ROhmen
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2012
- Messages
- 54
- Reaction score
- 45
As a modest collector of older, rarer rockets, I was delighted to discover and purchase an Estes Stealth.
It’s unusual in that a) it’s got a blow-molded, non-symmetrical, canopied nose cone, used in nothing else, b) it has a formed body that fits over a BT-50 body tube, and c) it was only manufactured for a couple years. (If you have the years of manufacture, please post them, as well as how you found them.)
I was delighted to show my Stealth flying at our local junior high school to a group of students. The B6-4 lofted it well into the air, but the 30+ year-old rubber shock cord didn’t stand a chance of keeping the rocket together, and the nosecone and parachute tore off. The rear body fluttered to the ground with no damage, but the nosecone drifted away, into the forest, or the pond beyond. My searching yielded nothing.
So, what to do? I’ve got this intact rear body, minus nosecone, which hasn’t been manufactured in 30 years, and was only used for this kit. I am pretty sure no one has one of these lying around, for sale. (Even Moldin’ Oldies / Sirius Rocketry doesn’t have one.)
One of my first realizations, is that I can’t make or get a replacement, if I don’t have anything to be a model.
Eventually, another Stealth showed up on E-Bay, and I outbid everyone for it, and it was delivered. Now I have a model nose cone I can use to create a second.
Originally, I thought I could make a tumbling caster (how Moldin’ Oldies originally made their nosecones) that would cast quick-curing resin inside a rubbery mold of the nosecone. I actually did make the caster, and it kind of worked, but I ran into issues with speed controlling the two motors (light dimmers don’t work, trust me), and the project went by the wayside.
Similarly, I also had a rare Estes mini-engine X-15 which also needed a nosecone.
The X-15 also needed an engine locking ring.
I spent another (large) chunk of money for the X-15 starter kit, which DID have the nosecone and locking ring.
Fast forward several years, and I decided to ask for help with the 3D printing community, specifically on Craigslist, in the Washington DC area, near Leesburg VA.
I approached several vendors and described my problem, and one got interested. We e-mailed back and forth several times, before meeting in person. “Joseph” was the perfect project manager for this project, as he understood what I was trying to do, had a little free time to do it, and had the equipment and expertise.
Further, he had some curiosity about rocketry, and handled my rocketry rants and rambles with aplomb.
As I did not need these parts any time soon, we agreed he would be working on this project when not doing more lucrative work. We agreed that there was no rush, and this arrangement worked well for both of us. If he had a question, it wasn’t a problem if I got back to him at the end of the work day, or vice versa.
The original plan was to use a 3D scanner to make a mesh of the source parts, then feed those straight into the 3D printer. This was not to be.
The first issue was that the source Stealth n/c is painted a glossy olive, with a canopy of gloss black (some of which peeled), and the 3D scanner didn’t like these colors. I’m sure Joseph scanned the part several times, but the process of turning the mesh into a 3D design was fraught with errors, and we finally had to resort to a backup plan.
Joseph proposed bypassing the scanning, and using the source nosecone for direct dimensions, to be entered into the model.
(On a side note, the 3D printing process generally involves creating a model, digitally “slicing” the model into layers which get put into a print file, then sending the print file to a 3D printer which then starts the laborious process of printing the part. Depending on the size and fidelity required, printing can take several hours.)
After a week or so, Joseph and I met up again to review the parts. The Stealth nosecone was complete, and, while not an exact match, was certainly close enough for my needs.
The X-15 needed more work. The nosecone was the wrong size.
And we discovered that the locking ring flange of the target X-15 body had been damaged, and would not accept the locking ring. (The mystery becomes clear – the ring was probably glued in by accident, and the rear body was damaged when it was removed and discarded.)
I ask Joseph if he could make a new rear body flange to catch the locking ring, and he said “no-problem”. Gotta love helpful and friendly folk.
We met up again a few days later, and the new X-15 parts were done. The nosecone is pretty good, and the locking ring and flange should be up to the job.
The final bill was a little over $200, and the time required was about 5 weeks.
Now all that’s left to do is assemble, paint, and fly!
It’s unusual in that a) it’s got a blow-molded, non-symmetrical, canopied nose cone, used in nothing else, b) it has a formed body that fits over a BT-50 body tube, and c) it was only manufactured for a couple years. (If you have the years of manufacture, please post them, as well as how you found them.)
I was delighted to show my Stealth flying at our local junior high school to a group of students. The B6-4 lofted it well into the air, but the 30+ year-old rubber shock cord didn’t stand a chance of keeping the rocket together, and the nosecone and parachute tore off. The rear body fluttered to the ground with no damage, but the nosecone drifted away, into the forest, or the pond beyond. My searching yielded nothing.
So, what to do? I’ve got this intact rear body, minus nosecone, which hasn’t been manufactured in 30 years, and was only used for this kit. I am pretty sure no one has one of these lying around, for sale. (Even Moldin’ Oldies / Sirius Rocketry doesn’t have one.)
One of my first realizations, is that I can’t make or get a replacement, if I don’t have anything to be a model.
Eventually, another Stealth showed up on E-Bay, and I outbid everyone for it, and it was delivered. Now I have a model nose cone I can use to create a second.
Originally, I thought I could make a tumbling caster (how Moldin’ Oldies originally made their nosecones) that would cast quick-curing resin inside a rubbery mold of the nosecone. I actually did make the caster, and it kind of worked, but I ran into issues with speed controlling the two motors (light dimmers don’t work, trust me), and the project went by the wayside.
Similarly, I also had a rare Estes mini-engine X-15 which also needed a nosecone.
The X-15 also needed an engine locking ring.
I spent another (large) chunk of money for the X-15 starter kit, which DID have the nosecone and locking ring.
Fast forward several years, and I decided to ask for help with the 3D printing community, specifically on Craigslist, in the Washington DC area, near Leesburg VA.
I approached several vendors and described my problem, and one got interested. We e-mailed back and forth several times, before meeting in person. “Joseph” was the perfect project manager for this project, as he understood what I was trying to do, had a little free time to do it, and had the equipment and expertise.
Further, he had some curiosity about rocketry, and handled my rocketry rants and rambles with aplomb.
As I did not need these parts any time soon, we agreed he would be working on this project when not doing more lucrative work. We agreed that there was no rush, and this arrangement worked well for both of us. If he had a question, it wasn’t a problem if I got back to him at the end of the work day, or vice versa.
The original plan was to use a 3D scanner to make a mesh of the source parts, then feed those straight into the 3D printer. This was not to be.
The first issue was that the source Stealth n/c is painted a glossy olive, with a canopy of gloss black (some of which peeled), and the 3D scanner didn’t like these colors. I’m sure Joseph scanned the part several times, but the process of turning the mesh into a 3D design was fraught with errors, and we finally had to resort to a backup plan.
Joseph proposed bypassing the scanning, and using the source nosecone for direct dimensions, to be entered into the model.
(On a side note, the 3D printing process generally involves creating a model, digitally “slicing” the model into layers which get put into a print file, then sending the print file to a 3D printer which then starts the laborious process of printing the part. Depending on the size and fidelity required, printing can take several hours.)
After a week or so, Joseph and I met up again to review the parts. The Stealth nosecone was complete, and, while not an exact match, was certainly close enough for my needs.
The X-15 needed more work. The nosecone was the wrong size.
And we discovered that the locking ring flange of the target X-15 body had been damaged, and would not accept the locking ring. (The mystery becomes clear – the ring was probably glued in by accident, and the rear body was damaged when it was removed and discarded.)
I ask Joseph if he could make a new rear body flange to catch the locking ring, and he said “no-problem”. Gotta love helpful and friendly folk.
We met up again a few days later, and the new X-15 parts were done. The nosecone is pretty good, and the locking ring and flange should be up to the job.
The final bill was a little over $200, and the time required was about 5 weeks.
Now all that’s left to do is assemble, paint, and fly!
