2.66 Upscale Photon Disruptor

Onebadhawk
SilicdyneTRF
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Yes. But first a picture I forgot. This is of the original PD next to the MMT in the upscale...
 
OK she's all sanded and sealed and ready for primer. What a pain it was to sand this thing.
 
I used my oldest sons woodshop project as a paint stand to spray the bottom. It was perfect. Don't worry, it's broken and been in the garage for a while anyway.
 
Finally, one coat of paint. Here she is next to my original PD with all the paint(just waiting for decals)...
 
I sprayed another coat of white on it yesterday after work, but before I did my "little helper" wanted to help me.... this is after the first coat.


I'm not sure. I have to see what reloads I have. I hope I have something with a short delay, 'cause it's a little heavy.
 
This is where I'm a little green. I'm not sure what motors to use when I get up into 29mm. I usually just grab one and go. I know that's not the best thing to do, but... I guess I need to educate myself more.
 
I'm goging to spray it one more time with white, especially the bottom, as I haven't got that completely covered, and then I'll mask it off and add the orange. I purchased some 36" military parachutes from Commenwealth on ebay (5 for $11), I was thinking about using 2 for this kit. When the paints all dry I'll add the 'chutes and the decals and she'll be ready to launch Aug. 29th out at Lucerne. Don't woory I'll post progress reports.
 
Another update... She's all painted. Just waiting for the decals from Astronboy/Excelsior. I've decidedI'm going to use my RMS G64-4 for the first flight. It's a bit on the heavy side and I don't want too long of a delay. I want it to go up and come right back down, even if it's not very high. Should get about 850'. Anyway here's a picture next to the original.
 
Here she is with the parachute attached. Iwas originally going to use 2 36" 'chutes, but after simulating ejection(basically pulling it out of the body by hand) I didn't want to risk a malfunction or severe tangling, so I just went with one.
 
And here are the 2 painted PD's next to the PD II that I'm working on to get the whole family together. The PD II is going to be 24mm, I'll have to add a little nose weight.
 
Oh baby!

What a looker, even without the decals!

You have a nice little "PD family" in the making there!

I'd suggest getting that PD-II built and swing testing it without the nose weight first - you might not need it.

Also, I'm intrigued by your delay choice on that G64 motor. The only reason I say that is because of how suprised I was at the upward coast on my Atlantis when I launched it. I anticipated that all the stuff on that thing would be so draggy that it would slow down quickly - yet it coasted upwards nicely. My experience only being in LPR, with rockets of this size being my largest, I'm guessing that the mass of the rocket and its inertia during coast is a much greater factor than the aerodynamic drag under coast.

Just a thought - most folks worry more about an "early" ejection, rather than a slightly late one. You might want to compare your delay selection to the recommended RMS reloads for MPR rockets of a similar mass - regardless of their shape. That said, and having not done that myself, you could very well be right on with your 4 second delay choice.

Can't wait to see it with decals!
 
Ya know I am in the Forum a lot...How did I miss this thread??:confused:

Great build and Great model.

I never cared for the Photon Disruptor but now that I see it in a larger size...I have to reconcider. Maybe that's what was wrong with it...too small!:D

Very good step by step build too!

ya done good!

sandman
 
Thank you sandman, coming from you that means alot. It's your nose cone on the top there that makes it.

Forecheck, another reason I went for the 4 second delay is that that is the only one I have. Since the AT motors are so scarce, I figured that was the best choice. Although I do have a couple of F52-9's, but that just seemed too long.
 
Excellent!! Very cool. I love it when folks upscale the old "classic" rockets. Can't wait to see it with decals on.
BTW, what's the rating on the kevlar you're using. Looked pretty thin to me. Could be critical if deployment isn't right at the top.
James
 
Well, it is finished. Astronboy did an absolutely awesome on the decals. They really make this rocket come to life. Thanx again to everyone for their input. She's gonna fly next weekend at Lucerne, so stay tuned.
 
WoooHoo!!!

FANTASTIC!

Awesome Job!!

That thing looks GREAT next to it's "little brothers"!!!

And the "reverse" paint scheme on the PDII is a nice touch!

Congrats on a job well done!
 
Originally posted by Rocket_James
Excellent!! Very cool. I love it when folks upscale the old "classic" rockets. Can't wait to see it with decals on.
BTW, what's the rating on the kevlar you're using. Looked pretty thin to me. Could be critical if deployment isn't right at the top.
James
Click to expand...



You know, I'm not exactly sure. But what I did was double it up and smear it with epoxy. Don't know if this will help. This was one of those steps that I realized I may have not done with the proper materials after I finished it. I know that next time I'll invest in some thicker "grade" kevlar cord.
 
On your kevlar: As long as your shock cord that the Kevlar is attached to is long enough, the only load the Kevlar will see is the weight of the rocket itself. You know, not *exactly* - there will be some inital shocks at laundry deployment - but most of those "shocks" should be absorbed by the "shock cord."
 
You know, if you are very concerned about the present kevlar anchor, you could replace it.

I did this with a Super Big Bertha by builing a 3 plate baffle using a BT-80 tube coupler and some custom cut plates from BMS. I first cut out the old anchor line as far down as I could. I then built the baffle, coated it with a thin coat of epoxy for burn protection, attached some heavier Kevlar to the baffle, and epoxied the sucker into the Super Big Bertha. It has worked very well.

The best part is that you can add the baffle/anchor at any time....

Here is a link to some pics of my Super Ranger that used the same type of baffle:

https://towrowrow.tripod.com/astronboy/id18.html

Phred
 
Originally posted by DynaSoar
Spectacular. That just SCREAMS for a simultaneous launch.
Click to expand...


Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I need to repair "Daddy", after all the excitiment on Sunday I noticed a big chunk taken out of the nose cone and some dis-coloration on the BT. That would make a great video.......stay tuned.
 
Originally posted by Rocket_James
Excellent!! Very cool. I love it when folks upscale the old "classic" rockets. Can't wait to see it with decals on.
BTW, what's the rating on the kevlar you're using. Looked pretty thin to me. Could be critical if deployment isn't right at the top.
James
Click to expand...



I had no problems with the kevlar. In fact recovery was beautiful every time, now if I can just learn to load the reloads properly....
 
What type of epoxy did you use on this?
And where does a guy find it?
So far all I have used is white glue, yellow glue, and some of that two-part in the syringe stuff.
None of these leave as nice a looking joint as you have.
Thanks for your time,
Greg
 
Originally posted by 11Bravo
What type of epoxy did you use on this?
And where does a guy find it?
So far all I have used is white glue, yellow glue, and some of that two-part in the syringe stuff.
None of these leave as nice a looking joint as you have.
Thanks for your time,
Greg
Click to expand...


I used 5 and 12 minute epoxy that I got from Hobby People. It comes in 2 seperate tubes.(It is sold together in one package) I mixed them together on a piece of cardboard. I used a very generous amount of epoxy. I used my finger to smooth the fillets, but I did a ton of sanding. I had to use 60 grit in some places to cut the build up of epoxy. Then 120, then 320, then 400 or 600. So much sanding was involved.
 

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