FlisKits Space Raider Build, Finished

After all was glued up, the entire model got a few good shots of Krylon UV Acrylic Clear. Home printed card stock ink can run if it gets wet.

A tip of the hat to Jim Flis for drawing it up and making it available.

This was a nice change from typical three fin nose cone models!

In a comment, Naoto Kimura posted another link to the original patterns and instructions on the S.O.A.R. club site: CLICK HERE     

The shroud sides tend to dip a little in at the flat centers, nothing to worry about. The finished model seems very strong for a 110 lb. cardstock body. It's got a wider fin span than you would think.

I didn't cut the launch lug off at an angle to match the body side.

I have launched the Space Raider once with a Estes B6-4 motor.

It was very stable flight with a full deploy of the small parachute. 
This could also be a good model for the nearby soccer field launches. 

High drag? Sure, but it's so cool, who cares! 

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 10, Longer Nose Cone

My first nose cone didn't quite match up to the body shroud.

Everything else fit fine, my construction or home print could have been off.

I drew up a longer nose cone.

The Space Raider fin cover skins and slightly longer nose cones are on a PDF I drew up. 

There are three nose cone prints on the second sheet. These are difficult to form so you might need a second or third try. 

Patreon supporters can request the additional PDFs. Email me at oddlrockets@bellsouth.net and ask for the Space Raider PDF.

After the nose cone was formed, some extra glue was rolled over the glue tab with a Q-tip.

The nose block was pulled from the first nose cone.

I marked the four sides at the glue contact points.

Rotate the nose cone and check the alignment of the block before the glue dries.

 

Here's the longer nose cone. Not perfect but much better than the first try.

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 9, 9" Parachute

The instructions suggest a streamer, but I went with a small parachute.

I started with an Odd'l Rockets 12"chute.

Reinforcement disks were placed towards the center along the white circle band.

After all six disks were in place,

The sides of the chute were cut with a knife and straightedge just below the new disks.

The new chute - 

With the shroud lines attached. 

An elastic shock cord was tied onto the Kevlar line from the engine block. The 9" chute packed easily into the BT-20 interior tube.

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 8, Base Shroud

In this picture the model is flipped over, upside down.

Apply a film of white glue over the widest outside tab.

Press onto the shroud edge. Both the shroud edge and glue tab are even.

Try a dry fit here before using any glue.

Apply glue to the two remaining tabs and slide into position. The inside tab root edge corner is even with the trailing edge of the fin.

Long tweezers help hold the tab in place while the glue sets up.

After all four base shroud pieces are in place - 

The shroud sides that contact the fins get a glue fillet using white glue. White glue dries clear. Yellow glue could stain the shroud print.

Here's the completed base shrouds in place. With the base shroud pieces glued on the model is very sturdy.

Notice there is enough BT-20 tube extending out the back to allow for a simple wrap of tape to retain the engine. An engine hook could have been used on this one.

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 7, Base Shroud

This shows the Base Shroud from the Jim Flis PDF.

It was probably an error on my part, I couldn't get the base shroud to fit properly. I thought maybe the if the fin slots were longer it could slide it higher into the shroud body.

I extended the length of the fin slots but still couldn't get the shroud to comfortably fit.

My redraw was four separate pieces.

I'm offering the redrawn base shroud and slightly longer nose cone (to Patreon supporters) as additional fits to the original shroud templates. They might come in handy if your build fit is a little off.

Here's one of the pieces with the tabs folded up ready to be glued on.

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 6, Nose Cone Forming

Score the nose cone fold lines before cutting it off the sheet.

Sometimes it helps to form the tight folds down the edge of a ruler.

TIP: Try using very little glue when gluing together cardstock pieces. Apply some glue, smooth it so a film of glue remains. Be sure you have some glue over the entire tab.

Long tweezers can help hold the sides together while the glue sets up.

The second picture is a dry fit of the nose block. Don't push it in too much, the round block can bow out the card stock.

I did a dry fit of the body cover shroud.

The leading edge of the fins ended up a bit wide, the shroud didn't slide all the way down onto the notches.

I went back and sanded the sides of the upper fins for a better fit.

Here's the fit of the nose cone.

There was a slight gap, my nose cone didn't meet up with the body shroud edge.

I drew up another nose cone, just a little longer. The slightly longer nose cone is on the PDF, available to Patreon supporters.

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 5, Body Shroud

The body shroud is made up from two separate halves.

Before cutting out the pieces, score (emboss) down the fold lines.

This "butter knife" method goes back to the old Estes Saturn 1B instructions.

Emboss a line down the fold lines using a knife tip with no serrations. On this knife, the rounded tip is smooth.

It's always hard to cut the tight launch lug relief hole curves with a hobby knife.

TIP: Start the center with a small punch. Continue down the curved side cuts with your knife.  

TIP: Sometimes cardstock folds can crack the ink on a home print.

Keep it to a minimum by gently "coaxing" the fold. Don't do a hard crease at first. Work up to a sharp fold.

The two halves are joined with a glue tab.

Apply light white glue to the tab. 

Butt up the corner lines and burnish smooth.

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 4, Fin Covers

An observation:

On the Forums I see a lot of builders papering fins. They'll paper on side, trim off the overhang edges. Flip over the fin and paper the other side. This leaves squared edges and open balsa grain on all sides. 

Try this:

TIP: Round the leading edge of the fin before papering. 

Lay a "mirrored" skin (shown in the second picture below) and roll it over the leading edge. 

You'll end up with a rounded leading edge, a cleaner look and less exposed balsa to seal!

   

The low (exposed) side of the fin leading edges are rounded.

220 grit took off the corners, 400 grit rounded and smoothed.

I wanted a rounded leading edge to roll the centerline of the printed fin cover over. 

I use a glue stick to attach the paper fins. Apply glue stick to one side and the centerline of the skin.

I don't recommend liquid white glue. It can oversaturate the 20 lb. paper.

Center the fin down the rounded leading edge and smooth one side. Pull and roll the centerline over the rounded leading edge.

Apply glue to the other side and burnish.

Here's on fin with a cover skin in place.

Don't worry if the paper overhangs the other edges, the covers are drawn up a little oversize to be trimmed off after the glue dries.

I used a single edge razor blade to shave off the overhang.

After that, a sanding block smoothed off the edge.

The fins on the available PDF are orange with yellow stripes, the reverse of what you see here. 

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 3, Engine Block & Fins

This model has a standard minimum diameter engine mount.

Kevlar is tied around a notched engine block.

Glue is applied inside. The block is slid into position with an empty engine casing until 1/4" of the casing extends out the back.

The Jim Flis instructions say to use 1/8" thick balsa for the fins. That looks like it would match the fin thickness in the original black and white photograph. I didn't have any 1/8" so I went with 3/32" thick.

I figured with the printed covers the fin thickness would end up close to a 1/8" thickness. In the end, the 3/32" balsa and fin covers fit the slots in the body shroud very well.

You'll go through a lot of balsa on this one!

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 2, Making A Nose Block

I didn't have a BT-20 sized nose block handy so I hit the spare parts drawer.

I found a 20/50 balsa adapter. I tend to hang on to spare parts. You never know when they might come in handy.

The narrow upper end was used as a diameter guide.

The lower wide end was shaved down stopping before getting to the BT-20 diameter.

The rough sides were sanded down and evened up using 220 grit on a block.

The final fitting was done by sliding the block into the tube. If the block stopped, I knew there was more sanding to fit. 

Here's the final nose block, much longer than needed.

I'll cut it down to size when I figure out how long it needs to be later on in the build.

FlisKits Space Raider Build, Part 1, Parts

Parts are pretty standard.

That's a 6" long BT-20 and a 6" long 1/8" launch lug.

The long nose block was made from a 20/50 adapter from the spare parts drawer.

I didn't end up using the engine hook.

Balsa isn't shown, I went with 3/32" instead of the 1/8" thick. It's what I had handy.

Jim Flis Patterns for home prints from the NAR Facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2255560886/permalink/10157795697170887

Print all three pages on 110 lb. cardstock

Instructions:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2255560886/permalink/10157795696185887

Print on 20 lb. copy paper

TIP: I'd recommend using white glue for construction on this one. Yellow glue can discolor home print cardstock models. White glue will dry clear and disappear after the final clearcoat.

Jim Flis drew up a fin cover in black and white.

I drew up four covers and colored them in.

These PDFs is available to Patreon supporters.

Email me at oddlrockets@bellsouth.net

and ask for the Space Raider PDFs.

I had some trouble with the fit of the bottom plate.

I re-drew four separate pieces to fit my build.

My nose cone came out a little short, leaving a gap at the top of the body.

I re-drew the nose cone just a bit longer. These are hard to fold, so three are supplied on the PDF. You might get better results on a second or third try.

Fliskits Space Raider Background

If you grew up in the early 1960s, you could find this "accident waiting to happen" in many city parks. This one looks like a climbing structure. Most playground rockets had a ladder to climb. You would pass through the rocket body to a slide on the other side.

I found out that George Gassaway posted this backyard play gym picture on Facebook.

This photo inspired Jim Flis (FlisKits) to draw up a smaller flying model rocket - a cardstock body, pattern sheet and instructions. 

The build starts tomorrow.