A rocket for a smurf

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... I did notice in French class that the English translations of some of the Tintin stories were changed a bit from the French, though I forget which ones now. Many of the Tintin plots/art also haven’t aged well, particularly when he goes to Africa or Asia.

I haven't seen the 2011 Tintin movie by Spielberg, but it has good reviews. A sequel featuring the rocket, which according to this photo might be as famous as the character itself, would be awesome.

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Scratching that and the Marvin rocket are on my to-do list, "if I live long enough" (I'm healthy but scratch-building apparently takes longer than I thought).
 
Scratching that and the Marvin rocket are on my to-do list, "if I live long enough" (I'm healthy but scratch-building apparently takes longer than I thought).
Scratch building, even scale scratch building, doesn't need to include anywhere near the level of effort you're putting into the smurf rocket. One doesn't really need to model the interior, for instance. Or make detachable fins, and most rockets don't have hugely thick fins with springs underneath. You certainly don't need to build set pieces and write stories for in progress pictures. You don't need to take the next project to such an admirably crazy level.
 
Scratch building, even scale scratch building, doesn't need to include anywhere near the level of effort you're putting into the smurf rocket. One doesn't really need to model the interior, for instance. Or make detachable fins, and most rockets don't have hugely thick fins with springs underneath. You certainly don't need to build set pieces and write stories for in progress pictures. You don't need to take the next project to such an admirably crazy level.

Yeah I sort of got carried away! 😆 Part of it is because 1 rocket is easier to store that the 10 or so I could have built instead, and part of it is because building fits my schedule better than actually getting out and launching anything!

(However, Marvin's and Tintin's are a level up because of the "ellipsoidal" bodies - a challenge I'm still not sure how to best tackle.)
 
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(However, Marvin's and Tintin's are a level up because of the "ellipsoidal" bodies - a challenge I'm still not sure how to best tackle.)
Frame and skin. Start with ribs that are basically centering rings in a series of sizes, with notches along the outer edge. Add longerons set into the notches that are able to flex into the outer curve. Then skin it with strips of paper. Stiffen and strengthen the paper with thin CA. Slop on a whole lot of filler then sand down to the final shape.

Since the ribs actually are centering rings, put a tube up the middle for the motor mount, parachute, and nose cone shoulder. That's the real rocket, and the football shape is just hung around it for show. Mostly; you probably have to attach the fins to the football. TTW would be nice, but easier said than done with the frame structure. There's surely a way.
 
Carpenter Smurf:
After priming, we had to sand the strap but the balsa rivets were glued in place so we had to sand AROUND them! Luckily, I have a set of these small plastic model sanding sticks, and they were just right for the job!
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Vanity:
Now THAT is some smoooooth sanding girl! Mighty smooth mmmmm!

Carpenter Smurf:
Then we painted the port hole rings and the strap! What really matters here is to have a nice inner surface for each of the 4 rings, so that the corner edge between each window and ring is flawless!

Handy:
And now we all the parts for the nose cone! The next steps are to put them all together like building blocks, sand them to fit if needed, glue them in place, fill in the gaps with putty, mask the windows, sand the cone surface again, maybe prime it again, and paint it again!
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Clumsy: GOLLY! Now I get it I do! Heeyuck!

Grouchy: I HATE building blocks!
 
That is a very nice project, congratulations to it! We are very much looking forward to seeing the finished rocket. We had a similar project, the boys and I, however without any intention to let the rocket fly in the end. We rather emphasized on the original comics and rebuilt the Astro Smurf‘s arrival on the „foreign“ planet.
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When the Astro Smurf first attempted to use the rocket in order to travel to another world, he found out to his dismay that it was unable to lift off from the ground. Papa Smurf then set forth a plan in motion to make the Astro Smurf believe that Handy had fixed his ship and it was now able to work properly. This required putting the Astro Smurf to sleep with a raspberry potion, dismantling his ship and delivering him and the ship into an extinct volcano, reassembling the ship, and using a magic potion to transform himself and his little Smurfs into Swoofs. The arrival on the Swoof’s planet is shown in the diorama.
 
We had a similar project...

That is so awesome!

Here's the original cartoon. (The one I missed as a kid and mislead me to believe for decades that a Smurf had "actually" gone to space).

I loosely tried to make the “story of this thread" fit with the above storyline at post #172.

Here's an official statue that's very detailed and very expensive, but not flyable.

And here's a flyable one that's custom-built with fewer details (not mine).

As for mine, I glued on porthole stack #2 (of 4) yesterday, so I'm expecting new photo material in a few days.
 
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Jokey: Is that your smurfer Handy? Hyuck!! Yargy Hyarhh!! Yarhg!!

Handy: Well… yes… it’s for applying suction to a flat surface like these dark blue disks!

Brainy (off-screen): The rubber handle’s elasticity can reduce the air pressure inside the pipe and allow a column of air from the Earth’s surface up to space to push against a disk against the cup at the tip of the tool!

Clumsy: Gosh! Thank goodness for air!

Grouchy: I HATE columns of air!

Handy: It was pretty useful for handling the colored disks and the plastic windows while testing their fit! Now, we have to wait for the glue in the 4 window frames to dry. Then we’ll mask around them and sand them down before adding filler putty in the gap!
Suction Tool.JPG
 
Started and finished (up to this point) this thread today. Thanks for making this happen. I’m ready to see the culmination of this project!
 
Assembling the Port Holes – Step 2 – Masking

Jokey Smurf pointing:
HEY LOOK EVERYONE! It’s my NEW HOUSE!

All (general laughter):
Hee! Haw! Hyuck! HA! Yarghy! HEEE!! HEE! HA! HARG! Hee! Hoy!

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Clumsy:
Golly … I thought for sure it was a nose cone … Hyuck!

Assembling the Port Holes – Step 3 – Filling the Gaps with Saw Dust

Caretaker Smurf:
We had some leftover saw dust from when we built the fins so when the nose cone was all masked up, we poured some in the deep circular gap around each window frame!
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Assembling the Port Holes – Step 4 – Pluggin the Gaps with Wood Filler

Caretaker Smurf:
With saw dust up to the window frame rim, I stuffed it in with Elmer’s Wood Filler, muddied with wet fingers to make a fillet! This is the messy part we masked the cone for!
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Once it's dry, we’re hoping Handy can sand everything down with the rotary tool!
 
Assembling the Port Holes – Step 5 – Sanding the Window Frames

Handy:
To sand the window frame, we used these two bits: a cylindrical sandpaper one, and a flat disk with 120 grit. The flat disk worked better!

Earache Smurf:
But those power tools are some noisy!

Handy:
Earache Smurf is Papa and Jokey’s composite motor tester! He can tell a motor’s combustion efficiency by listening to their sound wave profile, but sometimes he gets too close!

Earache Smurf:
Now THAT’s a much smurfier sound!
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Assembling the Port Holes – Step 6 – Sanding the Surface to Prepare for Priming

Handy:
When I removed the masking tape, everything looked great so I sanded off Astro’s paint to prepare for more priming! If he wasn’t so dreamy, we would have primed and painted only once but he was such in hurry to fly, he forgot to make the windows first!
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Priming and painting is next! (after masking the windows)
 
Assembling the Port Holes – Step 7 – Adding Putty to the Gaps

Handy:
Gaps tend to pop out at the end even if you think you got them covered so we added some Tamiya putty for good luck!
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Assembling the Port Holes – Step 8 – Priming

Handy:
After the Tamiya putty was dry, we sanded it with a 320 grit sponge and primed the surface with a few heavy coatings of Dupli-Color Filler Primer. I was quite happy with the result!
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Assembling the Port Holes – Step 9 – Adding More Putty, Sanding again, and Priming Again

Handy:
Astro wasn’t back from his survival training yet, so we thought we’d add even more putty and sand it again with the 320-grit sponge!
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Assembling the Port Holes – Step 10 – Priming Again, Sanding Again, and Spraying a First Coating of Stainless Steel Paint, Again!

Handy:
And we primed again! Sanded it with a final 800-grit sponge and painted with Dupli-Color Stainless Steel. Then, we spread carpenter’s glue all around the base and glued on the false strap, keeping it in place with a collar
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Clumsy:
Gee Handy! We must have masked and sanded and unmasked those windows a hundred times! That sure is a lot of work for false port holes and a false strap!

Handy:
A Smurf’s gotta do what a Smurf’s gotta do!
 
Papa Smurf:
Hehehe ...
SIMPLY AMAZING. It has been a real joy watching the Smurfs build this rocket. Waiting anxiously for a launch!
I think it would be awesome to string it all together with photos into book form.
It is at a level of excellence that I would never dream of obtaining.
Well done sir, well done!
 
The text and pics exist in PDF form that I emailed to close tinkerers and cartoon fans I know (but that aren't rocket builders) throughout the process, so yeah, plenty of ways to go forward with this.

In any case, it exists, but it isn't quite ready for flight yet:

- attaching the ladder or not, best way if so
- best rail guide and attachement method
- selecting recovery gear
- maybe a ceiling to keep pilot enclosed at ejection
- door lock
- bottom motor mount and fin cords
- paint touch-ups
- simulations and motor selection

I haven't launch anything in a while, so I'll probably do a few launches with other rockets first. Still just a hobby so no set dealines.
 
I've been pondering latches to keep the door closed.

Constrants:
1. Must keep door securely closed during flight
2. Entirely indoor, and able to be unlocked from the inside
3. Scaled from an actual kind of latch or locking mechanism and looking like a smurf built it (medieval tech) for a smurf (about 1 cm max in size).

Still not sure if anything like that exists or where to find it.
Could be useful for any rocket to access payload from the side (if latch installed outside instead).

I can probably make one (wood, wire, eye screw, lobster clasp), but I haven't settled on a design yet.
 
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How about a magnetic closure, and then you can make the external smurfy-style latch purely decorative?

I've seen magnetic locks for earings, but I'm not sure they're reliable for flight. Maybe.
The cartoon-comic version doesn't have any lock showing on the outside, so no worries there.


This would be easy enough to miniaturize:
View attachment 454981
This would be more work, would look better, and might or might not be more secure:
View attachment 454982

Making the first one is probably what I'll do unless I find something better. Problems with it are the actual difficulty of using it with human hands (when very small), and reliability in flight.

I saw the second one in a store and it's too big. Making that is too much work.

One I'd like is a "2x4" running accross horizontally along the entire door. But I'm not sure how to keep it secure at ejection.
 
I've seen magnetic locks for earings, but I'm not sure they're reliable for flight. Maybe.
I can't say for sure, but (a) rare-earth magnets are absurdly strong, and (b) I can't think of any particular force that would be trying to open it during flight, as long as there's a bit of venting so it doesn't pressurize.

The hardest thing to do in many cases is to actually anchor the magnet.

Anyway, just a thought. I'm sure whatever you come up with will be... entertaining. :)
 
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(High atop Mission Control Tower)
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Radio smurf:
SURFAS Tower to Hefty! Tower to Hefty! Do you smurf?

Hefty (through earphones):
I smurf you loud & clear Radio Smurf, what’s going on?

Radio smurf:
Un-smurfy activity in foliage at smurf o’clock. Cat height level.

Hefty (through earphones):
Son of a Smurf! Azrael found us! Tell Papa to send Greedy, we’re smurfing out the engine!

(At Papa Smurf’s Laboratory)
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Brainy:
No! No! No! Alchemist! The daffodil-squash potion is for the yellow wire and the daisy-rhubarb mixture is for the red wire! Jokey! Static smurftricity won’t smurf it! The spark has to be more than a firefly’s, but less than a thunder bolt! Find something!!! ...

Radio smurf (through Papa’s tablet):
Papa smurf! Papa Smurf! Cat alert! Hefty is smurfing out Handy’s engine!

Papa Smurf:
Ok Radio Smurf, I’ll tell Greedy to bring him the ammo.

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Handy:
Oh Smurf! It looks like the village is under cat alert! Long ago, I built a catapult for these emergencies. But they don’t need me anymore to use it, so I’ll show how the port holes ended up while they take care of the cat!

This is the first port hole:
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This is the second one:
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Here’s port hole number 3:
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And here’s number 4!
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We weighed the rocket in flight configuration, and without a motor or recovery gear, it weighs 1.2 kg! That’s almost 2.7 lbs.! The body is 772g (1.7 lbs) and the nose is 442g (0.98 lbs.) Empty! I think we’ll have to shed some weight from inside the nose! But that's ok, just more work with the drill!
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Don't mind the story, it kind off has a life of its own.

Part 33 – Nose Weight Removal
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(Marching towards the edge of the Forest)

Hefty:
ONE two ONE two ONE two THREE
JAM it in the FACE! SMURF its TAIL around a TREE!
ONE two ONE two ONE two THREE FOUR
IF it gets HUNGry, GIVE it some MORE!

ONE two ONE two ONE two THREE ...
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Hefty:
THERE HE IS! AIM! ...
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Handy:

When we drilled the first 2” hole in the nose cone, to make room for the upper propeller shaft, we removed as little weight as possible, but now we know we can remove some more! After the rocket is all loaded up, we might add weight again, but closer to the very tip, to help with flight stability.
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After much thought as to the best way to drill out more weight, we decided we would make two 2” diameter disks with a 2” hole saw and insert them in the cavity, so that a mandrel would have something to bite into when drilling out the weight! In the top picture, the two of them are fitted inside.

Then, we drilled out a wedding cake cavity using:
  • a 3” hole saw to get 2” deep
  • a 2.5” hole saw to get 1” deeper
  • a 2” hole to get 1” deeper
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This ended removing 40 grams of weight from the nose cone!
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