foose4string
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2009
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This is a kit that I was going to purchase, but ended up winning through my tip submissions over at EMRR. It's one of the only tube finned rockets to ever strike my fancy and was a big part of the reason for my entering in the first place.
The nice weather and upcoming launches inspired me to finish up a few rockets that have been needing my attention. Oh how I love sanding...I know a few folks can relate. The Kraken seemed like a good place to start since there wasn't a lot of balsa prep...only small tube spirals to fill.
Anyhow, here 's my Kraken. I made a few mods along the way. The kit came with a very long piece of Kevlar to be solely used as the shock cord. There was just enough of that material to braid as my leader and I attached about three ft of elastic to that. The motor mount is a friction fit system, which I'm not opposed to, but I like the easy prep of clip which I also added. I made the end of the motor clip even with the bottom so it's not too conspicuous and the model will still stand on end. This mod also pushed the mount a little farther forward and will probably add a little bit to the stability. Rather than using the supplied 15 gram washer, I decide to hollow out a space in the cone and added equivalent weight using some BB's and glue, then plugged with a dowel. The dowel will give the screw eye a better bite. The washer have worked just fine, but I didn't feel like mixing up epoxy this time around.
Painting was a lot easier than I anticipated. Main thing to remember is masking off the main body tube on the fin alignment marks and back of the fin tubes with a small strip of tape. Painting all the parts separately is a good idea. Once it's been painted those tape strips can be removed and the bare part of the tubes can be glued into place. It would have been a nightmare to try and fill, sand, and paint any other way. I painted the inside of the fin tubes first and then rolled a piece of heavy cardstock to mask the inside after they were dry. No tape needed, the cardstock had enough spring to it to hold it self in place. I've seen Layne recommend using a plastic "For Sale" sign or similar for this purpose, but I didn't have one laying around so I improvised. I used Krylon Purple(old formula) and Rustoleum Metallics- Black Night. I love the Metallics line from Rustoleum. Goes on easy, nice coverage, dries quickly, and looks super when it's done. I'm not a huge fan of the other standard enamels by them, but this stuff rocks. I've used the Cobalt Blue, Gold, and Bronze before with the same results.
I bought some googly eyes to put on the cone to finish the look but decided against it at the last minute. I didn't want to mess up the paint!
The nice weather and upcoming launches inspired me to finish up a few rockets that have been needing my attention. Oh how I love sanding...I know a few folks can relate. The Kraken seemed like a good place to start since there wasn't a lot of balsa prep...only small tube spirals to fill.
Anyhow, here 's my Kraken. I made a few mods along the way. The kit came with a very long piece of Kevlar to be solely used as the shock cord. There was just enough of that material to braid as my leader and I attached about three ft of elastic to that. The motor mount is a friction fit system, which I'm not opposed to, but I like the easy prep of clip which I also added. I made the end of the motor clip even with the bottom so it's not too conspicuous and the model will still stand on end. This mod also pushed the mount a little farther forward and will probably add a little bit to the stability. Rather than using the supplied 15 gram washer, I decide to hollow out a space in the cone and added equivalent weight using some BB's and glue, then plugged with a dowel. The dowel will give the screw eye a better bite. The washer have worked just fine, but I didn't feel like mixing up epoxy this time around.
Painting was a lot easier than I anticipated. Main thing to remember is masking off the main body tube on the fin alignment marks and back of the fin tubes with a small strip of tape. Painting all the parts separately is a good idea. Once it's been painted those tape strips can be removed and the bare part of the tubes can be glued into place. It would have been a nightmare to try and fill, sand, and paint any other way. I painted the inside of the fin tubes first and then rolled a piece of heavy cardstock to mask the inside after they were dry. No tape needed, the cardstock had enough spring to it to hold it self in place. I've seen Layne recommend using a plastic "For Sale" sign or similar for this purpose, but I didn't have one laying around so I improvised. I used Krylon Purple(old formula) and Rustoleum Metallics- Black Night. I love the Metallics line from Rustoleum. Goes on easy, nice coverage, dries quickly, and looks super when it's done. I'm not a huge fan of the other standard enamels by them, but this stuff rocks. I've used the Cobalt Blue, Gold, and Bronze before with the same results.
I bought some googly eyes to put on the cone to finish the look but decided against it at the last minute. I didn't want to mess up the paint!
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