FatBoy
Random Part-time Hobbyist
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2009
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Wikipedia has a more descript definition of "Steampunk", but simply put, it is a genre that is somewhat of a strange cross between science fiction and whimsical mechanical devices from the steam-driven days from around the turn of the century (think Jules Verne-style contraptions, or the big mechanical spider in the 1999 Will Smith movie Wild Wild West).
There are actually entire sub-cultures built off of this genre, and it apears to be a growing art-form. So why not build rockets to look like they are steampunked? And what better rocket than the ACME Spitfire from FlisKits?
I had already built an ACME Spitfire a few years ago that has had several exciting flights, and it is hands down still one of my favorites. It has also taught me a few things that I wanted to do differently on my next one. To start out with, I replaced the engine hook with an Estes engine hook. I had an engine eject on my other Spitfire and it came in ballistic (surprisingly without damage), so I went with the Estes hook on this one (no offense, Jim!). My other Spitfire also has some wrinkles in the fin shroud resulting in some cracked paint. So on this one I decided to coat the inside of the shroud with epoxy and add some internal supports under the fins.
Construction started with laying out all of the parts (first picture). If you have never built a Spitfire before, the instructions make it amazingly easy. It is really just one BT-50 rocket with BT-70 body tubes cut at angles and glued to the outside with offset centering rings. Each BT-70 tube segment and centering ring are aligned by a black line and a red line that you mark on the outside of the tube. The second picture shows how the included templates are used to cut the angles of the BT-70 tube, and the third picture shows the four BT-70 tubes after they are all cut. The fourth picture below shows the internal fin supports that I added on mine from scrap balsa. These had to be sanded after I attached them so that the shroud would fit perfectly over them. After coating the inside of the cardstock fin shroud with epoxy and gluing it to the first body segment, the rest of the construction (with the exception of the launch lug) was done according to the instructions......
There are actually entire sub-cultures built off of this genre, and it apears to be a growing art-form. So why not build rockets to look like they are steampunked? And what better rocket than the ACME Spitfire from FlisKits?
I had already built an ACME Spitfire a few years ago that has had several exciting flights, and it is hands down still one of my favorites. It has also taught me a few things that I wanted to do differently on my next one. To start out with, I replaced the engine hook with an Estes engine hook. I had an engine eject on my other Spitfire and it came in ballistic (surprisingly without damage), so I went with the Estes hook on this one (no offense, Jim!). My other Spitfire also has some wrinkles in the fin shroud resulting in some cracked paint. So on this one I decided to coat the inside of the shroud with epoxy and add some internal supports under the fins.
Construction started with laying out all of the parts (first picture). If you have never built a Spitfire before, the instructions make it amazingly easy. It is really just one BT-50 rocket with BT-70 body tubes cut at angles and glued to the outside with offset centering rings. Each BT-70 tube segment and centering ring are aligned by a black line and a red line that you mark on the outside of the tube. The second picture shows how the included templates are used to cut the angles of the BT-70 tube, and the third picture shows the four BT-70 tubes after they are all cut. The fourth picture below shows the internal fin supports that I added on mine from scrap balsa. These had to be sanded after I attached them so that the shroud would fit perfectly over them. After coating the inside of the cardstock fin shroud with epoxy and gluing it to the first body segment, the rest of the construction (with the exception of the launch lug) was done according to the instructions......
