Building a Vostok

[gladiator1332]

I am building the simplified Vostok where free plans can be found over at the yellow jacket systems site. I came to the part where i have to assemble the payload section and turn a nosecone...now the parts list
https://yellowjacketsystems.com/alway/images/vossim3.gif
calls for the Payload tube (part B) to be a 1 1/2" inch long Estes BT-20 tube. Part H (the mian body tube) is a BT-50, it shows in the instructions what every is supposed to like after this step: https://yellowjacketsystems.com/alway/images/vossim2.gif It shows the BT-20 fitting perfectly into the BT-50, now I tohught the bulk head is the reason, but even so, the BT-20 would not match up to the BT-50...so my question is...is this a typo in the intructions and the payload tube should be a 1 1/2" long BT-50? I need to know what the correct measurement is because I need to know what the nose cone is supposed to fit into before I turn it.

 

[gladiator1332]

I am pretty sure that the payload tube should be a BT-50, the plans call for you to turn the nosecone out of a 20-50 adapter. Only the top of the adapter gets modified, so the nosecone has to fit a BT-50 Okay...case closed!

 

[graylensman]

Gladiator:

I've built that Vostok from those very same plans. It's a great bird -looks fabulous climbing skyward - you'll love it!

Couple of gotchas to look out for: the strap-on boosters - along the glue seam on the main cone, you'll end up with a concave angle. in other words, the only contact points between the core and the strap-ons are at the tippy-tip cones and the strap-on "cone-tube" joint. So mask only those spots when you paint, if you paint before you assemble.

Also, be careful when aligning the boosters. I got mine out of line very easily.

If you make the strap-on booster disks out of balsa, make sure the grain is running out away from the core. Seems simple, but I didn't think to do this - and on its first flight my Vostok landed hard and cracked one.

And as far as the paint scheme - it was pointed out to me (and subsequent research hass confirmed) that the white was actually ice that formed on the supercooled fuel tanks. Just FYI.

 

[vjp]

Gladiator,

Yes, that's a typo. Quest T-25 is = Estes BT-50, and (B) in the parts listing mistakenly says "BT-20" instead of -50.

I concur with what Graylensman says about leaving the glued areas unpainted. For my Vostok, I applied thin strips (1/8") of masking tape along these lines and left these on through the priming, painting and dullcoating. Then I removed the paint strips to expose bare surfaces for gluing.

Happy building! The Vostok is a beautiful flyer and a rewarding challenge - I'm working on my second one now.

p.s. There are some flight videos of my 1/62 Vostok up on my homepage (below).

 

[Gus]

Gladiator,

I don't know if you saw my thread about a goofy version of the Simplified Vostok, the BerthaVostok: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?threadid=6710&highlight=berthavostok

I just want to reitterate that it's important to pay close attention to aligning the strap-ons. Attaching them is simple compared to building them, but they're different from fins so make sure you have good alignment marks on the midpoint of the transition and at the base of the booster. It's easy to get the strap-ons crooked.