I nearly bought an Estes Redstone the other day. But after thinking it's underpowered and kind of small; I grabbed a 3" Uline tube from my pile in my classroom and started at it. Started out in AutoCAD drawing up a fin can. Base of the can and fins is 1/8" ply, I also used some 1/16" balsa to build up the fins to give them their characteristic stepped look.
They still need some more sanding and shaping, but we're starting to get somewhere. Next I turned to the capsule and escape tower. I started modeling a complete set, but once I got the awful (and boring) task of adding panels, rivets, and other details I happened upon a fantastic model on Thingiverse that saves me the pain of drawing my own. I scaled it down from the 5.5" tube size it was designed for. It's really a fantastic model and hits on all of the highlights to give it a slightly beyond semi-scale look. I will have two towers which will be held in place with neo magnets; one featuring a TPU tower (for some flex and no breaking during flight) and a resin printed option for shelf queen time. It also gives me the option of no tower as well when I want to push it with larger motors. It should come in just north of a pound at about 42" tall and will typically go on a mid powered F.
While it's not flying it will look fantastic just hanging out in my classroom. Need to decide how to tackle the tube spirals most efficiently and well and also if Ill order a decal set from Stickershock. I will probably just draw up the decals, and cut stencils from masking tape sheets on the laser cutter. My goodness, it's so nice to have one for making these. It's a joy to watch your ply fins being cut perfectly while you have a coffee!
We'll leave it there for now. Feel free to share your Redstone projects here; I'd love to see them! Next weekend is the target to "light this candle." Hopefully, I won't have to relieve myself in my suit before it's ready.
They still need some more sanding and shaping, but we're starting to get somewhere. Next I turned to the capsule and escape tower. I started modeling a complete set, but once I got the awful (and boring) task of adding panels, rivets, and other details I happened upon a fantastic model on Thingiverse that saves me the pain of drawing my own. I scaled it down from the 5.5" tube size it was designed for. It's really a fantastic model and hits on all of the highlights to give it a slightly beyond semi-scale look. I will have two towers which will be held in place with neo magnets; one featuring a TPU tower (for some flex and no breaking during flight) and a resin printed option for shelf queen time. It also gives me the option of no tower as well when I want to push it with larger motors. It should come in just north of a pound at about 42" tall and will typically go on a mid powered F.
While it's not flying it will look fantastic just hanging out in my classroom. Need to decide how to tackle the tube spirals most efficiently and well and also if Ill order a decal set from Stickershock. I will probably just draw up the decals, and cut stencils from masking tape sheets on the laser cutter. My goodness, it's so nice to have one for making these. It's a joy to watch your ply fins being cut perfectly while you have a coffee!
We'll leave it there for now. Feel free to share your Redstone projects here; I'd love to see them! Next weekend is the target to "light this candle." Hopefully, I won't have to relieve myself in my suit before it's ready.
