- Joined
- Jan 18, 2009
- Messages
- 5,948
- Reaction score
- 593
My latest scratch-built project is a large rocket based on 8" concrete form tubes. In addition to being my "Level 2 Certification" rocket, I'm using "Heavy Metal Thunder" to test some of the ideas I'll use for building a 1/48th scale Saturn V and to develop the techniques I'll need for the Saturn V.
Like the Saturn V, HMT will support a cluster of five motors and have an option for airstarting the outboard motors. It will be about the same size and weight as the Saturn V and use the same electronics.
In contrast to my Level 1 project, I'm trying to spend as little as possible on this project. So I'm doing most everything myself from cutting the centering rings to forming a nose cone.
The body tubes and coupler are made from concrete form tubes. I picked out two 8" tubes that are actually about 8.5" outside diameter and one 8" tube that has an outside diameter of about 7 3/4". The larger tubes will be used for the upper and lower body tubes. The smaller tube will be used for the coupler and nose cone shoulder.
The photo shows a simple jig I created to mark the tubes for cutting. Then I used a jig saw to cut along the lines.
Then I created a nose cone from, of all things, a lamp shade and half of a foam ball.
I covered the lamp shade with a few layers of fiber glass and filled it with expanding foam then glued it to a shoulder I fashioned from a piece of the concrete form tube and a hand-crafted plywood bulkhead.
To cut the bulkhead, I created a jig from a piece of wood that clamps to my drill press's table. The wood for the bulkhead rotates on a screw in the jig. I put a Dremel cutting bit in the drill press and slowly turned the piece of wood until it was cut into a circle. I found that the jig slipped a little and won't cut the circles as well as I would like. So, I used it to cut a circle about 1/4" too large. Then I used a Dremel circle cutter and my Dremel to trim it to size. This worked a lot better and was easier than trying to use the Dremel circle cutter directly.
I think my next step will be to cut the fins from 1/4" plywood to which I'll add a layer of fiberglass.
Additional Photos and descriptions of the build are at:
https://www.payloadbay.com/article-heavy-medal-thunder-build.html
-- Roger
View attachment thunder - dual deploy.rkt
Like the Saturn V, HMT will support a cluster of five motors and have an option for airstarting the outboard motors. It will be about the same size and weight as the Saturn V and use the same electronics.
In contrast to my Level 1 project, I'm trying to spend as little as possible on this project. So I'm doing most everything myself from cutting the centering rings to forming a nose cone.
The body tubes and coupler are made from concrete form tubes. I picked out two 8" tubes that are actually about 8.5" outside diameter and one 8" tube that has an outside diameter of about 7 3/4". The larger tubes will be used for the upper and lower body tubes. The smaller tube will be used for the coupler and nose cone shoulder.
The photo shows a simple jig I created to mark the tubes for cutting. Then I used a jig saw to cut along the lines.
Then I created a nose cone from, of all things, a lamp shade and half of a foam ball.
I covered the lamp shade with a few layers of fiber glass and filled it with expanding foam then glued it to a shoulder I fashioned from a piece of the concrete form tube and a hand-crafted plywood bulkhead.
To cut the bulkhead, I created a jig from a piece of wood that clamps to my drill press's table. The wood for the bulkhead rotates on a screw in the jig. I put a Dremel cutting bit in the drill press and slowly turned the piece of wood until it was cut into a circle. I found that the jig slipped a little and won't cut the circles as well as I would like. So, I used it to cut a circle about 1/4" too large. Then I used a Dremel circle cutter and my Dremel to trim it to size. This worked a lot better and was easier than trying to use the Dremel circle cutter directly.
I think my next step will be to cut the fins from 1/4" plywood to which I'll add a layer of fiberglass.
Additional Photos and descriptions of the build are at:
https://www.payloadbay.com/article-heavy-medal-thunder-build.html
-- Roger
View attachment thunder - dual deploy.rkt
