Thanks for the tip!
Working on three rockets at a time - waiting for stuff to dry - live and learn
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Thanks for the tip!
Can't have too many rockets underway! I insist on launching mine and that eventually takes a toll on them either wear and tear or breakage or loss. Plus eventually you get tired of launching the same thing and you want something new. Which reminds me I only have one waiting to be built so I need to visit the local hobby shop to see what they have in stock.
Once again I have 3 rockets under construction. One waiting for the primer to dry. One waiting on primer and one that needs the fins attached. It's 3am and still 85*. So too hot to paint.
Whoa! Does Estes have any replacement fins for the MAV? I figured they didn't. My son's MAV broke one of the landing leg "disks" off a couple launches ago, and I figured that it would not be feasible to get a replacement. That being said, I did glue on the landing leg rather well so I might not be able to get it off anyways.
I don't know if they sell spares....they didn't used to, but dropping Sandra a note couldn't hurt.
On all the models that use this fin interface, if the instructions tell me to glue them on I just ignore them. The screw-on motor retainer holds the fins in place anyway as it has done since these fin cans and fins first appeared with the Solaris and Red Ryder and Flying Colors and such.
I broke a foot pad off one of my MAV's fins when I dropped the model. I just took the fin off and cemented the pad back on, reinforcing the joint with some heat shrink tubing. So far so good.
I know this is necroposting, but I recently came across 4 separate instances of "let dry" in the first seven steps of the instructions for a model rocket kit I am working on. Yep, just to get the motor mount glued to its centering rings, 4 of the 7 steps require you to "let dry". Don't tell the kids who are getting into the hobby about the "let dry" part. They will just opt to play Fortnite instead...
;-)
;-)
caveduck
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Not even a year old doesn't even begin to compete with some of the necromancy around here 
. But yeah, those instructions...they are that way so that Estes can avoid telling random kids to use anything other than nontoxic wood glue (remembering that Estes products are all officially classified as toys by the CPSC, which imposes a horrendous number of constraints). In reality you can do all that at one go in a couple of minutes using medium CA.
Disclaimer - this was not an attempt to turn this into a glue thread!! Just that the instructions aren't actually the product of a bumblehead. In newer kits you see more use of interlocking plastic and snap-together tactics to make construction quicker and easier.
. But yeah, those instructions...they are that way so that Estes can avoid telling random kids to use anything other than nontoxic wood glue (remembering that Estes products are all officially classified as toys by the CPSC, which imposes a horrendous number of constraints). In reality you can do all that at one go in a couple of minutes using medium CA.Disclaimer - this was not an attempt to turn this into a glue thread!! Just that the instructions aren't actually the product of a bumblehead. In newer kits you see more use of interlocking plastic and snap-together tactics to make construction quicker and easier.
I already have 200 rockets. If I did 3 at a time, I'd have 600 and not enough time to fly them all. If I did, I'd have 3 Catos a week instead of just the one a week.
Why, @Ronz Rocketz , do you feel compelled to have a CATO a week? Is their not some support group you could join?
caveduck
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Looking more closely at those instructions, there are actually two superfluous glue steps. Step 4 is completely unnecessary - you've got a motor hook so the engine block is totally useless unless you think the motor thrust or a ham-fisted 11-year-old is going to bend the hook. And the gluing in step 6 is also not needed; the mylar band ain't going anywhere.
I hear that doctors have a shot for this they can give me.
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All four of those "Let Dry" 's can occur simultaneously. It's not like a coat of paint that HAS to dry before applying another. These are bad instructions.
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Who has time to fly 200?
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If kids used medium CA, they wouldn't be able to do schoolwork for a week with their fingers all cemented together. NOW it is a glue thread...Not even a year old doesn't even begin to compete with some of the necromancy around here
Disclaimer - this was not an attempt to turn this into a glue thread!! Just that the instructions aren't actually the product of a bumblehead. In newer kits you see more use of interlocking plastic and snap-together tactics to make construction quicker and easier.
P.S. Plastic is evil. There are microplastics in your bloodstream today. In the future there will be nano-plastics inside of your cells. If an asteroid or climate change don't extinct us, plastics will...
Is it made by Aerotech?
You have arrived at a fundamental truth: the solution to many (dare I say, "most") problems is to build more rockets. 
You have arrived at a fundamental truth: the solution to many (dare I say, "most") problems is to build more rockets.
Ahh.
So the real rocket equation would determine the minimum number of rockets you should be building at any instant to avoid any down time.
You do not want the forward end of that motor hook being the only thing transferring the thrust load to the rest of the rocket. Those loads absolutely can and will bend the hook and/or pull it through the slot and out of place over time. A CATO can also damage motor hooks even when the rest of the rocket is okay. Having a motor block as a backup for the hook is a good idea.
Spitfire222
I only lawn-darted once
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Following the instructions is all well and good, and I'm the first one to suggest following them because they're there for a reason, but any time I've assembled Estes motor mounts, I've done the glue-up as one step....
If you really want to streamline building, 86 the engine hook and learn how to friction fit motors with masking tape. I do recommend an engine block, but if the motor is friction fitted well enough to prevent motor ejection, thrust will not move it either.
I don't quite get the affinity many seem to have for friction fitting. To me this just seems to substitute a small one-time build step with additional prep effort for every flight. To me that's a bad trade.
caveduck
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For 13/18mm you need neither an engine block nor a hook. Just wrap a layer of good mylar or kapton tape around the rear of the motor tube and a protruding 1/4" or a bit more of the motor. Much better than friction fit. Nearly all competition models are flown this way. Don't use blue masking tape.
Max thrust of a C6 is 14.1 Newtons, per Thrustcurve (a bit over 3 pounds). That will not bend the front of an Estes engine hook. You do need to glue it down and/or glue the front centering ring over it to prevent it from enlarging the slot over time though. I'd probably put in the thrust ring if planning to use the higher thrust C/D Q-Jets.
Max thrust of a C6 is 14.1 Newtons, per Thrustcurve (a bit over 3 pounds). That will not bend the front of an Estes engine hook. You do need to glue it down and/or glue the front centering ring over it to prevent it from enlarging the slot over time though. I'd probably put in the thrust ring if planning to use the higher thrust C/D Q-Jets.
Mostly I fly with 18mm motors, my active fleet is only about 8 rockets with 1 more being built and 3 kits waiting until I decide how I want to change them. I have 3 with 24mm mounts that I launch when I get to launch on a larger field. This doesn't seem like enough because I always seem to be launching the same ones over and over. I need to figure out a way to get geared up for launching MPR, I have 5 of those that haven't been launched in a long time.
Considering the last few I've built, it would seem that I was working on one all day but I was mostly waiting for glue to dry, at the end of the day it didn't seem like I had gotten much done. I need to build 3 at a time. It's my imagination and indecision that is holding me back.
Considering the last few I've built, it would seem that I was working on one all day but I was mostly waiting for glue to dry, at the end of the day it didn't seem like I had gotten much done. I need to build 3 at a time. It's my imagination and indecision that is holding me back.
milehigh
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This is an awesome thread!
Brock, my good man, what have you started here???
I'm going to use this post to explain why I take the time to do a super job on all of my rockets, i.e., filling tube spirals (even on launch lugs), filling wood grain, smoothing/filling plastic parts seams, smooth filleting, etc, etc.
Back in my old fleet days, I built many competition rockets and gliders. These were, of course, designed and built to perform specific functions per what the particular contest event called for. Most were not built for looks. No fancy-schmancy (and heavy) paint jobs. Coloring on the models was often done with permanent markers. No decals - just my NAR number 'markered' on the tube.
In short, most of these 'models' looked like crap! My wife always referred to my rocket shop as 'The Junk Room'! And she was correct, though in my eyes, these models were things of beauty.
Nowadays, my entire perspective ha changed significantly. I no longer do contest rocketry. Instead, I have embraced the craftsmanship aspect of model building, preferring to have a room full of 'show' models that I just happen to fly.
Yep, I know that they get banged up from subjecting them to the rigors of flight, but I still think their worth doing a bang-up job building them.
'At's just me.....
Brock, my good man, what have you started here???
I'm going to use this post to explain why I take the time to do a super job on all of my rockets, i.e., filling tube spirals (even on launch lugs), filling wood grain, smoothing/filling plastic parts seams, smooth filleting, etc, etc.
Back in my old fleet days, I built many competition rockets and gliders. These were, of course, designed and built to perform specific functions per what the particular contest event called for. Most were not built for looks. No fancy-schmancy (and heavy) paint jobs. Coloring on the models was often done with permanent markers. No decals - just my NAR number 'markered' on the tube.
In short, most of these 'models' looked like crap! My wife always referred to my rocket shop as 'The Junk Room'! And she was correct, though in my eyes, these models were things of beauty.
Nowadays, my entire perspective ha changed significantly. I no longer do contest rocketry. Instead, I have embraced the craftsmanship aspect of model building, preferring to have a room full of 'show' models that I just happen to fly.
Yep, I know that they get banged up from subjecting them to the rigors of flight, but I still think their worth doing a bang-up job building them.
'At's just me.....
Usually I unintentionally start glue threads. ;-)
