motor tube I brought them in so that I could apply glue fillets to both sides.
Subbed mylar ring for the cardstock engine hook retainer.


Will let this dry for a few hours.
TBC

 

[kuririn]

A word about the Kuhn tube cutter.
Some of you are familiar with this, but for those who aren't here's a brief overview.


Parts are a wooden angle tool with a slot for a razor blade, two clamps, a wooden block, razor blades and instructions. I think I got mine from erockets a long while back.
This makes cutting tubes of the same length a breeze. Measure and mark the tube. Align the mark with the slot for the razor blade and clamp the wooden block butt up against the end of the tube.
With one hand rotate the tube keeping the end of the tube against the wooden block. With the other hand exert pressure on the razor blade onto the tube. Best results for me is to use the point (corner) of the razor blade.
Easiest to clamp the angle down on a work bench but I've done it without a clamp.
Takes a little practice but you will get tubes of the same length with even, square cuts and no burrs to sand off.


In this pic the recently cut ends are facing up. Did these in about 15 minutes, and I was going leisurely.
TBC

 

[kuririn]

Glued in the motor mount.
Let the glue set up a while, then tacked the fins on.
Fins are laser cut from erockets. I have the fin templates, but since laser cut fins were available, meh.


Calling it a night.
Finishing up tomorrow.

 

[kuririn]

Glued on the launch lug, assembled recovery gear, and filleted everything.



Done. Finishing to be done offline, group shot later.


On to the next build.

 

[kuririn]

#2 - Zoom Broom

Parts


Again, laser cut fins from erockets.
Body tube cut to 5".
Finger tab cut off on engine hook.

Assembled motor mount per first build.


Will let this dry.
TBC

 

[kuririn]

Motor mount was glued into the body tube.
The fin alignment guide in the plans printed out a little undersized, so I had to resize it.
Laid down marks for the five fins and launch lug then laid lines on those marks with the angle tool.
Due to the fin design and configuration, had to get creative in aligning the fins.
The two wings were placed 180 deg. on the body tube. Since the leading edge is nearly straight I couldn't use the Qualman jig on the front edge, so I used the back (trailing) edge to fit in the slots.


When those dried I glued on the canopy fin using the jig from the front.


And glued the two remaining fins by aligning a leg of the rocket stand with each alignment line and using line of sight to ensure straightness.



Filleted all fins and launch lug, assembled recovery gear and tamped the nose clay from the Jetliner into the nose cone and locked it down with foaming PU glue. Although the instructions do not call for any nose weight I decided this would add a little more margin of stability to these stubby rockets. Doing so for all six of these.
So the Zoom Broom is done.


This design looks a lot like the Semroc Ruskie.
Tomorrow, the next build.

 

[kuririn]

#3 - Cloud Hopper

This design reminds me of the Semroc Saki and the Estes DOM Kamikaze Baka.
The parts:


Laser cut fins from erockets.
Rest of the parts from the Jetliner kit.

Assembled the motor mount as per the previous builds:


Will allow to dry.
TBC

 

[BABAR]

Looking good. My all time favorite remains the Gee’hod

https://www.rocketreviews.com/semroc-astronautics-corporation-geehod--by-dick-stafford.html
https://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KA-15

 

[kuririn]

Looking good. My all time favorite remains the Gee’hod

The grenade launcher and tube keeps breaking off mine, and it hasn't even maidened yet.

Glued in the motor mount.
Again, couldn't use my jigs because of the unusual fin configuration.
Fin alignment guide was also about 5% undersized.
Resized the guide, laid down fin lines and glued on fins.
Wings were 140 deg. apart, so used a leg of the rocket stand to line up with the fin line then lined up the fin with the stand, as in the previous build.


After the tack had dried, filleted all fins and launch lug and left to dry horizontally.


An ice pick or toothpick is a good tool for getting fillets into the really acute corners where a fingertip cannot reach. Also forces out air bubbles which can leave holes in the fillet line when the glue dries and shrinks.


This head on shot shows the stab, rudder and fin configuration.
As Steve Martin would say, "Here's something you don't see every day".


Will let the fillets dry.
TBC

 

[GlenP]

Are you going to print your own decals for these, or were you able to find them somewhere? Nice job so far!

 

[kuririn]

Found scans at JimZ's and YORP.
May need to clean some up.
Original decals were stick on, mine will be home printed waterslides.

 

[kuririn]

BTW, this is my SOP rigging for low power.
Parachute on a swivel.
Loop on shock cord about 1/3 of the way down.
Instead of tying on the ends of the kevlar leader and shock cord I use snap swivels.
Allows fast swapping out of different size of chutes and streamers as well as easy replacement.


Nose cone with base shortened, ballast in, and PU foaming glue locking the ballast.


So assembly is complete.


On to the next build.

 

[kuririn]

#4 - Star Snoop

Parts


No laser cut fins this time. Old school trace and cut from a template.
Other parts from the Jetliner kit.

Assembled motor mount as in the previous builds


Will let this dry overnight.
TBC

 

[grapetang]

Nice! I love the goonie/chibi/super-deformed styling, though I only had the Cloud Hopper in my youth.
How do you plan to finish the fins? And does that Star Trek TOS Romulan BoP on the bench fly?

Edit: Wait, I see a "goonie" TOS Enterprise as well!

 

[kuririn]

Wood grain will be filled with CWF and primer.
The Romulan War Bird is a shelf queen, but it does light up and play audio clips from the episode.
It was closeout priced so I couldn't resist.
I also have a few Hasegawa egg planes that haven't been started. Plastic model airplane version of the Goony.
Hopefully I'll get around to it in my lifetime.

 

[kuririn]

Glued in the motor mount.


Traced and cut the fins from the template.
Sanded and smoothed the rough edges.


And glued the fins to the body.


Will let this dry while I work on something else.
Laters.

 

[kuririn]

Edit: Wait, I see a "goonie" TOS Enterprise as well!

Yes, this is pre-Kirk, with Chris Pike in command.


Heh.

 

[kuririn]

I found a template for the display stand which came with each Goony kit.
Printed it on 110# cardstock and glued it together.
Looks kinda flimsy, added reinforcement under the center.




Haven't decided yet whether I'm going to be using these or not.

Anyhoo, recovery gear was assembled, launch lug was glued on, and everything was filleted.


So assembly is complete.


Two more to go.
Build, build, build!

 

[kuririn]

#5 - Sky Shriek


This one is a little more challenging.
Parts:


Tube cut to 5"
Finger tab cut off on engine hook
Added kevlar leader
Fin alignment guide was resized to correct proportions.
Nose cone base shortened, clay weight added and foamed in.
Fins and struts already traced onto 3/32" balsa stock, ready for cutting.
BTW in addition to the fin templates at JimZ's and YORP, there are also some here:
https://www.rocketshoppe.com/estes_decals.htm
Motor mount was assembled and left to dry


TBC

 

[mikewrt]

The Goonies came about before my time when I was a kid rocketier in the early 90s. I didn't even know they existed till seeing them browsing through the forums soaking up knowledge as I'm slowly getting back into the hobby. I've really taken a liking, they look like so much fun and unique. I'm guessing they fly low and slow which would go good at my smaller local launch field, ie a city park. If I'm reading the snipit from the 1973 estes catalog correctly these are all built with 13mm motors? Do they all use 12" chutes? With fin sets avaliable from erockets these would make my first clone attempt easier and work on building skills. I have a cabinet full of kits but this is super tempting..... only if I had more time ......

 

[kuririn]

Yes Mike, they all used 13 mm motors and had 12" chutes.
Semroc later came out with a similar line called "Groonies".
Slightly larger diameter, they used 18 mm engines.
Only 3 of the 6 Goonies had laser cut fin sets at erockets, and that was many months ago.
Don't know if they're still available or not.

Anyway, glued in the motor mount.
Marked fin lines with the guide and the angle tool.
I cut and sanded the six fins and 3 struts.
Could only use my jig for 3 of the six fins.
Other 3 will be line of sight, again using the display stand legs.

TBC

 

[kuririn]

After the tack has dried on the first three, the next three fins are glued on.
First, align a leg of the display stand to a fin line. centering it squarely.


Butter the root chord of the fin with wood glue, leaving two small spaces at the ends for two droplets of thick CA. This will allow a quick grab so that I only need to hold it in the right position for a minute or so.


Now, I know some don't agree with this, saying the CA will turn brittle over time and it also soaks into the wood displacing the wood glue. My view is, over 90% of the surface is done with wood glue. There are only 2 small spots of CA for tacking purposes only. The convenience of a quick grab to me more than compensates for a small loss in shear strength over time (if any). So there.
The fin is set on the alignment line and centered visually to the stand leg.


Do this for the other 2 fins.
Result is perfect alignment.

TBC

 

[kuririn]

Finally for tonight, launch lug is attached and fillets are run (12 for the fins, 2 for the lug!).
Left to dry horizontally overnight.
Leaving the strut attachments for last cuz I want the fins to be as rigid as possible when I glue them in. Already dry fitted.


Good night.

 

[BABAR]

Looking good. I always tend to place the launch lug in a fin/tube fillet. Figured it definitely makes both joints stronger, is less conspicuous, and possibly more aerodynamic. And assuming the fin is on straight, guarantees the lug will be as well,

 

[grapetang]

Wood grain will be filled with CWF and primer.
The Romulan War Bird is a shelf queen, but it does light up and play audio clips from the episode.
It was closeout priced so I couldn't resist.
I also have a few Hasegawa egg planes that haven't been started. Plastic model airplane version of the Goony.
Hopefully I'll get around to it in my lifetime.

Cool! The only egg planes I have are the Macross VF-1 and YF-19 ones. I should start on those...

Yes, this is pre-Kirk, with Chris Pike in command. [...] Heh.

Cute! Good inspiration for me to get building again.
Keep up the great work!

 

[kuririn]

After the fillets dried the struts were glued in and trimmed.
Full strength CWF will fill the slots.
Recovery laundry was installed so.....
Assembly is complete.


Sidebar: I was pulling out a Semroc Aphelion from a box of rockets that were sent up at the last launch. This is what I found:


After only one launch (the maiden).
Guaranteed failure on the next launch.
This is why many rocketeers automatically chuck the stock rubber shock cord and replace it with an elastic one.
Me, I'll use it till it needs replacement (or fails) cuz I'm cheap.
One more build to go.

 

[neil_w]

I found a template for the display stand which came with each Goony kit.
Printed it on 110# cardstock and glued it together.
Looks kinda flimsy, added reinforcement under the center.
View attachment 416798

Oh man I haven't seen one of those in forever. Can't remember which kit mine came with, though... maybe the EAC Viper? That is just a guess.

 

[kuririn]

Oh man I haven't seen one of those in forever.

Template is here if you're interested buds
https://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/est0854.htm
#6 - Missile Toe






Parts:


BT-60 tube cut to 5"
BT-55 tube cut to 2.75"
Fins, pylons and intake vane traced from templates onto 3/32" balsa stock.


Motor mount is assembled and left to dry overnight.


BTW I did a test print of the decal scans on plain paper to check the sizing and color.
Was able to get all six on 2 sheets.
Final print will be on white laser decal paper.
May do some minor touch-ups.


TBC

 

[kuririn]

Glued in the motor mount.
Cut all the balsa parts.
Sanded the fins.
Glued the intake vane into the engine pod.
Glued the pylon halves together, sanded to square, and glued to the engine pod.
Drew the alignment lines. Standard tri-form 120 deg. apart.
Since the leading and trailing edges of the fins are square, couldn't use the Qualman jig, so eyeballed to the stand leg again.


Then glued on the engine pod.


Business end.


TBC