Madcow 1.6" Black Brant Build

[tpallas]

So I bought three kits from Madcow on their 4th of July sale - all minis - a V2, Black Brant, and dual deploy Tomach (all 1.6" tubes and fiberglass). Starting off by building the Black Brant! This is my first fiberglass build and I've been learning a lot along the way.

This is my first foray into "real" mid power - I have some 24mm Estes rockets - so I'm certainly open to engine recommendations. I fly on a field where I like to keep flights between 500 and 1000 feet for rockets I don't want to lose.

I started with the motor mount tube and the Aeropack 29mm L2 retainer. Motor mount tube required a bit of sanding to get a good fit:

Got it to fit:

Here is the completed motor mount - recovery cord stuffed into tube for ease of installation into body tube. I had to change the placement of the rings given I was using the motor mount, but it was relatively easy to figure out, even for my first time doing this.

Mounted the motor mount into the body tube and checked the spacing with the full retainer assembly in place and made sure the fins fit in before the epoxy cured:

 

[tpallas]

Then on to the fins. You can see the spacing between the tang and the bottom so a bit of sanding was required:

Sanded down to fit:

First fin on:

Fin #2:

And all 3 installed:

Next on to the fillets - this being my first fiberglass, and my first MPR, I was a bit nervous about epoxy fillets. So far, so good!

More to follow....

 

[ascastil]

Fillets turned out nice. Im gonna have to try out a fiberglass rocket. I think my next one will be.

 

[tpallas]

Here's the rocket assembled before painting:

And body primed and base white coat on and nose cone with primer waiting for low humidity to spray gloss black:

 

[Flyfalcons]

Very nice! If you got the combo with th 18" parachute, I recommend changing it to 24". I've flown mine once and it landed hard enough to knock a fin loose. For a low altitide flight, get a 24-29mm adapter and use an Aerotech F44-4W. That should keep you around 500-600'.

Are you swapping the 1/4" lugs out for rail buttons?

 

[crossfire]

I built the 1.6 BB and purchased the decal set from Stickershock and it turned out very nice. I just painted the rocket black and StickerShock did the rest.