A rocket for a smurf

[Funkworks]

Brainy:
We take you now to Reporter Smurf on location in Farmer’s backyard.

Reporter Smurf:
Thank you, Brainy Smurf. As you can see Brainy, I’m standing here in at the entrance of the SURFAS headquarters.

Brainy:
I remind MY listeners that SURFAS stands for the "Smurf Unit of Rocketry For Administrating Space".

Reporter Smurf:
That is correct Brainy, the establishmurf behind me was built as a blast shelter and it was recently reno-smurfed into a communications center as well. As you can see, it is heavily smurfed and I’ve being told the team is conducting very smurfy simulations in view of a rocket launch that’s been promised to happen sometime this decade. Not because it is smurfy, but because it is smurfy.

I was not allowed inside, but for this special report, I was given special permission to smurf around the corner as long I remained accompanied by security. Let’s take a look.


Here Brainy, at my far right, we can see a typical fire exit and then a few other openings in the blast wall but they won’t let me peak inside because I’m told the launch team is smurfing very hard and must not be smurfed. On the top part of the wall, I understand those are not defence crenellations, but "sound wave breakers" because according to Papa Smurf's latest research, a rocket motor can be very noisy.

The guards are very tight-smurfed about providing any smurfy details and although we did try to reach management, they didn’t return our calls, presumably because all their telesmurfs are busy trying to communicate with the launch vehicle.

Brainy:
Well Reporter, I suppose we’ll have to wait until they’re ready.

Reporter:
Now don’t be smurficulous Brainy. My connections to the aerosmurf sector are very smurfy and we’ll get to the bottom of this story in no time. Reporter Smurf for STV news. Back to you.

Brainy:
Thank you, Reporter Smurf. And now for the weather. Mother Nature! What do you have in store for us this week? ...

 

[mo2872]

LMAO, you used “crenellations”........and I already knew what it meant! I am so smurfily smurfed at our mutual smurfiness!!!! (Holy smokes that’s hard.......and you’ve smurfed it on for 7 pages!!! All smurf to your smurfiness!!!!)

 

[Funkworks]

Step Seventy-… Nah ... Just Smurfing Around Until my Holidays with a Lathe

Hefty:
... so the Cat got away Brainy, and we almost lost a Smurf setting up that trap, but ol’ Gargamel wasn’t wearing a helmet, so we expect his threat level to be lowered a notch from “orange” to “yellow”, for a smurfy long time.

Brainy:
Thank you, Hefty, for that very smurfy news. And we all wish a quick recovery to Injured Smurf. And now, we take you to Reporter Smurf, with Part 2 of our SURFAS HQ Special Report.

Reporter:
Thank you, Brainy Smurf. As you can see Brainy, I’m standing here next to Photographer Smurf, who just got back from a flight strapped underneath a B-type Light Bomber-Reconnaissance Hybrid vehicle.

Feathers:
I’m a bird.

Reporter:
And I understand he caught some very smurfy photos from the SURFAS HQ. Let’s take a look.

 

[Funkworks]

A SURFAS HQ Special Report - Part 2

Reporter Smurf:
Here Brainy, we have the complete SURFAS structure including the main entrance where I was standing the other day, the main blast wall on the right, and what seems to be a communications tower, Brainy. Let’s get closer.

Yes Brainy, we see that’s indeed Radio Smurf up there with what appears to be a very large camera, pointing towards the rocket.

Inside, we see Papa Smurf’s SARDIS machine, and according to close sources, it seems that in case of an emergency, Clumsy is to hop into the SARDIS and inform Papa Smurf, and this would clear the way to the emergency exit hidden in the back corner.

Smurfette and Telephone Smurf seem to be attempting contact with Astro in the rocket, and Vanity there looks like he’s just being himself, Brainy.

And here we see the rest of the Team, Brainy. It looks to me like they’re trying out a variety of systems, keyboards, and protocols, and from the looks of it, they’re using frequencies from 2G, 4G and … Keyboarder Smurf is probably going for a middle G there, Brainy.

From back here Brainy we see ah! ... That’s it Brainy: Radio Smurf’s tower camera is probably for live-streaming the launch to the indoor monitor, so the Team can stay protected behind the blast wall. Look, they don’t call ‘em rocket scientists for nothing Brainy.

From up here Brainy, we have it all. A coordinated operation to say the least, Brainy.

Zooming in on this Team member Brainy, we see he’s got the numbers, the celestial objects, a wave right under his nose, and that’s probably Astro there smurfing up to the skies. The whole kit Brainy. Look, if this isn’t astrophysics I don’t what is, Brainy.

Wait! … what’s this … Can it be ... Brainy it appears that … Brainy, contact might have been established. That seems to be Astro up there on the screen, sitting inside the rocket. Luckily, Papa Smurf allowed me to have a plant inside the building that might give us a better view.

Yes, Brainy that’s definitely Astro there on the screen and the telesmurf operators are giving him the “thumbs up”, Brainy, meaning visual contact has been established! I repeat, visual contact HAS been established. A fascinating development Brainy. Reporter Smurf, STV News. Back to you.

Brainy Smurf:
Thank you, Reporter Smurf and Photographer Smurf with their B-Type hybrid vehicle, for Part 2 of our SURFAS Headquarters Special Report.

And now, sports.

 

[BABAR]

That picture in a picture is an elegant touch. You are pulling out all the stops on this one.

Ad Smurfstra!

 

[Nytrunner]

 

[Funkworks]

Trying another format. Step numbers restart for each rocket part, and I'm letting the smurfs do the talking, but "I translate from Smurf-to-English" when they're narrating to the reader, and leaving it in Smurf-talk when they're talking to themselves. (All previous steps have been organized as Parts 1 to 17 in my personal drafts, so nothing is lost by making this "Part 18").

Part 18 - Handle Bar Fitting – Step 1 – Attaching a T-bar to the Seat

Astro Smurf:
When the wood glue holding the T-bar together was dry, Caretaker Smurf poured a drop of CA at the T-junction to make it just a little tougher!

Then I just sat on the pilot chair holding the T-bar, and Hammer Smurf pin-pointed where to drill a hole for the T-bar’s base, and to what angle. After the hole was drilled, Caretaker put some wood glue in the hole and Hammer Smurf pressed in the T-bar!



Handy:
Are you sure you want to do this Smurfette?

Smurfette:
NOPE! I’m NOT SURE! It depends on what Astro looks like when he smurfs back to Earth!

Mechanic:
Great idea to have a battery pack in your chin strap Smurfette! That way, you won’t have to pedal just to power your transmurfer mic!


Mechanic:
These are so smurfy I keep one in my house!

 

[Funkworks]

Part 19 - Shaping the Nose Cone
Step 1 – Testing the Lathe with a Log

Astro Smurf:
After a long trip with Feathers and I don’t know how many other birds, we got to this place that had a bunch of great big machines! We learned how to handle the giant lathe by running it with a log, and testing out the positioning system and all the different blades!


Astro:
All set Mechanic! SPIN IT!


Part 19 - Shaping the Nose Cone
Step 2 – Testing the Correct Curve with the Dummy Pine Nose Cone

Astro:
Before making a prototype nose cone with a block of pine boards I had glued together, we cut out a cardboard patter to have the same curvature as Handy’s drawing. The cardboard pattern was to serve as a guide when running the lathe. Once in a while, we would stop the lathe and test fit the cardboard pattern to make sure the curve we carved on the spinning wood block matched the cardboard curve. Wherever the cardboard touched the block, that’s where we had to shave off some more wood!

Part 19 - Shaping the Nose Cone
Step 3 – Preparing the Dummy Pine Nose Cone to be Installed

Astro:
On the pine block, we drew a circle with the same diameter as the lathe’s chuck, and set a table saw at 45o to cut off the 4 corners and make a "STOP" sign shape (octagon). Then we set up the block on the chuck and using the cardboard pattern, we practiced making a nose cone with the correct curve!

Part 19 - Shaping the Nose Cone
Step 4 – Preparing the Balsa Nose Cone to be Installed

Astro:
Once we were happy with the curve on the pine prototype, we drew a circle on the balsa block and did the same!

Part 19 - Shaping the Nose Cone
Step 5 – Sanding the Nose Cone

Astro:
Once we had the right curve on the balsa block, we tried removing the tail stock part of the lathe, and saw no oscillations, so we took out some sandpaper and smoothed the balsa nose cone right up to the very tip of the nose cone!

In this picture, we see 1. the log prototype, 2. the pine prototype, and 3. the final balsa nose cone! The bottom 1-inch was there in case the nose tip broke off and we had to shift the curve backwards. Luckily, that didn’t happen, so we just have to saw it off, (edit: ) or maybe we’ll just sand it down to have a 2-inch insertion depth instead!

Next, we spread some wood filler all over the surface to prepare it for an aerosol primer and spray paint!

 

[Nytrunner]

Consider just sanding down that shoulder end to match the tube inner diameter. 1" really isnt much shoilder engagement for a body tube that size

 

[Funkworks]

Consider just sanding down that shoulder end to match the tube inner diameter. 1" really isnt much shoilder engagement for a body tube that size

Yeah, 1 inch was just a random choice. I must say I didn’t look up what’s the norm. I can sand it down as you say, but then I think I’ll have to drill a shallow hole from the bottom up for the motor mount tip. Shouldn’t be a problem.

 

[Funkworks]

Part 20 - Smoothing the Nose Cone – Step 1 – Applying the Wood Filler

Astro Smurf:
Caretaker Smurf and I squirted out some Elmer’s Wood Filler on a disposable plate, and to apply it on the nose cone, we dipped our fingers in a glass of water, pinched out globs of paste, and spread it all over the nose cone, one glob at a time!

Part 20 - Smoothing the Nose Cone – Step 2 – Spreading the Wood Filler

Astro:
Before it dried, we evened out the paste as best as we could with our fingers.

Part 20 - Smoothing the Nose Cone – Step 3 – Sanding the Wood Filler

Once the wood filler was dry, we sanded with 180, 220, 320 and 800 grit sponges. Just because that’s what we had!

Ready for the primer now!

 

[mbeels]

Very nice result with the balsa on a lathe. What tool(s) did you use? Or just sandpaper?

 

[Funkworks]

Very nice result with the balsa on a lathe. What tool(s) did you use? Or just sandpaper?

Yep. I eyeballed the curve with the help of the cardboard pattern, really taking my time, shaving off very thin or narrow layers out of caution, and then I think I used 80- and 120-grit paper very lightly, and then sponges 180, 220 and 320. I also have a 800 sponge in the bag, but i don't remember if I used it. Maybe. Note that sanding is a breeze when the part is spinning underneath at hundreds of RPM.

 

[Funkworks]

Part 21 - Priming and Painting the Nose Cone – Step 1 – Spraying and Sanding the Primer

Astro Smurf:
To prime the nose cone, we used “Dupli-Color Automotive Primer Filler – Fills Deep Scratches & Sands Easily” (with a gray cap!). We applied a 1st coating and we waited 10 minutes before putting on a 2nd coating. Then we waited 30 minutes.

Astro:
After 30 minutes, we used a 320-grit sponge and then a 800-grit one, and we had this!

We decided to cover up the white spots with a 3rd coating + 10 minutes + a 4th coating + 30 minutes, and we had this!

And after sanding with the 320-grit sponge, we had this!

We still had paint left! So, we decided to go for a 5th coating, and we waited 10 minutes, and off we went with a 6th coating, and after 30 minutes, we had this!

And then we sanded with 600-grit sand paper!

And then it was time to paint!

(Don't mind this post, I just found humour in that Astro looked and sounded just as excited no matter how repetitive the steps seemed to be.)

 

[Funkworks]

Part 21 - Priming and Painting the Nose Cone – Step 2 – Spraying the Paint

Astro:
We chose “Dupli Color Stainless Steel” for the final color! Two coatings! As you can see on the neck, it made a mess of dry particles but they all came off easily with towels, and the underlying surface was good enough!

And there you have it! A shiny X-mas tree and present all in one!

 

[SCooke123]

Nice progress.... enjoying the journey!

 

[Funkworks]

Part 22 - Nose Cone Neck

Astro:
We didn't saw off the bottom 1-inch board - it "unglued" while we were sanding it very hard! But that's ok! The stack was too tall anyway! Because of the crew cabin walls, there wasn't even any room inside the rocket for that extra inch!

We had to drill a 2"-wide 2"-deep hole so the top of the propeller shaft could fit inside! To drill the hole, we first used a 2” hole saw. Then we chipped away the innards with a chisel. Since this is balsa, we didn’t even need a hammer, we could just force it out by twisting the chisel! And to finish off, we used a 2” Forstner bit because they can make a flat bottom. Flat enough for me! In this picture, you can also see the 3 eye bolts that will pull away Handy's smurfy "fin release sticks"!

Getting there! The rest is really just aesthetic and whatever they call "laundry". Don't ask me what that means, I just spend my days swimming and camping in the woods now. They say I have to train for that in case I don't reach the stars and fall back to Earth! WHAT-EVER!

 

[Funkworks]

Handy:
Astro keeps insisting the space ship has to withstand the rigours of outer smurf, so while he’s out training, we’re making these false rivets for the nose cone! They’re nothing but balsa disks pressed out with a hole punch but if we don’t tell him, he’ll never know the difference!

 

[Ronz Rocketz]

Space training is an important step.

 

[Funkworks]

Nose Cone False Strapping – Step 1 – Curving a 1/16” Balsa Board into False Strapping

Handy:
We thought it might calm Grouchy down to soak up balsa wood and curve it into false strapping for the nose cone. But when Vanity Smurf realized this would be like taking a warm bath WHILE working, he also volunteered and jumped right in to help out!

With 60oC water in a large pan, it took about 15-30 minutes to curve a 1/16” thick board sufficiently to fit inside. Then, we left it clamped in there overnight.


Vanity: This will be so SMURfy for my complexion!

Grouchy: I HATE complexions!

Vanity: Oh, re-LLLAX! Or I’ll smurf out my aqua-fitness mix!




Handy:
In the morning, we changed the water for new warm water, added 20 sprays of Windex and tightened the curve. Then we did the same again a few times in the evening, until the diameter was less than 5”. And we let it dry overnight.

This would do the job, but we were curious to see how far we could go with a thicker 1/8" board!

Nose Cone Belt Strap – Step 2 – Curving a 1/8” Balsa Board into False Strapping

Handy:
Papa Smurf came to help with the 1/8" board because this time we used boiling water and a lot of ammonia (Windex)! This started to look like wizardry to me! In this picture, we’re down to 8.5 inch in diameter. Who knows if we’ll reach 5 inches!

Find out next time! We don't know either!

 

[Funkworks]

Nose Cone False Strapping 2 - Curving a 1/8” Balsa Board into False Strapping



Jokey: What’s going on Smurfs? This looks like fun!

Hefty: OH NO Jokey! You stand BACK!

Brainy: And you should get eye protection! Because we never know if any of these ammonia solutions will smurf up in our faces! Right Papa Smurf?

Papa: The blue “Windex” isn’t so bad, but if the generic yellow “ammonia” product is as powerful as it smells, I wouldn’t want to fall in!

Sitting Smurf: It smells like lemon, but 10x worse! Phew!



Handy:
Even under a ventilation hood, we had to dilute the yellow ammonia solution with just as much water to tone down the smell! But by gradually pinching it to a 6" collar with pliers, we got down to a 6-inch diameter! And enough to fit the board inside the collar! So all we have to do now is tighten the screw so the curve will be evenly spread over the board! Amazing!

 

[Funkworks]

Pointing Smurf:
They did it! It's now small enough to be wrapped around the nose cone!

 

[Funkworks]

Gluing the False Rivets on the False Strapping

Handy:
Here’s what the false strap looked like when we released it from the collar. Everysmurf was quite amazed at how Papa Smurf’s ammonia potion got to curve the balsa board so tightly!

Caretaker spread some wood filler paste all over the outer surface of the board just like Astro had done with the nose cone and the fins. Once the wood filler was dry, Caretaker sanded it smooth, and then we marked 14 spots for where false rivets should be glued on. To place 14 rivets, we divided the circumference by 14, which gave us 3.4 cm between each pair of rivet heads.

Then, using carpenter’s glue, Sassette helped him glue on the false rivet heads.

Sassette: It looks like a dog collar! Hee! Hee! Hee!

 

[Funkworks]

Handy:
Good news builders! I just tested this heated foam cutter on transparent acrylic spheres and I can cut through them pretty easily! The edge just needs a little sanding, but that shouldn’t be a problem.

What’s this for? Portholes for the nose cone of course!

That’s right! That round part next to my toes is a small porthole prototype! The real ones will be about 1.25” in diameter and there’ll be 4 of them.

It might take a few days to polish the process and get nice parts, but I can’t wait to get started!

 

[Funkworks]

Handy:
Smurf it! I couldn't wait! I used the 1.5 inch hole saw I had as a template and using an awl, I scratched a circle on a large acrylic ball I got from a craft store. These spheres comes in 2 halves that fit together, so without any jig or anything, I just held a half-ball in place and used the heated foam cutter to "free-draw" the circle to cut away each porthole window. Here they are freshly cut, or "raw":

To sand the edges, I used 60-grit. Here's a before-and after picture on a plate of steel:

A 1.5" diameter is still a little too big, so I'm hoping to buy a 1.25" hole saw shortly and use it as a guide to sand down the windows a little more, and drill the actual 1.25"D shallow holes in the nose cone. The windows won't be perfect circles but once fitted in their nests, it won't show, especially with a fillet of paste or glue.

Clumsy, righly wondering how to make sense of this.

 

[jqavins]

For a template, it seems like a hole saw isn't really necessary. All you need is something with a circular cross section, and sort of empty in the middle so the circular edge can sit on the sphere. Have you got something like maybe a tube of some sort?

 

[Funkworks]

For a template, it seems like a hole saw isn't really necessary. All you need is something with a circular cross section, and sort of empty in the middle so the circular edge can sit on the sphere. Have you got something like maybe a tube of some sort?

The 1.5" hole saw was certainly not necessary, it's just the first thing I found that was good enough. The thing is that even if the scratched circle was perfect (which in fact it wasn't), it would still be difficult to cut it out perfectly. I'd have to make some sort of jig for the half-sphere and heated cutter to be stable, and I don't think it's worth it.

I'm thinking if there are any outstanding imperfections around the window edge once it's fitted into the balsa hole, I can apply some sort of "fillet" to hide the edge. Glue, paste, o-ring, or something else "to be determined". Ideas welcome, but I'm not quite there yet.

 

[David_Stack]

"...I'm thinking if there are any outstanding imperfections around the window edge once it's fitted into the balsa hole, I can apply some sort of "fillet" to hide the edge. Glue, paste, o-ring, or something else "to be determined""

Not sure what a suitable adhesive would be, but how about a 1.25" O-ring? Not only would it hide the edge, but it would also give the appearance of a seal...

Loving the craftsmanship and the 'story' for this build.

r/
Dave

 

[David_Stack]

Clearly I need my eyes checked (or simply to step away from the monitor for a bit)...

I see now that you already floated an o-ring as an idea.

D'oh!

 

[Funkworks]

Not sure what a suitable adhesive would be, but how about a 1.25" O-ring? Not only would it hide the edge, but it would also give the appearance of a seal...

A thing about an o-ring is that I could paint it to be the same color as the nose cone, before installing it. Once I'm at that point, I'll have a better idea if it's a good choice, and if so, what thickness works best. Note that the "o-ring" could also be cut out of anything, including perfectly matching, painted balsa.