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  #1  
Old 08-18-2010, 10:24 AM
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Brain Brain is offline
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Default Kitbashing Upon Return

Hi, everyon!
After a 15-yr hiatus from rocketry, a stash of Estes kits my son (off to work in L.A.) found while cleaning and packing became mine (Menace, Nemesis, Monarch, Night Wing, Sizzler, and another little one that was missing some parts). Instead of building a stock kit, I bashed the Nemesis into Agent Orange, an original design. The nose cone is a Christmas light-shaped M&Ms container. Check out the pics.

Nice thing about it? It flies. I had thoughts of disaster on its first go, but the only occurence was losing the parachute during ejection and it tumbled safely back into the high grass! So, I'm either a rocket scientist or just plain lucky.

I'm betting the latter, as you'll also find a shot of my second kitbash (of the Menace). This is the 'famous' (if you're old enough to appreciate the old Buck Rogers comic strips) EL Dorado, the Rocketship of Gold. It caused quite a stir with readers back in The Day, and I wanted to see if the design would fly. It has a removable aft engine section so that it can be launched (although i suspect it might be possible to fly it WITH it), and yes, those fins do look delicate.

I plan to do Rocketship X-M (from the movie of the same name), and there's a real sweet rocketship from the old Dan Dare comics that just begs to be done!
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  #2  
Old 08-18-2010, 10:30 AM
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GregGleason GregGleason is offline
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First of all, welcome!

Nice pics of the projects and keep us posted on the new one.

Greg
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  #3  
Old 08-18-2010, 10:40 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GregGleason
First of all, welcome!

Nice pics of the projects and keep us posted on the new one.

Greg


Thanks, Greg! I will do that soon, as I am near completion on the El Dorado. If it don't fly it'll get noticed!
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  #4  
Old 08-18-2010, 02:48 PM
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Welcome! I particularly like the Agent Orange.
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  #5  
Old 08-18-2010, 05:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRThro
Welcome! I particularly like the Agent Orange.


Thanks, JRthro! Me too, since its the first custom rocket I've ever done (and I can't say I've done this a lot), plus the fact that it goes and is apparently sturdy enough.
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  #6  
Old 08-19-2010, 11:29 AM
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Default El Dorado update

Hello again!
The El Dorado kitbash is complete.
Tomorrow morning is another launch outing, and I will be able to report 'yea' or 'nay' on the validity of the design.

I thought I'd try to deliver a brief construction history:
Starting with the Estes Menace kit... I used the nosecone, body tube, engine mount, shock cord and parachute. I worked the fin designs out to size on the computer and printed them out for cutting templates. The fins were sanded smooth and set aside while I created paperfold models of the engine cowling and the cockpit area out of illustrators' Bristol board and glued them in place. A fair amount of sanding went into the cockpit area, and here the Bristol board seems very forgiving, even with the presence of Elmer's glue.

In the original comic artwork the engine was a cluster of tubes, but in order to keep the engine mount area clear I only created the outside layer of tubes from wooden dowels, glued standing up to a ring of balsa (and each other) with a center hole. I cut a toilet tissue tube lengthwise and rolled it up to fit into the ring of dowels, while a rubber band kept them confined on the outide in order to keep them aligned while drying (the toilet paper tube wants to unroll and applies pressure against the rubber band). This balsa ring fits into the space between the engine mount and the body tube and is tight enough to stay in place... maybe even enough to launch with. The issue will be whether or not the igniters or clips will touch each other in the confining space.

Next came the typical priming coat and some additional sanding here and there, followed by several coats of Rust-O-Leum chrome gold spray paint, and topped of with several coats of clear acrylic spray.

After experiencing problems in our initial launch outing with Estes shock cord mounts I fabricated my own from the Bristol board. Installed the 18" parachute and less than a week later we are good to go!

Stay tuned...

-Brain
Aim for the sucker holes.
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Last edited by Brain : 08-19-2010 at 12:06 PM.
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  #7  
Old 08-19-2010, 01:51 PM
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EchoVictor EchoVictor is offline
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Brain,

looking really good on the scratch builds! If I may offer a couple of suggestions....

If you're nervous about a model's ability to fly, just do a swing test. Simply tie/tape a kite string around the rocket at the center of gravity (when flight prepped with engine), and then swing it around your head. If it flies straight, it's good! If not, then just add some nose weight.

As for being worried about the El Dorado's fins, I would suggest doing a paper laminate either with glued white paper or with label stock. I have one bird that cracked tail fins every time before, and then after I laminated them I haven't lost a one.

Later,
EV
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  #8  
Old 08-19-2010, 03:38 PM
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EV, thanks for the advice.
I have heard about both of these methods in my brief excursions online to play catch-up with the hobby. If I knew enough about RockSim I might try that as well, but I'm so new with it that I'm clueless at this point. As for the paper lamination... I'd like to get some more details on the steps involved, because I certainly am interested in keeping my customs in one piece!

-Brain
Aim for the sucker holes.
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  #9  
Old 08-20-2010, 08:25 AM
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EchoVictor EchoVictor is offline
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Brain,

here's how to do a swing test (page 8);

http://www.estesrockets.com/images/...ical_Manual.pdf

Some good discussions on papering your fins;

http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=5983

http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=7478

Later,
EV
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  #10  
Old 08-20-2010, 03:05 PM
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Pem Tech Pem Tech is offline
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" This is the 'famous' (if you're old enough to appreciate the old Buck Rogers comic strips) EL Dorado, the Rocketship of Gold. It caused quite a stir with readers back in The Day, and I wanted to see if the design would fly. It has a removable aft engine section so that it can be launched (although i suspect it might be possible to fly it WITH it), and yes, those fins do look delicate."

Yeah, nothing like the old "serials" for producing great rocket ideas. Great job on the fins! Very true to the original.

And yes, you can fly this kind of retro beauty with the aft engines in place.
Meet, Bucky Jones - Space Cadet!

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