New SCI-FI Build

dhbarr said:

https://www.collectormodel.com/roun...l-kits-ktinga-the-colors-man-the-colors-pt-1/

https://www.collectormodel.com/roun...l-kits-ktinga-the-colors-man-the-colors-pt-2/

https://www.collectormodel.com/roun...l-kits-ktinga-the-colors-man-the-colors-pt-3/

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Thank You so much for digging that stuff up for me. I especially liked the write ups and seeing the designers actually working on the models. That is beyond my scope for this project but I will be saving those detailed photos.

I made a little progress on the T'ORQ..

The MMT and the shock cord are both installed.

I am kicking around ideas for the nose like a small bubble that looks like the bridge or a cannon, something to add interest in that area. I am definitely going to add windows along the sides of the nose.

I assume (?) there's going to be some sort of dorsal fin or equivalent?

neil_w said:

I assume (?) there's going to be some sort of dorsal fin or equivalent?

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When I did a swing test it didn't need it. I think that large tube is creating enough drag to make it work as is. I had it 10-15' out in the swing test. I thought it would need one as well but it stayed stable. I got really dizzy though......

To be honest I was stunned by the swing test. I was prepared to have a removable fin for launch.

ThreeJsDad said:

When I did a swing test it didn't need it. I think that large tube is creating enough drag to make it work as is. I had it 10-15' out in the swing test. I thought it would need one as well but it stayed stable. I got really dizzy though......

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Hmm, I shall remain skeptical I think (although I do believe you got dizzy. ) There are many things possibly going on with the motor core in the middle, but I sure wouldn't think it'd be enough to provide stability on the vertical axis.

Anyone else have a thought on this?

neil_w said:

Hmm, I shall remain skeptical I think (although I do believe you got dizzy. ) There are many things possibly going on with the motor core in the middle, but I sure wouldn't think it'd be enough to provide stability on the vertical axis.

Anyone else have a thought on this?

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I was right there with you and in some ways I still am. When I stand it up it looks like there is no way it should be stable. If I had not went outside and did a swing test I would have automatically added a third fin. You may have hot in what is going on because the MMT is no centered in the large BT.

Spinning around at 54 it takes a lot less to get dizzy than it did at 12.

The lateral pieces are so far off the central axis that despite their small size they likely will be sufficient for yaw stability. If it passes the swing test, I suspect you will be good.

Yes, that, but...

I hear a tinkling alarm bell when I read "swing test" singular. Did you do it twice? I think it would be wise to swing it once with the dorsal or ventral side up and again with a lateral side up.

Fork 'em...

jqavins said:

Yes, that, but...

I hear a tinkling alarm bell when I read "swing test" singular. Did you do it twice? I think it would be wise to swing it once with the dorsal or ventral side up and again with a lateral side up.

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I did it a couple of times and this was before the cannon mounts were in place. I will try it some more to make sure. I did do it with the top side facing me as the CG was slightly inside the large tube. We will see where the CG is with the NC bolt in place and swing it some more, I like falling down dizzy....LOL

Yeah once I realized that giant scoop is off-center it made sense.

You have three fins, just one of them is an enormous air plow.

dhbarr said:

Yeah once I realized that giant scoop is off-center it made sense.

You have three fins, just one of them is an enormous air plow.

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Mind if I use that as a new fin type...."the air plow"....Awesome !!

ThreeJsDad said:

Mind if I use that as a new fin type...."the air plow"....Awesome !!

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Great, now we have the "T'Orq Ayr-plouw!"

Hope that doesn't mean something bad in Klingon.

BABAR said:

Great, now we have the "T'Orq Ayr-plouw!"

Hope that doesn't mean something bad in Klingon.

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Knowing my luck a lady will ask me the name of my rocket at the club launch and I will stumble through the name only to get slapped because she speaks Klingon.

If it's not raining tomorrow I will take it outside and shoot some pics. I did a pretty crazy paint pattern, I will definitely never win a contest where details in the paint matter. I wills tick to focusing on the details in the design and fabrication.

The shock cord is mounted to a plywood disc that is epoxied to the air frame. It has four holes to allow ejection gases to pass through. I fiberglassed the plywood before I cut out the centering ring. The mmt is fiberglass with plywood centering rings. The NC is a foam used for mock ups in the aerospace and other industries. The main fins are three layers of foamboard with a G-10 spline that goes into the air frame. I shaped the fins and then applied two layers of 2.1oz glass to the leading and trailing edges. The flat surfaces got single layers. I used an epoxy based resin and put them in my vacuum system. When I mounted them I also put fillets of epoxy and cabosil in the inside of the tube wall. The inside tube is epoxied to the outer tube and then all the fins were glued to the outer tube. Motor retention is an 8-32 t-nut epoxied to the inside of the lower centering ring. I made a nylon 3' diameter hemi chute. For the shocj cord I used 550 cord with the guts pulled out. It is still plenty strong and I could splice the end loops.

ThreeJsDad said:

Knowing my luck a lady will ask me the name of my rocket at the club launch and I will stumble through the name only to get slapped because she speaks Klingon.

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Tor qapla' means "kneel success", apparently.

I tried to find a GIF of the kid in Daddy Day care speaking Klingon.....

Reminds me of the Frasier episode where the Bar Mitsvah was done in Klingon......

dhbarr said:

Tor qapla' means "kneel success", apparently.

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Thanks for correcting my spelling

I hate painting them, definitely not my strength.

Looks pretty good from here. I like the red engine core (was that brush-painted all the way in there)?

One caveat: to a certain extent this paint job looks like it is designed to make the rocket disappear in the grass. Use a nice bright parachute.

neil_w said:

Looks pretty good from here. I like the red engine core (was that brush-painted all the way in there)?

One caveat: to a certain extent this paint job looks like it is designed to make the rocket disappear in the grass. Use a nice bright parachute.

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It's my new stealth grass mower...

I airbrushed the engine core before I installed it in the shroud. I masked off the area that would be epoxied to the shroud.

The chute is bright yellow and I could make a pink one for it with no trouble. I have enough nylon to make two full scale paraglider wings....long story.

ThreeJsDad said:

I hate painting them, definitely not my strength.View attachment 406444 View attachment 406445 View attachment 406446

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I feel your pain, I'm not much of a painter either. Still, this model has great lines. Hope you can find a local club to launch with, I think they will be impressed.

BABAR said:

I feel your pain, I'm not much of a painter either. Still, this model has great lines. Hope you can find a local club to launch with, I think they will be impressed.

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Thank You my friend, I will be flying with the club I flew with some years back. Some of the folks I flew with are still active. They helped through my 4 attempts at my Level 2 way back when...

I love the fact that this build went from first post to painted and finished in one week. That's usually about enough time for me to build my motor mount.