Streamer D Rocket Build, Part 1, Parts

This one was built for the Streamer Duration competition at the recent NARAM 60.
Not much here - 
A 9 3/4" long BT-5 tube, balsa nose cone, Kevlar shock cord, three 1/32" thick plywood fins, playwood ordered from BMS and a 2 mil competition streamer kit from ASP. The streamer is 4" wide X 40" long.

There is no engine block, the engine will extend out the back and get a wrap of tape for retention.

I raided the spare parts drawer for some of the parts.
I found two BT-5 sized nose cones that would work.

I weighed them both, the Estes plastic nose cone weighed three times what the balsa one did! The balsa cone was reshaped (see above picture for the "before") and about 1/8" was cut off the shoulder to get it to the .02 oz. weight.

Apogee Payload Altitude Rocket Build, Part 9, Paint and Weight

I didn't use CWF in the body tube seams.
Primer/Filler was sprayed and most all of it sanded off.

I wanted to paint the model with fluorescent paint, but you have to use a white undercoat with fluorescents.
The trouble is - fluorescent paints are flat and the surface is rough. This flat finish adds surface drag.

TIP: You can shine up a flat finish with polishing compound. After you polish, additional gloss is obtained with a soft cloth and lots of elbow grease. This is not a full gloss finish, but a decent semi-gloss shine.
TIP: Putting a gloss clear coat on a fluorescent finish will diminish some of the "glow". A fluorescent will end up looking closer to a normal orange paint. Still a glowing color, but not as effective.

The small 8" parachute is partially packed inside the red coupler.
It's fine and will be pulled out at ejection.

My model weighed in at .45 oz.
On the Apogee website their finished model weight is .54 oz.

Maybe the thinner, airfoiled fins and omitting the engine block helped out!

MPC X2 Invader Build, Part 5, Stickers! I Hate Stickers

These kits were designed for a young builder so stick-on decor is supplied. I never understood why kit vendors assume kids can't apply water-slide decals. I was building plastic models when I was five and using water slides. They may not have been set down straight but they weren't impossible to use at that age.

The stick-on decals were easily removed from the backing sheet. Enough are supplied for each side of the four fins. I only applied them to the right side of the fins.

The upper section of the plastic nose cone gets a wrap around. It took a few attempts to get the ends to line up before burnishing.

The narrow section of the plastic nose gets the "Marvin Martian" name on each side. The sharp pre-cut tips of the "Ms" didn't stick that well on the curved
body.





The shoulder fit was loose and required a 3/4 wrap of masking tape for a better fit.

The supplied 18" parachute is WAY too big for this model. I did like the Marvin Martian art but switched it out for a 12' Odd'l parachute.







The box says the finished model should weigh 2.2 ozs. My finished model weighed 2.47 oz! Another reason not to launch it with the recommended Quest A6-4 engine.

Estes Skydart II #3229 Build, Part 12, Primer / Filler

All the wood parts got a one good shot of Duplicolor Primer/Filler before assembly.

The rudder in the back is before sanding, the rudder in front is after sanding with 400 grit.
Where some builder look at primer as a paint prep, this primer/filler is used for a final wood grain fill.
Enlarge the picture to see some of the gray filler left in the remaining wood gran.

I was curious how much weight was added after CWF and sanding then primer/filler and sanding. The weight of the bare wood parts before any filling was 0.93 oz. The final weight of the filled three main wood pieces after sanded CWF and sanded primer/filler was 1.16 oz.
The total filler weight was 0.23 oz.

Notice how most all the primer/filler is sanded off. For me it's not so much for priming the surface, I use it more for filling any remaining wood grain. After a single coat of CWF and sanding there is usually some remaining grain lines left.

Estes Skydart II #3229 Build, Part 10, Filler Weight

We all know that filler and paint can shorten a gliders air time.
That's where I have a problem, this isn't a competitive glider. I like my models to be smooth and shiny, like in the catalog pictures. How can you expect the supplied decals to stick on a rough surface?
I was curious to see how much weight the CWF balsa filler would add.



After smooth sanding, here's the main pieces to be filled.
The scale shows .93 ounces.

Here's the same three pieces with CWF brushed on. The CWF has dried and is not sanded to surface yet.
The weight is now 1.35 ounces, an increase of .42 ounces.

And finally after sanding to surface the weight is 1.06 ounces.
The CWF added a little over 1/10 ounce or .13 ounces.
The added filler weight was much less than I thought it would be. I can live with that.
This small increase in weight might amount to a half turn of the elevator adjustment screw.

Paint will also add weight . . .

Nike Goon Build, Part 10, Added Paint Weight?

I'm a sport flyer and don't pay much attention to the weight of paint.
Daniel Petrie (The Rocket N00b) did some great articles about paint and how the weight can effect performance. To visit his blog and those write-ups: 
http://rocketn00b.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-weight-of-paint.html
http://rocketn00b.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-weight-of-paint-part-2-so-why-paint.html
http://rocketn00b.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-weight-of-paint-part-3-surface.html
http://rocketn00b.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-weight-of-paint-part-4-painting.html

This got me thinking about how much weight my paint jobs could add. I probably lay the paint on thicker than most. I paint my rockets for a few good reasons. They are stronger and sealed after proper painting. If you ever had a rocket waiting on a launcher and a rain shower rolls through, you'll be glad the model is painted.

The 12" parachute and shock cord are installed for the weigh-in.

The sanded primer and assembled Nike Goon weighed in at 1.56 oz.

Two light white coats were sprayed and smooth sanded. The final heavier coat was sprayed. Now the model weighs 1.63 oz, ready for trim.

After all the vinyl trim was in place the final weight is 1.70 oz.

So the paint and trim added just 0.14 oz. Not bad!

The Baby Bertha face card says it should weigh close to 1.90 oz. (Who knows if this Estes specification is the shipping weight, assembled "naked" weight or painted model weight.) 

My finished model came in 0.20 oz. less than the Baby Bertha. I would think it would have weighed a bit more.