29mm--Trust me--It'll be cool---

[hornet driver]

So I'm taking a break away from the 20 mill for a couple weeks--not to worry --it's on track. I decided to do a scratcher with a couple parts from an Interceptor E--I know--GO FIGURE, anyway , this is gonna be for style points only. This won't be your normal kit bash, more of a wreck along the way. First rule she has to fly--that said, she's gonna be chopped,channeled,bent,twisted,cut,bashed,blended,and beaten to get what we want--as long as she's not smothered and covered in the end! This will be a build as you go and take care of the problems as they creep up project-- so we're starting out with these parts--------and we're gonna cut some stuff up---------Oh Lord, What have I done??

 

[Spooks]

Looks like a fun project, and nope...musta missed it! lol

 

[hornet driver]

A little more done----I needed to get a little taper on the spine, that means cutting a little angle out of the half tubes--easy enough, just taped it off and cut it out with a single edge razor--used the edge of the table as a final guide---that worked out !! --

 

[hornet driver]

Did a little prelimanary fin cutting and joined the two half tubes---I'm using bass--------We'll see were this goes---more later

 

[hornet driver]

Got the fins/wings glued up and mounted. Also got the top half tube mounted. I had to make a small coupler section to get everything to line up ( shown in photo ). I'm going to try to get a FUTRO ---Future Retro--look out of this on. We'll see how that goes------more later---H

 

[AfterBurners]

Looking good Bill!! As always!!

 

[Scotty Dog]

Nice, but I think it needs more sheathing. :wink:
Anywhoo- a little "Fast-Food" style rocket building never hurt anyone.
I like the This will be a build as you go and take care of the problems as they creep up project. Thats pretty much blue print for my builds.

 

[hornet driver]

Nice, but I think it needs more sheathing. :wink:
Anywhoo- a little "Fast-Food" style rocket building never hurt anyone.
I like the This will be a build as you go and take care of the problems as they creep up project. Thats pretty much blue print for my builds.

And a little more sheathing you shall have my friend. How about some strakage !! Ya know me , gotta have strakes, and yes they will be blended--------more later -H

 

[hornet driver]

Looking good Bill!! As always!!

Thanks buddy, this is gonna be one of THOSE builds--should be fun. Glad to hear about the job thing working out---Bill

 

[hornet driver]

Got a little more -SHEATHING- done. Worked on the bottom blending. I made a small keel--not pictured--to get a rounded bottom. I'm using 1/32 balsa for this. I prewarped it with a spray of water first. Then I cut a hole for the intake and body tube. Everything was held in place with cloths pins until the glue set----------and after trimming away the excess---------I'll get some better pics out tomorrow---the light was failing with the incoming rain----more later

 

[Scotty Dog]

I get it......

 

[hornet driver]

Got a little plankage done on the top-------------Now to start sanding---also gotta figure out a tail config.

 

[hornet driver]

Well , after a delay--work related--I got back to work on the project. First on the list was to cut up the nose cone-------and the dry fit,nice and tight. It's gonna be rear ejection so this will be epoxied on later---------I'll close up the bottom with some sheet plastic later. I need to figure out if I need nose weight and attach the steel leader inside the cone first. Now, HMMMM,What to do with that leftover piece of nose cone-------------YEP, That's the ticket !!!

 

[samb]

Dontcha' just hate that co-worker with imagination AND talent ! :surprised::wink::clap:op:

I said in another thread the sodmeister build threads were a highlight of the forum and that statement can certainly be applied to hornet driver. Real Industrial Light and Magic stuff, Bill.

 

[sodmeister]

Dontcha' just hate that co-worker with imagination AND talent ! :surprised::wink::clap:op:

I said in another thread the sodmeister build threads were a highlight of the forum and that statement can certainly be applied to hornet driver. Real Industrial Light and Magic stuff, Bill.

Yessir,

Bill does have a knack for doing things that captures the imagination ,and along with his superior skills, it`s always a great pleasure to watch his builds !

Bloody cool Friend, as always and I expect no less from you :handshake:

Sincerely yours


Paul T

 

[samb]

What really kills me is his main "workshop" is the balcony of his apartment. It's MAGIC I tell ya !!!

 

[sodmeister]

What really kills me is his main "workshop" is the balcony of his apartment. It's MAGIC I tell ya !!!

I never thought of that ,and I think he uses his shower stall (curtain closed of course and exhaust fan running )to do all his painting LOL

Magic indeed :rofl:

Paul T

 

[Daddyisabar]

I just can't get enough of this seat of your pants, hack & slash, Interceptor E kit spanking! KUTGW!

 

[hornet driver]

WOW, Thanks gang. I'll try not to disappoint you moving forward.

 

[hornet driver]

Back at it early this morning, gotta go to work in a while. I figured I'd get the nose sealed up with the weight I needed and some of the recovery gear installed. First thing I did was mount the wire leader in the cone. I ran a small nail through the eye to help anchor it to the cone and prevent pullthrough. Also mounted 1oz of weight in the nose. I used some fishing weights for this . I strung them on another wire leader and epoxied them inside the cone. I sanded the inside first to get good adhesion. When this was done I put the elastice through the loose eye and epoxied it to itself and then stapled it together-----------I epoxied the loose wire from the weights to the cone and taped over it---I'll leave that in

 

[hornet driver]

Now to go to work on sealing the nose and mounting it. I needed to make sure I did everything in order and had everything laid out. The main reason for this was the 5 minute loctite epoxy I was going to use. This stuff sets up pretty quick and has an application/mixing tip, so ya gotta be ready to go when you start. I used a 97 cent no trespassing sign for the plastic to seal the nose. I made a rough cut. I needed to put a bead of epoxy on the inlet spike --so I started ther. Then I dropped the elastic and wire down the bt and epoxied the nose on. After that I ran a large bead of epoxy around the plastic nose cover, taped it in place. After it set I trimmed the excess off andsanded the joint---just a little filling to do now----

 

[GDJ]

Hey, some of my best rockets started out as kitbashes and modded parts. Mix a Estes Long Tom with a Reflector and you have a cool looking rocket that flies dead straight and fast.

 

[oddmanrockets]

lookin really cool

 

[hornet driver]

lookin really cool

Thank you sir. Got some primer on the old girl and the last bit of filler. Always makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere when I prime a bird up. Now I have to make a choice on the verts. Twin tails over and under the wings would look cool and in --REAL LIFE-- make a lot of sense.That said ,a T-tail would be way cool but make no sense---from an aircraft point of view---that long nose and chines would wash it out in--REAL LIFE--and it would give it a more retro look. Hmm, what do ya'll think ??------it will have 2 ventrals installed.

 

[Daddyisabar]

You have enough junk on the bottom to counter act a T-tail, at least for the important fist second or so of the thrust curve, and then it just might arc over on its back before ejection. Build it to look cool, fly it with plenty of power and nose weight on a calm day with a long rod or rail. It is a long rocket which helps a lot. Make it look marvelous!

 

[hornet driver]

I've pretty much sold myself on the T-tail design. The twin fins just looks too current. The big worry is that long flat nose--it would'nt matter what tail I put on it if it desides to go wonky on me.Looking down the road, I'll most likely fly it on a 24 mm first. If I see anything odd I can try and make a correction before putting in a 29mm. Ya know, that brings up an interesting idea I'll go ahead and make a couple different mmts and work up the power from there. If it wants to nose up--I'll build one with one or two deg. offset. The experiment continues-------

 

[hornet driver]

I'm back to the grind. I'm set on a T-tail. Now what? I have that old fin left over from the 20 mill surgery.--------let's cut the bottom clean--it's already primed and sanded , that should save some effort!! After cutting I drew some lines so the fins would be parallel with the bt--------I wanted a similar profile on the T-wings as the main--I clipped the top of the tail--Here's what we ended up with--nice and big and sorta retro---I like it !!!---------- I did sand the primer down to the bt before attaching.--- Mounted it with titebond. I'll epoxy the fillets all the way around tonight. I'll work on profiling and sculpting later for looks but, this is a good start. Here's a few more pics of where we're at. When I get to this point I start thinking of a paint scheme ---silver weathered sounds like a plan but not set on that yet.--------Gotta be thinkin of a name now too !! Might do a vote on the finished product but I'm leaning towards --COYOTE---

 

[sodmeister]

Bill ,

When you say something is going to be cool ,you are indeed a man of your word LOL

Another masterpiece is born ,and this thing is wicked COOL !!

Just how many Interceptor kits do you have anyway ?


OBTW-your trademark glass of red wine is a great copyright tool.

Take care

Paul T

 

[qquake2k]

Okay, that T-tail is just plain COOL!!!

 

[Cl(VII)]

Very nice. Really like the tail.