Wildman Jr Build

[Pantherjon]

Well, I ordered this kit as soon as I saw the article here and finally received it this last Friday! I won't go into all the gory measurements(these can be found here)..BUT, I WILL say all the parts are of a very high quality! And for an all fiberglass rocket the price was too good to pass up!
Here are all the awesome parts laid out:

First up is the motor mount..Did a very scientific method of determining where the centering rings are to go..I can't divulge this trade secret, but it makes for a good block for when I inject the epoxy for the internal fillets..Also the nice long length of shock cord is epoxied to the side of the motor mount..Notice the knot just below the fore centering ring..

And now the motor mount gets epoxied into the body tube..Here you can see the ring just above the fin slot of where the fore CR is..

Build to continue on Tuesday..Attached is the RockSim file I 'threw together' after taking meticulous measurements..Just change the extension from .txt back to .rkt to make the file work for you...







View attachment Wildman Jr.txt

 

[rocketgroupmike]

Nice so far... How have you prepared the fiberglass for the epoxy to stick? (This is my only worry on my PR Nike Smoke)

 

[SCE to AUX]

Thanks for posting this, and working up that RocSim file!

I ordered one of these for my L1 cert rocket, and am waiting for it to arrive. What kind of motor(s) are you planning to use, and what are the RocSim predictions for them?

 

[Pantherjon]

Nice so far... How have you prepared the fiberglass for the epoxy to stick? (This is my only worry on my PR Nike Smoke)

Sanded down the areas to be epoxied with 80 grit sandpaper..It doesn't have to get too excessive, just a good rough surface to give something for the epoxy to 'grab' onto..

 

[Pantherjon]

Thanks for posting this, and working up that RocSim file!

I ordered one of these for my L1 cert rocket, and am waiting for it to arrive. What kind of motor(s) are you planning to use, and what are the RocSim predictions for them?

I put some crazy big motors in my initial run thrus..lol..Just a few of the predictions :

KBA J740G 7583 ft
AT J500G 8327 ft
AT J825R 9300 ft
CTI J330 8788 ft
AT I245G 3930 ft

I think most of those motors I happened to hit on the 'optimal weight' and the rocket would coast forever in the sim giving optimal ejection delay times of 18+ seconds! Of course I have been kind of taking RS's altitude predictions with a grain of salt and not expecting to get but maybe 80%(at best) as high as the program predicts..These simulations were run with wind set to slightly breezy(8-17mph) and very turbulent..If set to 'calm' the heights get kind of silly..lol..

 

[dlb]

I started with the AV bay first, Adding threaded rod and 1.5" u-bolt and a fiberglass mounting board. I'll show a couple of picture as soon as I can.

 

[Pantherjon]

Well, the build continues..At a turtles pace!..LOL..Got the fins on tonight! Was going to get everything done on this- and I could have- but I didn't get home from work last night til 2am, so...Been just kind of lazy on my day off..A couple of pictures of the fins on and the bit overboard sized fillets..LOL..Will get shaped and sanded once the epoxy fully cures..Right now this section tips the scale at 1lb 9.6oz..I weighed it prior to permanently affixing the fins and it weighed 1lb 8.8oz, so gained only 0.8oz in the epoxy process!

Did notice one thing when I was in the process of doing the fillets, and that is the slots on my tube were not cut at a uniform 120 degrees apart..Noticed when I was putting on the tape dams and noticed there was a bigger gap between 2 of the slots..I THINK that may have thrown my fin alignment off too as I have one fin that is totally out of whack..I think I only checked it in one position when I tacked it into the slot and it looked aligned, but after wards when I rotated the tube I noticed it's mis-alignment See picture #3 for the embarrassment..Hopefully it wont effect the flight..

 

[Luv2launch]

Did you drill the holes and inject epoxy into the body tube before you did the filets?I was thinking of maybe leaving the aft centering ring removable and cutting some light pieces of glass to put along the motor mount then putting on the aft ring.

 

[WILDMANRS]

Hi Jon
Did you get the instructions?
Guys please follow the instructions I know its a different way of building but they are rock solid
Thanks
Tim

 

[WILDMANRS]

Jon if the fin slots are off please send it back to me and i will send you a new one
And I am sorr for the trouble .
Tim
P.S. if any body has any problems with any of these let me know right away ,they where going out really fast so i didn't get a chance to go through them very well

 

[Pantherjon]

Hi Jon
Did you get the instructions?
Guys please follow the instructions I know its a different way of building but they are rock solid
Thanks
Tim

Yeah, I got the instructions..I was going to drill the holes, then when I got back from dinner Tuesday night I had forgotten and went on instead to do the fillets and noticed the out of whack fin..I have one of two choices to do about it:
1) Nothing, live with it being a doofus looking fin can
2) Try and break it free and get it straight and properly on..

Right now kind of a flip of a coin..One part says leave it, other says 'no ya gotta do something about it'..I will probably go with option #2 sometime during the week..This is my 6 night in a row work week so may not 'get to it' til my next day off- Tuesday

Don't worry about the fin slots Tim..I was just making a 'by the way' comment, I guess more as a CYA for my poorly aligned fin..LOL..The slots are off MAYBE by 1/8", not really noticeable until you put a strip of tape down tween one set of slots and then do another and see a different size gap between the tape and slots..Tis not a big deal

 

[Pantherjon]

Help me decide..Rip out the offending fin and redo, or just leave it as is?

Here are a few pictures of the fin can from the business end so you can be the judge:

Pic1 has fin #1 up
Pic 2 has fin #2 up
And Pic 3 has fin #3 up

I think when I originally lined up the fins I looked at the #3 orientation and used the TLAR(that looks about right) method. Because in that shot the fins all do look pretty close to being in the right alignment..

 

[mccr3328]

I vote rip it off

Dremel through the filet and rock it back and forth untill it breaks loose. while your at it drill the holes and inject the epoxy & choped carbon. Remember this is a WILDMAN KIT! don't want to void the warranty

 

[patelldp]

As long as the root of the fin is straight, you should be okay. I know it is annoying, I doubt I could live with it, but it should fly fine.

 

[jderimig]

Leave it alone. Look at it in orientation 3 only.

 

[BsSmith]

I would rip it off, but that's just me, obssesed with the way a rocket looks instead of how it flies.

 

[brianc]

I would realign it. But if you choose to leave it, paint
that fin black and the others a primary color or something...

 

[terryg]

I would dremel off the fillets and fix it. It would bug the heck out of me if i did not, even if it flew straight as can be! You are going to have to hand to an RSO at some point and who wants to admit they can not get the fins on straight.

 

[Pantherjon]

Yeah, I thought about just leaving it be. But knowing that it is like that(even tho most won't see it as I plan on putting the rail buttons on that side of the rocket), I am aware of it and it would nag me no end..So, I am going to give it a go and try and correct it this weekend(provided work hours cooperate)..I have formulated 2 plans of attach on this problem;

Plan A: Lay fin can on ground in drive way and back over it with the Durango

Plan B: Cut off the fillets, and using a block of wood swung with an upward motion(like a golf swing) pop the trailing edge of the fin..Should pop right free with that..

Looks like I will be implementing Plan B,,Tho, if it doesn't go right, Plan A is always a back up!

 

[Luv2launch]

Having just put my JR togther yesterday I had a fin come out not quite straight when I epoxied it in its not as bad as your I kept a good eye on them when I was putting them in.It seems it might be the way the fin slots are cut I ended up putting a full can of spray paint to keep it straight since when you straightened it by hand it just bent back into not being straight but I got it pretty close not really noticable.Still an execellent kite with top notch parts and seeing its my first FG kit it went together pretty quick and easy just need to drill the holes for the all thread, vent hole and switch on the ebay and the holes for the shear pins on the other sections although I will probably fly it without the ebay and top section first once I get the railbuttons on.

 

[WILDMANRS]

fly it the way it is .
You will do more damage trying to get the fin out .
My opinion
Tim

 

[Pantherjon]

fly it the way it is .
You will do more damage trying to get the fin out .
My opinion
Tim

I reached that decision myself..Tho, I POSSIBLY could get the fin free and then reset it with out damaging anything, if it won't effect the flight then ptttt it stays..Gonna try and get some more done on it later today-got a few things to do- I JUST got home a few minutes ago..So it is nitey night time for me..

 

[Pantherjon]

Well, didn't get much done today..Getting home at 2AM then getting back up at 6:45AM tends to make one a tired pup..Anyway I drilled 3 holes in the body tube and then proceeded to make a bit of a mess in injecting the 2 part foam Not too bad but got me pretty frustrated for a short period..

Here are a couple of shots..A close up of one of the holes and some of the 'mess' created..Most of the 'mess' has been sanded smooth..And a picture of the whole lower section..Just weighed it and the foaming added 0.9oz, so the overall weight right now is 1lb 10.5oz...

Hope to get this mostly wrapped up this weekend..Crossing fingers and knocking on wood!LOL

 

[Fade_to_Black]

Not to hijack your thread, but for anyone interested I found an awesome epoxy for fiberglass rockets. It's called FUSOR 100 EZ, and you can get it at auto paint supply stores (not parts places like AutoZone). It's used in the auto body industry to glue plastic, fiberglass and carbon fiber body panels together. It's sort of an off white color, spreads like thin peanut butter, and sets in 10 minutes when heated to 180 degrees with a heat gun. The cool thing is, when you heat it, it spreads out and self levels so you don't need to do hardly any sanding to smooth out you fillets. Plus, this stuff is STRONG, will not come off prepped fiberglass and doesn't get brittle. Now, the down side, it costs about $45 for 20 oz. of the stuff, but that's plenty of material to do a big rocket. I'm almost finished building my PR Intimidator 5 for my L3, and still have some left over.

Just food for thought.....

 

[SCE to AUX]

Got my kit in the mail yesterday, and ordered a screw-on motor retainer from PML. Not enough "meat" in the aft centering ring for threaded inserts and clips.

Will start assembly once I have the retainer, as that will get glued onto the motor mount tube first, before the centering rings can go on.

Very impressed with the quality of the kit all the way around. First thing I did was check to make sure that the fin slots were in the right place!

Surprised to see the instructions come on a CD! Is a blank CD, case, and the time it takes to burn it really cheaper/easier than xeroxing 7 pages?

 

[mattvd]

Mine came with the RockSim files on the CD as well -- if you are interested in those.

 

[Pantherjon]

Not to hijack your thread, but for anyone interested I found an awesome epoxy for fiberglass rockets. It's called
FUSOR 100 EZ, and you can get it at auto paint supply stores (not parts places like AutoZone). It's used in the auto body industry to glue plastic, fiberglass and carbon fiber body panels together. It's sort of an off white color, spreads like thin peanut butter, and sets in 10 minutes when heated to 180 degrees with a heat gun. The cool thing is, when you heat it, it spreads out and self levels so you don't need to do hardly any sanding to smooth out you fillets. Plus, this stuff is STRONG, will not come off prepped fiberglass and doesn't get brittle. Now, the down side, it costs about $45 for 20 oz. of the stuff, but that's plenty of material to do a big rocket. I'm almost finished building my PR Intimidator 5 for my L3, and still have some left over.

Just food for thought.....

Will have to look into it..Did a search and found one place selling it..And they list it at 10.1oz for $41!LINK

Then I would need a heat gun..LOL..

 

[Pantherjon]

Not to hijack your thread, but for anyone interested I found an awesome epoxy for fiberglass rockets. It's called
FUSOR 100 EZ, and you can get it at auto paint supply stores (not parts places like AutoZone). It's used in the auto body industry to glue plastic, fiberglass and carbon fiber body panels together. It's sort of an off white color, spreads like thin peanut butter, and sets in 10 minutes when heated to 180 degrees with a heat gun. The cool thing is, when you heat it, it spreads out and self levels so you don't need to do hardly any sanding to smooth out you fillets. Plus, this stuff is STRONG, will not come off prepped fiberglass and doesn't get brittle. Now, the down side, it costs about $45 for 20 oz. of the stuff, but that's plenty of material to do a big rocket. I'm almost finished building my PR Intimidator 5 for my L3, and still have some left over.

Just food for thought.....

Will have to look into it..Did a search and found one place selling it..And they list it at 10.1oz for $41!LINK

Then I would need a heat gun..LOL..

 

[Fade_to_Black]

Yeah, that's the stuff. The 10.1 oz refers to each tube, 20.2 total. It'll set up fine without the heat gun, just takes a lot longer. For a rocket the size of the JR. or the little dog, the small tubes would be plenty. I've been building fiberglass rockets almost exclusively lately so that's why I'm buying the big tubes.

 

[dalea]

I would just leave the fin alone. It should still fly straight. Besides thn you can paint the offending fin a different color and name the bird "offending FINatical fist of fury" then you can tell every one you built it that way on purpose.
This last weekend, I signed off a gents L2 on a jr with a J350. WoW talk about fast! Luckily he had a Rocket Hunter on board.
I also got to watch Tim fly his prototype many times in a row. On the first flight I comment " nice tangled shroud lines. "" What shroudlines" he said. He was flying the prototype on a 3 maybe 3 1/2 foot streamer. Fast accent, fast descent. 3 or 4 times with no damage whatsoever. Don't do this though as it will probably void your warranty. Can't wait for this weekend to start building mine.