ESTES Outlander available

[Wonderdog]

I picked up my Outlander kit at the last Hobby Lobby 50% off sale a couple of weeks ago. It cost me $9.50. Kick me for leaving the Renegade on the peg!

Da Dog

 

[Lee Reep]

Originally posted by stevem
astronboy - you can get VCP here.

On the tools menu in VCP is a shroud calc - works great and is very accurate.

Steve

Does anyone know if VCP works on WinXP?

 

[Zippy]

Lee Reep,

Yes VCP has been working fine on my PC with WinXP. I pretty much only use it for printing shrouds though. As long as I feed it the correct dimensions it works great for that.

 

[stevem]

Has anyone flown the Outlander yet?

no responses to rokitflite's question - so no one has flown the Outlander yet?

If weather holds for this weekend I'm going to put both the Outlander and my Tango Papa 3.9 Mars Lander up.

Planning a D12-3 for the Outlander and either AT F20-4 Econojet or E18 RMS for the much heavier TP Lander.

rockitflite - I hear ya 'bout those rubber bands. My Tango Papa Lander sat down on its engine hook right from the start. I've tried to find some smaller rubber bands or something to tighten the leg suspension up with. I actually think the new Outlander has a better (though more unsightly) method of springing the legs using elastic instead of rubber bands.

 

[Larry]

Wonderdog,
I picked one up also for $9.50 also another Executioner for $17.50

Steve, The outlander looks like it uses the same spring method on the legs as does the Venus Probe, and it works pretty well. I'm going to go back and read what you did to your Outlander for when I build mine. Post a post flight report if you get to fly it this weekend.......Larry

 

[powderburner]

Originally posted by cls
cydermaster: I agree, Renegade is a great kit. the only thing I think they should have improved on it is the photo on the card. I really couldn't understand it until I built it.

cls is right, the Renegade is a great kit, and yes the instructions suck

There are several places in the instructions where the illustration and/or notes are VERY badly done, if not outright wrong. This is not a beginner kit. Maybe it is sad that Estes skimped so much on prepping the instructions, but this kit is pretty much a case where you have to be smarter than the manufacturer in order to get it put together correctly.

 

[Missileman]

This forum has caused me to work much overtime.
I started reading this thread and ended up at at Tower Hobbies with both an Outlander and a Renegade in my cart at checkout

 

[kelltym88]

I got my OL on ROL for $12. Haven't built it yet but after reading this thread and seeing the paint scheme done by stevem, looks like I will have to start soon. Now the race is on as to who can get thiers in the air first. Reminds me of the space race way back in the day.....

 

[stevem]

well I don't know if I won the race but I did get 2 flights on my Outlander this weekend.
First flight was on a C11-3 and an 18" shute. It was a pretty weak flight, maybe 150' max and chute did not deploy until lander was about 30' off the ground. Hard landing broke a leg hinge and pushed the leg back into the MMT. Glad I built it so I could take the bottom off and get at the hinges.

Took about an hour to repair and then we sent it up on a D12-3 with a 24" chute.
Perfect flight in every way! Great altitude, chute deployed right after apogee and the thing landed on its feet about 100' from the pad!

 

[rokitflite]

Very cool photo Stevem! However that launch pad makes it look like a Mini Outlander!!!

 

[stevem]

yea pad's a little overkill but it usually has a 6' rail on it instead of a rod.
I couldn't figure out a good way to put rail buttons on the Outlander so I had to modify the pad to hold a 3/16 rod.

 

[shockwaveriderz]

As a substitute for rubber bands may I suggest that you goto walmarts and in the hair products section for women look for polybands....

these are polyurethane "rubber" bands and they have 2-4 times the strength and stretch of regular rubber bands.......

They are used by comp flyers with their HD models to pull the rotors up.........


They come in a variety of colors too:

https://www.tmtrading.net/home/category.php?CA=1&SCA=122

 

[shinbone]

Unless I missed something, I found the upper body tube of the Outlander to be about 1" too short in order to allow the horizontal tanks below the main pod and to reach to the top of the pod. Anyone else notice this?

 

[OKTurbo]

I'm working on mine tonight. There is a gap between the lower body tube and the upper body tube. Make sure you put it together per the instructions. I dry fitted mine before I started painting it and it was fine. If you butt up the lower and upper body tubes, you'll end up short on top. It's hard to describe....look at the picture in the instructions. If it's still not clear I can post a digital pic tonight showing how it fits.

Good Luck,
John

 

[shinbone]

Thanks, John. Got it!
Now, didn't you find that little dowell on the engine mount to be too long? I guess its whole purpose is to keep the holes in the centering rings lined up for the legs, so you really don't need it at all if you keep the holes straight.

 

[OKTurbo]

Yes...the dimension in the instructions is too long for the small alignment dowel. This is why I dry fit things before I get out the glue. If you cut it the length they tell you, it's in the way of the top centering ring.

I'll post some pictures when I get home tonight to show you how mine looks.

John

 

[OKTurbo]

Here's how mine looked with the small dowel...before the centering rings.

This way the top centering ring without the inside notch will butt right up to the small dowel. The small dowel indexes the notches in the other centering rings so the leg dowels will line up.

John

 

[shinbone]

Right, I had to cut the dowel as well.
Seems to be the only "gotcha" in the instructions.

 

[stevem]

had an email request for the Outlander decals I used on mine. These are really just the decals off JimZ's site with a modified Lander Logo.

 

[OKTurbo]

If you don't want to make your own decals, contact Astronboy at https://towrowrow.tripod.com/excelsiorrocketry/id1.html

This is where I got my set of Outlander/Mars Lander decals. I haven't used them yet (getting close), but they look great.

John

 

[Fore Check]

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this thread!

I finally picked up an Outlander yesterday at Hobby Lobby for $9.00 (in the 50% off sale.) The Mars Lander scheme is OUTSTANDING!

SteveM: Did you happen to post patterns for the panels you added to the "cone" section?

 

[stevem]

well I really have no patterns for the raised panels.
I made a shroud in VCP using the capsule dimensions so I wound up with a shroud that fit exactly over the capsule. I then made a couple copies of the shroud and started drawing out shapes (just eyeballed it). Once I had a the patterns cut out of the shroud I transferred them to thin sheet styrene, cut em out and glued right to the capsule.
I may have some of the patterns left, I'll check in my files tonight. If I have them yet, I will scan them and post them.

 

[Steve]

Originally posted by stevem
well I really have no patterns for the raised panels.
I made a shroud in VCP using the capsule dimensions so I wound up with a shroud that fit exactly over the capsule. I then made a couple copies of the shroud and started drawing out shapes (just eyeballed it). Once I had a the patterns cut out of the shroud I transferred them to thin sheet styrene, cut em out and glued right to the capsule.
I may have some of the patterns left, I'll check in my files tonight. If I have them yet, I will scan them and post them.

I really like those raised panels! You have inspired me to build mine in a similar manner - think of it as a tribute to your creativity
From the pictures, it looks like the lander was stamped out like that from the factory. (That's a compliment, by the way ) The edges of the panels - did you bevel or shape them in any particular way? I don't have any styrene handy - any suggestions as to what else might work?
Thanks.

S..

 

[stevem]

Hey Bushrat, I was going to use card stock to make the raised panels originally but I decided to use the scraps of thin plastic that were left over from building the Estes V2. I think the plastic worked much better than the card stock would have but I cannot say for sure.


Once I had the panel shapes cut out I used a sanding block to clean up the edges. I glued the panels to the capsule using plastic cement, being careful to quickly wipe off any glue that oozed out from under the panel. After the panels were all glued on I hit the whole thing with some 600 grit sandpaper. Then a couple coats of primer (wet sanding in between coats) and finally 3 or 4 coats of Krylon Gloss white. The whole rocket got a coat of Testors DullCote after the decals had been applied.

Hope that helps!

and thanks for the kind words!

 

[Fore Check]

Originally posted by Bushrat
I really like those raised panels! You have inspired me to build mine in a similar manner - think of it as a tribute to your creativity
From the pictures, it looks like the lander was stamped out like that from the factory. (That's a compliment, by the way ) The edges of the panels - did you bevel or shape them in any particular way? I don't have any styrene handy - any suggestions as to what else might work?
Thanks.

S..

Hey Bushrat,

I'm going to hit another Hobby Lobby or two on Saturday before the 1/2 off sale goes away. I seem to remember seeing some (relatively) thick plastic vellum or something like that in the art department (or was it at Michael's? I can't remember....) I figure I'll look and pick up a sheet or two if it's cheap enough and see if it will work for this type of thing.

To describe the material I'm thinking of differently - I used to work for a surveying company in high school, and we drafted plats of surveyed property on this almost transluscent plastic sheeting or vellum. It kinda felt like thick, flexible card stock made of plastic. The county used it as the media on which their printed records were filed. If I remember the stuff correctly, I bet it will work. (Perhaps someone knows what I'm talking about?)

Hey SteveM: Ever come across the patterns for those shroud panels?

 

[Lee Reep]

Most hobby stores stock Plastruct and other brands of molded plastic pieces. You can get sheets, as well as some really cool strips and beams that make great add-ons for scale/fantasy rockets.

 

[Steve]

Good tips! I'll check the hobby shop and Michael's. I'm sure I'll find some suitable material there. Got my decals (thanks, Astronboy!) and looking forward to getting started.

S..

 

[Lee Reep]

Originally posted by stevem
well I really have no patterns for the raised panels.
I made a shroud in VCP using the capsule dimensions so I wound up with a shroud that fit exactly over the capsule. I then made a couple copies of the shroud and started drawing out shapes (just eyeballed it). Once I had a the patterns cut out of the shroud I transferred them to thin sheet styrene, cut em out and glued right to the capsule.
I may have some of the patterns left, I'll check in my files tonight. If I have them yet, I will scan them and post them.

I'm not sure if anyone posted the measurements, but for the top shroud, I used the following in VCP:

Dia 1: 1.735"
Dia 2: 4.355"
Length: 2.125"

I decided not to remove the "bump" for launch rod, but to leave it, and drill out an opening on the top of it. So, a little oval cutout in the shroud is required to get it to lay flat on the node cone.

To make radial lines, I just printed another, and then made one of the flap edges my guide, positioning the 2nd shroud over the first, and slding it to where I wanted vertical panel lines.

I also printed a shroud for the bottom:

Dia 1: 4.355"
Dia 2: 2.875"
Length: .531"

These dimensions certainly are out to more significant digits than needed, I just read them off calipers and used as-is. The weight of the paper you print on will have more affect than a few thousandths!

 

[Fore Check]

Hey Lee:

For those of us who don't have access to VCP, is there any way to scan your shroud templates and post them here? I'd sure appreciate it...

 

[sandman]

Fore Check,

Just go here and use the shroud calculator.

https://www.rocketreviews.com/tool_shroud.shtml

It's easy...just plug in the numbers!

sandman