El Cheapo
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2009
- Messages
- 1,658
- Reaction score
- 7
I haven't built or even touched a rocket in well over a month. I figured the best way to get me back in the groove to finish a couple of upscales and one other difficult paint job was to do a simple recycled rocket. My thoughts quickly went from a toilet/paper towel roll tuber to recycled Kraken then to a culmination of the Kraken and WAC Corporal. Hence the name WAC Krapen was born even though I didn't use any butt wipe rolls in the build.
Throughout my deviant thinking I remembered an email conversation with Layne Pemberton a while back with him saying, "imitation is the best form of flattery". That being said, I took it as a green light to go ahead with his enthusiastic permission to build and butcher the name of probably the coolest tube fin rocket currently on the market.
I set off with a stack of empty Sparkle paper towel tubes. They measure roughly 1.6" in diameter. Prior to cutting, I coated all the tubes with two layers of Mod Podge. This not only strengthens the tubes a bit but completely mats down any fuzzies. I originally cut four fins but decided to go with three to better reflect the WAC Corporal profile.
It sports a 24mm motor mount (yes, Layne, I used a block cut from a D casing) with friction fit retention. The motor tube was hand rolled from 110lb card stock. Centering rings are hand cut from foam core. The exterior motor mount recess, exterior centering ring face and exterior portion of motor tube are all lined with aluminum duct tape as you can see in the picture. Don't pay attention to the finger.
The baffle is what I call a cold air diversion baffle. The bulk plate/centering rings were cut from 1/8" balsa scrap. It contains two hand rolled 13mm tubes going in and two going out. The bulk plates were coated with a bit of 5min epoxy and tubes with Titebond II for a bit of protection. A recovery eye bolt is also affixed through the top of centering ring and epoxied in the valley of the two 13mm tubes exiting the baffle.
The nose cone was also rolled from a cut paper towel tube. I went with three canards instead of two in hopes of balancing it aesthetically with three fins instead of four like the Kraken. Actually, I think the canards draw attention to the fact that the nose cone isn't rolled perfectly but leans to one side. I'm thinking of painting them yellow but not sure as of this posting. I want them to pop but not look goofy. The jury is still out. The nose cone shoulder was rolled from card stock. The balsa bulkhead will have a popsicle stick glued on the back side to add strength for the recovery eye bolt to mount to. The bulk head still needs to be glued pending swing test to determine the appropriate amount of nose weight with an E motor loaded.
The conduit strip was a leftover piece of balsa. By no means did I attempt to smooth out the tube spirals. This is a recycled rocket for Pete's sake. There is no reason to make it look otherwise. I did paint the fins and body tube seperate before attaching them together. Primer used was Rustoleum 2x white. The yellow is one quick coat of old style Rustoleum Enamel (didn't have much left in the can). The black is two coats of Rustoleum 2x gloss black. Silver is Krylon Metallic with a chrome colored cap. I used a black base coat under the silver. I think it gives it a bit of depth rather than white or gray underneath. Other than giving the yellow a full 72hrs to dry (stuff takes forever to dry) this paint job was really rushed as reflected in the lifting on the black stripes. I atleast should have let them set more than 10min and traced the mask with a razor but, oh well.
Overall dimensions are 22" x 1.625". x 4.5" fin span. Current weight without parachute and motor is 3.4oz. It should fly great on anything from a C6 (w/adapter), C11, D12, E9 and smaller 24mm reloads. I'm not sure if I want to trust the foam core centering rings with an F24 or F39.
I love building a rocket from absolutely nothing with recycled materials. The cutting, sanding, rolling, etc. Thanks to Layne for the inspiration and hope you get a kick out of it.
Side note....I built this thing from junk, balsa scrap, etc. Unless you are building an upscale/downscale that isn't offered, do our small vendors a favor and buy the kits instead of doing a 100% clone with purchased parts.
El Cheapo
Throughout my deviant thinking I remembered an email conversation with Layne Pemberton a while back with him saying, "imitation is the best form of flattery". That being said, I took it as a green light to go ahead with his enthusiastic permission to build and butcher the name of probably the coolest tube fin rocket currently on the market.
I set off with a stack of empty Sparkle paper towel tubes. They measure roughly 1.6" in diameter. Prior to cutting, I coated all the tubes with two layers of Mod Podge. This not only strengthens the tubes a bit but completely mats down any fuzzies. I originally cut four fins but decided to go with three to better reflect the WAC Corporal profile.
It sports a 24mm motor mount (yes, Layne, I used a block cut from a D casing) with friction fit retention. The motor tube was hand rolled from 110lb card stock. Centering rings are hand cut from foam core. The exterior motor mount recess, exterior centering ring face and exterior portion of motor tube are all lined with aluminum duct tape as you can see in the picture. Don't pay attention to the finger.
The baffle is what I call a cold air diversion baffle. The bulk plate/centering rings were cut from 1/8" balsa scrap. It contains two hand rolled 13mm tubes going in and two going out. The bulk plates were coated with a bit of 5min epoxy and tubes with Titebond II for a bit of protection. A recovery eye bolt is also affixed through the top of centering ring and epoxied in the valley of the two 13mm tubes exiting the baffle.
The nose cone was also rolled from a cut paper towel tube. I went with three canards instead of two in hopes of balancing it aesthetically with three fins instead of four like the Kraken. Actually, I think the canards draw attention to the fact that the nose cone isn't rolled perfectly but leans to one side. I'm thinking of painting them yellow but not sure as of this posting. I want them to pop but not look goofy. The jury is still out. The nose cone shoulder was rolled from card stock. The balsa bulkhead will have a popsicle stick glued on the back side to add strength for the recovery eye bolt to mount to. The bulk head still needs to be glued pending swing test to determine the appropriate amount of nose weight with an E motor loaded.
The conduit strip was a leftover piece of balsa. By no means did I attempt to smooth out the tube spirals. This is a recycled rocket for Pete's sake. There is no reason to make it look otherwise. I did paint the fins and body tube seperate before attaching them together. Primer used was Rustoleum 2x white. The yellow is one quick coat of old style Rustoleum Enamel (didn't have much left in the can). The black is two coats of Rustoleum 2x gloss black. Silver is Krylon Metallic with a chrome colored cap. I used a black base coat under the silver. I think it gives it a bit of depth rather than white or gray underneath. Other than giving the yellow a full 72hrs to dry (stuff takes forever to dry) this paint job was really rushed as reflected in the lifting on the black stripes. I atleast should have let them set more than 10min and traced the mask with a razor but, oh well.
Overall dimensions are 22" x 1.625". x 4.5" fin span. Current weight without parachute and motor is 3.4oz. It should fly great on anything from a C6 (w/adapter), C11, D12, E9 and smaller 24mm reloads. I'm not sure if I want to trust the foam core centering rings with an F24 or F39.
I love building a rocket from absolutely nothing with recycled materials. The cutting, sanding, rolling, etc. Thanks to Layne for the inspiration and hope you get a kick out of it.
Side note....I built this thing from junk, balsa scrap, etc. Unless you are building an upscale/downscale that isn't offered, do our small vendors a favor and buy the kits instead of doing a 100% clone with purchased parts.
El Cheapo
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