Another successful clone from the lab...

[astronboy]

Well, I have been at it again. As a kid, I always wanted an ESTES Sprint. So, I downloaded the plans, dug out some stuff from the various rocket boxes, printed some decals, and here we are....

The fins are sanded into very thin, long double airfoils, and reinforced with two coats of yellow glue.

The rocket is bone stock, with the exception of a kevlar shock chord mount. I have about a bazillion coats of primer on it, mostly to help fill out the PIA cardstock tail reducer wrap.

I just could not help but slavishly paint and decal the little bird in mid 1970's catalog colors.

 

[Fore Check]

WOW!

I'm jealous.............

 

[sandman]

Super nice finish!

sandman

 

[Stymye]

wow nice one !!

whats a double airfoil?

 

[astronboy]

Styme: Rather than simply rounding the leading edge, and tapering the trailing edge, I sanded each side of the entire fin as one rounded and tapered airfoil. I do not usually finish my fins this finely, but as this is a classic bot-tailed high altitude design, I felt that I had to do it justice. Below is a photo of the double airfoil idea. Note that the top and the bottom wing surfaces are the same. My model has a thinner airfoil than the below picture, so the fins are more knife-like in cross section. Am I making any sense?

 

[jflis]

Few models make me go "wow"...

this one made me go "wow"

very nice!

 

[gerbs4me]

wow
you done a fantastic job!!!!!

 

[powderburner]

Astronboy,
That design was one of my favorites for NAR streamer and parachute competitions. A little peeling, a little hollowing, and a dry-cleaner-bag-parachute made for a killer combination. Oh yeah, and pop-lugs (or tower) instead of lugs.
That bird has what I consider classic lines, it's just not possible to make it look bad. Your paint job looks great too!

 

[Fishhead]

I did one last year and went with the catalog paint job also. Mine only lasted a few flights because I decided to see if that boat tail and the sculpted fins would really make it go as high as I had heard. I flew it into a dead calm sky on an Estes C6-7. Gone. There were five of us watching and not one of us saw it after it left the rail, big hot pink streamer and all. Unless you're flying out in a huge, open space, stick with B6-6's or A8-5's. You did too nice a job on it to make a sacrifice of it.

 

[Fishhead]

Had to hunt for these, but permit me to steal a bit of your thunder....

 

[Fishhead]

Another, more artsy fartsy look.

 

[powderburner]

Originally posted by Fishhead
There were five of us watching and not one of us saw it after it left the rail, big hot pink streamer and all.

Yeah, and they also disappear pretty good even if you put a big black 'chute on. I think we used to be able to pack in a 36 or 48 inch cleaner-bag parachute for contests, and if you could find dark plastic material, those things flew away like hot-air balloons. It killed me to spend that much money (and it was a lot, at least to me, back then) and lose the rocket, but you had to do something to keep up with the big boys.

Along the same thought, I saw several people put their Apogee II's off of the planet with C boosters and C sustainers. As I recall, we never even saw where they went, they were just GONE!

 

[Johnnie]

kewl

nice work astronboy, almost need sunglasses to look upon that shiny PJ

 

[astronboy]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I managed to actually take my time on the finishing end of this one, and I am pleased with the results.

Fishead.... You lost one on a C6-7 with a STREAMER!?!? WOW
I was thinking that a streamer would be necessary for a sport flight... just to get this wind-cheater back.


I will not be launching this until the springtime, and will probably save it for a club launch vs my local schoolyard with all of it's RETs.

 

[Prowler901]

Sweet job on that one! She's really purty, Astro. Great job there indeed. Looking forward to seeing this one at the club.

Regards,
Todd

 

[TwoWalks]

Astronboy - that is a beautiful bird - looks like she is begging to fly.

Break down on the painting?

 

[astronboy]

Sure:

Prep is the key: Fins are coated with two coats of yellow glue, snaded with 320 grit between each coat. I really smush the glue into the balsa pores using an old credit card. This gives strength to the wood. Next comes two coats of Elmer's FNF, sanded with 320 first coat, 400 second coat. The paper reducer was soaked inside and out with CA during construction. This makes is light, yet strong. FNF is used to fill any gaps, and spirals.

Primer: MANY coats of Walmart El-Cheapo brand flat white as a primer. I sand with 320 every 2-3 coats, then with I use 400 grit for the final sanding. ALL blemishes should be gone at this point. If not, I dab some FNF on a bad spot, or prime again.

Final finish... are you ready? Walmart gloss white spray paint, followed by Krylon Yellow. The stripe is black Auto detailing tape, and the decal was printed on Tango Pap paper via my ALPS printer.

 

[carldoc]

Fantastic job! One of my favorite rockets of all time.

 

[TwoWalks]

Originally posted by astronboy
Sure:

Prep is the key: ... Final finish... are you ready? Walmart gloss white spray paint, followed by Krylon Yellow. The stripe is black Auto detailing tape, and the decal was printed on Tango Pap paper via my ALPS printer.

Thanks, I am saving this too my fact sheet for future use. My finish detail needs some (read: alot) of improvement.

 

[astronboy]

Does anyone with experience flying his rocket have a suggestion as to a good streamer size?

 

[Fishhead]

Originally posted by astronboy
Fishead.... You lost one on a C6-7 with a STREAMER!?!? WOW
I was thinking that a streamer would be necessary for a sport flight... just to get this wind-cheater back.

Yup. Our club president was one of the spotters who never saw it. His comment upon finding out about my motor choice: "What?! Are you stupid?!"
I prefer to think I'm swinging a big pair, but I have to admit that stupid occasionally rears it's ugly head.