Fliskits Decaffeinator

[JAL3]

I opened this package to try and build it quite some time ago but stopped when reading the instructions. Most of the construction is done with a hot glue gun and I didn't have one. When my brother in law asked about it sitting on my desk, I told him I didn't have such a tool. A few weeks later, one magically appeared. Thanks Toby!

This kit is made from styrofoam coffe cups, foamboard and a few more conventional pieces in the area of the motor mount. It is definitely different and quite tall.

I built it in a single sitting.

 

[JAL3]

Construction began with the motor mount. It uses a very long BT50 tube as opposed to the short tubes that are just over standard motor length. A quarter inch was marked off on a spent motor casing, some white glue was swabbed around the interior and the spent casing was used to push the thrust ring into place.

 

[JAL3]

A razor knife was used to make a slit for the engine hook and the hook was put into place. It was secured with several wraps of electrical tape.

 

[JAL3]

The kits came with 2 fiber centering rings to mount the BT50 motor tube into the BT70 airframe. Each needed to have a notch put into its inner hole. The instructions recommended using a hole punch and that worked great.

 

[mjennings]

I got one of these and an Espresso in the build pile, I need a fun / silly build so these might be next.

 

[UMRS]

You need to put a 29mm in there to test the stress of foam

 

[JAL3]

I got one of these and an Espresso in the build pile, I need a fun / silly build so these might be next.

It was a blast and I look forward to getting it in the air. I have an Espresson and a UFFO sitting around that might get built sooner rather than later.

 

[JAL3]

You need to put a 29mm in there to test the stress of foam

You just want to sell me the replacement! I think I got this one from you, as a matter of fact.:neener:

 

[JAL3]

Each of the rings was slipped over one end of the motor tube and glued in place with white glue. The notch on the bottom ring was to align with the motor hook. That on the upper is to pass the recovery harness. A fillet of white glue was placed around both sides of each ring.

 

[JAL3]

The kit has both elastic and Kevlar. Usually, the Kevlar gets attache to the motor mount but that is not the case here. An loop was tied into one end of the elastic and then an overhand knot was tied in about 10 inches down the line. The long, untied, end of the elastic was then passed through the notch in the upper ring and the elastic was pulled through until the overhand knot acted as a stopper at the ring. Some glue was then used to fasten the harness into place.

 

[JAL3]

The tube that receives the motor mount is a longish piece of BT70 that has to have one end trimmed by a few inches. I marked the cutting line and then inserted a mandrell to support the tube. The tube was cut with a razor blade since my hobby knife was missing at the time.

 

[JAL3]

The forward end of the BT70 is to be blocked by a balsa coupler. The Kevlar is supposed to originate in the tube, pass along one side and over the top of the couple and then back into the tube to emerge at the other end. I should have checked for fit first but did not. I smeared white glue around the end of the tube and inserted the balsa and kevlar. The balsa was a tight fit and I could not get it all the way seated, flush with the end of the tube, before the glue grabbed.

 

[JAL3]

Next up was work on the cups. Three of the cups are singled out for special attention. They need to have the bases of the cups cut out to accomodate the passing of the BT70. This too was done with a razor blade. By cutting just at the mold line, a very tight, almost too tight, fit is achieved. I had to open the holes a bit with some sanding.

 

[JAL3]

Now came something really new for me. I had never used a hot glue gun before and two of the cups which had their bottoms cut out were to be joined mouth to mouth with a got glue gun.

I plugged it in and let it heat up for a while. I gave some test squirts to see how it fed over a piece of scrap cardboard and I burned myself several times.

Did you know that globs of glue at 400 degrees look almost identical to ones at room temperature?:hot:

Ready to take the plunge, I placed two of the cups together and began to pump out a bead of glue around the circumference. The feed was not steady and some parted got more than others. I burned myself some more. I worried about melting the foam. I eventually got them together and, surprising me, they seemed solid enough.

 

[JAL3]

I gave the glue a few minutes to harden up and then fit the BT70 into the joined cups. I pushed it down so that the cups were at the end opposite to the plug and allowed the BT to protrude from the cups for just a little bit. The glued gun was then used to glue the lower cup into place.

 

[UMRS]

You just want to sell me the replacement! I think I got this one from you, as a matter of fact.:neener:

Cant blame a guy for trying to make a buck

 

[JAL3]

Cant blame a guy for trying to make a buck

You're right. I can't and I don't.

 

[JAL3]

Included in the kit is a template for marking the fin locations. I was cut out and taped into place on the bottomost cup. The lines for each face and each side of the three fins was then transferred to the cup. THe template was removed and a steel straightedge was used to extend the lines.

 

[JAL3]

The kit also came with a template to cut the fins from the foam board. At this point, a decision had to be made. The fins could be mounted on the cup or they could be mounted directly to the BT70 hiding inside the cup. The latter, naturally, yields a stronger connection and that is what I chose to do. That being the case, I laid the full template out on the foamboard, transferred the outline and cut the fins out with a steel ruler guiding a razor blade. Had I elected to do a surface mount, the same template would have been used but a shaded area would have been removed from the template first.

 

[JAL3]

A razor blade was used to cut slots for the fins in the bottom cup, following the lines transfered from the marking template. The template was sized so that it fit around the cut right up to the lip but did not extend onto the lip. I learned at this step that the lines should have been extended all the way to the edge of the cup. This was simple to do.

 

[JAL3]

The fins themselves were mounted by the simple expedient of running a bead of hot glue along the root edge and pressing them into place through the slot cut for the purpose. When in place, a fillet of hot glue was run along the seam between the cup and the fin on each side. It was all much easier than I had supposed.

 

[JAL3]

You will recall that there were three cup which had their bottoms cut out. Two had been used thus far and it was time for the third one. It was mated with an unmodified cup in the same way that the first two were. The cut end was then slid over the projecting section ob BT70 so that its base was flush against that of the upper cup of the first pair. Hot glue was then used to join the two sections together.

 

[JAL3]

The last construction step was the installation of the launch lug, a long, heavily built 3/16" job. It was just hot glued into place at the seams of the two lowest pairs and with that, construction was complete.

 

[JAL3]

No finishing is really needed on this rocket. I suppose that I could find some foam safe paint and get rid of the yellow from the glue but its not all that noticable from any distance. I decided to leave mine bare.

 

[jflis]

Great build detail Glad you enjoyed it *AND* you learned how to use a new tool (glue gun)

Here's a tip: Use colored electrical tape (I like the red and black) and wrap them all around the cups (alternating colors) at each seam. This will add some color while also adding strength to the weak spots (joints)

It is not uncommon for a joint to snap upon landing, especially if the parachute gets hung up on something. It is easily fixed and, in fact, I have fixed mine on the field with masking tape and flew it again.

TRIVIA ALERT: Styrofoam is a patented product made by DuPont and Dupont doesn't make cups. They never have. There is no such thing as a "styrofoam cup", never has been...

After you've flown it a few times you have to consider adding THIS to the stack

jim

 

[CharlaineC]

I cant wait to build this one though i'm thingking dunkin donut cups hehehehehe with fread on the fins

 

[JAL3]

Great build detail Glad you enjoyed it *AND* you learned how to use a new tool (glue gun)

Here's a tip: Use colored electrical tape (I like the red and black) and wrap them all around the cups (alternating colors) at each seam. This will add some color while also adding strength to the weak spots (joints)

It is not uncommon for a joint to snap upon landing, especially if the parachute gets hung up on something. It is easily fixed and, in fact, I have fixed mine on the field with masking tape and flew it again.

TRIVIA ALERT: Styrofoam is a patented product made by DuPont and Dupont doesn't make cups. They never have. There is no such thing as a "styrofoam cup", never has been...

After you've flown it a few times you have to consider adding THIS to the stack

jim

That shows how much I know! I had no idea that electrical tape came in any color except black.

That glider surprised me. I thought for sure that it was going to be a link to the Tri-Glide. I had not seen this before. You've been holding out!

 

[JAL3]

I cant wait to build this one though i'm thingking dunkin donut cups hehehehehe with fread on the fins

I thought about switching the cups out for the one with my family's business on them...but its not my family's business anymore and I have not been in since the places were sold.

I kind of like the white but the electricatl tape idea of Jim's sound pretty cool too.

 

[mjennings]

most acrylic are foam safe, the Warhammer paints work very well, I used them on a foam project in college.

Jim, is electrical tape enough to hold on the upper cups for one joint? I haven't built it yet because I've been trying to think of a simple and reliable way to attach about the top 2 feet in a removable manor.
I got a small car (it's a trick to get a mean machine in and not damage it, and it only works because of the MM small diameter).

John how many things do you build at once seems like you got a dozen build threads active at the moment.

 

[JAL3]

John how many things do you build at once seems like you got a dozen build threads active at the moment.

Usually there are only 2 going at a time. One is under construction and another is being finished. In addition to that, I may have several repairs going on. Most of my currently active threads are repairs.

Right now, I am catching up on a backlog of posting. I went 6 weeks without a day off and then took a part of last week off. I got in some build time but, with the accumulated honey-do list, I was usually too bushed to post much of anything. Additionally, some project are just so easy and fast that they may be completed before anything gets posted. The Decaffeinator was such an example.