Tips for building the skywriter

[SaTuRn x]

hi guys could any one give me some tips on building the skywriter

thanx

 

[cls]

ummm, use glue?

seriously: when you glue the two body tubes together, roll the assembly a few times back and forth on a flat surface like a table. this will help them line up straight.

 

[Fore Check]

I honestly don't remember - I built mine in about 30 min. using thick CA glue while watching a hockey game.

 

[limd21]

I love this kit and it is very straightforward to build. There's just not a lot to go wrong.

The hard part about this kit was doing the "matching" scratchbuild crayon rocket. To a 4yr old, you can't have a pencil and not have a crayon! That one has a hand-turned nose cone, custom-made "Crayola" graphics done on a computer, a "Clifford The Big Red Dog" mylar parachute and, needless to say, a bunch of TLC.

 

[gpoehlein]

Buy two or three (especially if you have a Hobby Lobby, the next time they have a 1/2 price sale). Download and print out the following canopy from Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe:

https://www.rocketshoppe.com/info/PNC50SP.pdf

If you build the canopy out of cardstock and use CA glue to glue it to the Skywriter nose cone, you will have the same nose used in the Soaring Eagle, Falcon Commander, Starhawk and Argosy.

I found that if you soak the canopy with CA, let it dry and then add a second coat to the outside, you can sand it with a fine grain sandpaper and it will be just like plastic - just as tough as the cone.

Greg

 

[teflonrocketry1]

I recently helped my youngest son build one of those. The only problem he had with it was that the coupler for the two tubes was slightly oversized, (it fit very tightly in the tubes). So I showed him how to peel the outer layers off to thin it down and give a better fit. He assembled the entire kit and put on the decal in a few hours while watching television.

Bruce S. Levison, NAR #69055

 

[radiO]

how old is he? i'm thinking about getting a kit for my cousin who is 7.

 

[TheRadiator]

1) Use thick CA instead of plastic model glue for the fin unit
2) Stock yellow BTs are weak, consider replacing with standard brown or white BT and paint
3) Also consider a kevlar shock cord system. (Just a personal preference of mine)

 

[teflonrocketry1]

Originally posted by radiO
how old is he? i'm thinking about getting a kit for my cousin who is 7.

My youngest son is 14; the Skywriter was his third rocket after the Estes Wizard and Custom Razor.

The body tubes are a bit thin on the Skywriter but he managed to build it all by himself with little help from me.

Bruce S. Levison, NAR #69055

 

[gerbs4me]

yea, those yellow BT are weak, I need to make a new NC for mine, NC flew off at apogee

 

[GlennW]

I have not had any probs with mine, built it in no time, and has seen some great flights so far, hoping to fly this weekend if we don't get rained out for once. I usually only do scale like stuff nowadays, but my son really wanted this one.

This thread is a little odd. I mean, do you really need tips for building this thing? It's practically ready to fly. I could see if this was tips for building say, the Saturn V, but the pencil is an EX, not even skill level 1!

GL