rocketgeek101
Well-Known Member
It has been quite a while since I have done a build thread -- or really for that matter been active on this forum. A combination of work/university and travel have kept me pretty busy as of late. I have still been active flying rockets but haven't really been building anything new these past few years. As a result, the fleet has been starting to show its age, and the recent loss of my Aerotech Arreaux to the rocket gods have spurred me to start adding to the fleet again. Back when I was first getting started into model rocketry my first "big" rocket was the Mean Machine. On its maiden flight it ended up landing in some trees (I eventually recovered it, but not before it got rained on damaging it beyond feasible repair). Since my fleet is most lacking at the moment in large LPR/low end MPR it seemed appropriate to get back into building with the Mean Machine 2.0!
Anyway on with the build!
The kit/parts:
First step after unpacking everything was to paper the fins:
I first used Weldbond to apply the paper to the fins and then soaked them with super thin CA and sanded smooth to create a hard finish.
The next step was to assemble the motor mount. I decided to ditch the motor hook and use a Rocketarium aluminium screw on retainer as I plan to eventually fly this on some small composite motors. Plus it looks sexy
Then using a payloadbay.com template I made a quick jig and tacked on the fins with Weldbond (and glued in the MMT):
After the fins were dry, I applied some fillets using Rocketpoxy (overkill on a rocket this size, but It makes for some pretty nice fillets). I also decided to replace the launch lugs with rail buttons:
I then glued the airframe tubes together. I used some leftover Rocketpoxy from the fillets to do the middle twist and lock connector, and Weldbond for the two standard couplers. I supplemented the included elastic cord with a length of kevlar attached to the upper coupler:
Using some spackle I had laying around I touched up the fillets and filled in the spirals
I didn't take any pictures of the process, but after sanding I painted the rocket using Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X gloss white for the booster and gloss blue for the upper half. It worked pretty well, though I had to sand down the first coat a bit to knock down some fuzzies that were a result of sanding the bare cardboard tube after filling the spirals. To add insult to injury, the spackle I used didn't really do that good a job. I think I'll stick with wood filler and/or Bondo in the future. The end result still looks pretty good though. The Rust-Oleum paint does a good job of filling in all the flaws compared to the other brands I've used. All in all, one of my better finishes for sure. Once the paint was dry I applied the decals and glued on the retainer using some JB Weld and done!
I'll post some better pictures with the two halves attached tomorrow. I'm hoping to fly it next weekend. I have a CTI E31 that might give it a nice ride, though for the maiden flight I'll probably keep it safe and fly it on a D12.
Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for looking!
Anyway on with the build!
The kit/parts:
First step after unpacking everything was to paper the fins:
I first used Weldbond to apply the paper to the fins and then soaked them with super thin CA and sanded smooth to create a hard finish.
The next step was to assemble the motor mount. I decided to ditch the motor hook and use a Rocketarium aluminium screw on retainer as I plan to eventually fly this on some small composite motors. Plus it looks sexy
Then using a payloadbay.com template I made a quick jig and tacked on the fins with Weldbond (and glued in the MMT):
After the fins were dry, I applied some fillets using Rocketpoxy (overkill on a rocket this size, but It makes for some pretty nice fillets
). I also decided to replace the launch lugs with rail buttons: I then glued the airframe tubes together. I used some leftover Rocketpoxy from the fillets to do the middle twist and lock connector, and Weldbond for the two standard couplers. I supplemented the included elastic cord with a length of kevlar attached to the upper coupler:
Using some spackle I had laying around I touched up the fillets and filled in the spirals
I didn't take any pictures of the process, but after sanding I painted the rocket using Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X gloss white for the booster and gloss blue for the upper half. It worked pretty well, though I had to sand down the first coat a bit to knock down some fuzzies that were a result of sanding the bare cardboard tube after filling the spirals. To add insult to injury, the spackle I used didn't really do that good a job. I think I'll stick with wood filler and/or Bondo in the future. The end result still looks pretty good though. The Rust-Oleum paint does a good job of filling in all the flaws compared to the other brands I've used. All in all, one of my better finishes for sure. Once the paint was dry I applied the decals and glued on the retainer using some JB Weld and done!
I'll post some better pictures with the two halves attached tomorrow. I'm hoping to fly it next weekend. I have a CTI E31 that might give it a nice ride, though for the maiden flight I'll probably keep it safe and fly it on a D12.
Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for looking!
