Mega Mosquito Clone Build

[Back_at_it]

I can tell that it's flying season again and I'm back into building mode. With the F-32 build waiting on paint to cure before final finishing, it's time to start something else. Lately I've been buying rockets and parts from pretty much everyone except estes and with the exception of the So Long release, I feel like that trend is going to continue.

I recently picked up a set of fins for a Mega Mosquito build from Bad Boy Rocketry. I had everything else needed and have been wanting to build another on of these for a long time so lets get started.

Parts list.

BT80 body tube 11.5" Long.
Estes PNC80B nose cone.
BT80/50 centering ring 1/8" plywood.
BT80/50 centering ring hand cut from card stock.
Plywood fin cores from Bad Boy Rocketry.
Outer fin skins cut from 1/32 Balsa.
3/16" launch lug 2.5" long.
700# Kevlar. Approx. 10" long.
BT50H motor tube 3.75" long.
BT20/50 ring for motor block.
Motor clip for E sized 3.75" motors.
Scrap piece of tube to use as motor hook retainer.




With everything cut, the build begins tonight

 

[Hobie1dog]

neat, keep the pics coming. what color are you going to paint it?

 

[DMehalko]

I have a clone kit sitting in my pile, seeing this makes me want to actually build it

 

[Back_at_it]

what color are you going to paint it?

I haven't decided yet. The first one I built a long time ago was green and black so I won't be doing that. I do like the normal Yellow and Black but I would want to do it in a neon or florescent color if I could. Florescent Orange is an option as well. Whatever I end up doing, it will be bright

 

[Back_at_it]

Didn't have a ton of time over the weekend with the launch but I did manage to get the motor mount built and installed.

Started with a BT50H tube at 3.75" long. I marked the tube and made a small slit 1/4" from the top of the tube. Next I installed the motor block even with the end of the top side of the motor tube. The motor hook was attached and the scrap piece was used as a band to hold the motor clip in place.



Once the band was dry, I added the upper centering ring using T88 epoxy and let that cure for a day. Next I added the Kevlar leader. This was passed through a hole in the upper ring and wrapped around the motor tube. The face of the upper ring was also coated with left over epoxy for a little fire protection.




Next up it was time to install the motor mount into the tube. For this the Kevlar was tucked down the tube to keep it out of the way. The motor mount was installed into the tube with TBII. With this rocket having TTW fins I'm not concerned with additional strength of epoxy. I did slide the rear ring on to keep the motor tube centered while the glue cured.

 

[Back_at_it]

In the past I've used both wood glue and epoxy without any issues. For this build I've decided to use epoxy. The benefits are that it's thin and soaks into the materials. The epoxy cures slowly so you have tons of time to work with it and since there's no water in it, you have less of a chance of warping.

For this I used T88 Epoxy. I applied epoxy to the inner structure, applied one side of the outer skin then flipped the fin over and repeated the process on the opposite side. I let everything sit while I repeated the process on the remaining two fins. Once all three were completed I wrapped them in wax paper and set them outside between a couple pieces of metal to keep things flat on a nice 88F day. These were left to cure for about 8 hrs.



Once completed I rounder the leading edges and notched the fin tab.



To add a bit of additional strength and give the fins a smooth finish I coated the outside of the fins with T88 epoxy. This was warmed with a heat gun to allow it to soak in and leave a smooth finish.



I'm going to let everything cure overnight and begin attaching the fins tomorrow.

 

[Back_at_it]

First fin attached early this morning using T88 epoxy.

 

[Back_at_it]

Managed to get fins 2 and 3 installed yesterday. Going to let these cure for a day before doing internal and external fillets.

 

[Back_at_it]

Wrapped up the internal fillets using T88 epoxy. Tried not to get too carried away with the fillets.



Next it was time for the rear ring. Since this isn't structural, I chose to install it using TB thick and quick.




Finally it was time for the external fillets. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a pic. of the fillets when they were only in epoxy. The pics below are after applied DAP brand wood filler to smooth everything out.



Unfortunately my builds are going to need to be put on pause for a week or so. We are doing some work on the house and are moving things into the shop temporarily until the work is completed.

 

[Back_at_it]

Managed to recover a small amount of my shop area now that the house projects are completed.

I got the first layer of filler sanded down on the fillets and they look pretty good. These BT80 tubes tend to get really fuzzy o fi sand them before priming so I had to save the spirals for later.



Next up was two coats of SEM primer then it was time to fill the spirals and any other imperfections. I used a combination of spot putty and wood filler depending on the severity of the imperfection.

The entire rocket has been sanded down to 400 grit and it ready for it final primer before paint. Should have color on this one in a couple of days.

 

[Back_at_it]

Finally back with an update. I'm happy to say that I have full use of my shop again so I am back to building. This weekend I had time to get the paint on this project. I went with Krylon Foil Yellow. It isn't the bright yellow I was expecting and honestly the first couple of coats didn't really do anything for me. After the forth coat the metallic started to show. One thing is for sure, it's bright and will be easy to track with all the metallic in it. For the black I used normal Krylon Gloss Black.

Will be doing vinyl in the next day or so and hoping to fly this at the club launch on Saturday.

 

[PDawg]

Very nice, glad I'm not the only one who loves the Mosquito.

 

[Back_at_it]

Very nice, glad I'm not the only one who loves the Mosquito.

I love the Mega Mosquito. It's a fat short draggy rocket that will handle just about anything I would to throw into it.

Mine came in at 8.2oz complete with all recovery gear so it will easily fly on D12 motors but I built it to handle 24mm E motors and it should really take off on composites. It's ready to fly this weekend if the club meets.

 

[Back_at_it]

Got two flights on the unfinished Mega Mosquito this weekend. First flight was a D12-3. Perfect flight. Dead straight with absolutely no twist at all. Perfect delay but chute opened late. No damage.

Second flight was on an E20-4. Left the pad hard with a nice straight flight to around 1000ft. Delay was early and I have a 1/4" long zipper in the upper tube. This will need to be repaired before vinyl is applied. Even with the early ejection, I had a long walk to recover on an 18" chute. Will use a 15" chute when going that high next time.

Below are a couple of pics from the D12-3 flight.

 

[86mustang408w]

Got two flights on the unfinished Mega Mosquito this weekend. First flight was a D12-3. Perfect flight. Dead straight with absolutely no twist at all. Perfect delay but chute opened late. No damage.

Second flight was on an E20-4. Left the pad hard with a nice straight flight to around 1000ft. Delay was early and I have a 1/4" long zipper in the upper tube. This will need to be repaired before vinyl is applied. Even with the early ejection, I had a long walk to recover on an 18" chute. Will use a 15" chute when going that high next time.

Below are a couple of pics from the D12-3 flight.


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Thats very cool! Already has me thinking!! I love it, very nice build and pictures/info!!

 

[86mustang408w]

Got two flights on the unfinished Mega Mosquito this weekend. First flight was a D12-3. Perfect flight. Dead straight with absolutely no twist at all. Perfect delay but chute opened late. No damage.

Second flight was on an E20-4. Left the pad hard with a nice straight flight to around 1000ft. Delay was early and I have a 1/4" long zipper in the upper tube. This will need to be repaired before vinyl is applied. Even with the early ejection, I had a long walk to recover on an 18" chute. Will use a 15" chute when going that high next time.

Below are a couple of pics from the D12-3 flight.


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This is so awesome man, I can't help it.. Just watch a YouTube video someone had a larger upscale Mosquito with a decent motor. It's really cool and thought of this right away. Very awesome build!!

 

[ljwilley]

I built one a while ago... painted it bright blue for fun!

 

[Back_at_it]

Back with an update on this build. I've been having a good time flying this rocket but unfortunately life hasn't been all sunshine and roses for the Mega Mosquito. After two successful flights with the club, I took this and a few other rockets with me on vacation. I'm really hoping this rocket doesn't become my arch nemesis as I've had two issues already.

The first flight at the club launch was on a D12-3 and was a dead smooth, no twist, perfect ejection, low altitude flight. The second was a nice flight an E20-4. Launch was awesome but the 4 sec. delay was too short. Rocket has a long shock cord only got a very small 1/4" zipper.

While on vacation I flew this on a couple of E12's, an E30-7 and finally on an F44-8. Launch on the F44 was awesome as it disappeared from the pad instantly. Unfortunately that 8 sec. delay was closer to 2 seconds as the ejection popped about half way through the flight on it's was to a projected 1230ft apogee. With the ejection going off that early in the flight, I zippered about 5 inches of the tube. The chute held strong and the rest of the rocket returned unharmed. Thankfully the entire rear of the rocket was unharmed but most of the tube needed to be replaced.

After getting home I got to work cutting off the old just above the motor mount then added a coupler and new section of body tube. Not wanting to go back with the same color I decided to change it up a bit to what you see below. This color is Krylon Gloss Burgundy. I'm actually liking this color combo more than the original.

Hoping to get the vinyl applied this weekend and finally put this one in the completed pile.

 

[ljwilley]

Nice! I like the new color better too. It is really cool!

 

[Back_at_it]

Been a very busy couple of weeks but I finally get a couple of hours to cut some vinyl and finish up a couple of projects that have been sitting on the desk.

Here is the Mega Mosquito in it's final form. At least until something else bad happens to it

 

[ljwilley]

Awesome!

 

[Bad Boy Rocketry]

Finally back with an update. I'm happy to say that I have full use of my shop again so I am back to building. This weekend I had time to get the paint on this project. I went with Krylon Foil Yellow. It isn't the bright yellow I was expecting and honestly the first couple of coats didn't really do anything for me. After the forth coat the metallic started to show. One thing is for sure, it's bright and will be easy to track with all the metallic in it. For the black I used normal Krylon Gloss Black.

Will be doing vinyl in the next day or so and hoping to fly this at the club launch on Saturday.

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NICE!!!!