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  #1  
Old 06-18-2011, 11:16 PM
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MarkB. MarkB. is offline
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Default Shenzhou Build

I thought I'd start over on the build thread.

We're going to build a 1/64th (more or less) Chinese CZ-2F Shenzhou manned launcher for 24mm power.

My sources are the Shanghai Dragon 1/48 static plastic kit and photo interpretation from web pictures. I'm going to use Semroc parts. I have done the aeroshroud and booster noses on Semroc's Custom Nose Cone Designer. Hopefully they'll be available soon.

The parts list is:

1 ST-20180 Core tube
1 ST-2060 Core tube
2 ST-13180 Booster tube (cut into four 7.5" lengths)
1 BT-4HW Escape tower
1 ST-940E Engine mount
1 BTC-13 Balsa coupler (cut into 4 thin segments)
1 HTC-20 coupler
1 EB-20 ejection baffle
1 CR-9-20 Centering ring (6)
1 EH-38 Engine hook
1 CR-79 Thrust ring
1 SCK-436 Kevlar

Additionally, you'll need:

a small length of 1/4" elastic,
a screw eye
a small length of 1/2" dowel
1.5" length of 1/4 launch lug
parachutes, 24" for the booster and depending on the ballast needed, a 15" for the capsule
small piece of 1/16" plywood for fins
scrap balsa and dowels
scrap cardstock
glue and lots of white paint

We still need nose cones and decals. Hmmmm . . . .
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  #2  
Old 06-19-2011, 09:20 AM
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You are going to need some corrugated wraps. I may just have the technology you need to make some if you cannot find suitable ready-made material.


Bill
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  #3  
Old 06-21-2011, 06:52 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill
You are going to need some corrugated wraps. I may just have the technology you need to make some if you cannot find suitable ready-made material.


Bill


Do tell....
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  #4  
Old 06-21-2011, 06:11 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pem Tech
Do tell....



Copied from PM sent to MarkB. Hey, I wrote it so I can spread it around if I want to...

---

I have come up with a method of making a very nice looking wrap using common tools. You need:

1. A paper cutter. A common and inexpensive one can be had in the office supplies section of Wal-Mart for a little over $10. In addition to the way you are about to misuse it, it also comes in very handy for cutting cardstock strips to size.

2. An embossing tool. An inexpensive one can be found at Michaels. Look in the glue aisle or one of the ones adjacent to it. It comes in a clear plastic bag with a blue header and a blue oval in the middle of the clear portion, approx 7" by 1.5" and called a "double ended stylus."

3. Cardstock. I have done this with the material (64lb?) commonly sold for scrapbooking. I have not tried the heavier 110 lb stock.

The basic idea: cut a strip of cardstock the width of your wrap. Put that cardstock strip into the cutter along the paper guide as if you were going to cut a narrow strip out of its end. With the blade positioned out of the way at the other end of the clear plastic cutting wing, use the embossing tool to press the cardstock into that plastic groove the cutting blade would ride in. Remove the cardstock and admire the nice "stringer" you have just made.

By marking the cutter base next to the groove or sticking a small piece of contrasting tape or post-it-note opposite the groove from the paper guide, you have a reference mark to repeatedly make additional evenly spaced stringers.

Some further testing and measurement is necessary to determine how much this embossing causes the cardstock strip to shrink in the long dimension because that will affect the calculation of the proper spacing between adjacent stringers. Once that is done, it is conceivably possible to use a CAD program to print a cardstock strip with evenly spaced lines, then emboss along those lines to make a wrap. This technique is even applicable to making the wrap for the tapered part of the aeroshroud; good luck trying to find something like that already made.

You can buy the tools and try it or I can send you a sample of something I have done. I showed this to Carl McLawhorn at NARAM last year. Like me, he was impressed at how nice the result was. It is just not something he can commercially exploit. Not until I become smart enough to build him an embossing robot...


Bill
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: countdown begin cr dup . 1- ?dup 0= until cr ." Launch!" cr ;

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  #5  
Old 04-06-2012, 08:08 AM
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Yaa-Hoo!!

I haven't been able to even touch rockets because of work and other responsibilities since Christmas. I get home from work and just want to sleep. My Semroc Arcas and Aerobees have sat partially complete on their cradles waiting for me to finish them, with the rest of the "brainstorm" projects leaning on the bench below.

Then yesterday, to my surprise, out of the clear blue sky, a small Semroc box arrives. SWMBO asks what I've ordered and I assure her I haven't even been to a rocket website in months. Inside the package: The Shenzhou aeroshroud and booster noses for this project! I had designed them on the Semroc Nose Cone designer a few months ago and had asked (begged) Carl to cut them when he had a chance. I knew that the 7-section aeroshroud was going to be tough. Well, the balsa is absolutely beautiful in person.

Carl is THE MAN!

Guys, I'm going to try my best to finish this project over the next few weeks. Pictures of everything later, as soon as I find the camera.
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  #6  
Old 04-06-2012, 08:34 AM
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Good corrugated plastic sheet from Evergreen and Plastruct, or metal foils from Builders in Scale. Not a lot of help for corrugated reducing sections.

http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/index.htm
I
http://www.plastruct.com

http://www.builders-in-scale.com/bis/parts-metal.html
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  #7  
Old 04-09-2012, 10:28 AM
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Here's the first picture of the build:

We have the two main body segments (Series 20), the four LRBs (Series 13/BT-56), the ejection baffle, the beautiful aeroshroud and the engine mount (24mm). I used my Odd'l Rockets tube cutter on the LRB tubes and it worked pretty well. The next step will be to slice a BT-56 balsa coupler into 4 segments for the base of the LRBs. At that point, I'm going to have to decide how I'm going to mount the LRBs.

On the real Shenzhou, they are mounted with two arms just under the cone and a single mount near the base. There is a noticeable gap between the main tube and the LRBs. On the model, long-term durability considerations would seem to suggest that the LRBs should be glued directly to the main body and the mounting arms made "decorative". By long-term durability, I mean not having to reattach an LRB after every landing in the scrub, rocks and compacted sand of the American Southwest. On the other hand, having the gap would be cool but using relatively tiny dowels to mount the LRBs is not something I've done before.

The second picture is my "documentation". An internet picture of a Shenzhou on the way to the pad and the drawing from the Dragon Models 1/48 instruction sheet, both blown up to the size of this build. They do NOT match up but they are close. When there is a mismatch, I go with the dimensions from the picture.
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I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7
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  #8  
Old 04-09-2012, 10:07 PM
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Maybe have the motor mount extend beyond the end of the main tube and attach four fake nozzle halves to it? The motor will take the brunt of the landing.

Otherwise, design the booster mountings to release upon impact. You may have to reattach some of the boosters after each flight, but that will not be a repair job.


Bill
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It is well past time to Drill, Baby, Drill!

If your June, July, August and September was like this, you might just hate summer too...

Please unload your question before you ask it unless you have a concealed harry permit.

: countdown begin cr dup . 1- ?dup 0= until cr ." Launch!" cr ;

Give a man a rocket and he will fly for a day; teach him to build and he will spend the rest of his days sanding...
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  #9  
Old 06-09-2012, 07:13 PM
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Well, with the announcement that there will be a manned Shenzhou launch later this month, I'm trying to wrap this build up.

The picture shows the fins and LRBs being built. The thin balsa plugs are sliced with a razor saw from a coupler. I'll add a nozzle and glue the fins on tonight. I still need to fill the spirals and seal the balsa, but we're almost done with the LRBs.

After working with my Martha Stewart paper scorer, I'm still not getting satisfactory results. So I'm going with my scrapbook paper corregations. There are four wraps that I'll cut out and add pictures.
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__________________
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I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7
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  #10  
Old 06-10-2012, 12:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkB.
Here's the first picture of the build:
I used my Odd'l Rockets tube cutter on the LRB tubes and it worked pretty well.


Hi Mark,
On the Odd'l Rockets Cutter Tool:
Be sure you start turning the tube before you lower the razor blade.
In other words, start turning the tube, lower the blade and continue turning.
This is something I've since added to the Cutter Tool instructions and it makes all the difference in the world!

I've also started a Shenzhou. When did you find the line drawings?
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