Dynastar Snarky build comments

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AfterBurners

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First off I like the design of this kit. The instructions are very detailed and to understand. The one thing to remember is try not to overbuild or you will run into issues. After I mounted the intake scoop I thought it would be a good idea to run an inside fillet for more support. All this did was add weight and created more work as in putty glaze and sanding better off just to leave it alone. Also the he tubes are very thin do you don't want to get crazy with sanding either. I also like the wing jigs that come with the kit. It really makes it easy when aligning the wings. What would have done is cut a small vertical slot 1/8" to align the vertical stabilizer. This can easily be done. Keep in mine this build is just run through on the build. For me it's to look for any gotchas. I do have another kit which I'll spend more time building and use an AP retainer. On the net I used an additional green ring to support the aft center ring. On the balsa I used two coats of sanding sealer one cost of balsa fillet primer. They came out great! I love that stuff! I'm gonna send thus up on the stock chute and SU F32-4, and 6. As far as paint, maybe primer or whatever I have. Thanks for stopping by.

I might be building a 4" upscale just working out the numbers in RS. I want to go ttw mounting but haven't come up with any ideal design and I don't to weigh it down with epoxy. Surface mounted fins with a J500 may not work? Any suggestions???
 
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Dan-To keep the upscale lighter- use wood glue. I screamed my Mini-Magg into a crater prolly at 400 mph and forensics saw structural failure instead of the glue bonds. The body tube literally exploded by the piston effect from the NC. 2 of the three fins stayed intact and bonded, while the 3rd was just crushed to toothpicks, but fin root and retainer stayed on. I had to cut the crushed NC open to get the parachute back. I love Snarkies!
 
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I'm definitely gonna make additional jigs for the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. Just to make things easier to align. Mine should be a little better aligned than what they are. So far so good. Throw some fillets on and primer tomorrow. I thing I wanted to mention is when to block sand the edges on the piece that supports the scoop and airframe. It fits between the two pieces. You are better off cutting one slightly larger and sand to fit. Because if you sand the one in the kit it will be to small and you won't have any contact points.
 
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It took me about 3-4 days to build this kit. Just need to hit it with primer. Touch up the body work andplay down some color. Not sure but it will not be white. Maybe red or orange or both with s blend and hit with some clear. Call it done. Decent kit just curious how it will fly??.
 
Not sure about your Snarky, but mine always flies better than I thought. As you can guess, it does better in low wind situations. A good test motor for it is a D12-3.

One thing I did on mine was swap out the stock chute with a top flight one. Nothing against the stock chute- I just don't like plastic chutes where I have to cut out the chute, cut holes for shroud lines, and then do the tie and tape loop thing. I guess I'm just lazy this way.
 
Not sure about your Snarky, but mine always flies better than I thought. As you can guess, it does better in low wind situations. A good test motor for it is a D12-3.

One thing I did on mine was swap out the stock chute with a top flight one. Nothing against the stock chute- I just don't like plastic chutes where I have to cut out the chute, cut holes for shroud lines, and then do the tie and tape loop thing. I guess I'm just lazy this way.

I agree on the chute. I have a 24" Topflight X chute I might use? Like I said this build is a " test and see what happens?" If I see areas where I can improve its flight I will on the next one. That's one reason I left the AP retainer off. If it crashes and burns then I don't have to hassle cutting it apart to get the retainer off.
 
I agree on the chute. I have a 24" Topflight X chute I might use? Like I said this build is a " test and see what happens?" If I see areas where I can improve its flight I will on the next one. That's one reason I left the AP retainer off. If it crashes and burns then I don't have to hassle cutting it apart to get the retainer off.

I have a 24" top flight. It's nice and big, so the rocket comes down lightly. Also bright green, so it's easier to spot.

I didn't put a retainer on mine- I just do tape retention. The largest I've flown it on is an E20. F30 sounds cool, but I'm a little scared of it :)
 
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I laid down a nice coat of primer but ran out so it's off to the auto parts store to get some more. I use the red high build from Duplicolor. I like the results I get. Primer is the tell all. So it's prime and sand and repeat, repeat, ......

After I get the prep work the way I like it, I'll come back over with a gray guide coat. Then block sand that smooth and even then I start my first top coat. I'm done for today. Let this sit overnight and start sanding it tomorrow.

Overall I like the kit, but I plan on flying to his on an and really pushing it to see what it can do.
 
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You work fast! Looking really nice after the first coat of primer. I plan on builiding a Snarky at some point. It's a very cool design.

Best regards,
Brian
 
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I'm definitely gonna make additional jigs for the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. Just to make things easier to align. Mine should be a little better aligned than what they are. So far so good. Throw some fillets on and primer tomorrow. I thing I wanted to mention is when to block sand the edges on the piece that supports the scoop and airframe. It fits between the two pieces. You are better off cutting one slightly larger and sand to fit. Because if you sand the one in the kit it will be to small and you won't have any contact points.

Ubercool! Love your support cradle. Did you foil the front of the airscoop spacer? Not sure it would make any difference, but I would just for ducks. I'm kinda OCD for aerodynamics. Nice work, brother!
 
Ubercool! Love your support cradle. Did you foil the front of the airscoop spacer? Not sure it would make any difference, but I would just for ducks. I'm kinda OCD for aerodynamics. Nice work, brother!

Thanks bro. I actually didn't do anything airfoIls on the kit. I built it stock just to get a feel for how it performs so if I neef to make changes I will on the next build. Next build will be jam up and jelly tight. Hmmmmm? BTW that sanding sealer is the bomb. The grain is only visible in s few spots. I only used two coats. If I used 3-4 I'm sure it would look even better. I order another one off Brian.... I'll probably do the 4" next��
 
Great work and looks sweeeet! :)

BTW - Any reason for calling it "Dynasty" instead of "DynaStar"?

Ken thanks for pointing that out. My freakin smart phone ain't so smart. It makes these corrections after I posted and I find myself having to go back and fix. Just now when I typed freakin it wanted to change the word to foreskin. Go figure right? Ok heads up if you read something weird on my threads that's why.
 
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I laid down a nice coat of primer but ran out so it's off to the auto parts store to get some more. I use the red high build from Duplicolor. I like the results I get. Primer is the tell all. So it's prime and sand and repeat, repeat, ......

After I get the prep work the way I like it, I'll come back over with a gray guide coat. Then block sand that smooth and even then I start my first top coat. I'm done for today. Let this sit overnight and start sanding it tomorrow.

Overall I like the kit, but I plan on flying to his on an and really pushing it to see what it can do.

Looks good. I think you should leave it in test vehicle orange.
Of course, I'm slightly prejudiced....

Snarky A.jpg
 
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Decided use what had and laid down some frosting on the underside. Gonna sand off at least 90% of the stuff but this saves me a trip to the hardware store. What's cool about this stuff is it dries white when it's ready to sand and sands like butter and kind of spreads the same way. It works pretty good.

Special Note: Doing this was a mistake! Created more work than what it was worth!!!:facepalm:
 
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Very nice and a quick build to boot ! How durable is the filler your using on things like seams and build -ups?
 
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Yeah I found that out. I was able to get it off and keep it level. I doubt I'll use this pink stuff again,but live and learn. As I said before I'm trying new stuff with this build. I used a straight edge blade and scrapped it off. At first I used 80 grit like a cheese grader and knocked down and followed with 220. It turned out nice. Needs a few areas of sanding but that's for tomorrow. I'll hit the whole thing with 220 and 320 and then another coat of primer. Right now it looks rough but the underside of the wing where I sanded are smooth as glass. Once I primer and sand again it will look better. At least thats the game plan.
 

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Finished block sanding 85% of model. Need to come back blend fillets underneath intake scoop. I want d the whole model with 220 followed by 320. So far so good. I'm trying do as much sanding ad possible to get the body straight and blended. This way each coat of primer looks better and less work later in the process.
 
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Finished block sanding 85% of model. Need to come back blend fillets underneath intake scoop. I want d the whole model with 220 followed by 320. So far so good. I'm trying do as much sanding ad possible to get the body straight and blended. This way each coat of primer looks better and less work later in the process.

If the Viking Princess ever saw how clean your work area was, we couldn't be friends anymore...you'd be a good influence and I can't have that! Could you please dump out the trash can on your work bench before you post any more pics and at least give me a fighting chance????
 
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Decided use what had and laid down some frosting on the underside. Gonna sand off at least 90% of the stuff but this saves me a trip to the hardware store. What's cool about this stuff is it dries white when it's ready to sand and sands like butter and kind of spreads the same way. It works pretty good.

Thats the same CWF I like to use, and for the very same reasons.
 
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Well spent most of the day block sanding and knocking down the pink stuff. Never again will I use it like I did. I'm over yet. Right down to the last coat #3 of primer. Mist of the time spent on the inside of the scoop. Looks good, not perfect but ok. Just need to do some touch and hit with a guide coat. Gonna lay down the paint tomorrow. I have 2x Rust Gloss white just because it's laying around. Probably do the orange paint job. We'll see...

If you notice inside the scoop it has scuffs from sanding. I usually go back over this a Scotch Brute pad to knock it down and smooth it out. Another shot of primer and it disappears.
 
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Yes it's that wonderful time again. Laying the paint. I finished the prep and I can see a few areas that need some attention, so I'll take care if those before I lay down the first coat. Not sure what color yet. We'll see how feel when I wake up. The guide coat is on. What a job sanding that fillet stuff off. Never again!!!
 
So it that time to do my evaluation on this kit. I know I still need to paint and yes I will post pictures of the finished model, but since I had time and the model is basically done I figure I would write my review.

As rocket builders whether we are the ones who build scaled models or scratch build creations we always tens to want to "OVERBUILD" to make it better or stronger. That's pretty common for all of us, but on this kit that is the last thing you want to do. You are best rewarded if you just follow the instructions to the letter. They are so well written, that it makes this kit a breeze to build. A lot of my work I do is pretty decent, but on this kit I ignored a lot of the details and tried some of thing that most of us would do on other kits, just so I can see the results and pitfalls, so you don't have to make them.

As I mentioned the instructions are outstanding and well written. Anyone with decent modeling skills should have no problem building this kit. Let's do the PROS and CONS.

PROS -

Well written and documented instructions.

Wing jig - It makes it nice to have this and assures you get the wings at the right angle.

Kevlar shock cord - Kit comes with a nice shock cord and its one piece, not something you have to tie to elastic or other materials.

Generous size parachute - Even though it's plastic its colorful and probably a bit too large (32") for this kit. I think something more along the size of a 24" chute would work well.

Templates - The kit comes with templates of the wing pieces and vertical and horizontal stabilizers, in case you decide to scratch build one later, although if you bought all the parts at Apogee it would probably be less just to buy the kit.

Price - I bought mine from BRS Hobbies for $41.95, which I think is a fair price for this kit. I know Apogee sells it for a few dollars, but they also want $11 plus to ship it, whereas Brian @ BRS Hobbies charges about $6. When I started building this kit I knew that it was a trial run, so I ordered another one from Brian. Great prices and great service.

https://www.brshobbies.com/store.php/BRSHobbies/ct198233/dynastar

CONS -

The first thing I noticed right off is the tubes used in the kit are very thin and flimsy. Not that this is bad, you just have to be aware of this when building it. After all the kit was designed to fly on D, E and F motors and of course composite. Juts be careful when you handle the tubes. Initially I was going to fit mine with an AP retainer, but knowing this was the first go around I decide to wait until I build it again and settle with friction or wrap tape method.
The nose cone doesn't fit as snug as you would expect. No big deal just wrap it with tape until you get the fit you like.

Balsa quality - I think the quality of the balsa could have been better and the laser cutting was below par. A lot of the pieces required more work than needed to remove from the sheets, but maybe I just happen to get some bad pieces. The little triangle pieces that fit on the main wings I had to actually re-cut and shape because of the poor laser cutting and were not completely cut through.

Assembly Tips - As I mentioned before read and follow the instructions! When you reach the step to mount the wings you are given a tube wrap to mark the lines for the wings, scoop and horizontal stabilizers. Take note that the wing line and the scoop line are very close to each other and obviously parallel. The instructions state when gluing the intake scoop to the fuselage to run a bead of glue and then to make a fillet with your finger, which in most cases how all of us do, when making glue fillets. Well what happens is if you do that, the fillet will easily flow onto the wing line. If you aren't aware of this and it dries you contact surface for the wings will be a dried fillet and the surface will not mate flush with the root edge of the wing(s) What I would do is take the time to measure the root edge of the wing(s) and mark them according on the wing glue line. When you make your fillet for the intake scoop tape off a small gully so the glue doesn't over flow. I would use a low tack tape so when you peel it off it doesn't destroy the body tube.

Glue Fillets inside intake scoop - Don't do it. I figured I could simply put some glue on one side inside the scoop area and just tilt it back and have it flow down to the other end. Well no dice, but maybe if was diluted. Anyway its not worth the hassle.

The kit comes with a vertical support stabilizer, which fits between the intake scoop and the fuselage. Of course like everyone else I stack and block sand my balsa on a flat surface with sand paper taped to it. If you do decide to sand the support stabilizer, remember that it will not fit as snug or fit at all (in my case) between the fuselage and intake scoop. As I mentioned before the kit does come with templates. You can always cut another one, but larger (say an 1/8" on all sides) if you have extra balsa laying around and sand to fit or you can do what I did and just cut a small piece if the scrape balsa and glue to the piece and sand to fit. That works well too.

Balsa - We all have our methods of finishing balsa, but I'm old school and hate sanding and sanding dust. I applied two coats of Aero gloss Sanding Sealer and waited before between coats before sanding. I applied thin even coats and would block sand the pieces smooth with 220, which only took maybe a few passes. When I was done I applied one coat of Aero gloss Balsa Filler Primer and again waited until dried and sanded with 220 and followed the final sanding with 320. The stuff works great and if I would have used a 3rd or even a 4th coat I'm sure I would have had much better results.
Jigs - As I mentioned before the kit comes with jigs to mount the wings. If you happen to have some extra card stock laying around I would make a 3rd jog identical to the ones that came with the kit. When you draw your lines on the fuselage for the horizontal and vertical stabilizers I would mark these on the jig and cut slots to help align them. I found once you get the wings on, it can be a PITA aligning and gluing down the stabilizers. Having a jog or even a 90 that fits over the body tube will come in handy on this step.

SHROX did a great job designing this kit as well as the other Dynastar kits. This Snarky screams 4" so yes I'm considering it. Just need to put some numbers together and see what I come up with as far as cost etc.

If I was to rate this kit on a scale of 5 I would give it solid 4. It could use some improvement, but there are also plenty of things to do to work around any issues you might come across.

As far as my build skills building this kit. I know I can do so much better I'd give myself a 6.5 on a 10 scale.

Hope this helps any of you interested in building this model kit.
 
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I decided to start painting the underside white. I have cool paint scheme I want to try. Well I decide not to sand the primer smooth so the paint had a texture. I just thought I could get away from wet sanding it. Anyway I just hit it with two tack coats. I'll wait until tomorrow to wet / damp sand the model. I wanted to avoid this because it being thin cardboard. I also wanted to see what would happen if I didn't? Guess there's no short cuts to a great paint job.
 
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