LOC Nano Magg PK-17 Build

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It's crunch time. The first club launch is happening this Sunday and I have a couple of more builds to get done. With the weather being cold and wet here I can't paint but I can still build so it's time for another build thread. This time we're doing a LOC Nano Magg PK-17. I seemed to be obsessed with the Magg rockets as I have a 4 inch built and flown, this 2.6 inch and a 5.5 inch waiting. The only one I don't have is the 7.6 inch.

https://locprecision.com/collections/rockets-2-63-diameter/products/nano-magg
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0568/7489/3503/files/PK-17-Nano-Magg-Instructions.pdf?v=1623904212
Got all of pieces prepped and laid out this weekend so this should be a relatively quick build. Starting left to right.

- 1/4" Elastic for this shock cord.
- 14" nylon parachute.
- Kevlar Cord for the leader. Not sure on the strength rating on this one. Will be replacing this piece with some 500# kevlar for better burn through protection.
- 1/8" plywood fins.
- 1/8" plywood bulkhead for the nose cone.
- Small screw eye for bulk head.
- 29mm motor mount. Wow this thing is over powered. I love it
- 1/8" plywood upper centering ring. The kit came with two, one for the upper and one for the lower. I'm only using one. Will explain in the build.
- Fiber lower centering ring.
- Ested 29mm motor retainer.
- LOC 2.6" body tube. (Will update with length).
- 3/16" launch lug. The kit came with a 1/4" heavy cardboard lug but this rocket realistically will never fly on anything larger than a 24mm so 3.16 is all that is needed.
- Plastic nose cone.

As you can see from the pics below. I have already prepped the parts for assembly. The fins have had the leading edge rounded and the sides sanded down to 600 grit. The motor tube has been sanded, the upper centering ring fitted and the edges beveled and the body tube has had the outer layer where the fins attach removed and the fin slot sanded. The nose cone has also been washed and sanded with 400 grit. Everything is ready for assembly. The build begins tonight so I'll be back tomorrow with an update.

 

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Tonight needs to be an early night as I have to be up early tomorrow so here is what I managed to get done this evening.

Began with the motor tube. The entire tube was sanded with 100 grit to open up the surface. The upper was attached 1/16" down from the top of the tube and left to dry.




After letting the top ring dry, I added a Fillet to the top and let that setup and film over before moving on. I cut about 1ft of 500# Kevlar and attached it to the hole in the upper ring. A knot was tied in one end so the Kevlar would not pull through the hole in the ring.



After letting the fillet dry a bit more I flipped the motor mount upside down and added a fillet to the bottom of the ring and glued the Kevlar knot in place.




Last step for tonight is to measure where the end of the Kevlar needs to sit in the body tube. I want this to be below the end o the tube to reduce the chance of zippers. I marked the approx. location with a black dot then tires a loop in the end of the line. TBII was added ot the knot to keep it from coming loose.




That is it for tonight. Need to let all of this cure before continuing.

 

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Picked up the build with reinforcing the forward opening of the body tube. mixed up a small amount of BSI30 min epoxy. Lightly sanded the inside of the body tube so the epoxy could be absorbed better then spread the epoxy around the inside of the tube. Once it was evenly spread I used my heat gun to warm the epoxy to make it flow a little better. After letting it soak in for about 5 mins. I wiped away the excess with a paper towel.



Next it was onto the motor mount and my first modification. I'm going to be using an Estes motor retainer on this rocket and I want the rocket to sit flat so the motor tube needs to be moved forward about 3/8" to allow room for the retainer. Doing this will also push the CG forward slightly which these Maggs need. I'm trying to avoid adding nose weight if I can get away with it.

The Motor mount was glued in place with TBII and left to completely cure.



Next up it was time for fins. Since I decided to move the motor mount forward that moves the location of the rear centering ring as well. To leave room for the rear ring and the motor retainer I removed approx. 3/8" off the bottom of each fin tab. Fins where then glued in place using TBII. Each was left to dry for a couple of hours before adding the next.



And here we have all three fins installed. The last fin was installed this morning so I'm going to let that cure for a couple of hours before doing internal fillets.

This really is a very quick build.

 

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Internal fillets completed. Did the first coat with TBII and the second coat with Thick and Quick. Only snapped a pick of the first coat.



Installed the rear centering ring. Wanted to use the lightest ring I could find to reduce weight at the rear. I had a 2.6"x24mm on the shelf so I opened it up to fit the 29mm motor tube. In hindsight I should have just cut one from card stock.

Also did one coat of external fillets. The strength is all on the inside so one coat is all I'm doing on this build.

In this pic you can also get an idea of how much of the fin tab was removed by the amount of open space in the fin slots. This was glued in with TBII.



Next was the Motor retainer. This is an Estes 29mm retainer. The inside of the retainer was sanded and intentionally left rough. BSI 30 min. epoxy was used to attach this. Epoxy was added to the inside of the retainer and the outside of the tube. Excess was wiped up with a paper towel damp with rubbing alcohol.




Attached the launch lug. Didn't get measurement on it's location but the lug is 3" in length and I centered the lug with the top of the fins.



To wrap up the evening I coated the fins in DAP brand wood filler.



Tonight will be everyone's favorite past time. Sanding

 

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Got the fins sanded last night before the snow fell. The Magg is ready for primer but the snow is falling so it might be a couple of days.

Stuck the nose cone on to see what the finished rocket will look like.

 

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With the main components assembled I inserted the parachute, Shock Cord, blanket and the heaviest motor I plan to use and checked the CG. I decided to add .50 z of nose weight to the tip of the cone using BB's and epoxy.

From there it was was time to button up the nose cone with the included bulkhead. The inside of the cone was sanded earlier so it was simple a matter of fitting the bulkhead. The inside of my nose cone had a very thick line where the two halves meet along the seam so I needed to notch the bulkhead. Once fitted I attached with a generous amount of BSI30 mins epoxy and let it cure.



With the weather cooperating it was time for primer. I sprayed on two coats of SEM high build and set it aside ot cure overnight. If the weather holds I'll have this one in paint tomorrow.

 

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Alright. Back to wrap this build up.

Weather once again held off long enough for me to get paint applied. First color is Krylon Foil Metallic Blue. Painted the entire rocket with two coats and let that dry for a day. Unlike some of Krylon's other paints, this one felt dry to the touch in about 15 mins. I left it to cure over night then masked and painted the second color this morning before work.

Second color is Krylon Metallic Foil Purple. These colors absolutly pop. I don't know how they get these to spray out of a can as there is so much flake in them I'm shocked it doesn't clog.

No decals for this one. Going to call it done as is.

 

[DigBaddy]

Great paint scheme!!

 

[86mustang408w]

Very Nice build! This is on my to buy list and I love it!!! Awesome man!

 

[Back_at_it]

Very Nice build! This is on my to buy list and I love it!!! Awesome man!

The Nano Magg is a great kit that flies incredibly well on D12-3 for low flights. For something a bit higher, the E12-4 is perfect. I've recorded 487ft. and the delay was perfect for this rocket.

 

[86mustang408w]

The Nano Magg is a great kit that flies incredibly well on D12-3 for low flights. For something a bit higher, the E12-4 is perfect. I've recorded 487ft. and the delay was perfect for this rocket.

Thats cool. I'm sitting here now though doing flight sims with OpenRocket. I'm trying to save some cash on composite motors, so I've been using a 29mm to 24mm adapter and getting packs of E12-4/6's at Hobby Lobby for some of my lighter 29mm builds, and flying them like that, lol, It works quite well. I didn't think it flew on a D12-3! Awesome!!

 

[Back_at_it]

Thats cool. I'm sitting here now though doing flight sims with OpenRocket. I'm trying to save some cash on composite motors, so I've been using a 29mm to 24mm adapter and getting packs of E12-4/6's at Hobby Lobby for some of my lighter 29mm builds, and flying them like that, lol, It works quite well. I didn't think it flew on a D12-3! Awesome!!

Mine is pretty light at 9oz. Mostly due to the fact that I used a fiber rear ring and didn't over use the wood glue like I normally do. I have three flights on the D12-3. Only one had the altimeter onboard and it recorded 256ft. It does go a bit higher without the altimeter. I fly it off of a 48" rod and typically fly it straight up when using the D12-3 motor. Ejection is just a touch after apogee each time and it lands close on 15" chute.

I also use plastic chutes to keep weight down.

 

[86mustang408w]

Mine is pretty light at 9oz. Mostly due to the fact that I used a fiber rear ring and didn't over use the wood glue like I normally do. I have three flights on the D12-3. Only one had the altimeter onboard and it recorded 256ft. It does go a bit higher without the altimeter. I fly it off of a 48" rod and typically fly it straight up when using the D12-3 motor. Ejection is just a touch after apogee each time and it lands close on 15" chute.

I also use plastic chutes to keep weight down.

I have one built. And 2 more to build. One in 24mm for E motor and down. And one in 29mm, for H/I. But the one now is a 10 year old build. I launched on D12-3's. Added a quicklink so I can use my homemade chute protectors. Also still use the Estes chute with a spill hole.I got in a hurry and forgot to add wadding or dog barf, lol. There was tornadoes that day, and they hit close to me. So with that, I burnt a hole in the chute testing my Jollylogic chute release. I got nomex from ebay, and hand sew them. I used a 2.5" bulkhead I made, and a 3/16" eyelet bolt, with kevlar line, to a quick link, to an eye screw in the nosecone bulkhead. Which almsot gives it the perfect amount of nosecone weight. I'm still think about the next two builds, but will mirror this mod. Every flight was a failure before this. I also have an old flower pot I use for a launch stand, and got a jumper pack, its cool it has USB ports too so I can charge the JL, also a nice range box with wheels, big enough to fit everything in. Got back into this in May, and then got an old collection back, and now more stuff. I think I started a thread with my mods, but here's a picture. Yeah the shroud lines are on about its 3rd attempt to use them, I just used nylon masonry twine, and then put duct tape squares on the chute. All my rockets have a similar setup, for easy change of chutes, the JLCR(only for high power, was just a test with this so I could watch it).

 

[OzHybrid]

I assume the nosecone is so long(that's a long parallel section on it) and the body tube so short so that it ships in a smaller package?