Estes Klingon Battle Cruiser, #1274, Build Part 3, Vacu-Form Parts Cutting

Make light cut passes until you can easily crack off the scrap sides.
If it doesn't crack easily, lightly score it with your knife again.
Work in small sections, don't try to cut the entire shape out at once. Cut past the ends of the pieces.





Here's how my Hull Top piece looked before sanding the edges.
I left myself plenty of overhang. This will be sanded down with 220 grit on a sanding block.

Here's a before and after of a wrap drive half.
On the left I didn't initially cut close to the wavy edge. It was rounded off and came to final shape during sanding.

Sand until the overhang edge is thin and bendable.
Fold the edge to the inside and it'll sand off easily.

BIG NEWS - Madcow Instructions!

You might have noticed only one blog post per day lately. I've been busy . . .

I'm proud to announce my association with Madcow Rocketry.
I've been drawing up new assembly instructions for their 1.6" diameter kits.

From the "mini" line, the Bomarc, Jayhawk, DX3 are complete. Three other minis, the Squat, AGM 33 Pike and Patriot are being finished up now.

These are thick tube wall kits, perfect for someone wanted to step up beyond Low Power.
The Mini line kits feature laser cut ply or basswood fins (Bomarc), plastic nose cones, parachute protectors and nylon parachutes. The Bomarc and Jayhawk kits include water slide decals

Today Madcow President Mike Stoop told me more kit instructions will be produced.
Please check out the new Mini Bomarc instructions, now posted on the Madcow Rocketry website: CLICK HERE
To visit the Madcow Homepage: CLICK HERE

We'll get back to the Estes Klingon Battle Cruiser Build tomorrow -

Estes Klingon Battle Cruiser, #1274, Build Part 2, Vacu-Form Parts Cutting

Many builders run into problems cutting vacu-form plastic pieces off the sheet.
The main points to remember are - take your time, use a new blade and don't try to cut through with a single pass of the knife.
Normally I'd use my break off blade knife but for this I'll use the X-Acto with a new #11 blade. The Estes instructions say to use your hobby knife or a single edge razor blade. These parts would be very hard to cut out with a razor blade.

You'll need the flat edge from the vacu-form sheet for the hanger side piece base later on.
It says "At least 11/16". Cut as wide as you can without getting into the Bridge Halves pieces.

Vacu-forming stretches a thin sheet of heated, softened plastic over the master form. The taller the piece, the thinner the plastic will be. The highest sides of the primary hull pieces (nose section) are pretty thin.

Start by tracing around the edges with a ball point pen. This gives a good contrast line to cut on.


For practice, cut a piece with straight lines first.
Cut beyond the piece for an easier "flex and crack" separation of the outside edges.
Use light cuts, three or four passes. Keep your knife at about a 45 degree angle so you have no chance of cutting into the finished piece.
Follow up is in the next post - 

Estes Klingon Battle Cruiser, #1274, Build Part 1, Parts

This should be a fun build featuring everybody's favorite - vacu-form plastic!

This version came out around the year 2000, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the original Estes kit from 1975.

Back then I built both the Klingon Battle Cruiser and the Enterprise. I liked this one better, the Enterprise was dragged behind a long, parachute "probe" tube. The Klingon model flew by itself.

There wasn't many parts in the big box.

The parts of interest:
Metallic foil trim
Two BT-2 drive unit support tubes
Two pats of clay nose weight, one is 1/2 oz., the other 1/4 oz.
The vacu-form plastic sheet.



This kit had an added "Special Value! -
Includes all the Testor's paint necessary to complete this kit."
A $9.10 Retail Value!

Batmissile on Ebay and other Older Bats

Goodrocks sells some vintage kits on Ebay. This one I found interesting.
You can almost hear Adam West saying: "Robin, fire the Bat-missile!"

I like this one because of the TV Batman logo use on the fins. It looks like the art is simply a paper print glued onto the fins and body tube.





Those fins are thick, probably 1/8".
To see the listing, CLICK HERE

Here's an older OOP kit from Estes, The Bat.
This one built by John Bergsmith.
The review is on RocketReviews.com, CLICK HERE

I always throught this one was a little creepy. It does have the across the fins, wrap around art like the Batmissle above.












Here's my Semroc Batroc based on the old Centuri kit.
I painted this one to look like the TV show Batman costume.
It's even got a (high placed) yellow utility belt.

I haven't forgot the more recent Estes Hyper Bat.
It's two-stage, sleek and BLACK.
The facing fins make up a more current Batman logo.

Here's an short video showing the evolution of the Batman logo, CLICK HERE

Orlando R.O.C.K. Monthly Launch, December 5, 2015

Blow Ye Winds!
Wind gust up to 25 mph and light rains kept most flights in the A power range, for me anyways.
Some first timers put C6-5 engines into models but quickly lowered engine power after a few landed in the trees.
Before driving to the launch site I saw the forecast and threw a few smaller engine models in the box. Good thing I did or I might not have flown at all!



First up and wasted engine of the day was in the Odd'l Rockets SPOOL. With a C6-3 it was slow off the pad and quickly turned horizontal into the wind to a whopping 60 feet altitude. This one typically performs much better but the wind held it back.

My old ORANGE (an orange painted Quest Cobalt) was loudly boosted by a Quest A6-4. Altitude was an estimated 275 feet.
Normally the parachute will pull out of the nose cone but not this time. Even with just the nose blow recovery it was set down with no damage.






Tom Dennon had finished his carded Big Boy Retro.
To see the PDF, CLICK HERE
This is one of the better looking carded models, Tom did a great job on it. He was reluctant to fly it in today's wind, I don't blame him.





My Estes FLUTTER-BY had a first flight with an A10-3t engine in an adapter. I asked for others to follow one of the two sections after ejection. At ejection there was more than two parts. I guess I didn't glue the nose cone in. (Doh!) There was no damage but a little embarrassment and kidding after all the parts were collected.






Here's Danielle and Steve Moon with their Odd'l Squatty Body.
It had a straight boost even with the wind gusts with an A8-3.








Those who were still around at 2:00 p.m. helped break down the launchers. I picked up this used igniter from the grass.
I don't remember ever seeing an igniter like this before. The wire ends were melted into gray blue balls.

Three up, three down with no damage. Oh well! It was still fun to hang out with rocket nerds.

Yellow Jacket Downscale PDF is Available!

A NEW carded downscale of the Estes YELLOW JACKET is finished!
This was drawn up from Kit # 2008.

This BT-5 downscale stands 10" tall and flys with a 1/2A3-4t or A3-4t engines.

If you are a Patreon supporter, email me at: oddlrockets@bellsouth.net
and request the Yellow Jacket PDF. It's FREE!

Don't use the art at the right to make your model!
Email me and get the higher resolution PDF.