Just an observation...

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Mugs914

Beware of the leopard.
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...on a kind of lazy, rainy day (Here, anyway).

Now, before we even get started let me say I'm certainly not pickin' on anybody! I'm MUCH worse about this kind of thing than most...

How often have you opened up someone's latest kit build thread and read something like:

"It was built pretty much stock except that the shock cord was replaced by kevlar secured to the motor mount, which I upgraded to 29mm."

"I remade the fins from plywood because I like flying bigger motors and wasn't sure the balsa would stand up to an H-220. " (By the way, the inevitable reply here is "Balsa should be fine if you paper them. I use Avery labels for mine", or suchlike, at which point the thread deteriorates into a ten post treatise on fin papering)

"I really like the look of the stock nose cone, but my Alti-Czech mini wouldn't quite fit, so I got one that was a bit longer from Large Jump rocketry. I also ordered some mini rail buttons while I was at it."

"I've got an 18" Top Phlite micro-mil that I'll bring it down with. I don't really like plastic chutes."

"Not sure if I'll paint it like the face card or not..."

If I've done the math right, the total number of kit parts that will fly on this bird is, lessee...

(mumble, mumble, carry the 3, mumble)

One. The tube...

As I said, I am worse about this kind of thing than most folks, though I have to say I'm getting a bit better; My LOC Nike Zeus actually uses the kit tube, motor mount (only slightly modified) and the main fins (heavily modified)!

My analyst said that was some good progress and let me take an extra sucker.

Like I said, not pickin on anybody, just something that made me chuckle (the observation, not the extra sucker).

With that said and no more excuses, I must go sand now... :rolleyes:
 
I chuckled at this. One of my many pet peeves. I don’t mind it so much for rocketry however in the recipe forums It really bugs me when the user gives a poor rating and states: “This was really bad! I made it exactly the way the recipe calls out. I didn’t have vanilla, or Greek style yogurt so I used Yoplait instead......Yada yada, yada.“
if you didn’t use what the recipe did, you didn’t make it the same. Nuff said.
 
Actually LoL'd at that!

Yes, there are a couple of hallmarks of the build threads here.

(By the way, the inevitable reply here is "Balsa should be fine if you paper them. I use Avery labels for mine", or suchlike, at which point the thread deteriorates into a ten post treatise on fin papering)

And then @BABAR chimes in with a reminder that papering does not compensate for wrong grain direction.

And if the build is a clone or upscale of a long OOP model, @kuririn will post a picture of the original kit that he built from his build pile.

And you described my LOC 163 build thread to a "T"! So far the only things original that will fly are the body tube, nose cone, and parachute, but I was thinking of changing out the nose cone and parachute!
 
I'm about to build an Astron Explorer. For a complex rocket like that, I tend to stick with the instructions as J Boren made them.........until I add a retainer. And trash the engine block. And make a hole in the nosecone for lead shot to compensate for the composite case weight
 
I like that perspective. It's part of the food pyramid, I need 2.5 servings of rocket daily, part of your balanced diet. Modified fins and nose cones are like extra salsa and cheese toppings, help yourself.

Exactly... It's like my L3 build... it started out as a 5.5" LOC Sandhawk, but I added two new components, fiberglassed the airframe and fins, and swapped out the nosecone for a fiberglass one. So with the exception of the nosecone, all of the parts that came with the kit were used, but some modifications were made.
 
I HAD to trash parts on the Saturn V due to poor parts fit. The resin fin shrouds, the CM and the aft interstage. Then add my own detail parts from various sources and scratch building.
 
1. Yes

2. That is what conversation is, right. We could replace 95% of the forum with a big formal FAQ/wiki, but lots of us find this to be more social/fun

I mentally go back and forth, but eventually settle on the fact that I prefer having the banter (most times :)
 
I consider commercial kits to be “suggested guidelines and parts”.

I'm with o1d dude on this, and pretty sure Mugs914 took this quote directly from several of my old posts:

"It was built pretty much stock except that the shock cord was replaced by kevlar secured to the motor mount, which I upgraded to 29mm."
 
That barely qualifies as modified! You have to bump the MMT at least TWO sizes to count...
 
And that gives me a great idea for another downscale cardstock model for 13 mm power...
 
That barely qualifies as modified! You have to bump the MMT at least TWO sizes to count...
But I never buy kits that are more than one step from MD ... :)

Except for that 8 inch DX3, hmmmmmm hey now
 
I only make what I consider slight modifications, that will improve the quality of flight and recovery of the rocket. Using Kevlar leader tied to the motor mount and adding a retainer or papering the fins doesn't detract much from the original kit. Buying a kit and tossing everything except the nose cone and the decal sheet doesn't seem practical to me, at that point it's a scratch/clone at best.
 
And then @BABAR chimes in with a reminder that papering does not compensate for wrong grain direction.
Hey, I resemble that remark!

Not sure exactly what Mugs point was. If purchaser of the kit wants to, at his or her own expense, swap out or supplement parts or change techniques, it is his or her rocket to do with what they like. Knock yourself out, particularly of your experience tells you that you can do it better (classic example is Estes rubber shock cord.)

I DO AGREE with TSMILLER that if you don't build it stock and it doesn't come out right, it is bad form to criticize manufacturer for result secondary to YOUR mod, but I suspect most experienced rocketeers can distinguish the cause of the failure and the integrity to place the blame appropriately (although I also sometimes believe in the Easter Bunny too.)
 
At least one point of build threads is to document how YOU did it, and how YOU handled certain aspects of the build, sometimes involving tricks or mods. Otherwise you might as well just post the instructions that come with the kit
 
Thanks Nyt, that was exactly what was intended. The only point was to (hopefully) make someone laugh.:)

It's just something I noticed (okay, already knew:rolleyes:) about myself and the way I do things. And after many moons on this Forum, I realized that I CERTAINLY am not alone!
 
I laughed, it was quality content.

I build a mix of scratch and kits, but in reality most of my projects end up in the grey area in between. I modify my kits, and use parts / ideas / assemblies from kits in my own designs. In the case of the LaserLoc 163, it was intended to be a scratch design from the beginning, but after I loaded everything in my shopping cart on the Loc website, I was already above the price of the LaserLoc kit. Buying individual parts is sometimes more expensive then buying a kit for parts.
 
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