soopirV
07-28-2013, 11:48 PM
Hi! I "discovered" something neat, and thought I'd share it here- can't find it listed elsewhere!
I built an Estes Magnum as a clone from plans on either JimZ or here, can't remember, but had tons of fun with it. I didn't have a way of cloning the clear payload bay, however, so mine had a 5" longer BT.
Have learned since (thanks to this site and TRF) that the larger-diameter fluorescent light cover sold at home centers is a rough approximation to BT-60. I finally bought one, in a attempt to make my Magnum more authentic. It's just a smidge too large to fit on a coupler, so I was getting ready to fabricate an adapter when I realized that I wouldn't need the shoulder on the NC-60 from my Magnum if I could cut it and stretch it. First, I'm cheating- using a NC-60B on this bird because it's what I had. Second, I've totally ruined the Magnum, so hold your tongue if you're going to lash me out! :) The image on the left (with no clear payload bay) is how she was before her "nose job". Since I'd be repainting part of her anyway, and I was never happy with the previous layout (too boring), I took this opportunity to add some stripes as well, keeping with the Navy theme.
I cut the nose cone about 1/4" up from the shoulder, and was messing with fitting the 5" piece of clear tube in, when I noticed that the factory-supplied end-caps (for the fluorescent light protector) fit perfectly within the ID of the cut nose! Sure, now I"ve got an extra transition where I wasn't expecting one, but I've also got a really sweet little pay load bay! Glued in a balsa disk to seal the payload from ejection charge gasses, painted the adapters to match, and boom! a pretty sweet little appendage!
I built an Estes Magnum as a clone from plans on either JimZ or here, can't remember, but had tons of fun with it. I didn't have a way of cloning the clear payload bay, however, so mine had a 5" longer BT.
Have learned since (thanks to this site and TRF) that the larger-diameter fluorescent light cover sold at home centers is a rough approximation to BT-60. I finally bought one, in a attempt to make my Magnum more authentic. It's just a smidge too large to fit on a coupler, so I was getting ready to fabricate an adapter when I realized that I wouldn't need the shoulder on the NC-60 from my Magnum if I could cut it and stretch it. First, I'm cheating- using a NC-60B on this bird because it's what I had. Second, I've totally ruined the Magnum, so hold your tongue if you're going to lash me out! :) The image on the left (with no clear payload bay) is how she was before her "nose job". Since I'd be repainting part of her anyway, and I was never happy with the previous layout (too boring), I took this opportunity to add some stripes as well, keeping with the Navy theme.
I cut the nose cone about 1/4" up from the shoulder, and was messing with fitting the 5" piece of clear tube in, when I noticed that the factory-supplied end-caps (for the fluorescent light protector) fit perfectly within the ID of the cut nose! Sure, now I"ve got an extra transition where I wasn't expecting one, but I've also got a really sweet little pay load bay! Glued in a balsa disk to seal the payload from ejection charge gasses, painted the adapters to match, and boom! a pretty sweet little appendage!