What did you do rocket wise today?

eggtimer rocketry
Wildman Rocketry
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rharshberger said:
AFAIK o1d_dude the E-4 is the sole remaining Specialist rank in the US ARMY at least in most MOS's.
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You may be right, Rich.

It’s been close to 50 years since I served.

I‘ve heard the the MOS’s have all been changed, too.

No longer are the 11 series used for combat specialties.

“11 Echo? Wassat?”

”Armor Crewman, dude.”

”Nah, man. That’s 19 Kilo these days...”

Years pass like nothing.
 
Joshua F Thomas said:
Some people are in the "it's fine if you can't see it from 10 feet away" category, but that's not me. I like to try to make my models look as high-quality as I can figure out how. The look of the rocket is a huge part of my enjoyment of the sport; I spend far more time on the finishing end then any other part of the build process.
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I'm in the 10' camp (or 6' or something; my mood changes) and I still spend more time on finishing than construction. I think nearly all of us do.

I thought I would paint the body tube first and then sand the fin attachment area down before gluing them on
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Why not mask the gluing area before spraying the tube? You get to paint the tube first and don't have to sand anything off.
Gotta screw up to learn.
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Ayup.

neil_w said:
I use my fingers for most CWF application: slop it on and spread it out. Good for getting a nice smooth coat.
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I still haven't tried the thinned CWF; I don't know what I'm waiting for. I always assumed that for a fin face it would be slopped on then squeegeed off with a hotel key.
 
jqavins said:
I still haven't tried the thinned CWF; I don't know what I'm waiting for. I always assumed that for a fin face it would be slopped on then squeegeed off with a hotel key.
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There are many ways to do it. Lately I just favor fingers for CWF work, except when fine control is required.

I’m also greatly enjoying my little 4 oz tub that I’ve pre-thinned, so it’s always ready to go. Plus the little round plastic tub seals better and keeps moisture in much better than the square tubs.
 
Applied a half-dozen or so decals to the Interceptor E. Messed up one slightly. I don't do them all at once because (A) they're fairly old, and (B) more than once on other models I've messed up a decal just placed, while doing another.
 
I finished this up today. I have spoken.
 

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neil_w said:
There are many ways to do it. Lately I just favor fingers for CWF work, except when fine control is required.

I’m also greatly enjoying my little 4 oz tub that I’ve pre-thinned, so it’s always ready to go. Plus the little round plastic tub seals better and keeps moisture in much better than the square tubs.
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I’ve recently been using bondo glazing putty thinned with denatured alcohol exactly the way I use CWF. I think it adheres better to PETG than CWF does.
 
Skipped a few days of reading Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry 7th Edition." The last chapter covered gliders, which I haven't really used and honestly don't yet have much interest in, so I admittedly skimmed a lot of the chapter. I did learn about the origins of gliders and that the first flown glider sits in the Smithsonian. I also didn't know just how complicated gliding rockets can get. My brain hurt pretty quickly. The next chapter is on "big rockets," which I'm definitely interested in getting to know better.
 
The Neo Mini 13 lives!

I had been able to salvage the nose cone and fins. One fin was re-cut from balsa. I had no 13/18 centering rings, so I improvised: I cut them from used 18mm estes motors. Took a bit of dremel work but seems to have worked out ok.

The metallic aluminum paint isn’t bad.
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I mentioned in a prior post that I lost the sustainer of the Ternion (a 3 stage, D motor scratch build) a couple weeks ago when it did it's imitation of a cruise missile. It never saw it's maiden 3 stage flight as it went "walkies" on it's first 2 stage test flight. The booster landed within several yards of the pad with minor damage on one fin. So with 2 perfectly good 24mm boosters in hand I contemplated building a new sustainer when a perfectly logical thought hit me.

Why build one when I can build two?? :music1:So today I put the final touches on the DC Express and the Return to Sender. The black and blue model is the Return to Sender (so named in honor of the lost 3 stager), 24mm booster and sustainer. The red and white DC Express uses the 24mm booster to an 18mm sustainer. Now I just have to decide if I want to do some decal work or leave them as is. I have to admit that I like the cleaner, non-decal look.
RTS and DCE.jpg
 
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Old School Doug said:
I mentioned in a prior post that I lost the sustainer of the Ternion (a 3 stage, D motor scratch build) a couple weeks ago when it did it's imitation of a cruise missile. It never saw it's maiden 3 stage flight as it went "walkies" on it's first 2 stage test flight. The booster landed within several yards of the pad with minor damage on one fin. So with 2 perfectly good 24mm boosters in hand I contemplated building a new sustainer when a perfectly logical though hit me.

Why build one when I can build two?? :music1:So today I put the final touches on the DC Express and the Return to Sender. The black and blue model is the Return to Sender (so named in honor of the lost 3 stager), 24mm booster and sustainer. The red and white DC Express uses the 24mm booster to an 18mm sustainer. Now I just have to decide if I want to do some decal work or leave them as is. I have to admit that I like the cleaner, non-decal look.
View attachment 428080
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Those are two really nice looking birds! They have a really classic look (dare I say old school?), like they should be sitting on a Moonscape for their catalog pictures. Very nice!

And I like the no decal look too... :cool:
 
I was unable to locate my 29mm forward seal, I guess it got accidentally tossed...:mad: Oh, well, I ordered a replacement from Performance Hobbies along with a couple of motor cases and a small reload. The good part is I'll be picking it up from him at our launch this Saturday. 😄
 
Messed with my Amazon speaker stand launch pad and figured out a way of mounting the launch rail(s).

Turns out I was trying to make things too complicated when the solution was quite simple.

Sometimes it is that way.
 
o1d_dude said:
This shaker is now shammer*-approved.

*Shammer: An Army enlisted specialist who has minimal authority but can make your life miserable if you cross him/her. Wears a rank patch called a “Sham Shield” in E4 through presumably E9 but I’ve never seen one higher than E6. I wore an E4 patch from 7 months in until the “acting jack” sergeant stripes showed up. They don’t hand out hard stripes to two year draftees.

First picture was of me after earning my Sham Shield, The second picture was my “ride” which led to a different assignment...
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Hard to believe we were that young once upon a time. :)
 
neil_w said:
There are many ways to do it. Lately I just favor fingers for CWF work, except when fine control is required.

I’m also greatly enjoying my little 4 oz tub that I’ve pre-thinned, so it’s always ready to go. Plus the little round plastic tub seals better and keeps moisture in much better than the square tubs.
Click to expand...
1597402296408.png
 
Old School Doug said:
So today I put the final touches on the DC Express and the Return to Sender. The black and blue model is the Return to Sender (so named in honor of the lost 3 stager), 24mm booster and sustainer. The red and white DC Express uses the 24mm booster to an 18mm sustainer. Now I just have to decide if I want to do some decal work or leave them as is. I have to admit that I like the cleaner, non-decal look.
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Does either booster fit under the other booster? Your three stage dreams might not be dead!

I like the cleaner look to. Are they too clean? Maybe just some simple stripes or chevrons or something, either decals or paint. Like, say, a half inch or inch wide band of the fin color about half way up the body, or something small and simple like that.
1597405649445.png
 

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