MoreRockets.com Super Viper

[GlenP]

https://morerockets.com/product_info.php?products_id=62

I printed the boat tail up from the PayloadBay.com transition tool, L=0.5" dia 1=25mm, dia 2=41mm. I printed it on regular copy paper, then glue sticked that to the remainder of the canopy cardstock sheet from the kit. Most of the pictures on the web of the 18mm vipers show the engine tube flush with the body tube. I don't think the 1/2 inch difference would impact stability that much either way. I kind of like the look of the boat tail finish. There are two slits in the transition that allow the engine hook to lift enough to remove the engine, the picture might not show these very well. Good point!

I keep getting bubbles in my white glue fillets between the tubes and have had to keep adding more glue on top to fill them in, I used a toothpick and q tip to spread the glue in those narrow spaces.

After putting the 24mm version together, I had to see what I could come up with in the 13mm min diameter size, so I rolled a few tubes from cardstock around a 0.5" dowel and now the Super Viper has a mini little brother. I will try to print my own decals on ink jet paper for the mini clone.

 

[KenECoyote]

For quite a while, More Rockets.com had been out of stock on it...good to see it available again! I actually got mine from them and possibly the last one that was available back in 2015.

I love that 13mm version!

 

[Rex R]

titebond no-drip glue is your really good friend for doing filets on tube fins.
Rex

 

[Todderbert]

titebond no-drip glue is your really good friend for doing filets on tube fins.
Rex

Can you get decent fillets with normal Titebond II? Just started to use this glue after reading its the one most people like vs the normal Elmers White Glue all I've been using in the past for all my LPRs.

 

[Rex R]

one problem with solvent based glues is that they shrink as they dry. if you apply too thick a layer then at least some portion of the glue will pull away from the joint. so in order to prevent this your layers need to be thin. the separation problem increases as the angle between 'fin' and body decreases, tube fins(and launch lugs) present the biggest challenge to bubble free filets. the solution, apply a thin coat of woodglue for strength, then use something that doesn't shrink much for the cosmetic filets. to answer your question; yes you can certainly use titebond wood glue, just be ready to deal with bubbles in the filets. I tend to use a 000 brush to spread the glue for low to mid power rockets, then once dry I will use no drip no run to smooth things out (as wanted or needed).
Rex

 

[grapetang]

https://morerockets.com/product_info.php?products_id=62
After putting the 24mm version together, I had to see what I could come up with in the 13mm min diameter size, so I rolled a few tubes from cardstock around a 0.5" dowel and now the Super Viper has a mini little brother. I will try to print my own decals on ink jet paper for the mini clone.
View attachment 308973

Looks great! Is that mini viper scaled to the super viper? Its fuselage looks 1.5-2" too long. Looking forward to seeing the finished rockets!

 

[GlenP]

Looks great! Is that mini viper scaled to the super viper? Its fuselage looks 1.5-2" too long. Looking forward to seeing the finished rockets!

Thanks, I scaled the body tube lengths according to the ratio 13mm to 41mm, about 32%, and then printed a scan of the punched out fin sheets at the same scale. The full size tube is 22" and the mini clone is 7" the perspective in the photo may be distorted. The mini cardstock nose cone is from the templates in the Project Paper thread in the cardstock forum here, i just chamfer cut it at the same angle and filled it with clay. Still freezing temps outside, so it am leary of trying to spray paint until it warms up a little.

 

[grapetang]

OK, thanks. The Estes version seems a little more proportional. If I (re)build the viper or an up/downscale, I haven't decided whether to lengthen the front, or to shorten it & add more weight. One thought was to paint the extra length black so the white fuselage looks correct except for the "flight probe" extending out the front. Good luck with the weather & the finishing though!

 

[Bob in Phoenix]

gldknght: I'm building a Super Viper now. Did you plug the opening in the nose cone, or leave it open?

Bob

 

[gldknght]

gldknght: I'm building a Super Viper now. Did you plug the opening in the nose cone, or leave it open?

Bob

I left it open, because the original Vipers in the original Battlestar Galactica had an opening there. I haven't actually flown mine, so I can't say what that opening will do to the performance.

I can't believe I started that Super Viper almost 7 years ago! Time flies better than some rockets! One of these days I need to stick a motor in mine and see what she'll do...

Anyone watching the Battlestar (2004) marathon on the Syfy channel this week?

 

[jetlag]

I left it open, because the original Vipers in the original Battlestar Galactica had an opening there. I haven't actually flown mine, so I can't say what that opening will do to the performance.

I can't believe I started that Super Viper almost 7 years ago! Time flies better than some rockets! One of these days I need to stick a motor in mine and see what she'll do...

Anyone watching the Battlestar (2004) marathon on the Syfy channel this week?

Recorded most of them...

 

[gldknght]

Recorded most of them...

I'm pretty certain I recorded all 83 hours. Now to find the time to watch them...

 

[KarlS]

Thought you might like to see another MoreRockets.com kit: the Nebulon Warrior.

 

[Gunstar]

I know the body tube is a BT60, but are the booster tubes BT60 as well? If I recall correctly, the original had booster tubes that were a bit bigger than the body tube.

 

[carfixer1]

I know this thread is getting up there in age, but how did it fly? Any issues with the nose cone?

 

[gldknght]

I'm sorry to say, this rocket has not flown. I tend to build rockets faster than I can fly them all, due to the weather conditions around here being mostly not rocket friendly. We might have 10 or 15 (non-consecutive) days a year when the weather is good and no rocket eating crops in the fields.

I think about that nose cone every time I see the rocket sitting on my shelf. It's sort of scale, but it bothers me and I don't know what (if anything) to do about it.

 

[carfixer1]

I'm sorry to say, this rocket has not flown. I tend to build rockets faster than I can fly them all, due to the weather conditions around here being mostly not rocket friendly. We might have 10 or 15 (non-consecutive) days a year when the weather is good and no rocket eating crops in the fields.

I think about that nose cone every time I see the rocket sitting on my shelf. It's sort of scale, but it bothers me and I don't know what (if anything) to do about it.

I wonder about that hole in the nose cone! Looking like I may be the guinea pig on this one.

 

[gldknght]

I wonder what covering the front of the hole will do to the flight path. A flat side at the very front of the rocket could deflect the rocket considerably. I'm probably going to leave mine open. The hole doesn't go all the way through, due to the clay nose weight added. Also I taped over the outside (bottom) of the hole in the nose to keep ejection gasses from blowing the nose weight out.

 

[carfixer1]

I wonder what covering the front of the hole will do to the flight path. A flat side at the very front of the rocket could deflect the rocket considerably. I'm probably going to leave mine open. The hole doesn't go all the way through, due to the clay nose weight added. Also I taped over the outside (bottom) of the hole in the nose to keep ejection gasses from blowing the nose weight out.

OK, that was my main consideration. Thanks!

 

[cat5752]

I just received this kit. Good point about taping over the hole. Has any one flown it?

 

[KenECoyote]

I've flown mine a few times and the front was left open. Didn't seem to noticeably affect flight in my most recent recorded flight with D12.
https://www.rocketreviews.com/super-viper.html

 

[KenECoyote]

I'll add that if you look at the side profile, there's more drag up top, so a nose cone with a cut at an angle opposite should help counter that. Filled or not probably makes no significant difference imho since air isn't going through it in either case.

 

[GlenP]

Kind of offset draggy on one side, so it tends to arc, or maybe weather vanes, rather than straight up. But seems to do fine on the recommended D12-3.

 

[cat5752]

I just started this kit. One question I have is mine came with a tube coupler and extra length of body tube, yet the directions do not mention this at all. Can anyone tell me the total length of the main body tube? More Rockets doesn't have the specs with the exception of saying it's over 2' long. Would appreciate any assistance I can get. My body tubes are 18" and 4".

 

[KenECoyote]

I just started this kit. One question I have is mine came with a tube coupler and extra length of body tube, yet the directions do not mention this at all. Can anyone tell me the total length of the main body tube? More Rockets doesn't have the specs with the exception of saying it's over 2' long. Would appreciate any assistance I can get. My body tubes are 18" and 4".

22" on my MR Super Viper bt (excluding nose cone). If you have a coupler, try to have it coupled at the bottom if possible (check first!) since the chute space is very tight and narrow and you don't want a coupler in that area to snag on.

 

[cat5752]

That's exactly what I was thinking. I would like to put an ejection gas baffle in as well.