3D printed V2 rocket

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OG1959

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I love the V2. It's just a good looking classic rocket. I built one when I was 12 and spent many hours making it look just like the original with the black and white paint.
The day came to launch it. It was that kind of launch where you're excited to see it go up, but you're also worried that something could go wrong and all of your hard work gets destroyed.
Well, it went up just fine. Beautiful trajectory, chute deployment and all. It went pretty high and it got in an upper high wind that took it miles away... and it was gone.

Of course, I've been wanting to build another one ever since. Enter the 3D printer. I found this 1/25 scale model on Thingiverse. It prints in several pieces as most 3D printed rockets do.
Today I printed the bottom and middle sections. I opted to print at a low quality and it still took 14 hours to print! It will need some more sanding to get it smooth enough to paint. I may just try it again at a higher quality.

Anyway, I started this thread to document the build.
 

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Nice. I've thought about modifying that one for a cardboard tube. Never been a fan of 3d printed body tubes, but you can't beat the convenience.
 
I'm going to print this again. The infill setting in my slicer program was set to 20% and it should have been zero infill. This will help smooth out the outer shell. It might even take less time to print and it'll be a bit lighter.

I just ordered some BT-50 tubes, a D-E engine mounting kit, a 15" parachute and shock cord from the Estes store on Amazon. I can print the necessary retainer rings to anchor the tube myself.

As for gluing, I'm a huge fan of Akfix 705 cyanoacrylate glue & aerosol activator. The body sections on this model use quarter turn bayonet fittings to hold it together so no glue there and it makes assembly and internal access easy.
 
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3D printing is done! The nose cone section looks shiny because it hasn't been sanded smooth.

Next step is sanding everything smooth adding some filler where needed, then mounting a BT-60 tube with a D engine mount in the body with 3D printed centering rings. It will end just below the bottom of the nose cone so it should accommodate wadding and the parachute just fine.

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As Warner Von Braun was reputed to have said about the V2 "The rocket worked perfectly, except for landing on the wrong planet".
 
As I mentioned previously, this model is built in sections that connect with 1/4 turn bayonet fittings. Once I get this built and flown, I might build another longer mid section that will convert it to the A8. With a different fin and mid section it would become the A4 b.
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Good question. It would be interesting to see where the center of pressure ends up on something like that.

Three inches in front of the nosecone?

Oaky, maybe not that bad, still I bet you'd need a heaping-helping of nose weight.
 
I could always do a mockup on the existing V2 with cardboard and give it a swing test. :headspinning:
 
After a bit of tweaking on the printer settings I have a whole other rocket printed with a better surface and much less sanding required.

The top portion is sanded and the fin section just came off the printer this morning. The whole thing weighs 8.3 oz so I figure by the time it's got paint, a motor mount with D motor, wadding and parachute it'll weigh around 12 - 13 oz.
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Cool rocket for certain. I had an original Estes way back in the late '60s so when I saw some 3D printed parts on Shapeways for the same rocket I bought them and built this one. It has a 3D printed nose cone and the entire aft it a one piece printing and uses the BT-55 body tube. It has flown only once on a B6-4 and flew very nicely. Good luck finishing it up and flying it.
 

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All sanded and ready for a heavy coat of filler primer. Before I do that though, I'll be installing a BT-60 tube in the bottom and stopping at halfway through the midsection. I need to 3D print some spacer rings first.

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Doing a little filler work with Mr hobbies Mr White putty. Good stuff. Works great on ABS.

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LOTS done this evening. Filled and sanded everything. Nice and smooth now ready for some primer.

I built a motor mount set up for either D or E motors. 3D printed some mounting rings and got the mount installed in the BT-60 tube. The top ring has an eye bolt just like the big boys with a Kevlar shock cord attached. I cemented the ring in place with ABS cement and CA glue. The top ring has four notches in it which allowed it to slide down past the bayonet bumps and also past the ring stops. After insertion, the ring was rotated 1/4 turn so that it would bump against the ring stops. I applied ABS and CA glue then pulled it up into place against the stops.

With a D12-5 loaded up and a parachute stuffed inside it weighed 12.3 oz. I did a swing test and it was tumbling wildly. :shocked: I added a 1 oz. piece of lead in the removable nose cone tip. Another swing test and it flew straight nose first. :clapping: Total weight, 13.3 oz.

A D12-5 has a max lift weight of less than 10 oz. so it's really not an option. I need to load up an E12-5 which has a max lift weight of 14 oz. and correct the balance.

I plan on applying some primer tomorrow and launching on Sunday. YouTube video to follow.

Pics of the work done tonight:

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Done and loaded up with a E12-6. Total weight a whopping 1 pound! Is this thing even gonna get off the ground? lol I'll find out tomorrow.
It's amazing how much paint, parachute, shock cord and wadding adds to the weight.

I have about 30" of Kevlar sewn to 14" of 3/8" elastic. It's attached to the nose cone with a mini carabiner hooked through a loop of Kevlar.
Also attached is a 20" parachute that I sewed up today.

I printed some stickers on clear sticker material on my laser printer. I named it V2 3DP as in 3D printed.

I'll be building another one and going for a lighter weight next time. Maybe lacquer paint which goes on much thinner and weighs less that acrylic enamel.

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Very cool. I printed my Saturn in ABS because I believe it's lighter by volume, not sure what you're using. Just an idea.
 
Thanks! It's ABS. I probably could have saved 2 oz using thinner coats of paint.
 
Went to my launch site this morning and got off four launches with the V2.
Unfortunately, launch four ended up in some dense woods. Lost it. :rolleyes:
I looked as best I could but these woods are very, very full of brush and understory foliage. I might find it this fall after the leaves are gone.

It flew ok, had some weather cocking going on and maybe some balance issues. Working on putting together a video now. Launched a couple other rockets as well.
 
Aw that stinks but at least you got four flights out of it, I've done worse.
Hope you find it.
 
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