A few Estes V2 Questions

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Thanks. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know what the chain guards are. The tabs in the fins are integral to the mold, and there's little V pieces that I glue onto the aft.

I was inspired to buy this and build it from page 2 of this thread. I put all of the clay in the NC but now wondering if I should remove some of it. It looked like a straight flight on the D12-3. Fortunately, @Apogee Components has the RS file to use.

https://www.apogeerockets.com/Rocket-Kits/Skill-Level-3-Model-Rocket-Kits/V-2-Conversion-Kit
 
Thanks. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know what the chain guards are. The tabs in the fins are integral to the mold, and there's little V pieces that I glue onto the aft.

I was inspired to buy this and build it from page 2 of this thread. I put all of the clay in the NC but now wondering if I should remove some of it. It looked like a straight flight on the D12-3. Fortunately, @Apogee Components has the RS file to use.

https://www.apogeerockets.com/Rocket-Kits/Skill-Level-3-Model-Rocket-Kits/V-2-Conversion-Kit
Ah, I see, thanks! Yes the bulges on each side of the fins on the outboard edges are chain guards for a gear/sprocket combo that positioned vanes on the rear outboard corners of each fin. No need for you to know that if you bought the Spacemonkey/Apogee Components combo. Let me tell you, those little buggers were a bit of a pain to make out of popsicle sticks! They have to be almost perfectly equal, and lined up equally on both sides of the fin, to look good. But I'm pleased with the results.
 
And last night, after conferring with some helpful fellows over on this thread, I took a few minutes off from a hideous report effort for work and pulled the tape and placed the tail art:
20210302_070953.jpg20210302_071023.jpg20210302_071046.jpg20210302_071107.jpg

It's as nice a job as I could have asked for; certainly the cleanest spray job I've had to date. I think if I'd have remembered to burnish the edges instead of just finger-pressing it may have been even better, but we're talking 98% vs 100% so I've learned and I'm pleased.

I had one area where somehow the masking paper must have torn and just a hint of black mist got in, but some 1500 grit and water ought to take care of that. Now on to the semi-elliptical 'chute in gores of red, yellow and black! He'll be tickled pink! ;)
 
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Glad it worked out well. It's nice to know that if I get distracted and forget to pull the tape that it will still be ok the next day.

The rocket looks nice. Black and white works so well.

-Bob
 
Very much thanks! I am really just getting started back at it myself (like January last year). Life forces me to go slow. If you're patient, you get better results that way...
 
I think I should add that if you're into making it historically accurate, our own @PeterAlway, author of "Rockets of the World," made public his Flikr archive of V2 Paint schemes, both for Peenemunde test versions and the ones flown in America. And now I can't find it. But another fellow here is building a 1/5 scale V2 (9'2" tall!) and here is some info another good guy posted on that thread: Ez2cDave's V2 stuff.
 
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Ryan,

I made a wrap for the body tube using a CAD program. I can PDF it and send if to you, but it'll be a couple of days. The great thing about this pattern is that you only have to go around the tube once. I used Tamiya making tape which helps.

More when I can!
 
Hello all,
First time posting here. I got back into rocketry a few years ago when my daughter started showing some interest. I made many kits as a kid in the 70s and 80s, but nothing since then.

I’m on my second V2 build. The first one ended up high up in a tree on it’s second launch.

I wish I found this thread a year ago. I built the Estes V2 kit last summer, but I haven’t had time to paint until recently. I did the V2 V4 paint scheme. During that painting, I noticed how off the Estes fins shape was. I wish I would have found the template before I built it.

What I’d like to find is a scale decal of the Frau im Mond thats on the display at the museum at Pennemünde. It doesn’t look like it’s on the Spacemonkey decal sheet. Does anybody know if that scale decal exists and where I might be able to get it?

After seeing the Spacemonkey kit and the conversion kit on the Apogee site, I may have to make another version.

1644971713030.png
 
Hello all,
First time posting here. I got back into rocketry a few years ago when my daughter started showing some interest. I made many kits as a kid in the 70s and 80s, but nothing since then.

I’m on my second V2 build. The first one ended up high up in a tree on it’s second launch.

I wish I found this thread a year ago. I built the Estes V2 kit last summer, but I haven’t had time to paint until recently. I did the V2 V4 paint scheme. During that painting, I noticed how off the Estes fins shape was. I wish I would have found the template before I built it.

What I’d like to find is a scale decal of the Frau im Mond thats on the display at the museum at Pennemünde. It doesn’t look like it’s on the Spacemonkey decal sheet. Does anybody know if that scale decal exists and where I might be able to get it?

After seeing the Spacemonkey kit and the conversion kit on the Apogee site, I may have to make another version.

View attachment 504866
Well, sir, if it's any comfort, the V2 that is the subject of this thread has flown 3 times. The first time it ended up in a tree. We got it down with an extension ladder and a 16' pruning saw. The second and third times were at a larger field, and when the second flight on a D12-4 was successful, I tried a 3rd flight with an E12-6 and my new Flightsketch mini. You guessed it - into a tree. Go get the ladder and pole saw, and we did manage to retrieve it.

Here's the deal - with the smaller scale fins you have less correction from them and you need more speed off the rod- I have a 4 ft, 3/16" rod now and so my thought is to go composite, even to the point of getting a 24-18mm adapter and flying an Aerotech RMS 18/20 case with a D24-4 in it. Same impulse as a "D" (20 N-s) but 2X higher average thrust (and shorter burn duration). I haven't been able to try it yet, but it's my next move. My video clearly showed the thing tipping over immediately after leaving the rod, so even though it flew stably, it was subject to the gravity turn due to that slow speed off the rod. On the E12-6, the Flightsketch mini showed it reaching 846 ft, but it was horizontal by then, the flight was a huge arc.

For my decal (the witch of the V3 test), I took an image such as you have and printed it myself on decal paper. Test it first on plain paper to be sure that you're getting the correct size. & yeah - Jim Duffy (Spacemonkey) was the source of the fin template, but like you, if I had seen his kit first that would have been my choice.

Best to you! Post some pics when you can!
 
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Hello all,
First time posting here. I got back into rocketry a few years ago when my daughter started showing some interest. I made many kits as a kid in the 70s and 80s, but nothing since then.

I’m on my second V2 build. The first one ended up high up in a tree on it’s second launch.

I wish I found this thread a year ago. I built the Estes V2 kit last summer, but I haven’t had time to paint until recently. I did the V2 V4 paint scheme. During that painting, I noticed how off the Estes fins shape was. I wish I would have found the template before I built it.

What I’d like to find is a scale decal of the Frau im Mond thats on the display at the museum at Pennemünde. It doesn’t look like it’s on the Spacemonkey decal sheet. Does anybody know if that scale decal exists and where I might be able to get it?

After seeing the Spacemonkey kit and the conversion kit on the Apogee site, I may have to make another version.

View attachment 504866
Mark @ Stickershock has that decal in vinyl I believe,
https://stickershock23.com/product/pk-100-75-v2/
 
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