Not a build thread, just wanted to share. Picked these three up when Leading Edge Rocketry relaunched a few months ago. Missed out when they closed up shop a few years ago: Micro Max, Micro Goblin, and Micro Starlight. Downscales of classic iconic designs. Assembled these yesterday. Here are my impressions, warts and all:
Assembly of the Max and Goblin was straightforward, but there was one small problem:
Length of motor + length of nose cone shoulder + width of rolled up streamer = YIKES!
This does not even take into account the width of wadding. The main tube of the Max is too short to accommodate the laundry. Instead of cutting down the NC shoulder and streamer, I'll just leave the streamer off. Prior experience is that the lighter models do just fine with nose blow featherweight recovery.
(BTW the toothpick glued to the centerline of the rear of the motor is for fin alignment purposes, since I don't have a micro jig. Not my idea, wish I could remember where I saw it).
Another thing, all the fin alignment wraps were slightly too short. Wound up making my own.
When building the Starlight I ran into a bigger problem. The main fins are nearly as long as the body tube, so there is no room for the aft stabilizer ring on the tube. Had to extend the runner fins past the end of the tube for the ring, which means I will have to load and unload motors with a needle nose plier. Hmm.
Here the two rings are dry fitted to allow for easier finishing.
And here is the Micro Goblin next to the Semroc MX Goblin for comparison.
Another thing, the Leading Edge models do not come with decals. I'll be home printing down scaled decals and trying out a new laser printer in the next few days.
Left an email for LE cust. svc. about the Starlight fins, awaiting response.
At the end of the day I had three good looking rockets, albeit not without doing some modifications for the Starlight. To quote Clint Eastwood, "Improvise, adapt, and overcome!" (Heartbreak Ridge).
Laters.
Assembly of the Max and Goblin was straightforward, but there was one small problem:
Length of motor + length of nose cone shoulder + width of rolled up streamer = YIKES!
This does not even take into account the width of wadding. The main tube of the Max is too short to accommodate the laundry. Instead of cutting down the NC shoulder and streamer, I'll just leave the streamer off. Prior experience is that the lighter models do just fine with nose blow featherweight recovery.
(BTW the toothpick glued to the centerline of the rear of the motor is for fin alignment purposes, since I don't have a micro jig. Not my idea, wish I could remember where I saw it).
Another thing, all the fin alignment wraps were slightly too short. Wound up making my own.
When building the Starlight I ran into a bigger problem. The main fins are nearly as long as the body tube, so there is no room for the aft stabilizer ring on the tube. Had to extend the runner fins past the end of the tube for the ring, which means I will have to load and unload motors with a needle nose plier. Hmm.
Here the two rings are dry fitted to allow for easier finishing.
And here is the Micro Goblin next to the Semroc MX Goblin for comparison.
Another thing, the Leading Edge models do not come with decals. I'll be home printing down scaled decals and trying out a new laser printer in the next few days.
Left an email for LE cust. svc. about the Starlight fins, awaiting response.
At the end of the day I had three good looking rockets, albeit not without doing some modifications for the Starlight. To quote Clint Eastwood, "Improvise, adapt, and overcome!" (Heartbreak Ridge).
Laters.
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