Some Remembered Shrox Kits
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JAL3
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I counted last night, and I have almost 20 more to post. My count has about 56 total, and 37 posted so far.shrox said:
I think I'll take a breather from building for a while. Maybe a couple of weeks, at least to get my workspaces cleaned up. And, I need to get quite a bit of launching done.
Madison Alum
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Waiting to see the rest. These are great!
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Awesome thread and an awesome undertaking. I applaude your motivation and execution.
Sandy.
Sandy.
We've passed the halfway point, and tonight some of the regular, and some of the more exotic, Shrox rockets from the build spree will be included
I've only seen one image of the DynasoarX. Luckily it had length and diameter, so I could get a good feel for the dimensions of it. However, my guess on the dimensions of the font was a bit off, and the text I printed ended up being loud and proud.
The Harrier is a pretty cool rocket with two body tubes. I fashioned them with a single engine that is ducted up one of the tubes, so that one nose cone ejects. The other is fastened in place. 
This is one that requires weight in the nose, at least according to Rocksim. It's because of the big wings that are pretty central to the body tube. Luckily, since I cast my own nose cones, they were already pretty heavy - about 16 grams each - so I didn't need to add much more weight.
This is getting into the ping-pong and CD-style rockets. I suspect that it is also inspired by some science fictiony show, which may have had a similar element of a short cylindrical part on its space ship.
I didn't use a real CD, but instead made the disk from basswood. I only had this small illustration to go from, but luckily it had the color scheme. I extrapolated the diameter from the ping-pong size, and the length from what I expected the nose cone to be made from.
I didn't use a real CD, but instead made the disk from basswood. I only had this small illustration to go from, but luckily it had the color scheme. I extrapolated the diameter from the ping-pong size, and the length from what I expected the nose cone to be made from.
The SHX Ripley is a big rocket ofthe bunch, standing almost 5 feet tall. I see it as having an interesting deep space submarine appearance to it.
I had to guess the dimensions of this, since I only had this image of it.
I couldn't identify an exact match for the three upper nose cones, but I was pretty confident that the cone inside of those was a 60AH. This decided that the tubes would be BT60's, and from that, I could extrapolate a scale.
It's front eject, since I was worried that the points I added to the tips of the nose cones would be fragile, and a 24mm mount inside of a BT60 doesn't leave a lot of room for a large parachute.
As long as there are no Giger-style aliens in it, it should be ready to launch.
I couldn't identify an exact match for the three upper nose cones, but I was pretty confident that the cone inside of those was a 60AH. This decided that the tubes would be BT60's, and from that, I could extrapolate a scale.
It's front eject, since I was worried that the points I added to the tips of the nose cones would be fragile, and a 24mm mount inside of a BT60 doesn't leave a lot of room for a large parachute.
As long as there are no Giger-style aliens in it, it should be ready to launch.
To raise the question of who's the better defender between Ripley and Sarah Conner, this is Shrox' Sarah Conner rocket.
I like how this rocket integrates a disk right in the center, and has a pretty stubby appearance. It looks much more like a space ship would look than it does a rocket, at least in my imaginary world.
When I rocksimmed it, it looked like it would b a bit unstable, again because of the big fin in the middle, i.e. the disk. So, just to get a bit of stability, I stretched the rocket an inch or two over my estimate of the illustration's length. I might have been overly cautious, but it's good enough for clone work.
I like how this rocket integrates a disk right in the center, and has a pretty stubby appearance. It looks much more like a space ship would look than it does a rocket, at least in my imaginary world.
When I rocksimmed it, it looked like it would b a bit unstable, again because of the big fin in the middle, i.e. the disk. So, just to get a bit of stability, I stretched the rocket an inch or two over my estimate of the illustration's length. I might have been overly cautious, but it's good enough for clone work.
The Solarkron is liked in many comments on the web, and has caught the eye of several people that have seem my growing collection.
Now, I know that some people on this site like to build garbage rockets, i.e. rockets made from discarded materials. That ring at the bottom was once an oats box. Actually, it was several parts, since even an oats box wasn't large enough for that ring, so I had to splice several pieces together to get the right size.
Based on the ping-pong ball in the middle, you can gauge the size. With the blue panels, it goes well with the Mars Plymouth above.
Based on the ping-pong ball in the middle, you can gauge the size. With the blue panels, it goes well with the Mars Plymouth above.
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If the Shrox design for the Quest Aerospace one is a modern rocket to get the President safely into space, the Space Alpha One was likely a Reagan-era rocket for the same purpose.
Sometimes the complex are easy, and the not complex become the not easy. As it was with this rocket. I laid it out, and guessed that the break between the nose and the body tube was at one place. This decision drove the dimensions of the body tube. But, as I built the rocket with that assumption, made it kinda short. It just didn't look right to me. When I later went back to the image to figure out why, I noticed that bit on the right side of the image. The part that says "Length: 1ft. 11.5in." Oops. I didn't even see that section of the image when I had it scaled up on screen to do the dimensional analysis.
So, I got to make this one twice! Once short and squat as a "pilot project". The second as the real deal.
So, I got to make this one twice! Once short and squat as a "pilot project". The second as the real deal.
Thanks.Shrox said:
When I was much younger, in the before time, I would go to the library and check out all of their rocket and missile books with pictures of rockets. I'd trace them, and built up a collection of rocketry images, all with different projections. I worked out various techniques to extrapolate the dimensions, on the hopes that I'd one day be able to publish a book of such information.
That was before I knew about Peter Alway. That guy beat me to the punch. And, he did a great job of it too.
So, it at least left me with techniques to start from a 2D drawing and end up with a close rendition of a 3D rocket. As long as I don't put mine right next to anyone that had a real model of the rockets, then I'm hoping that could be respectable.
Good job using rocket science and computer simulation instead of relying on the crutch of more power and more stinkin' performance robbin' nose weight. Sarah Conner was ripped and Ripley was just kind of a Beee-aaach.
Or Star 01 - I just had a file name to go by.
Star and Aries - see next rocket - have similar fonts and features, so I'm guessing are part of a space fleet that Shrox was building. Which, I suspect, could be resurrected into a commercially available model space fleet.
The Star rocket takes several nose cones, which I made from my molds with polyurethane plastic. As a result, I suspect the back end of the rocket was heavier than intended. But, it has gobs and gobs of fin area, so after rocksimming the design, and taking into account the additional nose cones at the from end of the rocket (5 in the front), I don't expect any balancing problems.
As an additional experiment, I painted this rocket and Aries with Krylon Satin metallic Nickel paint. I had used it on other rockets, and it was a golden hue, and not silvery, which I didn't like. So, on Star, I used a base coat of flat white (flat, because of a mistaken purchasing decision when gloss was intended). With this, I did get a nice satin silvery result, as I was expecting from a paint called "Nickel".
Star and Aries - see next rocket - have similar fonts and features, so I'm guessing are part of a space fleet that Shrox was building. Which, I suspect, could be resurrected into a commercially available model space fleet.
As an additional experiment, I painted this rocket and Aries with Krylon Satin metallic Nickel paint. I had used it on other rockets, and it was a golden hue, and not silvery, which I didn't like. So, on Star, I used a base coat of flat white (flat, because of a mistaken purchasing decision when gloss was intended). With this, I did get a nice satin silvery result, as I was expecting from a paint called "Nickel".
A rocket with two horns that is ram tough? Aries, of course.
This another of the NSA fleet Shrox was designing.
No, that's not a syrofoam cup for a nose, although it might have been if Jim Flis designed this rocket. 
Instead, it's a couple transitions I assembled from cardstock, and coated with a thin layer of epoxy.
As I mentioned above, this rocket is painted in Krylon satin metallic Nickel paint as part of an experiment. I had been getting a golden hue with this paint with the gray primer that I'd been using. Instead of a white undercoat, like I used on Star, for this rocket I used an undercoat of glossy black. It did not make the paint appear more silvery, and did keep it with a golden hue. But, the undercoat did help with the smooth finish.
As a note, when I used Rustoleum Nickel paint on other rockets, I did not get the goldish hue. That paint always gave a nice satiny silvery finish.
These decals, like the other rockets in the NSA fleet, has red outlined letters laid over blank white decals which had been cut out on my laser cutter.
This another of the NSA fleet Shrox was designing.
Instead, it's a couple transitions I assembled from cardstock, and coated with a thin layer of epoxy.
As I mentioned above, this rocket is painted in Krylon satin metallic Nickel paint as part of an experiment. I had been getting a golden hue with this paint with the gray primer that I'd been using. Instead of a white undercoat, like I used on Star, for this rocket I used an undercoat of glossy black. It did not make the paint appear more silvery, and did keep it with a golden hue. But, the undercoat did help with the smooth finish.
As a note, when I used Rustoleum Nickel paint on other rockets, I did not get the goldish hue. That paint always gave a nice satiny silvery finish.
These decals, like the other rockets in the NSA fleet, has red outlined letters laid over blank white decals which had been cut out on my laser cutter.
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A rocket powered satellite, possibly an anti-satellite satellite, or possibly an anti-(anti-satellite) satellite, or possibly just a satellite for probing things, like alien assteroids. Take that evil grays!
The engine bell is a big transition cut from cardstock, and reinforced with three different sizes rings inside. The antennae are 1/8" carbon fiber rod, so as to not accidentally pull the weight backwards, and to have a lot of give when it lands.
The big fat rod in the middle is not part of the rocket. I needed to hold it for the photo, and haven't equipped this rocket with a hover attachment yet.
The big fat rod in the middle is not part of the rocket. I needed to hold it for the photo, and haven't equipped this rocket with a hover attachment yet.
I almost didn't build this rocket. I stared and stared at the grainy black and white image, and could not figure how the fins were to go.
Obviously, it's a picture of a rocket with fins, but that small and without color, the signal wasn't being pulled from the noise, at least with my eyes.
So, I asked my wife to look at it, even though her eyes are worse than mine. I was hoping for a naivity that could give a different insight. Which I got!
Here suggestion was to view the upper fin-like pixels as not being symmetric to other fin-like pixels. But, instead, to view those pixels as their own fin, and the other fin-like pixels as going in different directions. The two sets of fin-like pixels on either side of that set of cylinder-like pixels were the symmetric fins, I decided.
So, whether I got it right or not, I at least created a rocket that if you drink a half bottle of Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, or anything else that starts with Glen, and then squint enough, it will look like the pixellated black-and-white image of a Quantum Boom
Obviously, it's a picture of a rocket with fins, but that small and without color, the signal wasn't being pulled from the noise, at least with my eyes.
So, I asked my wife to look at it, even though her eyes are worse than mine. I was hoping for a naivity that could give a different insight. Which I got!
Here suggestion was to view the upper fin-like pixels as not being symmetric to other fin-like pixels. But, instead, to view those pixels as their own fin, and the other fin-like pixels as going in different directions. The two sets of fin-like pixels on either side of that set of cylinder-like pixels were the symmetric fins, I decided.
So, whether I got it right or not, I at least created a rocket that if you drink a half bottle of Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, or anything else that starts with Glen, and then squint enough, it will look like the pixellated black-and-white image of a Quantum Boom
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This is a pretty basic 4FNC type rocket, but it has quite a punch, being launced with 24mm engines. (not motors. or ambulators. or reactionators.)
I'll start this one with a 24mm C engine, just to see whether I lose it or not.
Merry Squidmas! Our cephalopod overlords are approaching to conquer us quad-limbed air breaters.
With a pair of suckers that just happen to look like cooking spoons, and an eye section that just happens to look like a ping-pong ball. But, it must just be a coincidence, because Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development is just speculated about in the documentaries of the future, known as the Star Trek series and movies.
sodmeister
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Some of these things really need to be upscaled..I mean the possibilties are endless !
These are fantastic builds ,very nice work !
Paul T
These are fantastic builds ,very nice work !
Paul T
A shuttle system for a sleeker, more attractive, space administration that wasn't obsessed wtih designing bricks into orbital space ships.
Is it a boost glider, or a single rocket?
Not a boost glider for me.
I once spent some time trying airplanes - RC, line guided, balsa with tissue paper. I was never happy with my results. So I don't do airplanes, hardly ever. If I can make it a single rocket, I'll do it, unless I don't really care about getting it back. Or, unless there's no choice, like with the Centuri Mach 10.
This one is a rocket. A single rocket. Someone else could try it as a booster and a glider.
Not a boost glider for me.
I once spent some time trying airplanes - RC, line guided, balsa with tissue paper. I was never happy with my results. So I don't do airplanes, hardly ever. If I can make it a single rocket, I'll do it, unless I don't really care about getting it back. Or, unless there's no choice, like with the Centuri Mach 10.
This one is a rocket. A single rocket. Someone else could try it as a booster and a glider.
YABAGIKT - Yet another booster and glider that I kept together.
This kit could have been two - a booster with a glider, and possibly an SHX-24B that launched by itsself. But, I went with the pair. And glued them together. So they'd fly as one, and I'd not lose the glider due to my ineptitude with airplanes.
The glider is basically just folded cardstock, on a basswood base.
Those silvery bands on the side boosters are adhesive Monokote. It was one of the first times I used Monokote on my rockets. I've got to say, I'm really happy with it. I used it a few times as the backing to windshields on some of the rockets, to get a more reflective/glassy look. I also used it with my laser cutter, to get some die-cut type results for lettering.
The glider is basically just folded cardstock, on a basswood base.
Those silvery bands on the side boosters are adhesive Monokote. It was one of the first times I used Monokote on my rockets. I've got to say, I'm really happy with it. I used it a few times as the backing to windshields on some of the rockets, to get a more reflective/glassy look. I also used it with my laser cutter, to get some die-cut type results for lettering.
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I went back and forth on building this one. It looks like a conceptual illustration of what would have been on the SHX-21 booster, and may not have been actually intended to be a model rocket.
But, I figured, if I built it, I'd have built another rocket. And had another rocket to launch.
See where the engine is located? It's on the underbelly. Which would result in a thrust vector that's not through the center of gravity. Which could make for an exciting launch.
To counter that, I played with the dihedral of the wings. My understanding is that if the wings are in a dihedral, the rocket will tend to arc into the dihedral. IIRC, this is partly why the Cylon was never released by Estes - the curve of the body formed a dihedral which would cause the flight to not be straight and true.
So, my hope is that the downward dihedral of the wings will tend to counter the off-axis thrust of the engine, resulting in a stable, even if slightly arcing, flight.
Also, to make sure that there wouldn't be too much thrust, this is the only Shrox design that I made to use 13mm engines. It should get to about 200 feet, like the goonies that I build for A10-4T engines do.
But, I figured, if I built it, I'd have built another rocket. And had another rocket to launch.
To counter that, I played with the dihedral of the wings. My understanding is that if the wings are in a dihedral, the rocket will tend to arc into the dihedral. IIRC, this is partly why the Cylon was never released by Estes - the curve of the body formed a dihedral which would cause the flight to not be straight and true.
So, my hope is that the downward dihedral of the wings will tend to counter the off-axis thrust of the engine, resulting in a stable, even if slightly arcing, flight.
Also, to make sure that there wouldn't be too much thrust, this is the only Shrox design that I made to use 13mm engines. It should get to about 200 feet, like the goonies that I build for A10-4T engines do.
I had been considering going the other direction. Carve them out of wooden beads, and launch them with a bombardier beetle.sodmeister said:
I did upscale the Alien8, but mostly by accident. I scanned the fins, so I could "build it and keep it", and imported the scans into my laser cutter software. But, I forgot that the cutter software expected 90 dpi, and the scan was at 150 dpi. But, that makes for a 1.66x scale, almost perfect for scaling from BT50 up to BT60. I didn't catch it until after I cut the fins. So, with a few BT60 tubes, I've got a bigger Alien8.
Yeah, they mutate.
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