Fliskit - Frick 'n Frack build thread

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kruland

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Hi all.

Since I do demonstrations at a number of elementary schools, I wanted a low flying staged rocket for small fields. The Frick 'n Frack fits the bill since it is a two stage saucer. Somebody even pointed out it can fly on the new A8-0 just fine as well.

I thought I'd pull this kit to the front of the build queue and give it a quick build. Since I plan on finishing with sharpies it should be over before we know it.

After pealing off the wrapper, the lovely parts are exposed. 6 sheets of nicely laser cut balsa, two motor tubes, a thrust ring, a couple of launch lugs, a card stock fin alignment template, and an 8 page instruction book! Eight pages!! I mean really. Jim, can't you leave me guessing and scratching my head a little bit?

Since Jim put so much time into the instructions, I decided to read them thoroughly before ignor___ starting.

The fin alignment template is a very nice addition. The instructions suggest gluing a spent motor casing to the center. Great idea and it worked like a champ. The template is so nice, I think I'll use some spray adhesive and put it on some old foam core and keep it around for other 3 fin rockets.

The fins have a very nice feature which makes the kit almost foolproof. Each of the fins has a little removable tab on it so kind of hangs from the tube while it sets. Great idea and since the geometry of this guy is so exacting, every little cheat helps out.

Unfortunately, the grain of the balsa is exactly in line with the tab. One of tabs popped off accidentally (no really, I didn't bumble it).

I used the template to mark the fin lines and extended them with an aluminum angle.

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Here you can see the tabs in action holding the fins to the correct location on the sustainer. I used super grabby double glue joint and carefully tweaked each of the fins into the correct location.

Repeat with the booster. This time, the fins wanted to pull out of position so I used strategically located motor casing to hold them in place while I watched a little baseball.

Once the glue dries, you use a knife or finger nail and pop off the tab. If you want to show your saucer off at beauty contents you might want to take a little care here since it's pretty easy to cut deep.

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Ok, when I started this, I thought it would be untreated balsa and sharpies. Functional and fun. But I discovered tonight this gallery thread so I'm going to bend to pure pressure and finish it up a little nicer. Paint it is.

I'm still not going to go through all the fill-n-finish, sanding, priming madness, but one or two coats of sanding sealer will help. Here they are all the parts lined up to dry. In a couple more hours, I'll glue it up.

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Looking good! The FnF is a hoot and can't be beat for drag racing! :)

As for those little tabs being aligned with the grain, that was deliberate so that the tabs would be easy to remove after assembly... I've had one or two pop off myself, over the years. I just glue it back on.

Keep us posted! Can't wait to see what you come up with for a paint scheme!
jim
 
After rubbing off the high points of the sealer, the next step is to put the saucer parts on the sustainer. Put the sustainer back on the template, and use it to align the plates. Glue the plates on and use tape to hold it all together.

Since Jim put all the hard work into the kit (with the tabs and template) it all goes together pretty easily. The only thing that makes this kit difficult is that you need to carefully align things at each step or else the geometry just won't work right.

My boys have come up with a great paint scheme. It will take some work and time since it involves lots of masking.

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Using a motor casing to hold the stages together, you put the remaining three parts of the saucer on the booster fins. Little bits of tape hold everything together while it dries.

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Glad you are enjoying the build :) I'm loving this thread!

The first one i built (proof of concept) was all hand cut and assembled without a jig. It worked, but didn't look very nice... The fin stop-tabs, tabs and slots for the plates and the alignment jig all came about as I did different proto builds trying to get the end result to look as good as it flies, and to knock the skill level required down a notch.

Based on feedback it seems to work as this is one of our best selling kits and the feedback has been stellar.

Looking forward to seeing your paint scheme! :)
 
Hi all,

Been a while. Seems the busy weekends and now rain & cold really take a bite out of rocket finishing time.

My Frick 'n Frack has two coats of primer on it now and just waiting for me to sand. I only used fill-n-finish (lightly watered) on the joint where the plates interlock with the fins. I didn't bother to fill the grain on the fins themselves.

This is a perfect model to use avery labels to cover the plates, that would have saved me quite a bit of time and effort.

I sprayed with gray then white primer. Somewhere I recently learned the trick of alternating primer colors. Then you can see where you've sanded well.

My build has a slight problem. It seems all the plates on the sustainer are a little prowd (or 1/16" or so) of those on the sustainer. I don't think the photo captures this. I'm thinking about trying to sand the bottom of the sustainer and the top of the booster slightly to get them to nest together more tightly.

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I was only able to get a quick undercoat of white followed by a bright metalic blue. Then the rain - three days now with highs in the 50s. Not very good painting weather.

Quick question, has anybody tried using avery labels for masking? I need to mask various rectangles with rounded corners.

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I have used labels to apply graphics to the FnF. Photo by Jim Flis at one of CMASS launches. Named Miss USA.

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