Ten years ago, my brother in law built a Der Big Red Max upscale to fly at NARAM 43 in Geneseo, NY. He used an LOC Lil Nuke kit as a donor, and at the same time bought a second kit for me to try to get me more interested in mid and high power rocketry. I found it nerve-wracking working with epoxy for the first time, but I was pretty happy with how mine turned out. Both flew at NARAM, but in the days before digital photography, (for me, at least,) I somehow only managed to get a pad shot of my rocket.



I did get launch shots of both rockets, but the camera I was dealing with was pretty primitive. Tony had a better pic of his in the review he wrote for EMRR. http://www.rocketreviews.com/locpre...ony-fragge.html





From my point of view, the flight of my Lil Nuke was worse than the build. I was incredibly nervous, but all turned out well. So well that I had Tony pick me up another Lil Nuke when he picked my name for the family Christmas lottery. I wanted to build my own upscale of a classic kit, and after thumbing through my old catalogs, chose a Centuri Magnum Hornet.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Well, that project turned out to be just short of a disaster. The epoxy I chose to mount the fins wasn't up to the task. After I attached the fins, I did a Fill & Finish coat and began sanding. Two of the fins just fell off during the process. That kind of killed my enthusiasm for the project. Then the pictures that I'd taken for the review disappeared in a hard drive crash, which effectively buried me.
Last week I came across the remnants of the project in my shop. Two of the fins were still attached, but pulled free with only light pressure, leaving me with an almost virgin body tube. I started thinking about finishing the project, but with the Magnum Hornet now everywhere, I decided against using that as my inspiration. It only took a look at the rockets on my shelf to pick the new inspiration. Though I doubt many look at it as a classic, the Estes Ninja seemed to fit the bill perfectly for me. It was the rocket that I picked up in 1994 while we were visiting Tony and his family in Texas, effectively launching BARdom for both Tony and myself.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

While I was at Hobby Lobby buying D12-3s yesterday, I picked up some 1/8" basswood for the Ninja fins. Haven't gone looking for epoxy yet, but I think I'm going to give a new fin attachment idea a try.



The Lil Nuke to Ninja upscale is almost perfectly 3x. I'm going to try doing the decal myself since it's a fairly simple black and red.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Sorry, no good light bulb rebel stories to relate, just an update on a far less interesting topic.
Glue rivets. I'd forgotten about these until I pulled my old Lil Nuke out for a look see yesterday. I remember really, REALLY sweating using the epoxy back then. I was dead sure the fins were going to go flying as soon as it left the pad. Then I read about the glue rivet idea. The pin drill that I bought specially for the project back in 2001 is long gone. (Lost in the move.) Luckily I'd picked up a cordless screwdriver in the years since, and it came with a drill bit that was the perfect size. I marked the area that the fin would cover and went to town.



I should have paid closer attention to what part of the fin I used to decide what would be covered. I used the leading edge. DOH!!
That's okay. Only one fin and I can always say they're vent holes. Actually they're already filled. Fin #2 is done the right way.



With any luck, fin #3 will be on before dinner and I can do a side-by-side shot of the big and little Ninjas. And maybe come up with a good light bulb story.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Had a minor tragedy with one of the fins. I thought the glue was firmed up enough to stand on its own, so I went downstairs. Big mistake. When I came back up, the fin had fallen over. THEN the epoxy had set up. I reset it with fresh epoxy, but got the tip slightly higher than the other two in my haste. It was only noticeable if you really looked close, but as the week dragged on I realized that it was just going to bother me if I didn't fix it, so I worked a utility knife blade under the fin and slid if down through the glue joint. It came off so nicely that it now stands on my desk at work. Now it stands straight and tall like it was meant to stand. This epoxy is a huge improvement over the previous epoxy. It doesn't peel off. These fins aren't going anywhere.



Tonight I'm hoping to start the fillets, which I'll also use glue rivets on. But first, a trip to Hobby Lobby, armed with a coupon.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

What size body tube is that?
And what size engine will it use, surley not a B6-4

It's a standard LOC tube. I forget the size, but it's 3x more than a BT20.
Off the top of my head I can't think of the exact motor, but F20-7 comes to mind. I'm only semi-literate when it comes to anything other than Estes motors.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Fillets are finished, which is a major load off my mind. 5/6 of them are perfect. One I waited a little too long to remove the masking tape and it had started to set up. A little sanding should take care of the rough edges. I had to order some LOC launch lugs because the one I had was misplaced over the years. I'm still having trouble getting the decal to the proper scale. (Man, I miss my old computer.) I'm really starting to think this bird is going to fly at NARAM in full colors.

Masking and glue rivet holes.


The finished fillet.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

FINALLY! Lots of fits and starts, but I refigured out the upscale process for the decal. I should be able to get the final sanding done tomorrow and get started on the paint. It's not perfect, having been done on an inkjet, but it will work from ten feet.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

This was sitting around without decals since last July. It was so dusty that I had to wipe it down before I put the decal on. I did a decal last summer, but while I managed to size it perfectly, I still had to deal with the thin ink and the lines caused by the way it gets rolled incrementally through the print process. Being an inkjet project it was going to be of somewhat questionable quality anyway, but this was noticeable to the point of being distracting. I saved the scan, but several other attempts came out iffy looking. Then a couple of weeks ago someone pointed me to IrfanView and I was able to use it to get rid of most of the red and black on the decal upscale except for the "NINJA" name. I printed out two copies of the decal, planning to overlap them to make the black stand out. I took them to Tony's last Friday night before the launch on Saturday and put one on while having adult beverages. Even without being doubled up it looked pretty good, so I decided to just go with the one layer.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2