Estes V-2 with 38mm mmt

[gerbs4me]

I've been brainstorming, and I have may gone a little over board one this on. So I'm gonna throw in a 38mm mmt in a Estes V-2. I plan on cutting out fins from 1/4" plywood, highly doubt those vacu-form fins would hold up to an I motor. Wanna keep it light enough to use H motors in it though. A guy at Tripoli Quad Cities is putting a 54mm mmt in one of his V-2's, can't wait to see that puppy go up.

 

[shockwaveriderz]

got the hpr fever do we? heheheh hows those combat trined ninja gerbils doing?


I wonder if there is anyway to internally strengthen those V-2 fins.....some kind insert material perhaps?

 

[gerbs4me]

HPR fever indeed
those gerbils are just loafing around getting fat
that what i was thinking, I have carefully removed the BT from the TC, to make it easier to epoxy the fins to the motor tube, and glas em or some to strenthen them.

 

[DynaSoar]

Originally posted by shockwaveriderz
got the hpr fever do we? heheheh hows those combat trined ninja gerbils doing?


I wonder if there is anyway to internally strengthen those V-2 fins.....some kind insert material perhaps?

Just brainstorming here, but, how about filling them with epoxy? It'd have to be thin to flow in evenly. You'd probably also have to keep the fins in cold water up to the fill point to prevent the heat from the curing epoxy from softening them and letting them warp.

If you change the order of the instructions, you could glue the fins in before putting the tail cone on, and so be able to fillet them from the inside where they go through the tail cone. I'd consider also gluing some scrap wood to the tabs on the fins after putting them through, so that if the fillets do crack, you've got something else attached to them holding them in.

 

[Justin]

Hey guys-
Do a search on the forum, there are bunches of suped up estes v2 replys to what I think was called
"Estes V2 Modifications". The guy was doing a 24mm F or 29mm higher power version, I don't remember. But every possible fin reinforcement and motor mount was discused and or actually built and flown. Track down the thread, it will save you weeks of trial and error. The Rocketry forum rocks..

 

[vjp]

Something else you may want to try - keep the vacuformed fins but apply several layers of fiberglass over them, overlapping onto the the tail cone was well as covering the joint between the two fin halves. You'll have to cut off the thrust vanes anyway for a 38mm MMT, so application would not be too tricky.

 

[gerbs4me]

the fins are lost, I would like to use them, but I can't find them, it would help if I was more organized. thanx guys, I did cut out a test fin, and it looks really close to a V-2 fin, I made fins tabs on them, I'm proud of myself for that. I could make 3 more fins, make some fin slots and epoxy the fin tabs to the motor tube, any other tips are appreciated.

 

[Thrasher]

A high power Estes V2? Why not buy a high power V2 from Public Enemy or LOC? They would probably hold together a lot better.

 

[Stymye]

I agree ,by the time you upgrade/strenghten the tube.remake/strengthen the fins.ect..bore the tailcone...beef up the nosecone for retention.build centering rings..substitute mmt..build motor retention...squirt foam and epoxy everywhere

plus,It would be a shame to loose all the nice scale details in the process ....


wait a minute........sounds like something I would do....!

.........nevermind

 

[BHP]

Interesting you guys bring up the craziness of HPRing and Estes kit. I'm the guy Gerb refers to in the first post of this thread and am putting a 54mm MMT in mine. A four grain Pro54 will fit with dual deploy. It just never occurred to me not to do it! I have everything I need sitting on the shelf except for motor retention (Slimline) and the three u-bolts I picked up at the hardware store. It almost seems like it's free to build this one.

It'll be a challenge to put a modified Estes rocket to nearly 10K' on the K445 (it RockSims to 9991') but with a Rocket Hunter onboard I just may get it back. The mods are 3/16" 'glassed fins, ply CRs & bulkhead, two wraps of 6 oz. cloth to 'glass the tube and 1.65 lbs of noseweight surrounding the 38mm tube to hold the Gwiz MC. I think it'll work. I've modified Estes stuff to HPR before but never to this extent.

First flight - I don't know. At just a wee bit over 5 lbs. H, I, J, K motors will give it a ride. I think I'll start low and slow....

BTW - this is my first post to TRF.

Big Head Pete

 

[daveyfire]

Youse guys is nuts! I've heard of HPR estes kits before, but this is rediculous!


Oh, and BHP -- good to see ya here. I s'pose we'll ALL be hearing about the Crown Jewel now?

 

[BHP]

Daveyfire -

Ha! I was going to avoid adding the now infamous TQC tagline here but I can't resist the bait you've dangled.

So here I go....

WALCOTT, IOWA - THE CROWN JEWEL OF LAUNCH FIELDS!

OK, that'll be it. It doesn't have the same impact here as it does on the TQC forum.

 

[Martin Vrstal]

Hey Pete...Welcome aboard...Glad you could make it here.

Next time I come down to the "Crown Jewel" introduce yourself and show me that V-2.

 

[gerbs4me]

Welcome Pete
will the V-2 be ready for the next launch?

 

[BHP]

I hope to have it done very soon. The slowest part is going to be putting as nice a paint job on it as Martin did on his or you on yours.

Isn't there something a little dumb about painting a sport rocket camouflage? I have enough trouble finding them as it is. They just look so darn good that way.

 

[Justin]

The camo does look good. Just gotta keep an eye on 'em. I did one in the Weremact test pattern. Olive green on the top but with black and white roll patterened fins. I figured it was the best of both worlds, a little military green and some white you could spot in a tree.

I think the Estes V2 is the only V2 kit with real scale fin and tail cone details. Most every other kit has "scale profile" fins. That is the main reason to convert one of thes guys to high power. Mine is stock, but when time and money permit, 38mm here I come! I have a plan I tell you! Heh Heh Heh !(insane laughter)

 

[BHP]

Thanks for the paint color tips/ideas. I still like the camo.

Unfortunately I didn't use the plastic fins with the estes V2. They look very cool but I decided to simply use the profile on 3/16" 'glassed ply fins. They're thicker than needed but it's what I had on the shelf and oughta stand up to fast flights and hard landings. This just fits into recent thoughts of overbuilding rockets - building to fly and not to crash needs to become my mantra....

Attached is an aft view of the tailcone and 54mm MMT.

BHPete

 

[Martin Vrstal]

Pete,
Keep the pics coming bro. Looks good so far.

 

[BHP]

Since you asked....

Here is the 38mm tube to hold the G-wiz altimeter in the NC. It is surrounded by BBs and epoxy for noseweight.

 

[BHP]

Here is one with a cap for the bay which also acts as a battery holder.

 

[BHP]

And 'most all of the parts.

 

[gerbs4me]

Looks awesome so far Pete

would I have to glass it if I'm only using up to an I in it?

 

[BHP]

Keep in mind that I'm far from an expert on this....

As I recall from your first post you plan to use .25" plywood (aircraft, I assume). No, you wouldn't need to 'glass 'em. I've got a 6 lb. scratch Bull Pup with unglassed 3/16" A/C plywood fins that I've flown on J400's with no trouble at all. That A/C plywood is tough.

The Estes BT is a bit thin. While I think it'd survive a good boost and a properly timed ejection I'd personally want some zipper protection 'glass provides.

Don't want to 'glass at all? Try to find a piece of 4" Loc tubing. That stuff is much tougher. I don't have any but you could ask around. You only need about 10" for the V2 - somebody probably has a piece of scrap.

One other thing I did to my V2 fins was to round the leading and outboard edges with 1/2 sections of 3/16" dowel rod. I used this technique on the honeycomb board I used on my Big Horizon fins. Simply get a corresponding diameter dowel to the width of your fins. Cut them to an oversized length then sand off half of the dowel. You now have a perfectly rounded leading edge. Glue 'em in place - Titebond is fine - and sand the extra length off. Don't worry about getting them perfectly shaped on the flat side. Any holes/gaps you have afterward you can fill with Bondo or wood filler.

I really like this technique since I've always had trouble edging fins nicely. Keep in mind you're changing the size of your fins. I reduce the fin profile by the amount I'm going to add in edging so the CP stays the same.

 

[Martin Vrstal]

Gerbs,
My 29mm Estes V-2 originally had the Nylons and Minwax Polycrylic on the BT. It zippered like a cheap pair of pants. Either the shock cord was too short or my delay was. I think it should have been glassed from the start. My new BT has 2 wraps of 4oz glass. It will also have a much longer shock cord.

Good luck with your builds guys...we'll all have to get together and compare our Estes conversions.

 

[Adam Selene]

Originally posted by Justin
The camo does look good. Just gotta keep an eye on 'em. I did one in the Weremact test pattern. Olive green on the top but with black and white roll patterened fins. I figured it was the best of both worlds, a little military green and some white you could spot in a tree.

Justin, maybe you should fly that baby a couple of times and then talk about whether you can find it with that camo pattern!

-chuck

 

[Stones]

Originally posted by Martin Vrstal
...
It zippered like a cheap pair of pants. Either the shock cord was too short or my delay was.
...

Marty...
I coated the inside of the BT with a light coat of epoxy and went with 10' of .375 elastic. So far, so good.

 

[gerbs4me]

If I can't find some one with a scrap piece, I should glass it, don't want to leave it and have it zipper.

Does anybody have a scrap piece?
I measured it, and its slighty under 10 1/2 in. long.

 

[gerbs4me]

I'll just get some tubing at the next launch, is the Sunday June 6th an EX day?

 

[BHP]

With the exception of the Slimline motor retainer I'm still waiting on receiving my 54mm Estes V2 is complete. I threw the paint on it today. While it isn't perfectly painted it'll do.

In another thread I mentioned I'm naming this rocket 'Bob.' The name comes from a guy I know that says this thing is gonna shred on a K motor. I say it won't because it's built "Like a Rock" from the Bob Seger song of the same name.

I ended up painting it a poor copy of the German camo scheme. My wife came down to the garage as I was peeling off masking tape and said something like "A camoflauged rocket? That's kinda dumb isn't it? Unless it has a warhead on it...." I agreed. Launching here in the Midwest with all of the corn around the darn things are hard enough to find without camoflauging them. Loud beepers and bright 'chutes will have to do. And maybe a rocket hunter!

BHP

 

[gerbs4me]

Looks really cool Pete
bright chutes and beepers are a good idea,