Micro-Goonies

I'm working on a few micro-goonies right now. I'm doing the Zoom Broom, Cloud Hopper, Micro-Broadsword, and a Galaxy Guppy. I also installed a micro engine mount in a Mosquito that I threw together. Semroc sells the laser cut fin set for the Mosquito. I know, I know, why not just cut them out myself. Well, I was buying some other stuff from Semroc and the laser cut set was about a buck, what the heck.

I'm using decals from Excelsior and supplies from Fliskits, and Semroc.

I bought some 1/32 and 1/64 birch plywood for the fins. The 1/32 was used on the Micro-Broadsword and the 1/64 is going on the goonies. The 1/64 stuff is surprisingly rigid when cut out small like that. It was expensive but will do a gazillion goonies.

Birch Plywood, and the decals from Sandman. The micro-goony set was $5, I think. He includes the pattern set too.

Hopefully, I'll get some paint on these babies in the next few days. There is rain in the forecast so I might have to wait a few days. I'm not looking forward to trying to get these babies balanced right so they are ready to fly.

I have balsa nosecones in the goonies right now but I'm going to be looking for plastic Estes versions, like John (MicroMeister) suggested in another thread. The plastic cones will make it much easier to put the nose weight as far forward as possible so I can make them stable. I hollowed out one of the balsa cones and it was not only a mess, but it was very difficult. Dangerous too, actually. The balsa is so soft that it's really easy to slice through with my exacto. I tried to use a drill bit and went all the way through the cone like butter!

markschnell said:

hollowed out one of the balsa cones and it was not only a mess, but it was very difficult. Dangerous too, actually. The balsa is so soft that it's really easy to slice through with my exacto. I tried to use a drill bit and went all the way through the cone like butter!

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Get yourself a rotary tool and put a tungsten carbide cutter (Dremel P/N 9931) in it. Then you can remove material only where you want it removed.

markschnell said:

Hopefully, I'll get some paint on these babies in the next few days. There is rain in the forecast so I might have to wait a few days. I'm not looking forward to trying to get these babies balanced right so they are ready to fly.

I have balsa nosecones in the goonies right now but I'm going to be looking for plastic Estes versions, like John (MicroMeister) suggested in another thread. The plastic cones will make it much easier to put the nose weight as far forward as possible so I can make them stable. I hollowed out one of the balsa cones and it was not only a mess, but it was very difficult. Dangerous too, actually. The balsa is so soft that it's really easy to slice through with my exacto. I tried to use a drill bit and went all the way through the cone like butter!

Click to expand...

Best way to hollow balsa nosecones of just about any size it with a hog bit or Mill end cutters for your rotary tool or dremel. they are designed to take a bit of material from the sides rather then just drilling through. Some of the larger Hog rasps are quite large and to rough for balsa but can do a great job on basswood. Don't think I have a picture of the hog rasps currently but heres one of one of the smaller mill ends I picked up in a random 50 pack for 5bucks through Harbor Freight. These mill ends come in a huge number of sizes from #80 to about 1/4" so it's easy to find one that works well with micro cones

Edit: Bradycros and I must have been typing our replys about the same time LOL!!!
Another thing to keep in mind: a hollowed out balsa NC will nearly always be lighter then the PNC-5V Estes two piece styrene cones. While the plastic may be a little quicker to finish, your models will tend to be a bit heavier.
Hope this helps in the future.

Thanks, Bradycros, and Micro. Great tips as usual.

BTW - John, I can't imagine that you haven't launched a Mosquito with a micro mount in it. What kind of altitude will that get?

markschnell said:

BTW - John, I can't imagine that you haven't launched a Mosquito with a micro mount in it. What kind of altitude will that get?

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As with all micros, it really depends on the launch mass. BT-5's are pretty draggy, if you keep the weight down you'll get 100-150feet. That may seem like a lot of difference by really MMX-II's pack a pretty good initial kick, If we have a decent finish the coast time can put them up there pretty good.
I use a rear ejection pod and Teflon streamer to bring mine couple back.

Here's what I have so far. The Micro-Broadsword is ready to go except for the decal. Of course it could also be a Micro Bertha, Micro-Super Big Bertha, but I chose the color scheme of the Broadsword. I think that decal is really cool too.

The Zoom Broom and Cloud Hopper went together well and the decals from Excelsior were excellent. No problems with them, even in these tiny pieces.

The Mosquito has a micro motor mount and I'm going to try it with the Micro-Maxx NE motors.

I can't say enough how much I enjoy building these micro rockets. I like the bigger stuff too, but I can put my whole micro-fleet in a shoe box if I want to. Plus, if you build them light they fly very well with the second generation Micro Maxx motors.

markschnell said:

Here's what I have so far. The Micro-Broadsword is ready to go except for the decal. Of course it could also be a Micro Bertha, Micro-Super Big Bertha, but I chose the color scheme of the Broadsword. I think that decal is really cool too.

The Zoom Broom and Cloud Hopper went together well and the decals from Excelsior were excellent. No problems with them, even in these tiny pieces.

The Mosquito has a micro motor mount and I'm going to try it with the Micro-Maxx NE motors.

I can't say enough how much I enjoy building these micro rockets. I like the bigger stuff too, but I can put my whole micro-fleet in a shoe box if I want to. Plus, if you build them light they fly very well with the second generation Micro Maxx motors.

Click to expand...

Very nice!

I have used the shoe box idea for years but...my shoebox runnith over!

sandman said:

Very nice!

I have used the shoe box idea for years but...my shoebox runnith over!

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Yeah, mine's getting that way too. I guess I should say I COULD use a shoebox, but if I did all my rockets would be all scratched up. But when I go to launch the ones I'm going to launch will fit in a shoebox.

BTW: Thanks for the great decals Gordon. Your work is top notch, as usual. I can't wait to apply the Space Cruiser Excalibur and Dragonship 7 decals I got from you a few weeks ago. Those rockets have been naked for three or four years now, 'bout time they got dressed up right!

Launch Report

I launched today. The Micro-Broadsword performed like a champ. I'm not sure how high it went, but high enough to make me happy. I launched the Zoom Broom but need to add a little more nose weight. It didn't go end over end but it wasn't exactly the straightest flight ever.

My Fliskits Spaceman and Crayon Rocket performed great, as usual. I forgot my Micro-motor mount Mosquito, but hope to launch it a few days. It's new name is the 4-M now.