dragonshiprider
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Hey all! Here is the article(?) about all of the stuff I've been doing lately that I stated i would post.I am hoping that this section is the right one to post it at since it does cover a lot of build stuff.It's also rather long and a bit winded so i'll post it in three different parts.No idea why but it just seems appropriate.
Hey all! Russ here again.The following is a summary of the projects that I have going on right now as well as a few ideas i'm tossing around.No other reason then just for the sake of writing it.
I may as well start with what I have been working on for the last couple of days.My Estes Omega two-stager clone.I had already started on this one a while back but ran into a minor screw up so I decided to just start over.This bird is a rather old Estes design that uses BT-60 tubes and an AH-60 nose cone.Most of my stuff is from BMS but the upper stage tube is from Estes.The reason for this is because I had already assembled the upper airframe just like the original.That's with a 14" tube coupled to a 5" tube.I had originally thought it looked pretty nice.However,when I was doing some final sanding on it in prep for fin attachment I noticed that it didn't look exactly right.Well I went ahead and stuck the ol' carpenters edge on it and sure enough it was out on the end by about 1/16th of an inch.Most people wouldn't blink at that but I could tell it and I just couldn't go with a crooked rocket.So at NARAM I picked up an 18" section of BT-60 from Ken at Performance Hobbies and proceeded to go with that sans that extra inch of tube.I also forgot to mention that this one will have no payload section either.
This rocket will also be John Deere yellow with a black cone.The areas that are composed of decals on the original will be painted on by me.First the whole thing will be painted John Deere yellow and then the outer part of the graphics will be masked and painted Rustoleun gloss red followed by Rustoleum glossy black for the inner part.This should come out looking really cool.
I just got done masking,pouring,waiting for and then unmasking the last two fillets on the upper stage just while ago.They all came out perfect.I think that this and my now deceased Forte' where the only two that I've ever built that didn't have some sort of imperfection in the fillets that needed filling.Most of the time they still come out looking great though.Just so y'all will know;I use epoxy for just about everything.I'll take the extra strength any day.Now if I can just get the booster to come out as nicely as the sustainer I'll be good to go.I'll probably tack the fins onto that this evening.
The next one that I'll go into is one that I've been wanting to do for some time now.Years actually.This is my 29 mm Really Really Mean Machine.I have had my stock Mean Machine for several years now and I've often thought that this bird would look awesome on an F or G sized colum of Black Jack smoke so I finally set out to build one.At first I was gonna modify a stock version until I got to looking around on the web site of BMS and realized that it would be cheaper to just build it all from their stuff.Well that's what I did.This Mean Machine is anything but stock,however.First off since my original has had it's tube shortened to 53" due to an unfortunate encounter with a door jamb that's what I did here as well.Besides that this one also got a 29 mm mount almost the complete length of the BT.It stops just 8" short.Just enough room for the recovery system.Reenforcing the rocket along it length are eight fiber centering rings.Topping all of that off the fins are 3/32 Basswood cut so that the entire root edge is one long tab.They are mounted through the wall and are attached directly to the motor mount.The way that I made my slots was a bit of a short cut.Instead of marking out the whole area of the slot what I did instead was simple mark out the centerline as per any other fin.I then used a 3/32 inch drill bit held in my hand to drill holes closely spaced all along the length of the slot.Once that was done I then used a hobby knife to trim out the excess followes by a bit of sanding.
The fillets,as well as the rest of the rocket,are made/ attached with 90 minute epoxy.Right now the bird is basically done except for some minor filling and finishing.She will be topped off with a top coat of Rustoleum Glossy Black over a base of Krylon white primer.I already have a set of Really Really Mean Machine decals which where made for me by Phred at Excelsior Rocketry.As usual they look great.Unlike the originals they are red in color.Now if I can just keep from messing them up.
Hey all! Russ here again.The following is a summary of the projects that I have going on right now as well as a few ideas i'm tossing around.No other reason then just for the sake of writing it.
I may as well start with what I have been working on for the last couple of days.My Estes Omega two-stager clone.I had already started on this one a while back but ran into a minor screw up so I decided to just start over.This bird is a rather old Estes design that uses BT-60 tubes and an AH-60 nose cone.Most of my stuff is from BMS but the upper stage tube is from Estes.The reason for this is because I had already assembled the upper airframe just like the original.That's with a 14" tube coupled to a 5" tube.I had originally thought it looked pretty nice.However,when I was doing some final sanding on it in prep for fin attachment I noticed that it didn't look exactly right.Well I went ahead and stuck the ol' carpenters edge on it and sure enough it was out on the end by about 1/16th of an inch.Most people wouldn't blink at that but I could tell it and I just couldn't go with a crooked rocket.So at NARAM I picked up an 18" section of BT-60 from Ken at Performance Hobbies and proceeded to go with that sans that extra inch of tube.I also forgot to mention that this one will have no payload section either.
This rocket will also be John Deere yellow with a black cone.The areas that are composed of decals on the original will be painted on by me.First the whole thing will be painted John Deere yellow and then the outer part of the graphics will be masked and painted Rustoleun gloss red followed by Rustoleum glossy black for the inner part.This should come out looking really cool.
I just got done masking,pouring,waiting for and then unmasking the last two fillets on the upper stage just while ago.They all came out perfect.I think that this and my now deceased Forte' where the only two that I've ever built that didn't have some sort of imperfection in the fillets that needed filling.Most of the time they still come out looking great though.Just so y'all will know;I use epoxy for just about everything.I'll take the extra strength any day.Now if I can just get the booster to come out as nicely as the sustainer I'll be good to go.I'll probably tack the fins onto that this evening.
The next one that I'll go into is one that I've been wanting to do for some time now.Years actually.This is my 29 mm Really Really Mean Machine.I have had my stock Mean Machine for several years now and I've often thought that this bird would look awesome on an F or G sized colum of Black Jack smoke so I finally set out to build one.At first I was gonna modify a stock version until I got to looking around on the web site of BMS and realized that it would be cheaper to just build it all from their stuff.Well that's what I did.This Mean Machine is anything but stock,however.First off since my original has had it's tube shortened to 53" due to an unfortunate encounter with a door jamb that's what I did here as well.Besides that this one also got a 29 mm mount almost the complete length of the BT.It stops just 8" short.Just enough room for the recovery system.Reenforcing the rocket along it length are eight fiber centering rings.Topping all of that off the fins are 3/32 Basswood cut so that the entire root edge is one long tab.They are mounted through the wall and are attached directly to the motor mount.The way that I made my slots was a bit of a short cut.Instead of marking out the whole area of the slot what I did instead was simple mark out the centerline as per any other fin.I then used a 3/32 inch drill bit held in my hand to drill holes closely spaced all along the length of the slot.Once that was done I then used a hobby knife to trim out the excess followes by a bit of sanding.
The fillets,as well as the rest of the rocket,are made/ attached with 90 minute epoxy.Right now the bird is basically done except for some minor filling and finishing.She will be topped off with a top coat of Rustoleum Glossy Black over a base of Krylon white primer.I already have a set of Really Really Mean Machine decals which where made for me by Phred at Excelsior Rocketry.As usual they look great.Unlike the originals they are red in color.Now if I can just keep from messing them up.