Last Minute NARAM Prepping!

Good thing I looked over the NARAM Classic Competition Rules.
I needed to put together some documentation about my entry, the Dragon Ship 7.
I needed references to where I got my clone information, a picture or two and the instructions from JimZ's.






Then I found out the fly-away guides I bought won't work with the egg capsule! The long lug needed a long standoff.
I found some on CMR egg lofter pop-lug instructions and made one.

Here's all the rocket boxes, ready for the long drive starting Tuesday morning.
Each box is for a different purpose -
One box is for the Manufacturer's Forum, another is full of Sport Models, a box for Competition Models and the final box contains  my Classic Model entry.
On the right side is a good sized ERockets order I'll deliver to Randy at the meet. Whew!

I'll be on the road for four days, arriving in Pueblo on Friday. I'll try to post when I can. There should be some NARAM news to report on.

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 28, Decals!

Most all the decals went on with no real problems. This post will concentrate on the small fin decals.

The fin letter decals are tiny!
TIP: To make the placement consistent on all fin sides, extend the corner lines on the full sized template from the instructions.
Cut out the fin letter to the lower right corner.
Making a template like this refers back to the old Centuri Saturn V instructions.

The small body and fin numbers are printed on a white decal sheet. Cut them very close to the edge. Ideally you want to cut to the outside of the black border lines.

Use long tweezers to dip the decal, then "float" it on the surface of the water. Let the decal soak for 15 seconds.

Use the tweezers to pick up the small decal off the top surface of the water. Set the decal (still on its backing) on a paper towel for 30 seconds or until it easily slides off the backing paper.

The positioning template is shown here on the fin. This template was cut from card stock.
Use it to check the positioning of the fin letter decals.

For the other side of the fin, the same template is flipped over to check the position of the second "A" decal.

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 27, Hydrogen Lines and Nose Weight

The five Liquid Hydrogen Lines are glued in place, centered on the masked rectangle areas.

The instructions don't mention to do this, but I cut away the wrap strips under the glued on lines. The pieces were held in place while the lines were cut with a razor blade.

The Liquid Hydrogen Lines glued in place.

I'll be putting in the nose weight before applying the decals.
The first and lowest penny weight in the stack has a hole drilled in it to tie on the Kevlar line.

The other pennies are stacked on top, inside the Service Module tube.

It's interesting to note the supplied pennies are older, minted before 1982. After 1982, solid copper (heavier) pennies were no longer being produced.

The Kevlar line is tied to the screw eye in the base of the adapter.
Tie a  loop in the Kevlar so the upper body hangs with the tower end up.

No Sunday Post?

Let's just say I took a day off. Preparing for NARAM is a lot of work.
Too many shock cords to attach, pop-lugs and parachutes to make.
Add to that a fairly good sized order from ERockets to box up and mail out tomorrow.

I should count my lucky stars. I'm overwhelmed by building model rockets!

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 26, Fin and Fairing Gluing

Look at the shape of the fairing from the top. You want a good smooth curve of the outside edge.

On the left is the before, on the right is after some very gentle forming.

I set the fairing tip against my finger for support.
A smooth, tapered dowel was rolled over the fairing to gently coax and reshape the fairing edge where needed.








Test fit before using any glue.
This picture shows one of the better fitting fin assemblies.

I only used a good sized glue bead at the center of the support piece.









Rubber bands were set around the fairing and body tube. Notice the rubber band only goes over areas of the shroud that have internal support. I don't want to deform the fairing.

Quest C12 and D16 Q-Jet Engines Coming -

In a comment, BARGeezer let me know:
Quest is accepting pre-orders of the 18mm composite C12 and D16 motors. "We expect the Q-Jet C12 and D16 motor pre-orders to begin shipping in August 2018."
To see the webpage: CLICK HERE

Quest has changed their igniter nozzle retention and are now using a friction fit "Initiator Holder" much like the red tubing included in the older Q2G2 igniters. It looks red insulation tube.

Quest/Aerotech has said these engines will be available for test launches at the upcoming NARAM.

Letter from N.A.R.

Wow, I wasn't expecting this!

Last year I wrote an article on how to "beef-up" the newer Estes Starter Igniters using Beacon Fabri-Tac glue and 4F Black Powder. 

I had used a igniter dip before but it continually dries out. You can thin it again by stirring in Acetone, but it is messy and takes a bit of work.

I have written a dozen articles for the Apogee Peak Of Flight newsletter, but Tim at Apogee didn't show an interest in this one. 

I knew the Sport Rocketry magazine offers N.A.R. membership for printed articles. I thought my article would have been too short (only 2 pages with plenty of pictures) to qualify.

Still, a great surprise and my NAR membership dues are good through January of 2020.

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 25, Tube Trim and Engine Mount

Finally you get to trim the low end of the body tube.
Cut the hold-down tics. You might have to do some other trimming if the laser line didn't go all the way through.

Here's how the low end looks with the end cut off. The extensions are more support for the fin fairings.









The engine mount is glued in.
I set it in at an angle and ran a bead of glue all the way around.

The mount is pressed into place with the nozzles centered at the fairing locations.

Notice how the narrow end of the nozzle overhang butts up against the end of the body tube. The centering ring will be even with the end of the tube.

New TOTAL IMPULSE Newsletter

The new issue of the Jackson Model Rocket Club newsletter, TOTAL IMPULSE
is available online:

Club news, space history, Terrier scale info, converting the Estes Space Eagle to a two-stager, vendor news and great photos.
To see the 30 page issue: CLICK HERE

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 24, Lower Body Roll Pattern Masks

The upper and lower vertical lines of the lower body mask are in line with each other.

Use an aluminum angle to join light pencil lines between the top and bottom roll patterns.

Here's the start of the lower body masks with marked clear Scotch tape.
The black area goes from the center of the low trapezoid shaped cut over the top of the second band from the bottom.

The other side of the vertical black area goes up from the center of the triangle mask over the fin fairing area.
TIP: Pull down the tip of the triangle fairing mask to be sure the end of the vertical mask is centered over the small cut outs. I'm glad I double checked, my first tape mask wasn't centered!




The inside angles on the upper roll patterns take some extra work.

I cut the tape corners at 45 degree angles. A small wedge of tape went over the top of the corner joint.

Here's the upper roll pattern after some cleaning up.
There was some black paint bleeding underneath where the tape went over thin bands.

I tend to pull up the tape before the paint has totally dried. It's easier to push back any paint bleeds while the paint is still pliable. You just have to be careful not to touch the sticky paint.
Note I said "push" back the paint line - scraping the paint could remove the white paint underneath.

This is the low end after the tape was pulled.

I did go back with a ultra fine point Sharpie down one mask line that wasn't as clean as I would have liked.

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 23, Upper Body Black Paint and Vinyl

Please note: I use clear Scotch tape for masking. If your surfaces aren't clean, you probably won't get a sharp masked line using Scotch tape. If in doubt, go with the Tamiya tape. I'm just cheap!

The upper 1/2" of the S-IVB tube is painted black.
Again I used Scotch Tape for the mask. The The Systems Tunnel got a smaller piece of tape to start. The short tape piece made it easier to tuck it into the root edge joint.

Brown masking tape and a paper wrap covered up the low end of the tube.

Here's another great part of the kit.
Masking the roll pattern on the large adapter could be difficult. The kit supplies you with pre-cut self adhesive vinyl.
TIP: Notice the pencil line at the the top of the shoulder. If you have a surface area where the paint isn't perfect, the black vinyl can cover it up - if you plan ahead before sticking in on. The pencil line is where I started the vinyl wrap to cover up an area where the paint gloss wasn't even.

Do some dry fits without peeling off the backing before sticking it down. There will be a gap at the bottom.

TIP: Before applying the vinyl - Be sure the adapter is clean, be sure your hands are clean. A dust or dirt speck will show up as a lump under the vinyl.

Here's the almost finished upper end of the model.

The silver APS Units have yet to be glued on.

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 22, Masking The Tubes

The glue areas for the fin assemblies and detail pieces are masked for gluing later on.

On the fin fairings, set a masking tape strip on the diagonal line. A second piece goes on the lower right corner. Mark the right side with a pencil and remove the tape. Cut the triangle with a straightedge on glass.

Replace the triangle back on the tube.

All the small detail piece masks are set with 1/8" strips.

Everything gets sprayed with gloss white paint. As the instructions say: "A gloss finish will improve decal adhesion."

After the decals are applied you can use a flat clear coat if you want, but bear in mind it will dull the silver paint on the Service Module and fin areas.

The instructions recommend using a Scotch Tape mask for the white box areas on the Service Module. Your surfaces must be smooth for Scotch tape masking.

On the right, the tape edges were burnished down with a Q-tip. The Q-tip removed some of the Sharpie ink. Be sure there isn't any black Sharpie ink transferred to the body tube.

TIP: Notice the centering pencil marks on the tape and between the RCS thrusters. Mark the body tube center (between the RCS thrusters) and the center of the tape mask before putting it on the model. Simply line up the center marks. You won't have to measure back and forth from both sides of the mask.

Here's the mask after the tape was removed.

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 21, APS Unit Shaping

Save the dowel lengths left over from the long tunnels.

This is an over exaggeration - but cut the dowels over size, longer than the APS Unit Core center piece.






Two set of dowels and the center pieces are used on the model.

A clothes pin clamp was used to glue the three pieces together.

Check from the front and rear to be sure the dowel sides are in line with the center piece. Be sure the gluing tab is exposed on the bottom.

The half dowels were cut long to sand them down to the center piece length. Keep an eye on the laser burnt edges on the center piece, you can easily see when the burnt edge is reached.




This is the harder part of the shaping -
In the end, the top silhouette should look like a upside down heart shape.

TIP: Make a wide pencil line at the top and sand the sides checking the pencil width as you go.

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 20, Ullage Rockets

The Ullage Rockets are ridiculously small!
You are supplied with four, you only need two.

Before removing them from the sheet, sand the sides smooth.







The top edge is sanded round.
Tweezers help to hold the piece as you sand the top round.






TIP: Keep small pieces safe in a zip-lock snack bag until needed.






The rockets were stuck on masking tape, sticky side up.
The penny is there to show the size of the rockets.
These were hit with filler/primer and sanded smooth.







Two rockets and the Liquid Hydrogen Line are glued on the upper body tube.

A Lighter Gray?

If you followed the Dragon Ship 7 build, you know I had trouble finding a light gray color.
Neil Weinstock emailed me some information on a better shade of gray - 

Hi,
Just thought I'd share my experience with Rusto 2x "Perfect Gray" Ultra Matte paint. I ended up sanding down the awful (quality, not color) Winter Gray coat on my IRIS-T and repainted it with the Perfect Gray.  I'd say it was just right for my IRIS-T build.  Perhaps the ideal scale color would have been a bit darker, but the inkjet decals look better on the lighter gray so I am happy.  This picture shows the model after painting.  Of course it's hard to tell exactly how light or dark a gray is from a picture.  It's pretty light, but still definitely gray.  I struggled to decide if, despite the name, it has a very *slight* warm tone to it. Eventually I gave up worrying about for fear of driving myself crazy for no reason.

I found that the finish on the paint puts it somewhere (in my estimation) around satin; I was expecting it to be much flatter but it has some sheen to it.  I decided to take a chance and apply decals to it directly, without any gloss coating first.  As far as I can tell it has worked well (I also douse the decals in Micro-Sol after applying, just to maximize my chances). 

Maybe most important though was how I acquired it.  I could not find it in any store, so I ordered it through the True-Value website (CLICK HERE) and had it delivered to a local store for pickup, with no shipping charge.  Not too much hassle in the grand scheme of things.

So overall I'm glad I went through the trouble to sand down the rocket (a lot of work, ugh) and repaint.  If you need a lighter gray spray than the Winter Gray I can recommend it.

- Neil

Here's the link to Neil's build, it's well worth checking out! CLICK HERE

BMS/Alway Saturn V Build, Part 19, RCS Thrusters and Details

The four RCS thrusters are removed from the 1/32" plywood sheet. These are also tiny so extras are included in the kit.

Flip the sheet over and notice on one side the burn line is wider. The wider burn line side will have a tapered edges. The RCS nozzles will look rounded if the wider burn side faces out.


The small laser burned squares are "picked out" for a better glue bond.

The thrusters are glued with the left side nozzle high, the right side nozzle low.




The wrap strips on the S-IVB tube were applied earlier.

On the upper left you can see the Systems Tunnel in place. The Systems Tunnel is removed from the 1/32" ply sheet and the sides rounded.

The Liquid Hydrogen Line is formed from leftover dowel half pieces.

Extend the lines on the full size drawing and transfer them onto the dowel.




The sides are tapered with with a sanding block.

I made two, they are actually both the same size. One is glued to the base of the S-IVB tube.