Neil_W's half-baked design thread

neil_w said:

Well this is what I get for trying to think outside my box. I am now lost in cluelessville. Are any of these headed in the right direction?

In #2 and #3 clearly I have no idea what to do with the middle BT section. It looks very bad in all white next to the black transition, so it definitely needs *something*.

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Irony. I PMed about the original flame job seeming out of place because, while fine for a hot rod, it looked a warp core breach next to the plasma chamber. But I evolved into suggesting this could be a racer. So that would make it a hot rod, and these forward, rear-pointing flame jobs fit well.

This thread ain't dead! Haven't been doing to much OR hacking lately but did cook up this little trifle on a whim. Kind of cute, a little different from my usual in some respects. Probably needs to be a bit longer.

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Nice for a starting point. If you don't (or should I say haven't?) use(d) it, I might.

I am fiddling with a Faddle (a gap-staged goonie Faddle, to be precise):
View attachment 359765

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I don't know whether to laugh or gush. I'm doing both.

@lakeroadster 's X-wing got me thinking about this one again.View attachment 362126

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Another interesting start.

neil_w said:

Noodling.View attachment 364439

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Oh, I really like fins on pods. You could even make the main fins smaller and the pod fins larger so they are genuine contributors to the overall stability.

Here's a change of pace...View attachment 369114

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Understanding where it came from, it nonetheless reminded me of a torpedo. No, and air launched torpedo. Or, yeah, a cruise missile.

jqavins said:

Irony. I PMed about the original flame job seeming out of place because, while fine for a hot rod, it looked a warp core breach next to the plasma chamber. But I evolved into suggesting this could be a racer. So that would make it a hot rod, and these forward, rear-pointing flame jobs fit well.

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Yeah, it's not out of the question that the flames could come back if I go with the racer theme. Lots of work to do to explore the concept.

Nice for a starting point. If you don't (or should I say haven't?) use(d) it, I might.

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@JJSR expressed interest in this one, dunno if he's made progress. But you're certainly welcome to do what you like with it either way; I don't plan on pursuing it.

Understanding where it came from, it nonetheless reminded me of a torpedo. No, and air launched torpedo. Or, yeah, a cruise missile.

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I really love how that one ended up. It helps that I didn't have to invent my own paint scheme. Might build it at some point.

neil_w said:

[Stuff about the Launcher One semi-scale-ish] I should probably change the name, but haven't decided on a good alternative. Launcher Two? Launcher Zero?

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Luncher One

neil_w said:

I'm a bit puzzled what to do with the body tube. The original from the video really doesn't have anything like a BT or traditional nose cone. Not sure how to capture it without a laying a bunch of composites down.

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Ribs, stringers, and paper skin, like I did for The Ellipse.

neil_w said:

This is an idea I had that I wanted to try out. I'm not especially happy with the results, but it took so much effort to do it I'm posting it anyway.View attachment 380720

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It's obviously a bird. A bow legged bird.

I haven't been able to work on it lately. I did get the transitions made for a bt-80. but, due to moving its in storage now not sure when I'll get back to it. Amazingly some how they all came out at 70gs not bad for hand carved,,,
Made a tail cone from some leftover balsa l had laying around, I think it helps the look.
Oh, 24mm mmt on this if you were wondering.

JJSR said:

I haven't been able to work on it lately. I did get the transitions made for a bt-80. but, due to moving its in storage now not sure when I'll get back to it. Amazingly some how they all came out at 70gs not bad for hand carved,,,
Made a tail cone from some leftover balsa l had laying around, I think it helps the look.
Oh, 24mm mmt on this if you were wondering.

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Looking good, +1 on the tail cone!

Those pieces look really good... how are they going onto the body, are you going to hollow them out and slide them on? Is the main BT a BT80, or the outer diameter of the transition pieces?

Well here's a nice failed experiment:


The idea seemed good: helical pieces that radiate outward in addition to spiraling. But it looks like garbage in the rendering, other than the rear view which looks cool. I think it's probably possible to make this look good, but I got the proportions and dimensions totally wrong on this first attempt. It is quite tedious to do this sort of thing in OR so I might or might not play with it further.

I think even in this configuration it would look many, many times better with a good CARD rendering. Which I would offer to do if I had any skill with the CAD programs currently available to me.

(In OpenSCAD I could do it, but my computer has been down for about a year. I'm getting by with my work computer, on which I can't install anything; my daughter's computer, on which I haven't installed OpenSCAD (yet); and my phone and tablet.)

Update: I just Googled "OpenSCAD for Android" and discovered ScorchSCAD. I elected from the Play Store web interface to have it installed on my tablet the next time I get connected (WiFi only, and no internet at home) so maybe I'll give it a shot sometime over the long weekend.

Thinking about my next build. Feeling even more clueless than usual and a bit restless. Almost tempted to build this one just as a goof:


I could do it with parts-on-hand if I'm not too particular about the choice of nose cone.

Or maybe I could build the Laser Lance that's been sitting waiting for a couple of years. I've been cannibalizing it for parts but could reconstitute it easily enough.

Anyone have any requests?*




*I fully realize how lame it is to be asking this question. I'm not proud.

My request is to NOT do the stop sign. You have more skill and talent than that. It’d be like watching Michelangelo paint a closet.

neil_w said:

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This is my “real” vote. I’d love to see this one reach the level of your other work.

BBowmaster said:

My request is to NOT do the stop sign. You have more skill and talent than that. It’d be like watching Michelangelo paint a closet.

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I see that point. If you want to kick back and do something silly that's your prerogative, of course; if you're taking requests then I'd like to see something else.

But, that said, what about turning your considerable talents to an odd roc? Do something wacky, but somethings that's seriously wacky and worthy of your skill.

And take a "day off" to knock out the stop sign if you want. Why not?

jqavins said:

But, that said, what about turning your considerable talents to an odd roc? Do something wacky, but somethings that's seriously wacky and worthy of your skill.

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I'm not sure if I have the odd-roc DNA. I could build a kit of some sort, but I don't really have much in the way of original ideas to offer. Closest I came is my hand-cut upscale Quinstar, and that's really not very close.

And take a "day off" to knock out the stop sign if you want. Why not?

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It's fun to take a mental break and do something simple once in a while. That said the stop sign was just an idle thought. It would be a fun diversion.

Today I'm having slightly different thoughts. Maybe time to make another big parts order, and get things set for several more builds. Possibilities for a build pile, in no particular order:

Launcher-X, 3- or 4-finned version... I've really like this one from the get-go.
Black Widow 2
Space Needle: I seriously need to build this eventually
Nibiru-X

And and old sport design that I still like: Launch Lug Nightmare. Dunno if this one will ever make it to the front of the queue though.

I love the Mars Liner but do not relish the idea of how it needs to be constructed. That will probably stay on the "maybe someday" pile for now.

Of course, even if I purchased parts for all of these, there's virtually zero chance I would build them all without getting distracted and going to do something else at some point. I'd probably get through at least two of them though.

neil_w said:

Thinking about my next build. Feeling even more clueless than usual and a bit restless. Almost tempted to build this one just as a goof:
View attachment 388817

Anyone have any requests?*

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Just Do It!

Finally.... somebody designs a rocket that will look good as a lawn dart..

Please though... it needs to be a rear eject with a really big transparent chute.

I guess it really would have to be rear-eject, wouldn't it....

I can't express how much I love the STOP sign rocket concept. (where'd that come from? Bat-mite's O thread?)

It's such a simple departure from your normal stuff, yet rear eject is a fun challenge too.

Pointy nose, coupler reinforced body tube to avoid the crinkles, Big streamer or slightly undersized chute, nice soft field.....

And why not make the body tube square with faux holes in it to look even more realistic.

Using gray Hammerite paint will look like galvanize.

Nytrunner said:

I can't express how much I love the STOP sign rocket concept. (where'd that come from? Bat-mite's O thread?)

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I don't remember, just know that you originally suggested it in some form or another.

lakeroadster said:

And why not make the body tube square with faux holes in it to look even more realistic.

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It's a possibility, although making a long square tube is a pain (yeah, I know, put some balsa or basswood cladding around the BT.) Need to deal with the nose as well at that point, although I think i know how to do that.

I was also thinking maybe some bullet holes?

Think I need an updated OR model....

neil_w said:

I was also thinking maybe some bullet holes?

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Classic.

Maybe a "peace sign" sticker wrapped around the post too.

The neat thing about this rocket is.. building it heavy is fine. A nice slow take off with a low apogee adds to the wow factor.

neil_w said:

Need to deal with the nose as well at that point, although I think i know how to do that.

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Four long isosceles triangles outside and slightly clipped rectangles for the shoulder. Of just 3D print it.

jqavins said:

Four long isosceles triangles outside and slightly clipped rectangles for the shoulder. Of just 3D print it.

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I was thinking that if I go with rear-eject, I don't need to even make the nose removable. Could just glue the triangles to the square body, easy-peasy.

Or you could simply go with the "nose cone delete" option.

In this case, the less it looks like a rocket, the better (did I just write that)

neil_w said:

I was thinking that if I go with rear-eject, I don't need to even make the nose removable. Could just glue the triangles to the square body, easy-peasy.

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Yup. (Duh!)

On the subject of square tubes, I've been noodling in my head with one made from four identical panels and looking something like this (aft view and side view).

The panels have interlocking crenelated edges with slots between the "tube" and fin areas on the left. The centering squares would also have crenelated edges that fin into horizontal slots in the panels; they hold the motor tube and also hold the square tube's shape.

I bring this up in case you want to steal it.

I like the intentional goof in the rendering. Maybe call your rocket "One Job".
(You only had ONE job)
And some waterslide decals
Make the motor mount long enough to accommodate the recovery laundry between the centering rings.
Sounds like fun.

jqavins said:

Yup. (Duh!)

On the subject of square tubes, I've been noodling in my head with one made from four identical panels and looking something like this (aft view and side view).
View attachment 388847 View attachment 388848
The panels have interlocking crenelated edges with slots between the "tube" and fin areas on the left. The centering squares would also have crenelated edges that fin into horizontal slots in the panels; they hold the motor tube and also hold the square tube's shape.

I bring this up in case you want to steal it.

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This is exactly the design for most of my helicopter and air brake recovery rockets at launch and on ascent. The entire rocket body is square, with a square base pyramid nose cone. (Easiest nose you will ever make.). The flat sides are pulled out at apogee to become rotors or brakes.

Your Stop Sign would adapt perfectly to an Air Brake recovery system.

Or you could kitbash a NewWay rocket.

kuririn said:

I like the intentional goof in the rendering. Maybe call your rocket "One Job".

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It's not a good, just a side effect of the way the fin can is constructed. Viewing it from the side it reads correctly. From a 3/4 view you get the wrong version.

And some waterslide decalsView attachment 388856

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Thanks for that. I figured I could put some actual holes in the fins as well, and put the decal around the hole.

jqavins said:

On the subject of square tubes, I've been noodling in my head with one made from four identical panels and looking something like this (aft view and side view).
[...]
The panels have interlocking crenelated edges with slots between the "tube" and fin areas on the left. The centering squares would also have crenelated edges that fin into horizontal slots in the panels; they hold the motor tube and also hold the square tube's shape.

I bring this up in case you want to steal it.

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I was actually thinking of @BABAR 's rockets when you posted that. I would work very well structurally for this rocket, the only downside is would it look as good? The two halves of a single stop sign would not be even with each other. On the other hand, it would eliminate the existing weirdness in the fin can. I suppose I should do another OR file for that variation.

And again, I have not decided to build this yet, although it is getting more interesting... see list above for other candidates.

neil_w said:

It's not a good, just a side effect of the way the fin can is constructed

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Dude, should've done a Jon Lovitz and said "Yeah, I did it on purpose, that's it. Yeah".

Yeah, I didn't mean it as a form for the stop sign, just another square tube idea I've been mentally kicking around. In my configuration the sign would never read right.

kuririn said:

Dude, should've done a Jon Lovitz and said "Yeah, I did it on purpose, that's it. Yeah".

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