PembertonTech 3FNC Build

[gdjsky01]

Llama certified parts...

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Lots of soot on everything from the edges of the fins. The fins are not warped, a good thing. The nose cone molding marks are quite pronounced.

My kit still has the un-PC lead shot. I am thankful for that. The CD has all Llama certified kit destructions and some other info. It was not readable on my Dell Laptop, but was on my iMac.

The tubes look like your average LOC tubing with you average spiral to fill.

Llama telekinesis implanted that one centering ring might need to be opened up slightly... and so it came to pass...

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All tubes were given some thin CA on the edges because... well ... because I said so and crying makes me happy. And who doesn't need more toxicity in their lives?

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Yes and the spiral filled... this build will probably spiral out of control anyway.. :flyingpig:

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And of course we have to use Chris Michielssen's (hcmbanjo) thick CA trick to fill the mold lines in the nose cone because... well ... because I said so and crying makes me happy. And who doesn't need more toxicity in their lives?

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[gdjsky01]

First hoop the Destructions have you perform is to jettison a perfectly good piece of the nose cone.

Many such journeys are possible, let my hose clamp be your gateway (guide). I can use the clamp nicely around all but about 30 degrees around, then when almost through, rotate it slightly to get the other 30 degrees.

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Then remove the hose clamp and make the final decapitation. Just be careful out there with the knife or you could be hosed.

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The cap goes in the spare / junk parts... Maybe it will be a part of some future nose. Until then,
All is as it was before.

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[Scotty Dog]

op:op:op::roll::roll:
And this makes "How many builds going on at the same time"?
Anywhoo-This is good,wondered how one of those PT 3fnc went together.

 

[gdjsky01]

Not as many as it was. Really. Just a piker right now. Only two! :y:

The 3FNC and the Starchaser. The Deucey is done, flown, and repaired already. :lol:

The Astrobee-D awaits a maiden (A redhead. Not sure why, but a maiden we await). (My apologies in advance to all that think that is misogynistic ). The AeroTech D-Region I don't think I even documented here... but it's built painted and flown (without repairs!).

And you know how slow I am...

 

[Barracuda]

Looking good Jeff..well nice cut on the nc anyway

 

[gdjsky01]

Not as many as it was. Really. Just a piker right now. Only two! :y:

Lairs!!!!! Assassins!!!! (Boy I am on a roll with the ST-TOS quotes. :wink


I did fergit... I bought a completed and primed Flis Deuces Wild off eBay for $18 (that includes shipping). I am in the process of maybe making it a Saturn Deuce. Maybe... depends if I can get the decals right. :wink:

 

[gdjsky01]

After decapitating the nose cone, you are destructed to warsh the inside. Whatever... I did that.. and rough it up ... such violence... since I could not find my brass knuckles to rough up the nose cone.. so I used these instead...

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Then warsh again

 

[gdjsky01]

With all the warshing done you are destructed to pour the lead, which you no longer get, into the schnooozla and secure it with adhesive stuff... I am using 30 minute hobby shop epoxy.

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In lead we trust

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Da GLOOOOO... Da GLOOO

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OOoooooo boil boil trouble and toil...


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[Pem Tech]

Ahhhhhh...
I like the hose clamp trick.

OH!
And thanks for the heads-up on the CD....
Checked the settings and the burning software was set for OSX only.
Got that fixed, and the CD's should read on WIndows or OSX.

First hoop the Destructions have you perform is to jettison a perfectly good piece of the nose cone.

Many such journeys are possible, let my hose clamp be your gateway (guide). I can use the clamp nicely around all but about 30 degrees around, then when almost through, rotate it slightly to get the other 30 degrees.

View attachment 88567​

Then remove the hose clamp and make the final decapitation. Just be careful out there with the knife or you could be hosed.

View attachment 88568​

The cap goes in the spare / junk parts... Maybe it will be a part of some future nose. Until then,
All is as it was before.

View attachment 88569​

 

[gdjsky01]

Following along in the destructions we come to motor retention. This is a new one on me, so lets see what happens shall we?

First we lay the coat hanger... err... sink basket... err... motor retainer wire over the aft centering ring and mark two locations where we'll Dremel off some wood.

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Shocking as this may be, we next actually REMOVE the wood with the Dremel. Please note: Taking a picture of the centering ring while the Dremel is actually on, is NOT advised!
(Simulated Dremel removal shown below... closed course... professional driver...)

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Now, if you still have all digits attached and are not bleeding, you get something like this:
(If you are bleeding, stop reading this @%#!# thread and get some help!!)

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[gdjsky01]

So let me update...
Next up we set the distance of the Aft centering ring on the MMT.

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And test fit the motor retainer... now it time for some glooo'in

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Now comes some 'builders kit stuff'... which means there is no hard and fast rules...

The destructions have you take a casing and set the distance the motor retainer wire will extend beyond the MMT. This is all well and good. But don't be fooled. CTI and AT closures are different depths. And single use motors for the most part are whatever you want (I use masking tape thrust rings). So I set mine using an AT 29mm casing as that was the longest. Using SU motors I can just build up an thrust ring of the correct size or length. Ditto the CTI reloads.


So what is the next picture? We have the position set with the casing, the aft CR in place and System III epoxy with silica thickener spooned over the wire. BTW: The destructions don't say so, but I roughed up the motor retainer (again with the violence)!

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Not sure why, but I followed the destructions and wrapped tape around the ends. To be honest, it seems like a placebo to me. What I WANTED to do is bend the ends up THEN wrap them in tape capturing the ends. But I don't want anything snagging... so I left them alone.

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[gdjsky01]

The destructions mention something about "Break out the Fore Baffle Ring, notice that one side of the interior is smoothed and beveled; this is the side the eyelet protrudes from and faces aft toward the rear of the rocket"

Ok I give up. There is nothing different that I can see about one side or the other of anything to do with this Fore Baffle Ring. Leaving me, well BAFFLED :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:


Guide us, Landru! (Or Llama!) - Bonus pts if you know the reference.

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[gdjsky01]

Deciding that the baffle thing had me baffled and I'd wait for destructions from the head Llama, I figured I'd get the fins marked and slots cut...

Pretty straight forward stuff if it were not for this: "As a late addition to the Destructions this may seem a bit inconsistent with the remainder of the text..." So I scratched my head and other parts of my anatomy trying to understand what was inconsistent with what??? :confused2::confused2::confused2:

In the end I gave up and followed the pictures...

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Who can resist a little dry fit?

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[rbelknap]

Nice build so far. I'm no where near as far along on my King Kraken. (which is currently standing in the corner, quietly mocking me for buying the wrong epoxy yesterday.)

Ahhhhhh...
And thanks for the heads-up on the CD....
Checked the settings and the burning software was set for OSX only.
Got that fixed, and the CD's should read on WIndows or OSX.

That's probably why my mystery CD didn't work when I popped it in to my laptop at work. I never thought to bring it home to check it on my mac... I hope I can find it, that it hasn't been turned into a drink coaster, a clock, or part of a disco ball by the folks in the lab... (well, I guess the coaster wouldn't be too bad - I could still probably read it in that case.)

UPDATE: Mystery CD located, the contents of which are no longer a mystery thanks to the keen observations of gdjsky01.

 

[qquake2k]

Guide us, Landru! (Or Llama!) - Bonus pts if you know the reference.

How many bonus points do I get?

 

[JPVegh]

Seriously? Bonus point's for identifying a Star Trek reference on a rocketry forum? You do know we are all nerds here right? :bangpan:
Now a sports reference might get some heads a scratchin.:confused2:

Sorry, I'll be good now. Back to your regularly scheduled rocket build now in progress.op:

 

[Pem Tech]

Yep, as I warned you a little while back, this rings were not cut properly. Wrong size interior and no beveling.
*sigh*
But this is an excuse to fire up the dremel again!
Also, I thought I had included turning up the ends of the retainer in the newest version of the destruction.
Crud, will have to make that correction.

"Be one with the Body (tube)..."

Hey, I never noticed before but Landru has Donald Trump hair!

The destructions mention something about "Break out the Fore Baffle Ring, notice that one side of the interior is smoothed and beveled; this is the side the eyelet protrudes from and faces aft toward the rear of the rocket"

Ok I give up. There is nothing different that I can see about one side or the other of anything to do with this Fore Baffle Ring. Leaving me, well BAFFLED :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:


Guide us, Landru! (Or Llama!) - Bonus pts if you know the reference.

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View attachment 89514​

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[gdjsky01]

Ok. I thought you were referring to the one aft ring... not both... My bad... I wonder if you could resend that message?

So am I supposed to bevel the outer perimeter to fit the bevel of the nose? And the inner perimeter how? Do you have a picture?

I'll get it going. Just need to know the purpose. If the mean time, I shall Exercise my prime function

Thanks!!!

 

[gdjsky01]

How many bonus points do I get?

10 bonus points. Which are worth twice as much for redemption purposes.
Jeff

 

[Pem Tech]

The interior of the baffle ring is supposed to be over sized and slightly beveled to allow the motor tube to slide through easily.
I'll look for the message and pictures.

Are you done yet?

Ok. I thought you were referring to the one aft ring... not both... My bad... I wonder if you could resend that message?

So am I supposed to bevel the outer perimeter to fit the bevel of the nose? And the inner perimeter how? Do you have a picture?

I'll get it going. Just need to know the purpose. If the mean time, I shall Exercise my prime function

Thanks!!!

 

[Tronman]

I had some problems with the tail cone on my 3FNC. I coated it with a few layers CA and epoxy, but ended up breaking it anyway (due to my own clumsiness). I reshaped it as best I could and filled it with 2 part foam. Of course, that made the wire motor retainer a little hard to move:eyeroll:Anyway, it's flown once so far with an F40. Gonna try something bigger next time.

 

[Pem Tech]

Yeah, always preferred epoxy to CA for paper tail cones. Sorry you had trouble....
Watch out for the 3FNC on G motors, she likes to disappear in a puff of smoke.
*POOF*

I had some problems with the tail cone on my 3FNC. I coated it with a few layers CA and epoxy, but ended up breaking it anyway (due to my own clumsiness). I reshaped it as best I could and filled it with 2 part foam. Of course, that made the wire motor retainer a little hard to move:eyeroll:Anyway, it's flown once so far with an F40. Gonna try something bigger next time.

 

[Tronman]

Yeah, always preferred epoxy to CA for paper tail cones. Sorry you had trouble....
Watch out for the 3FNC on G motors, she likes to disappear in a puff of smoke.
*POOF*

:y:

 

[Pem Tech]

:y:

Figuratively...
Not literally....
:tongue:

Last one I launched on a G wasn't recovered for over a year. The launch photos just showed a long silver blur and lots of white smoke, and that was the last I saw of her. It wasn't until the following year that she was found in a trash pile, less chute, NC and 29 40/120 motor case after being run over by a hay baler.
Wish there were a audible tracker small enough to use in the 3FNC.

 

[Tronman]

Figuratively...
No literally....
:tongue:

Last one I launched on a G wasn't recovered for over a year. The launch photos just showed a long silver blur and lots of white smoke, and that was the last I saw of her. It wasn't until the following year that she was found in a trash pile, less chute, NC and 29 40/120 motor case after being run over by a hay baler.
Wish there were a audible tracker small enough to use in the 3FNC.

Then I guess I better increase the size slowly. An F40 is nice, but there's room for a little more juice.

 

[gdjsky01]

It's time to start bringing things together. The destructions had me insert the AFT centering ring 1/8 inch into the bottom of the body tube. Then place a temporary fiber centering ring in the forward section of the body tube. This centering ring is to keep the MMT on the straight and narrow. Its not glued in. Instead tape is used to make sure you can pull it out after the next step. The CR was darn lose on the MMT. So much so it wiggle around. So I placed a wrap of masking tape on the inside of the CR to take up some slack.

See here:

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With the front of the MMT held aligned by the fiber CR, I glued up the rear of the AFT CR to the body tube and the MMT.

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Look ma... no epoxy... given the materials, the bond will be strong than the materials.

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[qquake2k]

10 bonus points. Which are worth twice as much for redemption purposes.
Jeff

Yay! 10 whole bonus points! I knew rocketry would pay off some day!

 

[gdjsky01]

With aft centering ring now secured from the back with glue fillets... I pulled the tape tabs on the fiber ring and removed it. Now I had access to the front of the aft centering ring to fillet it.

Here we are looking down the front after the black fiber CR was removed.

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Using a syring I get the glue down where it belongs.

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The I use my trusty glue stick to spread out the glue into a relatively clean fillet around the aft centering ring to body tube joint and the MMT to aft centering ring joint. No other joints were smoked err... glued during this procedure.

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Resulting in yonder piece-o-rocket

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[gdjsky01]

So here is the baffling forward baffling ring. But its no long baffling... me that is...
Look closely... no closer.... no really close...

And you can see I took a Dremel to the mother-hummer and broadened and beveled the bowel of the once baffling baffle.

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[Aksrockets]

4in upscale. :daydream:

Looks great so far! Ive always thought this was a creative, fun kit.

Alex