I just built my first TLP kit, the AGM 88. I should have taken more pictures as I implemented a few construction ideas into the build that were not from the manual but at any rate now I'm hooked and am about to place an order for his entire store of TLP kits. Built mostly stock, the only mods I made were to add strength to the aft end. Motor mount remains 24mm with regular steel hook. I may use an 18 inch Spherachute as I don't plan on sending the rocket that high and would like the aft end to remain in tact upon landings.
I made the tailcone out of 95# card stock and ran into a circumference issue that was easily resolved: The circumference of the card stock tailcone had a greater diameter than the body tube at the mating point, so I simply sanded the difference from the fiber centering ring that rests at the top of the tailcone and trimmed the tailcone width so that when wrapped the tailcone mated up to the body tube with no notable difference in diameter with the body tube. I did this for increased strength over the flimsy card stock that came with the kit and applying CA to the entire tail cone. For that reason and also that I had no idea what kind or how you guys were applying your CA
The larger diameter engine mount tube was inserted into the tailcone and epoxy-filled. The total amount of epoxy was actually minimal in terms of additionally added weight. Once set, I tacked on the upper centering ring to the larger engine mount tube and between the two main centering rings added 4 balsa strips legth-wise to the long axis of the rocket that would serve to create 4 separate chambers once inside the body tube with the tailcone mated to the body tube. After adding epoxy to the aft end of the body tube I inserted the tailcone assembly half-way, oriented the rocket aft-end up and injected epoxy into each of the 4 chambers before completely inserting the tailcone assembly. I then oriented the rocket aft-end down after rolling/letting set for a few minutes by one-quarter turn horizontally 4 times and left to cure. I am confident I have created a much more robust aft-end. ES6209 and CA used for all aft-end construction.
I maintained surface-mounted fins (which were upgraded to 1/8" basswood) and didn't go TTW crazy or anything like that. Fins are dead-nuts on and were affixed with a light bead of 5 min epoxy, minimal enough so that there was no squish-out when pressed on. Alignment was made simple with a few clamps and angle aluminum. I will tape off very thin fillet radii for the fins and use ES5000 rocketpoxy for those.
At any rate, I stared at it for a while in pieces before I figured out my strength-adding remedies but was pretty excited to be able to handle it after the last fin had cured. Looking forward to another TLP kit! I really like the 2.6 inch form factor. The models fit well on shelves and in rooms without dominating, and my finishing ritual is nothing short of producing a perfect, detailed result and take time.
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