Winston
Lorenzo von Matterhorn
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2009
- Messages
- 9,560
- Reaction score
- 1,749
The actual missile looks pretty cool, so I think this 4" OD semi-scale version naturally does, too. Someone should make a kit of it. This one is meant to use a 3-grain Cesaroni case which can provide up to H total impulse. Positive motor retention is accomplished with one of the Estes 29mm retainers which is well recessed in the base to prevent ground impact damage.
I cut the base of the nosecone off to allow more room for recovery components and attached the 9/16" tubular nylon shock cord with a longitudinal string of four aluminum pop rivets with appropriate ID washers riveted in place inside on top of the shock cord, the holes in the shock cord having been created using an old soldering iron.
For the heck of it, I did an adhesive adhesion test on the base of the nose cone that I'd cut off and got pretty much the results I had expected. I washed the plastic with dish soap and water, then ground the surface rough with a Dremel. On that surface I put two pools of adhesive, one of 30-minute epoxy, the other of Gorilla Glue with a few drops of water added and the mix kneaded within the saran wrap bubble that held it, then applied.
After cure, the plastic was flexed. The epoxy popped right off but the Gorilla Glue had to be pried off with difficulty with a flat blade screwdriver, some of it remaining adhered to the plastic indicating to me that is was more a failure of the cured Gorilla Glue foam than of the surface adhesion joint.
I cut the base of the nosecone off to allow more room for recovery components and attached the 9/16" tubular nylon shock cord with a longitudinal string of four aluminum pop rivets with appropriate ID washers riveted in place inside on top of the shock cord, the holes in the shock cord having been created using an old soldering iron.
For the heck of it, I did an adhesive adhesion test on the base of the nose cone that I'd cut off and got pretty much the results I had expected. I washed the plastic with dish soap and water, then ground the surface rough with a Dremel. On that surface I put two pools of adhesive, one of 30-minute epoxy, the other of Gorilla Glue with a few drops of water added and the mix kneaded within the saran wrap bubble that held it, then applied.
After cure, the plastic was flexed. The epoxy popped right off but the Gorilla Glue had to be pried off with difficulty with a flat blade screwdriver, some of it remaining adhered to the plastic indicating to me that is was more a failure of the cured Gorilla Glue foam than of the surface adhesion joint.
