Plasma Dart II Upscale (a neil_w design)

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Sincerest apologies in advance.

We're the knights of the work table
We build whenever we're able
You'll find our minds and scratch designs
Are marginally stable

We're busy here in Sandalot we make centering rings by hand a lot

giphy.gif
 
Embodying the truest essence of "should have quit while I was ahead", here's the rest of the song.

We're the knights of the work table
The work is pleasurable
Except the task to paint and mask
Is quite interminable

And when it's dry in Sandalot we find sparkies here are banned a lot


...

Of motors made by Mabel
Most are quite reliable
Except E9 the rest are fine
For uses conceivable

We buy much stuff in Sandalot.... we like the Estes brand a looooooooooot
 
Verily, thou hast earned the title of Master Bard...…….
Or is it Barf?
Just kidding!:barf:
(I was just looking for an excuse to use that smilie).
 
It looks like:
  • You've marked the tube for a cut.
  • You've started the cut.
  • You discovered that your razor saw isn't deep enough to get through without rotating the tube.
  • You walked away in frustration.
  • You came back and decided to play with your dinosaur for a little while to relax before finishing the cut and installing the coupler...
  • which you are doing for reasons not known to me at this time.
 
No, but that's a better story than what really happened. I cut through the outer BT-80 with an X-acto #11 blade, and the razor saw was just deep enough to cut the inner BT-60, so the separation went smoothly.

I need to address the crux of the issue, there isn't enough room in the nose to accommodate the main parachute, and borrowing room from the nose cone turned out to be a bad idea. So I'm going to split the rocket right about *there. Were I to do this rocket over, I'd split it lower, at the front of the forward shroud. But as it is, I have limited options due to the internal construction. But this will work.

(*points to the saw)
 
Seriously, that song has been stuck in my head all day, and all evening! Anyway, this build thread is done for all intents and purposes, but I've got one more topic to add.

I've been on a quest for the h̶o̶l̶y̶ ̶g̶r̶a̶i̶l̶ primer that I can use indoors during the winter. I found several cans of various high build oil based stain blocking primers in my basement, presumably from the makeover that the previous owner gave this house before selling it. They're not particularly low odor, required mineral spirits to clean, and I didn't get particularly good results. But then I decided to try a plain water based exterior primer, and I think that it will be usable, with some limitations. It is not a filler-primer, so it won't work very well to hide any thing like body tube seams. But it did dry quickly and I could sand it the next day.

I used a small, fine brush and slightly thinned the primer to get a smoother application. It took more than one coat to build up a layer, but the coats dried quickly so I did about 3-4 coats in one evening. The brush cleaned up with water and there was no noticeable odor. Two very good things.

Tonight I went over it once with 220 grit to knock down the brush marks, and then sanded with 400 grit. The nooks and crannies are not well sanded, they are hard to access, and I'm not being over particular for this repair job. But the places I could sand came out very nice and smooth. The real test will be to see how the Rustoleum 2x covers on top of this primer.

I took one photo before sanding, and one after, with the shop light at grazing incidence to try and highlight the surface texture.

Lots of brush marks:

PC150160.JPG

The shroud (where I could sand most easily) came out quite smooth enough for this repair job.

PC160170.JPG
 
What brand? I like that it's slightly tinted; a white color coat will cover it and you can see when you've missed a spot.

Ba bum bada-bum bum-bum
Ba bum, ba-dum, ba-dum bum
 
Well, it'll be "PLASM .... A DART" and "PLASMA DA ... RT" on the way down.

I checked out the Skydiver link, and I hope that neither part ends up submerged, but maybe Plasma dart could use a magnetohydrodynamic if it ended up under water. But I'm curious what reminded you of that.
 
I checked out the Skydiver link, and I hope that neither part ends up submerged, but maybe Plasma dart could use a magnetohydrodynamic if it ended up under water. But I'm curious what reminded you of that.
Glad you asked!
images


The name is split across the two pieces; the airplane at the front has the word "SKY" on it and the submarine behind it has the word "DIVER". So when the airplane takes off each has its own name.

Never mind how stupid it is to have an airplane attached to the front of a submarine. :) That was a mighty odd show.
 
The name is split across the two pieces; the airplane at the front has the word "SKY" on it and the submarine behind it has the word "DIVER". So when the airplane takes off each has its own name.

Never mind how stupid it is to have an airplane attached to the front of a submarine. :) That was a mighty odd show.

Ah! Ok, that makes much more sense. It seems like that would only work on the left side of the submarine - airplane rocket. On the right side, it needs to be "DIVER SKY". But yes, I skimmed the wikipedia link, and that is a very odd premise for a show!
 
Glad you asked!
images


The name is split across the two pieces; the airplane at the front has the word "SKY" on it and the submarine behind it has the word "DIVER". So when the airplane takes off each has its own name.

Never mind how stupid it is to have an airplane attached to the front of a submarine. :) That was a mighty odd show.
Wow, blast from the past!
 
Alright, repairs are completed and the avionics bay has been moved down to make more room for the main parachute. I'm happy with the way the primer sanded and painted, I was able to do all that indoors with water clean up.

P1290434.JPG

Leftover from my garage, but hey, it works on rockets as well.

P1290432.JPG

Masking for the black took a bit of time.

P1290433.JPG

And DONE. It is difficult to tell that part of one tube and the shroud have been replaced. It will fly again! I hope to get to MDRA in February or March and fly it on a G79 Smoky Sam. After that, perhaps a G50 Imax at Red Glare.
 
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