King Kraken (L1 Certification) Build Thread

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rbelknap said:
I did not add fillets, although I wonder if i should have. (Another builder, dixontj93060, used wooden dowels to re-enforce the fin joints on his Kraken.)
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Also, seen from that thread I did all building before priming/masking/painting.

BTW, although the Kraken has a superior fin design allowing the tube angles not to take direct impact on landing, I am glad I did add some reinforcement as I had one fouled main deployment already.
 
It's official, my certification flight will be delayed until December. Just got a note from the club president. Our site hasn't seen enough rain, and the ground-cover is still too dry, so next week's launch has been cancelled.

Hey, at least that will give me time to help the boys finish their Krakens.
 
rbelknap said:
It's official, my certification flight will be delayed until December. Just got a note from the club president. Our site hasn't seen enough rain, and the ground-cover is still too dry, so next week's launch has been cancelled.

Hey, at least that will give me time to help the boys finish their Krakens.
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I got the same notification. Very disappointing. I'm hoping our SARG launch will still happen on the 10th.
 
rbelknap said:
It's official, my certification flight will be delayed until December. Just got a note from the club president. Our site hasn't seen enough rain, and the ground-cover is still too dry, so next week's launch has been cancelled.

Hey, at least that will give me time to help the boys finish their Krakens.
Click to expand...

To cool with the color shifting paint. If you cant wait to try out the scratch resistance of the paint there's a TCC launch in Nov. Not sure how far away Snow Ranch is for you but TCC is 3.5 hours from San Francisco.

https://tccrockets.com/
 
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Okay - here are some indoor/outdoor shots with with all the paint cured the tube fins unmasked. I still have a couple of (mostly internal) things to finish, but this is pretty much how it's going to look on the pad...


image.jpeg
Before The tape is removed


image_1.jpeg
After the tape is removed


image_2.jpeg
Green

image_3.jpeg
Purple

I'll be installing the MMT and applying the "King Kraken" decal tonight.
 
Looking good there! Too bad Snow Ranch is off for Nov. 3rd. Looking forward to seeing it fly!

I wonder if you plan to fly it at Moffett on a smaller motor before your L1 attempt.

Ari.
 
iter said:
Looking good there! Too bad Snow Ranch is off for Nov. 3rd. Looking forward to seeing it fly!

I wonder if you plan to fly it at Moffett on a smaller motor before your L1 attempt.

Ari.
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I probably should, but I think the Nov. Moffett launch conflicts with my son's cub scout canned food drive. Also - knowing my luck, the wind will pick up just as my KK touches down and it will get dragged across the tarmac by the chute.
 
Pem Tech said:
That is mighty purdy...
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AHansom said:
To cool with the color shifting paint.
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iter said:
Looking good there!
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MasonH said:
I like the green and purple!!
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qquake2k said:
That is one good looking Kraken!
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o1d_dude said:
The King Kraken paint job turned out exceptionally well, Robert.

Looking forward to seeing this puppy fly.
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Thanks for the compliments, everyone. I'm really happy with how the paint job turned out, even with the flaws that are visible upon closer inspection.

Something interesting I noticed is the difference in surface texture between the area I wet-sanded and re-did to fix the run and the rest of the rocket. It's MUCH more of a glassy-smooth finish in that spot. That's something I'll have to keep in mind for future projects.
 
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Stick a fork motor in it. This Kraken is done!

photo.JPG

I applied the decal and installed the MMT last night. I've never used a vinyl decal before - I thought I'd screwed it up at first. I had some trouble removing the backing, but I persevered and got it applied. I'm definitely going to have to order a couple of custom decals for the boys' Krakens.

The MMT installation was pretty standard. Apply Titebond II the appropriate depth inside the body, insert the forward centering ring, more glue for the aft ring, complete insertion of the MMT, twist and slide a bit to ensure good coverage and let it set. Then I mixed a small amount of JB Weld to do the aft fillet. (Since I'd already coated the aft cetering ring in the stuff, I figured a wood glue fillet wouldn't bond.) I don't think I added too much weight.

Speaking of weight...

rbelknap said:
I was curious about the weight, so I got the scale out this morning.

Nosecone + quicklink + body tube and fins (the MMT and recovery gear not installed) : 24.95 oz
Fully loaded (MMT, shock cord, parachute, nomex blanket added) 32.75 oz
Flight Ready (motor, 3grain case and spacer added) : 47.10 oz

I still have several coats of paint to do. (at least 2x base, 2x-3x color, then a clear topcoat) It will be interesting to see how much weight that adds.
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image.jpeg

My finished Kraken is 34.45 oz. That's the same "Fully Loaded" configuration as above, so the paint (and glue/jb weld) only added 1.7 oz. That's less than I was expecting, actually.

I haven't weighed the finished rocket with the motor installed yet, but based on the numbers from my previous post, the Flight Ready weight should be 48.8 oz.
 
I just ran a couple of simulations in OR. I took the RockSim file from the Pemtech website, overrode the CG and Mass calculations and simulated flights with an H143SS on 8, 10, and 13 second delays. Apogee occurs around 10.7 sec. in the sim. I did note that the mass with the motor is 45.3 oz, which is lighter than what I measured. (weight of the 3 grain case and spacer?) So I added 3.5 oz to the mass and re-ran the sims. Still 10.7 sec to apogee, so it looks like I'll drill the delay grain down to 10 seconds.

I'll run the simulations again with a more accurately measured CG to make sure. (I just balanced the rocket on my finger and used a ruler to measure the distance... not the most accurate way to go.)

Simulated Flight results with a 10 second delay:

Apogee2084ft
Velocity at deployment30.8 ft/s
Maximum velocity489 ft/s
Maximum Acceleration343 ft/s^2
Time to apogee 10.7 s
Flight time89.5 s
Ground hit velocity26.3 ft/s
 
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CTI H143-SS

I'm set for the weekend, but the club's launch has been delayed due to rain. (last month there was not enough, this month, there is too much...) Currently looking at launching on the 8th.
 
:) on the H143SS that's going to be a nice inky squirt!


ohh ohh ohh... i may be down in the Bay Area that weekend.. need to check.. would be cool to come out and see
 
Salvage-1 said:
:) on the H143SS that's going to be a nice inky squirt!
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That was the main reason I chose a smokey for this rocket. :) I probably won't fly many of them after the cert flight.


ohh ohh ohh... i may be down in the Bay Area that weekend.. need to check.. would be cool to come out and see
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I'll also be flying the TRF Community Rocket, and probably "Harold: The Purple Crayon" that day, too. As soon as I know where I'll be flying, I'll let you know. :)
 
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o1d_dude said:
Same here. I haven't completely stopped flying LPR but I usually stuff reloads in them for extra awesomeness. :D
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I find myself flying less and less LPR. But I do still have the Super Alpha III Stretch Goony 3-Fin 4-Fin 2-Stage yet to fly.
 
qquake2k said:
I used to say that after I got my Level 1...
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I'll be flying MPR/HPR a lot more once I get my L1, (dependent on my rocketry budget) I'm just not sure I'll be flying a lot of smokey motors specifically. :)

I'll still be flying LPR with/for my boys.
 
rbelknap said:
I'll be flying MPR/HPR a lot more once I get my L1, (dependent on my rocketry budget) I'm just not sure I'll be flying a lot of smokey motors specifically. :)

I'll still be flying LPR with/for my boys.
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Smokies are my favorite, followed closely by sparkies. I've found that I've flown a LOT more HPR after I got my Level 1 than I ever thought I would. Now that I've gotten my Level 2, I already have two J/K projects in the works. It's a sickness!
 
It goes a little like this.... OK... I have L1, I can fly, HPR... ooohh look L2, and I need to bust that mile mark, hmm, Mach sounds interesting, wonder how fast that went, can I work out my own Cd's, those GPS logs looks kewl in Google Earth, <evilgrin> wonder if this one will shred or cope, wow... 2 miles... etc.. etc.. etc..
 
This thread is not helping me be good! Seeing such a gorgeous KK is just making me want to build one more than ever!
 

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