Binge Build: A Motley Mix of Motor Mounts !

 This part of the build focuses on building up the motor mounts for each of the selected model rockets.

Here is a group pic of all the completed mounts:

Mounts that use the (flimsy) paper rings have been reinforced with balsa support vanes to prevent them from flexing under thrust forces.

For the BT-60 sized birds (Big Bertha and Esam-58), I went with some longer BT-20 stuffer tubes.

One further modification to the Big Daddy mount involves building the motor tube to accommodate the longer E- motors.

For a couple of these mounts, I didn't have enough centering rings in my parts stash, so I cut some out of 1/16 basswood. 

Additionally, a lack of enough stock engine hooks meant that I had to fashion a couple out of old windshield wiper springs.

Sometime in the recent past, I must have raided the kit pile to purloin some of these parts for other scratch-built models.

Oops, yet another motor mount modification: 

It seems that, at some point in time, I lost the inner motor retainer ring that came with the ESAM-58 kit.  So, this mount gets the normal motor hook, instead.

"Hey, BlastFromThePast, you said you were starting six new kits. How come the photo shows seven motor mounts?"

Very astute observation.

The short answer:  I am modifying the Quest Icarus build considerably.  The shorter 35mm tube, instead of being a payload  section, is being built as a 24mm motor booster stage.   The Icarus will share the Big Rage's payload section with that model. Awhile back, I lost the Big Rage "Nike Smoke" nose cone, and ended up stealing the nose from the Icarus kit to replace it.

Confused?  Me, too...

In the near future, I intend to send off an order to Quest that will include a new Nike Smoke nose cone and a 35mm tube, so I can straighten out the mess and restore both birds to their original form.

For the Icarus booster, I had intended to cut centering rings out of basswood, but I have since discovered that an Estes BT -55 fits snugly inside of the Icarus' 35mm tube. I can now make the components by gluing Estes 50-55 rings into short lengths of BT-55. A very convenient and time-saving work-around.

Here is the tube-cutting process I use:

A shop-built "Kuhn Cutter" made from some Home Depot paint stir sticks makes for some precision cuts for the two centering ring BT-55 extensions.  This particular tube came from a Cherokee-E kit in damaged condition, so it's perfect for cutting up into shorter useful parts.

This is the finished motor mount, now ready to plug into the Icarus booster.

Next step: Gluing 'em all into the airframes.

More to come...

Binge Build - A Substantial Stack of Shape-Sanded Fins

This step of the great rocket building caper involves the formidable task of sanding the myriad fins.

First, all of the edges get squared up, and laser/die cut marks removed.  

My standard method of operation for this involves clamping a sanding block vertically in the shop woodworking vise.  A sheet of plate glass provides a great bearing surface to slide the balsa stock back and forth against the block.  This results in a perfect ninety degree edge on all surfaces.

The beverage shown is an additional essential requirement for this operation.

Tip:  This is also a very efficient method for gang sanding stacked hand-cut fins so that they are of identical shape and size.  I followed this procedure for the set of Big Bertha fins.

Next, a medium grit sanding block is used to round the leading and trailing edges of all the fins.

Finally, the components get a once-over with 400 grit sandpaper to smooth things out.

Here are all of the completed fins for six model rockets ready for assembly:

Moving on....

And Now Some News From The Ends Of The Earth ....

 Some of you may have already seen this on the JimZ website, but I just ran across it.

This is quite amusing.

http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/estes/estfeo.pdf

This is not a direct link to the pdf. If you cut and paste the above into the URL bar, it'll get you there.

Also be aware that JimZ is not a secure site.

More proof that the Flat Earth movement is becoming increasingly popular around the globe!

Perhaps I should add this to the model build queue.  It's a model rocket and a CP cutout all in one.

Cheers!

Binge Build: A Bevy of Body Tubes!

 Here are the body tubes of this multi-rocket simul-build - spiral seams filled and sanded.

 More to come....

Binge Build: A Flock Of Fins!

Last evening was spent in removing the fins for six different kits from the balsa stock sheets.

Of course, the Big Bertha fins, being part of a scratch build, were cut the old school way with a pattern tracing on blank stock.

The Quest Icarus and Estes Big Daddy kits are of 1990s vintage, so the fins are removed from die-crushed sheets.

The rest are laser cut fins.

Here is the stack of raw fins:

This kind of reminds me of the number of balsa pieces labored over in my recent Orbital Transport build!

Next step is, of course, shape sanding.

While I was at it, I traced out pattern sheets of all these fins on Manila folder stock for future reference.  That's a good practice, in case one ever needs to replace a broken fin, do a rebuild, or build an upscale.

Cheers!

The Great End-Of-Year Binge-Build !

 Just last night, while I was tinkering around in the workshop, I realized that my rocket-building output has been exceedingly dismal this past year.  So far, in 2021, I've only eked out three new model rockets!

 And even these these were all mostly done in 2020 up to the point of painting and decaling.

Then I looked at all the un-built kits languishing in the model cabinet.  Many of these have been hanging out there for two or more years.

So, I have resolved to pull a number of these kits out and do parallel builds on them.

"Simultaneously at the same time!"

My goal is to get them all completed by December 31st.

Realistically, I might not hit that target date.  Since colder weather is coming upon us, getting them all painted in time could become an issue, but I will give it the ol' college try.

The kits that are part of this great venture include the following:

* Big Bertha.  (This one will actually be a scratch build. I have all the parts on hand.)

* Nike-X

* Quest Icarus

* Crossfire ISX

* Esam-58

*Big Daddy

* Interceptor (This one is well into the build process already, having been started last Spring)

* Steampunk Protostar  (This long-suffering project will now be seen through to completion!  Promise!)

This odyssey will be very reminiscent of the old days, when I would have up to a dozen contest birds in simultaneous builds in preparation for upcoming NAR events, amidst a short time window to get them done.

Blog posts on this new endeavor will by no means consist of  detailed construction notes, rather it will be a regular series of progress reports adorned with photos.

Time to get crackin'.....

Pics From The October 1 Video Cam Flight

 Back on October 1st, I flew another keychain video camera mission at Dove Valley Park in Centennial, Colorado.

The camera was strapped to a Quest Big Rage model rocket flying on a C6-5 motor.

Here are some of the more interesting still frames I pulled off of the flight video:

1. A view of the launch area just after motor burnout.  A group of BARs and their range prep areas are visible.

2. This is a view of the intersection at the northwest corner of the park: 

3.  An aerial view of one of the park facilities:

4. Another shot of the same intersection as above, only this time while the model was descending under parachute:

5. A random view of the north-bordering boulevard:

6.  The model drifted back in very near to the launch pad area.  In the process the video picked up some shots of the other rocketeers in the vicinity.   This is Jim Gazur engaged in some prep work.  His Soviet N1 Moon Rocket model can be seen nearby on the launch pad:

7.  This is Mike Goss, taking time out to watch the Big Rage's return:

Seconds later, my voice can be heard on the camera's audio:

"Geez, I just missed it!!"  

This was in reference to my failed attempt to catch the model in mid-air.

I have really been enjoying flying this vid cam.  Kind of reminds me of the old days when I used to fly Cinerocs.  These new-fangled keychain cams and their associated digital processing procedures are far easier than fussing and tinkering with reel motors, pulleys, mirrors, and 8mm film packs!