Faster the epoxy the hotter it gets, and the weaker it is when cured. OL J R

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The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

I use 15 minute epoxy almost elusively when I use epoxy, unless I'm doing something like laminating where I want the thinner consistency and/or additional work time of 30 minute or 2 hour (e.g. glass or carbon fiber reinforcements). The only time I use 5 minute is for field repairs.
I've never had an issue with the heat generated while curing.
I'm putting the finishing touches on an Apogee Saturn V, modified for high power with a 38mm mount. I just epoxied about 8 ounces of lead shot into the Apollo capsule (I still need to fine tune the balance, but figure this should get it close). No affect on that nice capsule (protecting the escape tower with that much weight is another story).

That sounds like a cool project, I was thinking about something like that when a batch of Sirius kits became available, so I went that route. I'd be interested in hearing about some of the construction.

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Paul
If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane - Jimmy Buffett
NAR #87246 www.wooshrocketry.org

I wish Sirius would get some more Saturn V kits available - I'd like to pick up another. I've built four - one is in a display at an observatory, one will never fly because it's covered with over 30 autographs from astronauts and other space dignitaries ( ), two fliers, one of which is in the Skylab configuration (after it lawndarted and destroyed the top half - figure that was easier than rebuilding it as an Apollo).

I'd done 'high power' with my first Apogee Saturn V flier - in fact used it for my L1 cert flight and wrote about it in Peak of Flight #284. I finally totaled that Saturn V when the Kevlar shock cord broke, allowing the bottom section to free fall from altitude, so this is its replacement.

The changes from the stock Apogee kit are pretty basic. Obviously, a new 38mm motor mount with 3x 3/16" plywood centering rings, heavier (thicker) Kevlar shock cords, and larger flight fins (see the Peak of Flight article for details). To make sure none of the transition sections collapse into the larger tube under the higher loads (as happened with the previous Apogee Saturn), I made some coupler tubes and glued them in place to sport the transition sections during boost, with another at the top of the motor mount to provide some extra support.

Target motor is an I211W. I haven't sat down with Rocksim yet to determine the exact specifics for balance and such yet (no chance to launch it before April anyway, so no rush). Currently, with about 8 oz. of ballast in the nose it weighs right at 3 1/2 lbs (flight ready less motor), so quite a bit heavier than the stock Apogee Saturn.