LOC Warlock L2 build

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

Doing a Warlock w/54 MMT for my L2. I shall name him Stregone. Hoping to fly at URRF in June. Now I need to order some light weight FG for the BT.

 

[Hobie1dog]

pictures, or it didn't happen

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

Oh it happened!

 

[Five]

When I first unboxed my Warlock and took a look at the size of the nose cone, my mind was blown away. Post some pics. Heres a few of mine.

 

[caraviator]

Great rocket For L2!

 

[JackC]

Great handle for the 25th century!

 

[FlyBy01]

Do a Sparky for your level 2!

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

Do a Sparky for your level 2!

I did a sparky for my L1 so might as well for L2.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

My L2 Rocket was a Warlock. It’s a good choice for L2 if you like to keep things simple.

I don’t remember the exact altitude, but I think the CTI J290 I used put it up around 2,000 feet, so it was easy to track and recover. And I just used motor eject to keep it simple. I had not planned to use my JLCR, but the day of the flight, it was windy, and the wind was blowing toward a rocket-swallowing cornfield, so I did use it. But generally you don’t need one. Motor eject flight to 2,000 feet, no electronics, simple.

Warlocks are also just a lot of fun. The thing has a lot of room inside for lofting stuff. I enjoy packing mine with critters on parachutes or pounds of candy for kids to collect. My fellow Warlock buddies and I all have built various forms of removable payload bays or tube extensions for lofting bigger payloads. It can be as simple as a 15” or so piece of airframe tubing with a coupler just friction fit or taped in place on the forward end of the tube. Room for more monkeys!

It sounds like you plan to glass the tube, which is definitely an option, but I don’t think it’s necessary.

One piece of advice I have is to definitely boost the ejection charge. I’ve seen multiple failures with insufficient ejection charges. I use 3 grams total, which usually means adding about 1.5 grams to the stock motor eject charge.

Good luck with your L2 and enjoy your Warlock!

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

My main interest in glassing the tube was just to try the technique...and there's a small ding on the forward edge of the tube. I could fix the ding with CA or epoxy of course. Now that I'm seeing the cost of either a sock and shrink (Soller) or a roll of FG and mylar (or peel ply) I'm starting to think filling the grooves and sanding as normal is a great option! Money saved by not glassing can buy more motors right!?

Sound advice on the ejection charge. Seems like most are in the 2.5-3.5g range. I was planning to start with 3g. I'll run a JLCR if it's windy, but otherwise probably not.

 

[JackC]

My main interest in glassing the tube was just to try the technique...and there's a small ding on the forward edge of the tube. I could fix the ding with CA or epoxy of course. Now that I'm seeing the cost of either a sock and shrink (Soller) or a roll of FG and mylar (or peel ply) I'm starting to think filling the grooves and sanding as normal is a great option! Money saved by not glassing can buy more motors right!?

Sound advice on the ejection charge. Seems like most are in the 2.5-3.5g range. I was planning to start with 3g. I'll run a JLCR if it's windy, but otherwise probably not.

I agree with TB. There is no need to glass a Warlock. Large I and small to medium Js are perfect for it. Glassing it just adds unnecessary weight to a rocket designed to fly low and slow. I agree with your plan to fill the divot and sand.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I agree with TB. There is no need to glass a Warlock. Large I and small to medium Js are perfect for it. Glassing it just adds unnecessary weight to a rocket designed to fly low and slow. I agree with your plan to fill the divot and sand.

I fly mine more often on I motors than Js. Single-use I280 Dark Matter is always a favorite.

Usually if I put a J in it, I’m using the extension to add some more mass and drag.

For lofting stuff, like the critter paratroopers, I like to keep it really low and slow, like around 600 feet, so you can actually see the paratrooper. For that, I’ve used high-thrust, short-burn H motors. Usually CTI 29mm motors with an adapter, like an H295 or H399. For those, it’s like the rocket is more of a mortar round than a rocket and most of the flight after it leaves the pad is just coasting up over the top. It’s kind of comical to see a rocket that big fly so low.

 

[crossfire]

I like to fly my Warlock on a CTI J360 Skid

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

I like to fly my Warlock on a CTI J360 Skid

What does yours weigh? Any idea what altitude you hit?

Thrustcurve estimates about 2000ft assuming 7lbs weight.

 

[tim cubbedge]

I glassed and did a tip to tip on mine and have no regrets. Yes it’s heavier but It’s landed a few times on road and the glass saved it. The main has failed and the glass saved it. Saw someone fly theirs once and main reefed and fin broke. Just my 2 cents. Still one of my favorite rockets.

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

MMT tacked in place with CA while I mix up some Aeropoxy.

 

[StreuB1]

Warlock is such a perfect L2 rocket, good choice!!

I vote for a K456DM. Its essentially a REALLY BIG J motor so its not too crazy and it flies REALLY well. Its one of my favorite motors. My 54mm extended Minie Magg flies so well on that motor as well as the J415 and the J800. Any of those in the Warlock would be absolute winners. I think the K456DM though has an amazing exhaust plume and its REALLY noisy!! Real crowd pleaser!!

 

[StreuB1]

Oh, I would also highly recommend soaking the top 3" of the airframe (inside) with thin CA, allow it to fully cure, and then sand smooth. This will really help a rocket like this stand the test of time as the top of the airframe is always one of the most fragile areas. This will make it really strong and also stand up to shear pins without installing popcan shear plates in the cardboard.

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

This will make it really strong and also stand up to shear pins without installing popcan shear plates in the cardboard.

I didn’t think sheer pins would be necessary given the I’s and small to medium J’s I’m planning on using. Am I mistaken?

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

I didn’t think sheer pins would be necessary given the I’s and small to medium J’s I’m planning on using. Am I mistaken?

No, you don’t need sheer pins.

But I do like hardening the cardboard with CA, just to protect it some. I usually try to do a “soak” of the lip by pouring some thin CA into a shallow container and putting the lip of the tube in it and letting it absorb. Then I use a foam brush to paint thin CA on the inside of the tube. After it dries, it’s rough inside with the hardened cardboard hairs, so I sand that out. It makes a nice, smooth surface inside the chute compartment. It’s easier to clean out when is been treated that way. You can easily wipe away the BP residue from ejection charges and the old dog barf if you use that.

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

Thanks TB! I always CA the forward end of the tube...and CA or epoxy on the aft end. Cheap insurance.

Interesting idea on using a shallow container. I'll have to give that a try with a smaller tube.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Thanks TB! I always CA the forward end of the tube...and CA or epoxy on the aft end. Cheap insurance.

Interesting idea on using a shallow container. I'll have to give that a try with a smaller tube.

Usually my shallow container is something disposable that I put together with maybe a box lid and wax paper. Something like that. And I just pour in enough CA to get a little puddle in the bottom.

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

Not the most exciting update, but I did get fillets on both sides of the forward CR.

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

I love the smell of CA in the morning.

 

[Back_at_it]

Great build. I built a Warlock for my Level 1 but have not had the chance to fly it yet. With Covid launches there were few launches I could attend to fly it and the supply of Black Power being almost non-existent for a while have forced me to put it off until this year.

I did a build thread as well. https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/loc-warlock-build-rocket-for-my-level-1.167964/page-2

 

[Dmoney]

After a long absence from rocketry, I've returned. Two weeks ago I recertified my level 1 and 2 with my Warlock. I used my Warlock because it's the same rocket I used to certify over 20 years ago. After all those years in the garage, it flew beautifully.

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

Prepping the MMT for mounting to the body tube today. Since I'm skipping the glass I'll probably go welded 1/4 eye bolt on the fwd CR with some fender washers to spread the load. Don't have any U bolts on hand and figure the welded 1/4 eye (which I do have) will be sufficient.

 

[thzero]

I love the smell of CA in the morning.

Smells expensive...

 

[SmurfTacoSupreme]

Smells expensive...

Maybe $2 of thin CA so not bad IMHO.

 

[jmasterj]

Smells expensive...

The expensive stuff you can't smell.