DynaSoar
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Why yes, as a matter of fact I was a busy boy this weekend.
As best as I can tell, this is an upscale Weasel. Not that that's a bad thing. It's a good design. It's note exactly scale, but it's more than a bit similar. If one wanted to scale themselves up into mid-power and then high power, wanted something tried and true, and weren't after variation in design, these would be a good pair of steps. This will probably be my L1 cert bird.
I didn't have the problem with the nose on this one, like I did on the Weasel; I suspected that was a minor one-of glitch.
Since people have said they had problems finishing the nose, I took some time. I sanded with 100 lightly, then 220. Even then, when the primer went on, there were sanding burrs sticking out. No problem, sanding the primer is normal. Second primer coat and sanding with 400, and it was ready for finishing. A single coat of Rustoleum American Accents would have been fine, except for dropping it in the grass while it was wet. One side is perfect, anyway. The other needed sanding and repainting and still came out with detectable flaws. So much for perfecting my LOC nose cone technique.
I used Devcon 5 minute epoxy throughout. The fillets still weren't up to what I'd hoped, and some needed touching up. I need something thinner for fillets. But for building, the Devcon is great.
The shock cord was enourmous -- 7 feet long. Was this a mistake? No matter, I doubled the shock cord into a loop. Double strength, and double safety should one side break. And it's still longer than the chute plus shrouds. Again, I think the chute might be a bit slight, but I think I'll try this one before changing.
The tubes didn't seem to have much spiral when I started, but after finishing they did. I suspect the shrinking of the sealer/primer/finish might be sucking into where the sprials are and making them not only show, but actually sink in some.
No big deal, I've never really cared much about spirals anyway. They're not nearly the drag factor as some other things, like launch lugs. Speaking of which, I didn't use any. This bird, as well as the Mustang I just finished, are dedicated to the tower I just built. And I may have to build it bigger. The Weasel and Mustang may work well with 3 four foot steel rods, but I may have to go to 6 foot rods for this one.
Opening bag to drying paint time: 12 hours. Pics forthcoming.
Next time: Vaughn Brothers' "BoB"
As best as I can tell, this is an upscale Weasel. Not that that's a bad thing. It's a good design. It's note exactly scale, but it's more than a bit similar. If one wanted to scale themselves up into mid-power and then high power, wanted something tried and true, and weren't after variation in design, these would be a good pair of steps. This will probably be my L1 cert bird.
I didn't have the problem with the nose on this one, like I did on the Weasel; I suspected that was a minor one-of glitch.
Since people have said they had problems finishing the nose, I took some time. I sanded with 100 lightly, then 220. Even then, when the primer went on, there were sanding burrs sticking out. No problem, sanding the primer is normal. Second primer coat and sanding with 400, and it was ready for finishing. A single coat of Rustoleum American Accents would have been fine, except for dropping it in the grass while it was wet. One side is perfect, anyway. The other needed sanding and repainting and still came out with detectable flaws. So much for perfecting my LOC nose cone technique.
I used Devcon 5 minute epoxy throughout. The fillets still weren't up to what I'd hoped, and some needed touching up. I need something thinner for fillets. But for building, the Devcon is great.
The shock cord was enourmous -- 7 feet long. Was this a mistake? No matter, I doubled the shock cord into a loop. Double strength, and double safety should one side break. And it's still longer than the chute plus shrouds. Again, I think the chute might be a bit slight, but I think I'll try this one before changing.
The tubes didn't seem to have much spiral when I started, but after finishing they did. I suspect the shrinking of the sealer/primer/finish might be sucking into where the sprials are and making them not only show, but actually sink in some.
No big deal, I've never really cared much about spirals anyway. They're not nearly the drag factor as some other things, like launch lugs. Speaking of which, I didn't use any. This bird, as well as the Mustang I just finished, are dedicated to the tower I just built. And I may have to build it bigger. The Weasel and Mustang may work well with 3 four foot steel rods, but I may have to go to 6 foot rods for this one.
Opening bag to drying paint time: 12 hours. Pics forthcoming.
Next time: Vaughn Brothers' "BoB"
. I had one... loved it. Flew great on a Estes/NCR F62-6.... to bad I lost it in a tree 
