Outlander Build

[CharlaineC]

So i broke down and am currently working on my outlander even though it is a rocket i cannot assemble till i paint her. Opening the bag I was first dismayed at the condition of some of the parts. tubes crushed and some bent easy fix because i had more. When was this kitted originally because I would have thought Estes would have used laser cut balsa and water slide decals not stick on. . Also Judging the weight of the bag this is a Rock. Are you sure she can fly on b-c motors. ( has anyone ever converted this to d's)

I started with cutting the main body, nosecone and nozzle. I have to say this is one heavy bird. the razor saw ate through it but talk about thick. ( i wonder is a paper shroud version could be made or even Balsa)

I than assembled the tanks I'm thinking the 4 min tanks will be painted Gold While the 8 small tanks will be painted Silver and gold

I glued together the gear housing covers slightly tricky till i looked at the coverart with the grain not being shown

Ill add photos later.

 

[kenobi65]

It came out originally in 2004. Reviews on EMRR from that time:
https://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews/all/est_outlander.shtml

I have a feeling that the lack of laser-cut balsa was to reflect the "builder's kit" intent of this one. Stick-on decals are probably more an artifact of that era for Estes.

Note the reviews, which state that, even on a C6-3, they didn't get much altitude with it. It looks like a number of people have converted it to fly on larger motors.

 

[CharlaineC]

Ok so after reading emrr revies and sugestions i think i'll build all the parts and then order a 24mm mount and convert her

 

[ggoldy]

C6-3 will barely get it up. D is the way to go. I modified mine for 24mm. D12's were great. The nozzle had to be enlarged and was paper thin when I finished it. But it worked. Or the 18mm reloadable D's would work fine and you could save some work. It explodes off the pad with a D21.:jaw:
Subject to weather cocking!!! Like a saucer.
Should be some pictures and video on SEARS572 webpage, although I don't know how to search the galleries.

Gary

 

[BobH48]

Here's is a link to the Archive with a good drawing of the easy way to do the 24mm conversion.

https://www.rocketryforumarchive.com/showthread.php?t=41356&highlight=outlander

 

[Trident]

I converted mine to 24mm, but it has not flown yet. I am building a Semroc Mars Lander now, and went ahead and bought a the 18mm reload hardware, to keep it stock with 18mm motor tube.

My Outlander looks more like a Mars Lander variant, in terms of paint and decals. This is actually light gray, instead of white. You can see the 24mm mod in first picture. I also added a lot of styrene details:



I like the looks of the Outlander. Hope you enjoy building yours. My photobucket link has more Outlander pictures.

 

[CharlaineC]

Wow how'd you get your lander main capsule so detailed what did you use. I love that 24mm idea now i know im not nuts lol its what i'm going to do. oh and the gold mylar on the 4 main tanks.

 

[ghrocketman]

Those things absolutely WILL NOT safely fly on ANY C motor, PERIOD. Don't try it, EVER unless you want a rocket that will need recovery via a broom and trash bag. Best way to fly is on 18mm single-use D10 and D21 or D13 and D24 reloads in the RMS18/20 case. While the Estes/Semroc Mars Lander will give a marginally decent flight on a C5-3 and a barely acceptable flight on a C6-3, the outlander will NOT due to all the heavy plastic. The outlander should have came from the factory designed around a 24mm engine.

 

[Trident]

Wow how'd you get your lander main capsule so detailed what did you use. I love that 24mm idea now i know im not nuts lol its what i'm going to do. oh and the gold mylar on the 4 main tanks.

I used a bunch of excess styrene parts from plastic models. Sometimes I'll grab a model on clearance, if it looks like some interesting parts can be scavenged. Star Wars and Star Trek models are prime candidates for scavenging. For the big slab under the ML-1, I just cut sheet styrene to shape and applied.

For the solid strips around the capsule's wide "base", I used Evergreen plastic strips, heated with a heat gun to allow them to curl, and then I cemented (actually, melted/welded) them down to the Outlander capsule perimeter. Was easy to do, and the best method is to use the liquid styrene welder -- don't try to do this with tube cement - too messy!

 

[CharlaineC]

Today little progress was made. built the 24mm moter mount and and marked and cut the lower bt 60. cut the hot orange rc fuel lines for the legs and marked the main bt. for the launch lug. i wounder how she would land with three 12" chutes hehehe.

 

[ghrocketman]

Most likely it would recover quite well on three 12" chutes if you can keep them from being tangled.
Possibly separate them from each other by having individual 12" "fishing-style leaders" attaching them to the cone.
Rockets descending on multiple chutes are always more interesting than the typical single chute.

 

[GlennW]

The Outlander is a great kit, but as someone who has built one with the 18mm motor mount I have to say either modify it to 24mm or use the 18mm D10 or D21 to fly this thing. The first couple of times I flew it on a C6-3 it was marginal. Then I used a D21-4T and it ripped off the pad like a shot, great flight. I then pushed my luck and tried the C6-3 again with disastrous results. The bird is still in the repair shop but it will fly again someday. Just not on a C6-3. I have never heard of anyone flying this on a B. I doubt it is possible because mine is about as light as you can build this. One thing I will add regardless of which mount you use: Do not use the stock Estes parachute that comes with it, get a good Nylon ripstop chute. The rocket is too heavy for the cheapy plastic one and you WILL have at least 2 shroud lines break thus causing too fast of a descent. You don't want to break your hinge tubes and then have to figure out how to take the bird apart to fix it. That reminds me of another thing. Instead of the hinge tubes supplied which are weak, use blue silicone R/C fuel tubing, it is much stronger. But even those will break if descent is too fast.

As you might surmise, I learned all this stuff the hard way......

Glenn

 

[CharlaineC]

So Friday night i built the legs and glued the gear housing to the lower bt 60 and trimmed the inner rounds more. Today I glued the feet onto the legs and assembled the hinges. and then painted the legs dark blue and silver with red and gold feet.. also painted the tanks the large tanks gold and the smaller tanks the four upper vertical tanks Gloss yellow distressed and the four vertical silver.

 

[CharlaineC]

Ok so i haven't updated in a bit will add more pics soon.

Hand painting this one as i don't have a working airbrush any longer. Dark gloss blue for the main body. red under. the tube is silver. The gear housing dark Blue.

Once the paint was dry I started assembling this beast. The leg assembly glued into the body tube. then the gear housing glued on.

once dry i glued the gear housing covers on. replaced the stock launch lug with a 5mm one for use with a larger rod.

tomorrow the tanks go on.

 

[FatBoy]

I built mine with the stock 18mm mount, but was always too afraid to try it on a C6 (with good reason - according to some of the posts on this thread). But it flies incredibly well on the 18mm D21 single use motors.

 

[user 13]

I've flown mine 4 times on a C6-3. # of them were fine!