Spitfire222
I only lawn-darted once
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2020
- Messages
- 471
- Reaction score
- 639
I recently completed the build of a few Hobby Lobby exclusive kits, and wanted to share them and discuss their flying behavior. These are all built stock, minus motor-tube mounted Kevlar and longer elastic shock cords with nylon parachutes, which has become my standard Estes rocket modification.
1. I really enjoyed building the Vapor. This one happens to be about 1" shorter than stock after I stole a bit of body tube from it to repair my M104 Patriot, but I don't think it should affect how it flies. I usually try to replicate the facecard paint scheme, and I tried doing that here (minus the swap from yellow to teal). I used a CriCut to create a mask of the black-to-color transition, but after over 20 minutes of trying to transfer it to the rocket, it got stuck to itself and ruined. So I gave up on that and went with a simple spray transition, which I think actually complements the name of rocket better anyways. Since fin decals are only provided for two fin sides, I created masks of the swoops for each side of all three fins. The name was similarly masked off, but the white swoops are vinyl. I did modify the Open Rocket file I got for it to account for the shorter body.
I plan to fly it first on C11s before trying a D12. I actually did try to fly it on a C11 that someone gave me, but that motor CATOed. Luckily, no damage to the rocket from what I can tell, but lesson learned about accepting random motors from others! I'll try again on fresh C11s. I have two more Vapor kits, and the next one will be built in the secondary purple scheme.
2. The Olympus is my first ever clear-payload rocket. Its most likely payload will be my Flightsketch Mini altimeter, so I built a simple holder for it from some foamboard (not pictured). I used plastic rivets to hold the payload section together as I preferred this more positive method of securing it all. I know some were a fan of the campy Zeus paint scheme, but I thought it was silly, so I cut out some gold vinyl, used some turquoise paint I had on hand, and I'm happy with how it came out. First flights also likely to be on C11s (my local LPR field is quite small). I have not found an Open Rocket file for this one, so I might create it myself.
3. Most recently completed is the ESAM-58. I really like the looks of this rocket, and I couldn't imagine it in anything other than an olive-drab paint scheme. I used some of the decals, and added some yellow and chrome stripes to mimic photos of real missiles I found online. This rocket weights a tiny bit more than my Estes Patriot and Nike-Z, and both of those rockets flew perfectly on C6-3s. I may do first flight on a B6-4, but I imagine this one will mostly use C6s as well.
Anyone else want to share their Hobby Lobby exclusive rockets? Also, any flight reports that can be useful for these relatively new rockets? I'll be sure to post back with flight reports when I get them.
1. I really enjoyed building the Vapor. This one happens to be about 1" shorter than stock after I stole a bit of body tube from it to repair my M104 Patriot, but I don't think it should affect how it flies. I usually try to replicate the facecard paint scheme, and I tried doing that here (minus the swap from yellow to teal). I used a CriCut to create a mask of the black-to-color transition, but after over 20 minutes of trying to transfer it to the rocket, it got stuck to itself and ruined. So I gave up on that and went with a simple spray transition, which I think actually complements the name of rocket better anyways. Since fin decals are only provided for two fin sides, I created masks of the swoops for each side of all three fins. The name was similarly masked off, but the white swoops are vinyl. I did modify the Open Rocket file I got for it to account for the shorter body.
I plan to fly it first on C11s before trying a D12. I actually did try to fly it on a C11 that someone gave me, but that motor CATOed. Luckily, no damage to the rocket from what I can tell, but lesson learned about accepting random motors from others! I'll try again on fresh C11s. I have two more Vapor kits, and the next one will be built in the secondary purple scheme.
2. The Olympus is my first ever clear-payload rocket. Its most likely payload will be my Flightsketch Mini altimeter, so I built a simple holder for it from some foamboard (not pictured). I used plastic rivets to hold the payload section together as I preferred this more positive method of securing it all. I know some were a fan of the campy Zeus paint scheme, but I thought it was silly, so I cut out some gold vinyl, used some turquoise paint I had on hand, and I'm happy with how it came out. First flights also likely to be on C11s (my local LPR field is quite small). I have not found an Open Rocket file for this one, so I might create it myself.
3. Most recently completed is the ESAM-58. I really like the looks of this rocket, and I couldn't imagine it in anything other than an olive-drab paint scheme. I used some of the decals, and added some yellow and chrome stripes to mimic photos of real missiles I found online. This rocket weights a tiny bit more than my Estes Patriot and Nike-Z, and both of those rockets flew perfectly on C6-3s. I may do first flight on a B6-4, but I imagine this one will mostly use C6s as well.
Anyone else want to share their Hobby Lobby exclusive rockets? Also, any flight reports that can be useful for these relatively new rockets? I'll be sure to post back with flight reports when I get them.
