My Vipers

[Mike Howie]

Reading all the Posts about the BSG Viper in the "Wanted" thread, (https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=47) got me to thinking
of how many Vipers I have. It turns out to be the second most built style
I have, After various iterations of the Saturn. I thought I'd share.

1st is my original Estes Viper. I flew it a couple of times, and didn't like that the
top fin kept breaking. (grain going in the wrong direction.)

SO I cloned it. This was before I had a way to print my own decals, I
hand drew the details with a brush. Not much skill there, but it was good enough for me.

Next up is a down scale I made to fly on 13mm motors. At the time my flying
field was small. Smaller motors (and rockets) were what was needed.

 

[Mike Howie]

Here are my three original style Vipers.
With my current goonification phase, the Viper seemed a good choice.
Still needs more work.

 

[Mike Howie]

OOPS sing"Which one doesn't belong with the others." /sing

 

[Mike Howie]

When the New BSG came on, I just had to try and make one of these Vipers.
On my first attempt, I tried to make the proportions a close to the drawings I
found on the Web as I could. I knew that it would need lots of nose weight,
that meant 24mm motors. This model has flown a few times. I wasn't satisfied
with the way it coned on the way up. Time to try again.

For the second try, I put up a build thread on TRF 1, and even had Roskoracer
join in the build. To fight the coning problem, I stretched the body slightly, and
made the fins a little bit bigger. Still a 24mm motor. I haven't finished with the
decals yet.

The third pic shows the different size for both of these models.

I hope you enjoyed my walk down Viper lane.

 

[Sinister Mr. S]

Those are very cool! I always thought that the colonial vipers from Battlestar were VERY cool. The kits are too expensive to buy now, would you share the parts list and maybe some build tips so I could try?? I personally like the stretched out look better than the original....

 

[Sinister Mr. S]

BTW looks like a pretty tough build... tapered body, transitions, canopy, engines,....***Drool***.....What do you fly'em on??

 

[Mike Howie]

BTW looks like a pretty tough build... tapered body, transitions, canopy, engines,....***Drool***.....What do you fly'em on??

I haven't flown my stretched version yet. The 1st one, on D12-5.
For parts, check out the "Wanted" forum, ref above.
Main tip: get VCP, or VCT for the transitions. Have fun playing around, and
find what works for you.