rstaff3
Oddroc-eteer
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2009
- Messages
- 11,763
- Reaction score
- 44
I immediately fell in love with the Estes BLU-97B cluster bomb when I first saw the promo ads. Carl was good enough to hook me up with a kit 
and since I liked Carl's 24mm upgrade I did one of my own. The review is pending on EMRR.
With the success of may last Quaker Oats rocket, the Fat Oat Cholesterol Buster, I decided that a semi-scale version based on two 5" bins would provide a nice flight on Gs.
My first step was to start the cone. (pics in following posts) I found that a 2" slab of pink sytrofoam is pretty close to the right thickness for the upscale. I used my Rotozip to rough out a cut for the cone itself and a shoulder section. The cut is way to shallow, but its a perfect circle. I made each cut a little big so that I could use the cut as a guide to rough out the disk using a hand saw. Once the cone section was cut out, I epoxied a bolt into the hole instead of a dowel. A metal bolt works perfectly and I will eventually need to weight the nose anyway. When the glue set, I used a hand file to even the circle up a bit, and then placed it in a drill clamped to a vise, and finished shaping it with several grades of sandpaper.
To extend the cone slightly, I cut a 3/4" circle from the bottom an oat bin. This thickness is not perfectly to scale but I could follow the pattern on the bin most of the way around which simplified the marking a bit. I glued this to the bottom of the cone. The came filling with F-'n-F, sanding on the drill, more filling, etc.
The 'nipple' portion of a cone is a plastic cap from something (it's been laying around too long for me to remember what). It is pretty close to the right shape is close to scale (its actually a little too big). I carefully marked where it should go using the head of the bolt as a reference. I cut a slit and slowly worked the cap into the styrofoam.
Next, I coated the cone (without the plastic insert) with a layer of West epoxy, and used some of the epoxy to reinforce the inside of the cardboard extension. Then more sanding on the drill, mostly to knock down the drips that formed at the tip. The plastic insert was glued in and I went into the final filling/sanding/ priming/sanding processes.
The shoulder is a foam disc encircled with a piece of an oat bin. I will not be assembling these two sections until I decide on how I will add ballast. I am thinking about a piece of 24mm tubing extending through the shoulder and into the cone, encricling the bolt in the latter. Lead shot, a long eyebolt, and epoxy will come into play, I'm sure.
This series of posts will probably we the last for a while. Construction is currently being held up by my rate of oatmeal consumption.
First, here is the pic of the rocket that motivated me to use oat bins.
and since I liked Carl's 24mm upgrade I did one of my own. The review is pending on EMRR.With the success of may last Quaker Oats rocket, the Fat Oat Cholesterol Buster, I decided that a semi-scale version based on two 5" bins would provide a nice flight on Gs.
My first step was to start the cone. (pics in following posts) I found that a 2" slab of pink sytrofoam is pretty close to the right thickness for the upscale. I used my Rotozip to rough out a cut for the cone itself and a shoulder section. The cut is way to shallow, but its a perfect circle. I made each cut a little big so that I could use the cut as a guide to rough out the disk using a hand saw. Once the cone section was cut out, I epoxied a bolt into the hole instead of a dowel. A metal bolt works perfectly and I will eventually need to weight the nose anyway. When the glue set, I used a hand file to even the circle up a bit, and then placed it in a drill clamped to a vise, and finished shaping it with several grades of sandpaper.
To extend the cone slightly, I cut a 3/4" circle from the bottom an oat bin. This thickness is not perfectly to scale but I could follow the pattern on the bin most of the way around which simplified the marking a bit. I glued this to the bottom of the cone. The came filling with F-'n-F, sanding on the drill, more filling, etc.
The 'nipple' portion of a cone is a plastic cap from something (it's been laying around too long for me to remember what). It is pretty close to the right shape is close to scale (its actually a little too big). I carefully marked where it should go using the head of the bolt as a reference. I cut a slit and slowly worked the cap into the styrofoam.
Next, I coated the cone (without the plastic insert) with a layer of West epoxy, and used some of the epoxy to reinforce the inside of the cardboard extension. Then more sanding on the drill, mostly to knock down the drips that formed at the tip. The plastic insert was glued in and I went into the final filling/sanding/ priming/sanding processes.
The shoulder is a foam disc encircled with a piece of an oat bin. I will not be assembling these two sections until I decide on how I will add ballast. I am thinking about a piece of 24mm tubing extending through the shoulder and into the cone, encricling the bolt in the latter. Lead shot, a long eyebolt, and epoxy will come into play, I'm sure.
This series of posts will probably we the last for a while. Construction is currently being held up by my rate of oatmeal consumption.
First, here is the pic of the rocket that motivated me to use oat bins.
