Tholian Web Spinner

Here's what I have for the 13mm prototype. The BT 3, coupler and CR's that are loose will become the nose cone shoulder. The warp engine fin assembly has a jig in it. It's dry, I just have to get the jig out and start on a second one. All of the drawing here have scaled PDF backups. (not shown)

It appears the jig has limited value. It's good for getting the 3 pieces of the warp thruster assembly aligned and set, but you can't leave it in there. It was almost completely stuck in the first assembly. So I cut some scrap 1/4" balsa blocks and slid them in place after removing it. A little adjustment hear and there, and one of them wanted to lean a little, hence the tape dispenser to prop it up. I was able to get all 3 in glue mode even in this historically humid & hurricane conditions.

I be likin' all the mindsimin' a goin' on here! Good to see something interesting!

Daddyisabar said:

I be likin' all the mindsimin' a goin' on here! Good to see something interesting!

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Thanks. This is just a prototype. Prolly fly it naked just to see if it's works. The upscale will be a gleaming 2' tall and I'll do my best to get some of the details included. There's a bunch of those....ugh.

I sanded the root edges of the warp assemblies with sandpaper wrapped around a BT 50 to help with a slight canted fit and so the surface would conform with the tube. I was pleased with how all that went after getting them all on.

Since I couldn’t draw a rear thruster plate I had to customize a template and get those applied. The blue tape is holding them while they dry. In In the 2nd pic, I laid the entire mid panel where it’ll go. That will have to be cut into so that the pointy end can be applied to the nose section.

Dang this is looking really cool.

This is a chore man! I've had to trim-to-fit so much already. My inside panels were too wide, One of my warp assemblies wasn't lined up with the short end and I wasn't about to detach it. I just laminated a little piece of balsa on the end and trimmed it down. Thank god I'm crafty or I'd have been scrood! OH, and I also made the darn thruster plates too wide also. Had to trim those too.....ARGGG!

I dunno, sounds like fun.

So does the new avatar properly reflect your state of mind?

I can't even get that right today. That's my new Halloween avatar.

neil_w said:

So does the new avatar properly reflect your state of mind?

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Love your new tagline!

LW Bercini said:

Love your new tagline!

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Tip o’ the cap to you sir.

So after rebuilding the tube assembly for the nose section…..uh…I suppose I should say, in short, in an attempt to do a spot gluing with some CA to hold the nose ribs in place, I had a bit of a tragedy on my hands, gluing my fingers together and the rib I was trying to mount, all stuck together. “No biggie, I have a bottle of Debonder”. Well, I used to have. It was bone dry. I spent the next ½ hour with acetone and a paper towel wedged between my fingers till I finally got it all unglued. I needed to pull the tube assembly out but it wouldn’t budge. I ended up tearing it out having seen that some of that CA had crept in between the coupler and the BT 50. Go figure. Hence, a rebuilding of that.

I started with just 2 ribs taped like you see them here and a spot of glue near the top of the BT-3. Next day I got all the others done and it looks like this right now. The Q-tip was helpful in keeping the bottom from sliding inward. Been a bit of a difficult build with the way I’m assembling this thing. Pretty sure the worst is over now. It’s all drying and tomorrow the nose tip will get a bit of tailoring.

And that’s why I never use CA for school/church/library rocket programs! Glad you recovered from your sticky situation - looking forward to seeing this sucker built and flying!

Scott_650 said:

And that’s why I never use CA for school/church/library rocket programs! Glad you recovered from your sticky situation - looking forward to seeing this sucker built and flying!

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Thanks. I only use CA for hard coating anymore. It was the thin kind. Med or Heavy would have worked better. But I don't use it for gluing things as a rule. I had hoped it might help a little but no.

After I get the nose points tailored, I'll be working on getting a launch lug in this thing. One of the triangular panels will have to wear a hole for that, and it's unfortunate. Hopefully it won't look as bad if I build the upscale. I just need to know this bird will fly first.

Pardon my amateur sketch.. but have you considered a two piece design, something similar to this?

lakeroadster said:

Pardon my amateur sketch.. but have you considered a two piece design, something similar to this?

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If I understand your drawing correctly, that's pretty much what I've have done. The chute goes here.

Well that didn’t go w/o a hitch. Only a couple nose ribs were lined up correctly. Took some teeny weenie clothespins and got those aligned with the rest of the warp assembly and threw the hair dryer to it.

My points on the panel turned out oversized so I cleaned up the nose tip gnarl and sanded everything to fit. I kinda knew what I was getting into with this, so nothing came as a surprise. Fortunately this prototype is helping me make the necessary adjustments to the MPR drawings. I really gotta get this right the first time because a lot of the bigger bird will be laser cut 1/8” plywood. After I got the last warp panel in place, I took to sanding the entire rocket with a palm sander. Startin’ to shape up a bit it seems.

Gary Byrum said:

Well that didn’t go w/o a hitch. Only a couple nose ribs were lined up correctly. Took some teeny weenie clothespins and got those aligned with the rest of the warp assembly and threw the hair dryer to it.

My points on the panel turned out oversized so I cleaned up the nose tip gnarl and sanded everything to fit. I kinda knew what I was getting into with this, so nothing came as a surprise. Fortunately this prototype is helping me make the necessary adjustments to the MPR drawings. I really gotta get this right the first time because a lot of the bigger bird will be laser cut 1/8” plywood. After I got the last warp panel in place, I took to sanding the entire rocket with a palm sander. Startin’ to shape up a bit it seems.

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Isn't there supposed to be a panel that covers the central body tube?

LW Bercini said:

Isn't there supposed to be a panel that covers the central body tube?

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That's in progress as we speak. I got one of the lower sections in place last night and some fitting to forward portion. Everything has to be in 2 pieces because part of it is the nose section also. This is where I have to make room for a launch lug as well.

Last night I got one set of the centered panels in place and tackled another one this evening. Since I didn’t want to forget Mr. Launch Lug, I had better get that panel done next. I daisy chained 2 lugs and positioned them where I needed them. The lower panel had to be sacrificed to cradle the lug and a little sanding on the forward one to clear a launch rod. Those went rather well and so it was time for the aft closure panel. A hole had to be made for the tail end of the lug. I’ll get the last panel done tomorrow.

That lug will be pretty unobtrusive when all finished. Nicely done.

Now that's something !

neil_w said:

That lug will be pretty unobtrusive when all finished. Nicely done.

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Ya know, I thought about shaving it flush with the surface of that panel, but that would have left a nice size gouge in it. I may put a little angle to the end of the lug just to eliminate that edgy look, but I figure it'll hide better if I leave it alone. There a lot of little tid-bits to sand and putty, but for the most part I'm almost done building it.

Infamous said:

View attachment 362402 Now that's something !

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That's a lotta plywood infamous. Got plans for that?

What's your strategy for launch guidance on the larger versions? Will you convert to buttons or just increase rod diameter?

Also, great build!

Nytrunner said:

What's your strategy for launch guidance on the larger versions? Will you convert to buttons or just increase rod diameter?

Also, great build!

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I really don't have anywhere to put rail buttons. I don't like defacing the panel like I did on this one, but it's all I got. The inner tubes are the only thing on this model that run parallel with a launch rod. Everything else is at an angle and tapered toward the point.

Launch Lugs... how about a design that mimics the circular line leaders from a fishing pole... basically eye bolts / eye screws?

lakeroadster said:

Launch Lugs... how about a design that mimics the circular line leaders from a fishing pole... basically eye bolts / eye screws?

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That fishing pole idea might have been an option, but I never thought of it and I have never done those before. Still, they would have to stick pretty far out to get by the wide end. And as for LL being internal...It kinda sorta is. Not like in my first ideas when I had it going straight up the center with 3 motors under the warp engines. All that did was make for serious complexities. (IE, recovery issues) That's why I threw in the towel last time. This time it on the BT 50 and regardless of it's invasion on the surface, it's a gradual protrusion which I'm sure I can disguise fairly well. The red line in the pic is the LL.

I'm more of a form follows function guy. Once your rocket is painted I think your application of the launch lug will not only work fine, but will look fine also.

Neat rocket, thanks for the build thread. I'm living vicariously through your postings.

Life has gotten in the way of finishing my X-wing... looking forward to finding some time to making it rail ready.