Upscale Estes Starship Vega Build! (3" dia. and blue tube!)

[ljwilley]

I am building an upscale replica of the Estes Starship Vega:

I have already ordered parts from always ready rocketry; I will be using blue tube in this build! The upper and ventral fins have been cut by one of my dad's coworkers. I am going to cut the main fins on my school laser cutter as soon as I can. Here are the upper and ventral fins:



I also have purchased a custom made balsa nose cone for this from Roachwerks. (Yes, they are still at it!)

 

[ljwilley]

The main tube I ordered for this build is being cut to size and it has custom slots. It will have 6 slots, 3 for the ventral fins, and 3 for the main fins. The man who runs always ready rocketry says he is planning to work on the tube this weekend. Fingers crossed!!

 

[neil_w]

Looks very nice. Can I ask what it costs to get a custom slotted tube?

 

[ljwilley]

From always ready rocketry? For this tube, 24$ for the slotting. (I picked 2 of the "3 slots in less than 6"' options) Prices are on the website under cnc/custom services: https://alwaysreadyrocketry.com/product/cnc-fin-slots/

 

[ljwilley]

That is not including the cost of the tube itself, which is 30$ on it's own.

 

[neil_w]

Thanks

 

[ljwilley]

Going to throw in this mostly irrelevant picture- a teaser for a future build thread. Do not post what you think it is- some of you will instantly know and others wont. Only posting it in this thread:

 

[ljwilley]

Always ready rocketry order has arrived!! I now have a custom cut 3" tube with 6 slots, 3 tubes for the pods, another for the motor mount, and 2 centering rings.



High quality as expected. Thanks, Dave!

 

[ljwilley]

Decided to test fit the motor mount and ventral fins with no glue. They look pretty cool!




If the fins look crooked they aren't it's just the picture.

 

[MarsLander]

Going to throw in this mostly irrelevant picture- a teaser for a future build thread. Do not post what you think it is- some of you will instantly know and others wont. Only posting it in this thread:

Pershing?

 

[ljwilley]

Pershing?

I said dont post! You will have to wait

 

[T-Rex]

Watching. Starship Vega is one of my favorites.
I had a Citation version in high school, built and wrecked a Q-Modeling version as a fresh BAR, then a 3"a couple years later.
My 3" had a rough landing a couple years ago so now I have to repair a landing leg.

 

[ljwilley]

Ordered some carbon fiber rods just now for the pods on this rocket. I know I need to stop being obsessed with carbon fiber but they were cheap and I couldn't resist.

My 3" had a rough landing a couple years ago so now I have to repair a landing leg.

At least that wont happen! hopefully...

 

[ljwilley]

And it comes with 5 so I will have 2 extra!

 

[ljwilley]

Cut the three pod tubes to size (9 inches each)



Also @T-Rex thanks for the !

 

[BEC]

View attachment 624174
Ordered some carbon fiber rods just now for the pods on this rocket. I know I need to stop being obsessed with carbon fiber but they were cheap and I couldn't resist.

At least that wont happen! hopefully...

Pray tell where does one get cheap carbon fiber rods these days?

Neat project.

 

[ljwilley]

They are not the beautiful rolled carbon fiber you have seen. Just plain black. By cheap I mean relatively. They were 16$ for all of them.

 

[BEC]

They are not the beautiful rolled carbon fiber you have seen. Just plain black. By cheap I mean relatively. They were 16$ for all of them.

I would still like to know where you got them.

 

[ljwilley]

Just bought them from amazon.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BX92F55R/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A37EFSP4QP9HL5&th=1

 

[ljwilley]

The rods are supposed to come tomorrow. They would have already come if it weren't for a snow storm. By snow storm I mean a half inch of snow. It doesn't take much to shut down Oregon, as we don't get much snow. School was also cancelled this week, so I couldn't use my school's laser cutter to cut out the main fins and rings for the pods. I hopefully will do that next week, Monday or Wednesday.

 

[ljwilley]

The carbon fiber rods have arrived, and I cut out the centering rings for the pods. The carbon fiber rods are actually really impressive; much higher quality than expected, no bending, VERY strong, no defects, relatively lightweight. The centering rings also came out good.

 

[MarsLander]

Nice...look forward to seeing the end product!

 

[ljwilley]

As soon as the STEM teacher at our school has time to cut the way-too-big piece of plywood into smaller, cuttable pieces, I will cut out the main fins.

 

[ljwilley]

I was able to cut out the main fins, and I dry fitted some of the parts too see what it would look like. It looks amazing!





It's time to start building!!

 

[jqavins]

Decided to test fit the motor mount and ventral fins...

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

A ventral fin, or any ventral feature, is one on the underside of something like a plane or a fish. On the top or back it's dorsal, on the bottom or belly it's ventral.

I don't know if there's a 25¢ word for those small fins in between the main ones. "Interdigitated minor fins" might do.

 

[ljwilley]

From now on the fins on this rocket will be the small lower, small upper, and main fins.

 

[ljwilley]

I will be assembling the pods and motor mount (and gluing it in the rocket), then attaching the small upper fins, then the small lower fins, then the main fins, then I will glue the pods to the main fins.

 

[MarsLander]

small upper

Those are called canards...

 

[ljwilley]

what did you eat for breakfast, a dictionary? I will call them canards.

 

[ljwilley]

I'm sorry, I am not the best with special rocket terms.