Phew! Back In Business In Castle Rock!

I just received an e-mail from the Fire Prevention Officer at Castle Rock Fire & Rescue.
After researching the Municipal Ordinances and Regulations, he found that model rockets are permissible if there are no Stage 1 or 2 Fire Restrictions in effect.
Yippee!!

Drat!...Lost My Castle Rock Launch Site

I just learned that the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado had recently re-drafted their Municipal Ordinance.  One of the changes specifically prohibits the launch of model rockets within city limits.
This means I lost the use of that really nice B-engine field adjacent to the high school, that is a mere half-mile from my house.
Bummer!
Oh, well, I can at least still use the field to hand launch all of my gliders for glide trimming....

An amendment to this post... Maybe all is not lost. I contacted the Castle Rock fire department, and received an email which spells out model rockets not being permissible during stage 1 or higher fire danger, which the area is under right now. I sent an email response asking if rockets are permissible at times there are no restrictions in place.  Still awaiting a reply.

MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 18 - The Final Decals

This morning, I was up at 4 a.m. merrily affixing the final decal to one of the gliders.  This is a remake of the same decal I hopelessly muffed up on a week ago, and had to discard.  This time things went very smoothly.

I also managed to apply some CA to the end of the booster tube, and get the shock cord and mount glued in place.
All that remains on this build is to apply some sealant over the decals, shoot a finish coat of black paint on the glider noses, take the gliders out to a nearby field for hand-toss glide trimming, and glue the noses in place. 
It's been  a long drawn out build, but I greatly anticipate seeing this model finally take to the air under rocket power!

A Rocket Room Upgrade

This past weekend was spent mostly in a large-scale furniture re-arranging project around the BlastFromThePast home. 
OOooh...my back! 
In the process, I acquired a whole new work desk and shelf unit for the model rocket corner of the basement. 

This is an old computer desk with plenty of closed lower cabinet storage, and a slide out  work surface.
Finally, I could get rid of that hoary, nasty old bench that was cobbled together out of scrap wood.
No progress on rocket builds was accomplished this weekend, but at least I now have a much nicer shop to work in.
Cheers!

MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 17 - Glider Decals

Last night, I spent the evening applying decals to the Lunar Patrol gliders.  The decals are all home-print, consisting of left-overs from the MPC sheet as well as a few custom number and stripe details.
I didn't get the 'LPC-B' designation detail applied to one of the gliders.  Well, actually, I did, but had to pull it off and discard the decal. 
Somehow, while applying the decal, one corner got slightly curled under.  When I pulled the decal up to fix it, the other end curled over as well and became hopelessly stuck.  By the time I got the decal straightened out using some fine tipped tweezers, it was toast. There was an unsightly crack in the decal, and part of the image was missing.
Trash.....
So, I have to add a replacement image to another blank decal sheet that will be sharing space with other upcoming rocket build markings.
Another small setback in getting the Lunar Patrol completed.
Live n 'learn...

MPC Lunar Patrol, Part 16 - Painting The Gliders

I'm getting much closer to finally getting this project wrapped up.  On Friday, June 15, I was able to get the gliders outside to shoot the red and black trim colors.

The following photo shows one of the gliders ready for bottom-side black paint.  The entire top surface is masked off.  Looks like some kind of a glider-sickle.  Yummmm....

And... the finished gliders.  Even though rattle can enamel paint is heavy, I am going more for looks on this build, rather than flight performance.  Nevertheless, I still applied only the minimum amount of paint to give good coverage.  I will be happy as long as the gliders exhibit an adequate glide performance in flight.

Next step...pretty them up with some decals.

Stay tuned.

BAR Fleet- #114 Astron Alpha

An Alpha – At Long Last !!

 

I just happened to have this Estes PNC-50K nose cone rattling around for the past year in my parts box.  Whatever should I build with this component?  Heck, why not an Alpha?  Every model rocketeer should have one of these famous, historic birds in their fleet, even if it is a standard 3FNC beginner’s model. 

The Alpha became a side project to be worked on alongside the Lunar Patrol, a Satellite Interceptor, and others.

It’s funny, but I never owned an Alpha back in my old fleet days spanning 1973-1984. It was even the very first model rocket plan I ever laid eyes on as a 13 year old kid.  I had just come home from visiting NARAM-11 in August of 1969, and had a brand new ‘69 Estes catalog in hand – obtained directly from the Estes vendor table at that event.  In the center of the catalog was a Model Rocket Manual that contained plans, diagrams, and parts lists for building an Alpha.  And, of course, page 11 of the catalog showed the complete kit, which could be had for a mere buck-fifty.

For this BAR-era build of the Alpha, I went with the plans as published in that long-ago catalog.  Except that I used a plastic nose cone which wasn’t introduced in the production kits until much later. 

One other thing I have done differently on this model is the use of 1/16” basswood for the fins rather than balsa.  I plan to log a LOT of flights on this bird, and the stronger fins will hold up much better to all the use and abuse.  Plus, they are so much easier with the grain filling and sealing process.

As with all of my model builds, I also substitute a longer shock cord made from sewing elastic, as opposed to the short rubber cord specified in the plans.

As for the paint pattern, I am really not going with any of the versions illustrated in Estes literature or kit face cards, but I did stay faithful in sticking to that old standard ‘retro’ look. 

The decals are home-prints which include an image of the old ‘Astron’ logo.

I didn't document the build on this bird except for one photo of the model in primer.

 

The Alpha is definitely a nice addition to the growing fleet!