Estes 2037 D-Region Tomahawk

[Bruiser]

I've been at it again this weekend.

Now it was time to glue the bottle neck in. I epoxied the centering ring in place and after the JB Weld had set I screwed the bottle neck into the nose cone. Then I ran a bead of JB Weld inside the lip of the payload bay and slid the payload bay over the bottle neck and held it in place to the nose cone with tape while the epoxy set.


I used the Kwik JB Weld so a few hours later I unscrewed the payload bay from the nose cone. I removed the wrap of tape that kept the bottle cap centered in the nose cone and filled the void with regular JB Weld (for the most strength) and put it aside


Then I took the payload bay and filled the void between the bottle neck and the payload bay wall with a bead of regular JB Weld and set it aside


I let them set overnight and here is how they look now


and assembled


I wanted the eye closer to the plastic but I didn't want extra threads to stick up inside the payload bay so I cut some threads off the eye bolt. I applied some blue Locktite to keep it all together.

I am really happy the way this turned out. I still need to drill some holes for the altimeter but that's easy peasy.

One thing that came to mind this morning is that I never weighed anything when doing this mod. I know I needed some weight in the nose cone due to the 29mm mod. I hope I ended up with enough I'll be sure to check the c/g once I get the recovery gear in

-Bob

 

[mh9162013]

Nice work, very clean.

 

[SolarYellow]

Or blue thread locker if you’re in a country where it’s available.

 

[Bruiser]

So K'Tesh I need to thank you more...

I wrote how I was hoping I ended up with enough weight in the nose so I started trying to figure out how to make a nose cone in OR like the one that comes in this kit. I had a fairly rough design in OR with a regular nose cone slid over a short body tube and then a coupler to simulate it but I wanted something a bit better. I got looking in the "Rocketry Electronics and Software" thread hoping to find a tutorial when I ran across your nose cone library and Walla, it was there!

I imported to my sim and put the weight on my assembled unit in and it showed I have 2 calibers of stability. I'll still double check it hanging on a string (like always) but worry is no longer nagging away at the back of my mind.

We don't say it enough. Thanks for all the effort you put in to your OR sIms!

-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

I need some help. I decided to put the two decals on and I ran into a problem.

When I put the "data plate" decal the edge started rolling but I got it down. The decal started to, well, come apart and I lost some of the edge. It's not perfect but I can live with it.


I suspected I might have problems with the Thiokol decal. I put some tape on the rocket to align the decal to so I could slide the decal right into place and not mess around with it too much. Well as soon as I slid it off the paper the edge rolled under and the decal disintegrated. I can make a new decal and I found the logo but it is in black. I can't find a red one. Could somebody make the lettering red for me? I only have Paint and it did not want to co-operate with changing the color.



A red like is on the fin. Duplicolor Perfect Match calls it GM Bright Red


Thanks,
-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

Never mind about that help. I found another black logo but this one I was able to use the "fill" function in Paint and change it to red.

-Bob

 

[K'Tesh]

FWIW, The D-Region Tomahawk's body tube isn't a BT-65, it's a HBT 1800. HBT standing for Heavy walled Body Tube. The two body tubes are very similar in diameter, and can be used to replace a damaged Cineroc's Camera Body Tube, or for cloning a Cineroc (The BT-65 being the better match).

 

[DigBaddy]

FWIW, The D Region Tomahawk's body tube isn't a BT-65, it's a HBT 1800. HBT standing for Heavy walled Body Tube. The two body tubes are very similar in diameter, and can be used to replace a damaged Cineroc's Camera Body Tube, or for cloning a Cineroc (The BT-65 being the better match).

That explains why I had trouble finding the right tube a few years ago to repair a core sampling DRT. I used LT-175 for that repair. Heavier yet...and worked ok.

 

[Bruiser]

I had just thought that HBT 1800 was the Estes part number for a 11.625 long BT-65 body tube but now that I look at the instructions the part number for that is 30367

This rocket is just about done. I need to clear coat it but first I think I am going to try to fix the data plate a little. I need to get an ultra fine point Sharpie and go over the border. Of course I'll have to do a test first to make sure the Sharpie is compatible with the clear coat.


Rumor at the last launch was there is going to be a "closest to 2024 feet" contest coming up. I think this will be my entry

-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

Yesterday afternoon I decided it was time to clear coat so I went to my normal brand of Krylon and used the matte finish as all references say the paint should be dull.

I started with a light coat over the decals because I has problems with the coating coming off the original decals. Then another light coat over the entire rocket. Once dry I laid down a nice cover coat. Everything looked good and I went home.

This morning I noticed that something happened on a few of the fins. When I spray colors, I only apply enough paint to get an "opaque" finish. I think the clear "ate" thru the color but I'm not sure. There are a bunch of little tiny dots and I can't make out the color. The surface is smooth, and not pitted feeling. It could also be some type of frosting of the clear. Maybe something else entirely. It happened with two spots on other fins as well but one area is about the size of a finger print and the other is even smaller.


I couldn't find my can of Acryli-Kwik so I used Duplicolor Perfect Match paint I did find. I am going to respray the black on this fin and the fin with the fingerprint sized area today and try clear coating again tomorrow. I'll try to be a little heavier with the black this time and maybe a little lighter with the clear

BTW, it really surprised me how dull the matte clear coat made the glossy paint.

-Bob

 

[TonyL]

I have to say that you guys really aren't trying with the 29mm mount ... I put a J400 in mine [with stock fins, body and nosecone all used] for an altitude contest and it went over 10k, but the tracker stopped working and I couldn't find it for a couple months, so I built another one with a J570 and it went over 12kft. These styrene fins have been good to mach 1.5 or so. With a little work on weigh-saving it should go higher...YMMV

br/

Tony

 

[Bruiser]

So you're that guy! The one they are talking about when they say "I knew this guy once that..." lol!

-Bob

 

[DeltaVee]

Post deleted (sorry)... not the best place for my question.

 

[DeltaVee]

Hey @Bruiser... did you paint your fins prior to attaching them to the fin can?

 

[Bruiser]

Nope, painted afterwards. You can see them naked and glued in post 21. Taped off with Tamiya tape. It's the best.

-Bob

 

[DeltaVee]

Nope, painted afterwards. You can see them naked and glued in post 21. Taped off with Tamiya tape. It's the best.

-Bob

I missed that post apparently!

 

[Bruiser]

No worries, it could have just been a test fitting. I only went back to look because I was trying to remember if I painted them once they were glued to the fin can, once the fin can assembly was glued to the lower body tube or once all the components were glues together.

I do remember I could find a specific primer for plastic so I ended up using Duplicolor Perfect Match because it said it sticks to all OEM surfaces. The black fin id Duplicolor Perfect Match also but it went into the trash as soon as got done spraying. It was an older can and it sprayed erractically. I thought I was going to be sanding but it leveled out. Just goes to show no matter the quality of the paint always do a test spray on a surface before aiming a can at your rocket.

-Bob

 

[the random rocketer]

How much nose weight are you using?

 

[Bruiser]

I still need to wiegh the rocket with everything installed to figure out if I need any nose wieght. I need to add the chute and recovery harness. I think I am going to replace the chute with a 20 inch pro series chute.

I really don't think I'll need weight though given the nose cone mods. The added bottle cap (and JB Weld) along with the eye bolt and plywood plate should be weight enough.

I'll get it done this week as this coming Saturday is our launch day. I'll post the results here.

-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

So with the mods my nose cone came in at 3 ounces. I ended up with a 24 inch Pro Series parachute. My overall weight with no motor is 12.4 ounces.

A G64W-8 will go 2,389 feet with a stability cal. of 2.88

A F26FJ-6 will 1.560 feet and has a stability cal. of 3.56

So no extra nose weight required

-Bob

 

[Bruiser]

The D-Region had it's first flight Saturday. Launched it on a F67-6W and it went high enough that we lost sight of it for a few. We never saw the puff or heard the ejection charge go off. We did have cloud cover, but it was way high. It did however color the sky white and light gray.


I had sent it with a chute release and it seemed like too long had gone by. I really thought it had lawn darted somewhere but as I turned my head to look away there was the chute and rocket drifting happily right toward the launch rail. It landed 5 feet from where it launched.

There is a small, 1/8th inch zipper though. This was the first rocket I build that had a recovery harness entirely of Kevlar. I think I might go back to having some shock cord in the harness.

Nice flight though and I would say that OR was probably right with it's 1,600 feet prediction.

-Bob

 

[DeltaVee]

The D-Region had it's first flight Saturday. Launched it on a F67-6W and it went high enough that we lost sight of it for a few. We never saw the puff or heard the ejection charge go off. We did have cloud cover, but it was way high. It did however color the sky white and light gray.
View attachment 625561

I had sent it with a chute release and it seemed like too long had gone by. I really thought it had lawn darted somewhere but as I turned my head to look away there was the chute and rocket drifting happily right toward the launch rail. It landed 5 feet from where it launched.

There is a small, 1/8th inch zipper though. This was the first rocket I build that had a recovery harness entirely of Kevlar. I think I might go back to having some shock cord in the harness.

Nice flight though and I would say that OR was probably right with it's 1,600 feet prediction.

-Bob

Looks good on the pad!

 

[Bruiser]

Thanks! I wish I could say it looked good flying too but it disappeared into the background of the clouds. Next time it'll be clear blue New Mexico skies

-Bob