Even with a different ball, ot's a good name.
Zylaxus: a dubious build thread
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lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
Y'know, I do proofread. Honest, I really do.
Decision time.
It remains sad that the orange is so poorly reproduced in the pictures.
It remains sad that the orange is so poorly reproduced in the pictures.
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lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
Orange or Red.
I like Orange. But the randomness of the red is pretty awesome.
Yeah, go with the Red
I'd go almost the same as John. If there were a little more red in the red, I'd agree completely, but for me there's a little too much white. So I remain firmly on the fence.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
Sign me up for team red as well, I think it looks pretty cool!
I vote green (no purple) first, then red. I suspect I might put orange first if I saw it in person.
The orange is insanely bright in person; makes the red look quite dull by comparison. That doesn't necessarily mean it's better, but it sure does stand out.
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
Well, hmmm? Maybe take them outside in natural light and try another photo?
It’s not the light, it’s the ability of the camera + display to reproduce it. I tried quite a bit before I gave up.
The green is also quite bright, but for whatever reason it looks reasonably true-to-life in the picture.
Wing Slots
Cutting the slots for the two wings seems to have gone well. I laid a wing down on the tube to mark where exactly the slots needed to go, then got a-cuttin' with the usual snap-off knife + aluminum angle as guide.
For a change, I got the width of the slots just right on the first try. The fins go in easily but not sloppily.
I used my trusty 220 grit sanding stick to remove the primer and glassine from the fin root areas, along with a bit of clearance on each side for fillets. Afterwords, the fin marks are redrawn. This process is so quick and easy that I no longer bother to mask the fin roots before applying filler/primer.
The hardest part was keeping track of where all the different fin roots are.
Cutting the slots for the two wings seems to have gone well. I laid a wing down on the tube to mark where exactly the slots needed to go, then got a-cuttin' with the usual snap-off knife + aluminum angle as guide.
For a change, I got the width of the slots just right on the first try. The fins go in easily but not sloppily.
I used my trusty 220 grit sanding stick to remove the primer and glassine from the fin root areas, along with a bit of clearance on each side for fillets. Afterwords, the fin marks are redrawn. This process is so quick and easy that I no longer bother to mask the fin roots before applying filler/primer.
The hardest part was keeping track of where all the different fin roots are.
Nose Cone
In my previous post about applying CA and CWF to my nose cone, I mentioned how much trouble I have with the process. Here's what the nose cone looked like after applying filler/primer; the pronounced non-uniformity of the surface shows up very clearly:
After sanding you can see the patterns of where the filler/primer is still left in the longitudinal troughs (plus the general mess near the shoulder):
It could probably benefit from another coat of filler/primer, but it would be diminishing returns so I won't bother. It's already *much* better than before. Filler/primer is great stuff, even if sanding it is an annoying dust festival.
In my previous post about applying CA and CWF to my nose cone, I mentioned how much trouble I have with the process. Here's what the nose cone looked like after applying filler/primer; the pronounced non-uniformity of the surface shows up very clearly:
After sanding you can see the patterns of where the filler/primer is still left in the longitudinal troughs (plus the general mess near the shoulder):
It could probably benefit from another coat of filler/primer, but it would be diminishing returns so I won't bother. It's already *much* better than before. Filler/primer is great stuff, even if sanding it is an annoying dust festival.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
That’s my favorite part, it always smells nice for a day or two after.
Final Pre-assembly steps
Important note: everything in this post is dry fit only.
I should have checked this earlier, in case I calculated wrong and needed to make an adjustment. Fortunately, it looks like I got it about right (although the span of the cage piece is just a *bit* to wide, I can live with it.)
Pulled out the Vallejo black and brush-painted the rings alongside the ball, and the tube where the edge of the ball will be, because once it's together I won't have good access there, and I don't want any stray bits of white peeking through.
It looks pretty good with the ball in place.
Now I'm kind of liking the look of the green ball.
Seriously though, it's really truly decision time now. I may end up flipping a coin. The brightness of the orange (or green) is a real draw for me, although I like the look of the red it's very dull in comparison.
I can possibly delay the decision just a bit longer by mounting the launch lugs first. Two small lugs will go on the underside of a wing, like so. It'll probably be ever so slightly easier to put them on before mounting the wing.
Important note: everything in this post is dry fit only.
I should have checked this earlier, in case I calculated wrong and needed to make an adjustment. Fortunately, it looks like I got it about right (although the span of the cage piece is just a *bit* to wide, I can live with it.)
Pulled out the Vallejo black and brush-painted the rings alongside the ball, and the tube where the edge of the ball will be, because once it's together I won't have good access there, and I don't want any stray bits of white peeking through.
It looks pretty good with the ball in place.
Now I'm kind of liking the look of the green ball.
Seriously though, it's really truly decision time now. I may end up flipping a coin. The brightness of the orange (or green) is a real draw for me, although I like the look of the red it's very dull in comparison.I can possibly delay the decision just a bit longer by mounting the launch lugs first. Two small lugs will go on the underside of a wing, like so. It'll probably be ever so slightly easier to put them on before mounting the wing.
And the winner is... Mr. Orange. I actually did a fair coin flip to make the final decision. I drew an extra set of purple lines down the center of the white areas to give it a little more umph. I don't know if it made it better or not but it is what it is. It certainly looks like... well, something.
Sorry to @NTP2 for not using your hydro-dipped ball, ultimately I couldn't resist the siren song of the fluorescent paint. Thanks again for your efforts, hopefully you got something out of it.
If anyone wants to build one of these (ha!) I have a couple of painted ping pong balls I could supply.
Anyway: I glued the centering rings to the top of the mount, trapping the ball (which I didn't bother to glue, it's not going anywhere). I attached the Kevlar to the top of the mount, and followed the lead of the last Newway kit I built and put some heat-shrink tubing on the lower portion of the Kevlar to give it a bit of extra protection.
Assembly can now commence.
Sorry to @NTP2 for not using your hydro-dipped ball, ultimately I couldn't resist the siren song of the fluorescent paint. Thanks again for your efforts, hopefully you got something out of it.
If anyone wants to build one of these (ha!) I have a couple of painted ping pong balls I could supply.
Anyway: I glued the centering rings to the top of the mount, trapping the ball (which I didn't bother to glue, it's not going anywhere). I attached the Kevlar to the top of the mount, and followed the lead of the last Newway kit I built and put some heat-shrink tubing on the lower portion of the Kevlar to give it a bit of extra protection.
Assembly can now commence.
NTP2
Well-Known Member
It’s fine, someday I might do a entire rocket in it..
Ps I at least got as far as the final round!
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lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
And the winner is... Mr. Orange. I actually did a fair coin flip to make the final decision. I drew an extra set of purple lines down the center of the white areas to give it a little more umph. I don't know if it made it better or not but it is what it is. It certainly looks like... well, something.
Sorry to @NTP2 for not using your hydro-dipped ball, ultimately I couldn't resist the siren song of the fluorescent paint. Thanks again for your efforts, hopefully you got something out of it.
If anyone wants to build one of these (ha!) I have a couple of painted ping pong balls I could supply.
Anyway: I glued the centering rings to the top of the mount, trapping the ball (which I didn't bother to glue, it's not going anywhere). I attached the Kevlar to the top of the mount, and followed the lead of the last Newway kit I built and put some heat-shrink tubing on the lower portion of the Kevlar to give it a bit of extra protection.
View attachment 634673
Assembly can now commence.
Wow... that orange really Pops! (Just yanking your chain).
Looking good Neal... you're a Master Builder for sure..
If by "Master" you mean "Slow and Indecisive", then yes.
And now the airframe is assembled. Wave goodbye to the plasma ball, because it's about to be wrapped up in masking for the remainder of the build.
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
Will the tape pull off the paint? 
Might want to wrap it in a plastic sandwich bag or something along those lines.
Great minds think alike... that is my exact plan.Will the tape pull off the paint?Might want to wrap it in a plastic sandwich bag or something along those lines.
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
Great minds think alike... that is my exact plan.
Reminds me of a jingle: "Don't just bag it... bag it, with Baggies"
Masking Madness
Suggestion: don't ever build a rocket like this.
So I went to mask the ball. Figured I'd start with a wrap of plastic and then tape down the edges and tape over the whole thing.
Yeah, no. The slippery plastic was completely unmanageable, and there was no way in hell I was going to be able to get in the nooks and crannies on each side.
I thought long and hard about it and eventually decided that what I needed was to make a cardstock rocketry project out of this. Fortunately it came out a bit simpler than I was fearing.
I started with a transition on either edge. Tabs were on either side to aid with taping.
I did not get the right edge in the picture to nestle in there like I wanted it to. Just couldn't make it happen. The left side looks decent though.
Then I wrapped a piece of cardstock over the top and taped the hell out of the whole thing.
There is probably going to be leakage at the edges and I will definitely need to touch-up the black later on but at this point it's going to have to be good enough. In the end, no tape is touching the ball, which is what I wanted.
Sheesh.
Suggestion: don't ever build a rocket like this.
So I went to mask the ball. Figured I'd start with a wrap of plastic and then tape down the edges and tape over the whole thing.
Yeah, no. The slippery plastic was completely unmanageable, and there was no way in hell I was going to be able to get in the nooks and crannies on each side.
I thought long and hard about it and eventually decided that what I needed was to make a cardstock rocketry project out of this. Fortunately it came out a bit simpler than I was fearing.
I started with a transition on either edge. Tabs were on either side to aid with taping.
I did not get the right edge in the picture to nestle in there like I wanted it to. Just couldn't make it happen. The left side looks decent though.
Then I wrapped a piece of cardstock over the top and taped the hell out of the whole thing.
There is probably going to be leakage at the edges and I will definitely need to touch-up the black later on but at this point it's going to have to be good enough. In the end, no tape is touching the ball, which is what I wanted.
Sheesh.
It'll be fun getting all that out between the cage pieces.
I'm trying not to think about that part. My tweezers are preparing for the challenge.
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