Since the original design was for this bird to land nose first, and I'd replaced the upper section with phenolic, I needed to make it tough enough to handle the landings.
First, I did as was suggested and rigged it for single parachute, with the booster landing well ahead of the rest in order to take the strain off. Still, the phenolic wasn't enough as is.
After filling the spirals with spackle, I wrapped it with 5 layers of self-adhesive vinyl, actually shelving "paper". The adhesive was weak so I first sprayed it with 3M 77 adhesive as I wrapped. (This, with the assistance of the guys from Rocketguts. No way I could spray and wrap this monster with two hands).
Then I got a couple feet of 2" heat shrink tube. I slid it down over the tube and onto the transition as far as I could. I tried using a 1600 watt hair dryer to shrink it but it wasn't enough. I tried that plus a ceramic room heater, and that was enough to trip the circuit breakers. So, I cranked up the broiler in the kitchen oven and did a hand-rotisserie bit with it.
At first it shrank unevenly leaving wrinkles. Then it kept shrinking and got rid of the wrinkles. Finally it started getting bubbles in it where the vinyl underneath started to fume. So, I took it out and let it cool slowly to let the bubbles shrink back.
Finally, I trimmed off the excess at the top, and wicked light CyA around the top of the tube as well as the joint over the transition.
Now, with 1/8" wall of vinyl and rubber over the phenolic, either it's tough enough to handle the landings, or I'll switch to nerf.
No painting started yet. When I do, I'll use appliance epoxy which will add significant weight. As is, it's now at 3 lbs 12.5 ounces. The MMT is 29mm, but it can handle up to 11" of casing, so there's still a few motors it can use. It *might* be able to get up to 500 feet with a G80, or maybe a little more with a G110, but I think my best bet for this bird will be an Ellis H275.
One more thing it needs: rail buttons. > 4 pounds with motor is just too much for 1/4" rod.
