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Friday, March 15, 2024

Artemis I, Part 7 - Constructing The SRBs

 With the core rocket assembled, it's time to turn my attention to the model's two SRBs.

These will be powered by A10 plugged motors, so the mounts will be fairly straight forward, and modification of the kit plastic parts will be relatively simple.

The first order of business is to fire up the Dremel and remove the plastic alignment pins and sockets at the aft ends of the SRB halves.

Building the motor mounts

Here I will be using the two-inch sections of BT-5 that were cut to length earlier. These each get a motor block glued in, spaced so that the motor casings will be flush with the SRB nozzle details. I am foregoing use of the music wire retainers, as the plugged motors won't have much of a kick-back. They may however, get friction taped in to prevent the casings from ejecting as the core motor continues thrusting.

I found that I was out of stock on manufactured BT-5 sized motor blocks, so a couple of spent casings, a razor saw, and a bench hook remedied that problem.. 

Why I save cereal boxes...

They come in handy for making some scratch-built rocket parts.

In this case, pieces cut from a box panel are the perfect thickness for fashioning the required centering rings.

Glue-up time...

As with the core rocket assembly, I am using 30-minute epoxy to install the motor mounts.

Then working quickly with more epoxy and the required amounts of plastic cement, the SRB halves are pressed together and secured with rubber bands.

Oh, and must not forget the tiny SRB nose cones...

More to come!