Custom Nomad Finished!

This is a great looking model, reminiscent of the old Centuri Skylab with it's square solar panel fins.
It's definitely a Skill Level 3 build. There is some building challenges with the vacuform nose cone and some complex masking.











While the stickers are busy, they look good and add a lot of detail to the finished model. There is a good color contrast with the white, silver and gold nose cone cap.

Custom Nomad Build Part 14 Sticker Trim

Instead of cutting down the dotted lines, I cut off the dotted lines between the panels.






Set the panel edge into the body tube / root edge then over the rest of the fin.

These are hard to get lined up. It might take a few tries, don't press down until you are sure it's strait down the leading and trailing edges.





The black lugs should friction fit between the two BT-60 assemblies.
Sight down the body tube to be sure they are in line with the fins.

After they are straight, they can be glued in place with CA.




After all the handling during construction, some of the white paint had small chips on the assembly edges.

I sprayed some gloss white onto waxed paper. A Q-tip was dipped in the paint and used like a brush to cover the edges.

Custom Nomad Built Part 13 Change Of Plan!

As it turned out, my mask line was too short and the brown tube was peeking out from under the centering rings!
I'll take the easy way out and use some trim MonoKote on the interior tube, something I probably should have planned on in the first place.
The silver was sanded down on the rear of the model in preparation for the fin gluing. Trim MonoKote will be used between the fins.




After the fins were glued on, aluminum trim MonoKote was cut and placed between the fins.





I allowed for a little overlap up and onto the fin above the root edge.
This little bit of MonoKote onto the fin will add strength and will be covered up with the solar panel sticker.

JeffyJeep on TRF had built and sold a Custom Nomad on EBAY. I found it interesting, he used trim Monokote for the silver color on his rocket!

Custom Nomad Build Part 12 Spraying The Silver

From the instructions, this is how you are directed to mask the model. Everything is first painted white.
You mask as shown and spray the silver.

If you were to paint it this way, you would end up with silver on the internal tube and on the facing centering rings.
Also, trying to get a clean mask around the fin root edges would be very hard.
For these reasons, I tried to paint things separately and assemble things afterwards. what do they say about "Best layed plans?"


My plan was to mask off the interior BT-50 and spray silver where the BT-60 assemblies would sit. The white BT-60 assemblies would be glued on after the silver was very dry.

The picture at the right shows the masked BT-50 tube.


After the silver dried, it was no problem to slide the upper BT-60 assembly over the top and down to the silver paint line. Sliding the second assembly up from the bottom was a different story.
It has to be slid over and above the lower silver area.

There was some scratching of the silver paint, but I continued with my paint plan.

The black lugs were set between the two BT-60 assemblies. I slid the lower assembly up until I got a friction fit of the lug ends against the two facing centering rings.

Looking at it close, I wasn't happy with the scratched silver paint at the lower fin area.
(In the picture, I had already scraped away the silver paint for a better glue bond at the root edge of the fins.)

Custom Nomad Build Part 11 Dry fit

Here's one of the reasons I didn't glue the rings to the BT-50 tube using the measurements shown in the instructions. With everything dry fitted at the specified measurements, you can see the small gap.


That gap would have led to problems when gluing the four black lugs between the BT-60 assemblies. I'm not saying the instructions are wrong, I just like to make sure and get a guaranteed good fit.

One of the black lugs is shown friction fitted in place. If there were a slight gap, the fit of the lugs would be too loose to be glued.



After I was sure the BT-60 assemblies were in the right location and could hold the black lugs in place, The tube was marked for gluing and painting.

Custom Nomad Build Part 10 Nose Cone Disk

For the strongest joint, I used 15 minute epoxy for the nose cone bulkhead gluing.
It was mixed then applied with a toothpick around the edge and down inside the dome a bit.

Keep the epoxy off the flat surface of the centering ring!


The upper BT-60 assembly was slid up the interior BT-50 tube to the top.
While the epoxy was still setting, the balsa bulkhead was slipped into the BT-50. Not all the way down onto the flat centering ring!
Leave a gap so any excess epoxy won't glue the nose cone assembly in place.

In the picture I can judge the position of the disk. If the gap space is consistent all the way around, I should get a good flush fit of the nose cone disk against the top of the BT-60 assembly.

Custom Nomad Build Part 9 Nose Cone Disk

After pressing the centering ring into the disk lip some excess contact cement might show.

I used a sharpened dowel end to roll the glue off.
Keep at it, it'll come off in small rolled beads.




Just like on the big rings, I coated the nose cone shoulder ring with CA applied with a Q-Tip.
Again this hardens the ring and makes for cleaner sanding with 400 grit on a block.

Sanding a little now will make a better fit on the flat top of the BT-60 tube assemblies.



The balsa bulkhead is glued into the centering ring and against the inside surface of the disk dome. The picture shows a dry fit.

There was a little too much play for my liking. In the next post I'll show how to get a better alignment and fit against the flat top of the topmost BT-60 tube ring.

Custom Nomad Build Part 8 Nose Cone Disk

Smooth and round up the edges using a sanding block.

In the picture, the edge on the right side has been smoothed over, the left side has not.





One of the centering rings is used for a shoulder and support.

I did sand the edge of the ring a bit to get it to fit under the vacuform disk edge.

For a reference point when gluing, pencil tick marks were made where I found the best fit of the ring and the overhanging lip of the disk.

The instructions suggest using CA quite a bit. I've had experience with CA becoming brittle with time and pieces have separated at launch! CA (Super glue) has it's place but not on a rocket you want to keep longer than a few years. I'll use it to fill mold marks on a nose cone, but not on fins, launch lugs or nose cone connections.

I've really got to buy a new bottle of contact cement! This one is over 10 years old and has browned up quite a bit.
Brush contact cement on both surfaces and allow to dry thoroughly.

Contact cement give an instant bond when two pieces are joined!
Be ready, it grabs fast and won't let go.
Be sure your placement is right before pressing the two glued pieces together.

Custom Nomad Build Part 7 Nose Cone Disk

The nose cone disk is next.
The instructions say to cut it out with scissors but I think you'll have better control with a sharp hobby knife.
Trace around the outside of the disk with a pencil. It's easier to cut on a dark pencil line instead of the white plastic.




Lightly score around the outside edge of the disk keeping your knife on the outside of the pencil line.
Your knife should "trace" along the edge without too much trouble.

There is no need to cut all the way through the thin plastic. Cut about halfway through.





At the halfway point, I continued the cut line to the outside of the plastic to make the cracking easier.
Flex the plastic back and forth over the cut scored line and it should break in two.

Custom Nomad Build Part 6 Internal Ring Fillets

Apply a fillet by transferring a drop of white glue from the end of a rounded dowel.

Smooth out the fillet with the rounded end of the dowel.
You should be able to do 1 1/2" of the fillet at a time.






You can pick up excess glue with a cotton swab.





When the white glue fillets have dried, apply some CA to the outside half of the centering ring.
Keep the CA away from the center hole and gluing surface.
Applying CA to the outside perimeter of the ring seals it and makes a for a smoother surface after sanding.

Custom Nomad Build Part 5 Gluing the Centering Rings

These 50/60 centering rings fit inside the edge of the BT-60 tubes.
Apply a line of glue inside the tube edge.
Be sure the rounded lip is facing inside the tube end. With the square cut side of the centering ring to the outside, you'll get a stronger edge with almost no gap to fill.
Press the ring into the tube on a flat surface.





Roll a dowel over the edge to get the ring flat and even with the end of the BT-60 tube.






Check the ring tube joint under a strong light. If any part of the ring is below the edge, you can push it back up from the inside while the glue is still wet. Here I'm using a dowel to get the flat surface of the ring even with the end of the tube.

After the ring is pushed up, roll the dowel over the top again to level it.

Custom Nomad Build Part 4 Ring & Tube Prep

In Step 4, the large "disks" (5060 Adapter Rings) are glued to the main BT-50 body tube. The outer BT-60 tubes are to be glued on later. Past experience tells me to glue the rings to the outer tubes then glue the two larger tube assemblies over the main tube. I was concerned that any measuring mistake (in gluing the rings to the inside BT-50 first) would make an accurate fit of the larger outside tubes impossible.
You could build this model as in the instructions, but I wanted to get a guaranteed best fit of the parts.

The ring on the right is facing up, the edges are slightly rounded. The ring on the left is facing down, the edges are square. This is from the way the blades hit the card stock when they were die cut.

For the best fit, when gluing the rings on the BT-60 tubes, the square edges should be to the outside.



Before gluing, sand the edges of the BT-60 tubes square.
Here again, most tube ends have a beveled edge from when they were cut. Square them flat for a better gluing surface and fit of the centering rings.

Custom Nomad Build Part 3 Engine Mount Parts Prep

The first step of the instructions don't mention notching the centering rings for the engine hook.

You should cut a recess notch. Otherwise, the hook could press and deform the tube out of round. You don't want the tube to press against an inserted engine.

TIP: When cutting the notch, keep the cuts away from the inside centering ring seam. If cut too close, the ring might de-laminate or unroll. Sometimes there isn't enough glue holding the rolled paper together.

In the picture I've marked the notch and the seam. Just keep your cut notch away from the seam.


The rest of the engine mount is a normal assembly. I did add a length of 135 lb. Kevlar looped under the top bend of the engine hook.

Here I'm dry-fitting the mount into the body tube.





TIP: Always dry fit the mount before using any glue. More often than not, you'll have to sand down the centering rings for a slip fit.

Custom Nomad Build Part 2 Parts Prep

On this build I'll concentrate on how to prep the parts, before gluing.
Your internal construction will be stronger and all parts should fit better.
Your finished model will have better structural integrity and last much longer.

BT tubing (Estes style tubing) are thin in the smaller BT-20 and BT-50 sizes. Strengthen any exposed edges with medium CA (Super Glue).

Place a drop on a scrap of paper. I use the back of old, used 400 grit sandpaper. Being 400 grit is used wet or dry, it is watertight and the CA glue won't soak in very much.

Use a Q-tip (or cheaper generic cotton swab) to apply the CA. Dip the swab into the CA drop and run it around the inside of the tube end.

Using a cotton swab gives better control of the amount of CA glue used.
After it dries, lightly sand the inside edge smooth with 400 grit.


Centering ring sides can be sanded flat.
Rings are cut using sharp blades. Depending on how sharp the blades were, the edges could be cut at a slight angle (a wedge cut) or rough.

Run them over a flat sanding block with 220 grit sandpaper.

Custom Nomad Build Part 1 Parts

Hard to believe, but I haven't built a Custom Rocket before.
They've always seemed to have some of the lowest prices in the industry. Pretty amazng, considering they are made and assembled in the U.S.!

In the past FEW YEARS, many of the Custom designs looked to be standard fare, but the new P.O.N.G., S.L.V. and Nomad designs caught my attention.
To be honest, when I first saw the Nomad, I thought it looked like two toilet paper rolls, side by side. This one turned out to be a great build!



Here's all the parts, right out of the bag.





Some interesting pieces going clockwise from the upper left:

An addendum to the parachute instructions now has the shroud lines tie through the tape disk center hole.
The vacuform nose cone is a flat, dome shaped circle.
Large, pressure sensitive stickers
Five, black launch lugs
Large tape disks for shroud line attachment.
A balsa coupler for the nose cone shoulder assembly.
In the center: A short 5055 centering ring and short BT-55 outer ring.

Centuri Nomad Clone FINISHED!

After a few bumps during construction,

the Centuri NOMAD clone is finished!

Unless you know the name of the vendor,
be wary buying clone kits on EBAY.
Some are great reproductions. Others - not so much.

Centuri Nomad Clone Build Part 13 Chrome Trim

I still have some chrome Monokote trim left from other projects.

The original kit had some self adhesive chrome included. This clone kit didn't include them.
These chrome accents really set off the model and should be added.

The strips start at the lug standoff and go over the vanes and around the entire tube. They are a little tricky to have both ends line up on the other side.
I pressed the chrome into the root edges of the vanes with the rounded back end of a single edge razor blade.



Keep looking ahead as you go around the tube to have the ends line up. Trim the overlap off at the root edge of the lug standoff.

Centuri Nomad Clone Build Part 12 Decals

Whoever re-drew the decals must have been concerned about the original copyright.
They tried to change them just enough so they couldn't be called an "exact" copy.

Note the decal on the right.
The B and C letters should have their baselines turned in parallel to the root edge of the fin.
If left (and applied) like this, the word "Danger" would be upside down.
So I'll cut off the B and C letters and flip the decal.


When placing this rivet panel decal, I found it easier to press the decal into the root edge with a moistened Q-Tip.

Notice the word "Danger" is at the bottom now and isn't read upside down.