Stiletto Design Inspiration?

In 2009, Bob Sanford made a visit to Quest Aerospace.
Lots of great information and pictures in these YORF posts: CLICK HERE


Douglas Shrock (Shrox Rocket Designs) showed some of his prototypes.
He's holding the SHX-3 Stiletto, one of my favorite models.



Yesterday on RocketReviews.com I ran across this: CLICK HERE.
Geof Givens did a plastic model conversion of a Lindberg kit in 2009.
Where does design inspiration come from?
I never knew the Douglas X-3 Stiletto even existed until I saw the plastic kit. You can see the similarities.

Here's my Quest SHX-3 Stiletto, modified for 24mm  engines. It's usually flown with a D12-5.

The build posts are HERE

A Gift from Bill G!

You meet great people at club launches.
This is Bill Gibson. I met him at a Tampa TTRA launch a few years ago.
A great builder and flyer.
Bill was the first person I'd seen that marked the engine designation on the igniter tape.
A practice I use every time I prep a rocket. CLICK HERE

When I got home from Mexico there was a package in my overstuffed mailbox.
Bill made a display stand for my Quest Stiletto.
This stand seems to be made from aluminum. The base is polished, the vertical piece is sandblasted.
The black tube is machined plastic and fits a 24mm engine mount perfectly.

In addition to just looking cool - 

The polished aluminum even matches the metallic silver paint on the Stiletto!

If Shrox ever saw this (the designer of the Quest Stiletto) he would agree it's a perfect combination.

Thanks Bill! This made my day.

Quest Stiletto Build Decal Fix

The Stiletto was missing the two USAF and Star and Bar decals.
I printed up the black USAF pair but won't be adding the Star and Bars. Those require white backgrounds.
TIP: This font is called AMARILLO USAF.
It's used very often on military models. You might find it on the free font websites.
I don't waste the remaining sheet of decal paper . These were added to a sheet of some Vostok and Pigasus kit decals.

Here's one of the decals in place. It did need something to fill that empty space on the intake tube.
Future clear coat will be applied to the edges with a Q-tip.

Quest Stiletto Build Finished!

This is a BIG model, probably under powered with a C6 engine. Like the earlier Quest Aerospace One, this one will fly with 24mm engines. After some weight comparisons with an 18mm engine mount, .60 oz. of clay was added to the nose cone before gluing the two halves together with plastic cement.

Even with mistakes in the instruction templates and missing decals I like the finished model.
The small rudder was replaced with a piece twice the original size. But after reading about some flight results, I want this one to be stable.
I'll print some black USAF decals to replace the missing ones. The Star and Bar decals use white ink, I probably won't be adding those. The BIG Quest "Q" logo decals weren't used, they were just too big.
It's a good use of the old Nike Smoke nose cone. The intake tube is a strong design element.
I'm looking forward to launching it with D12-5s. I might go with an 18" parachute in place of the 14" Quest chute.

Again I recommend the Rustoleum Metallic silver paint. This is the first metallic paint I've found that doesn't get dull when handled!

Quest Stiletto Build Part 20, Wing Flap Decal Fix

This was done after I took the finished pictures in the final post.

I wasn't happy with the wing flap decals. right out of the bag there was a crease in the decal. The decal ink cracked when it was placed on the model. Be ready, any fold in these decals will break up the ink.
Even though I cut a piece from the intake decal squares the patch was too obvious.

After the decals were dry they were impossible to remove. Nothing worked - water or Scotch tape. I couldn't even lift the corner!

For a slight change in texture a piece of aluminum trim Monokote was cut to cover the old decal.
After setting that down, thin strips of Contact paper were cut and placed.
Even though the top and bottom decals are different it still looks better than the first attempt at a patch.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 19, Chrome Trim

There is a gray area on the wing indicated on the face card and decal placement instructions.
It's not mentioned or included on the decal sheet.
Time for an upgrade!
I decided to cut it out of my old chrome Monokote trim sheet.

Using the illustration for a sizing guide, I did my best to approximate how big the pieces should be.

Two facing pieces were cut and set into the launch lug fillets using the knife blade to place it.

The chrome trim is a great contrast against the metallic silver paint.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 18, More Decals

I had read about the Stiletto decal problems on the forums.
Some decals were missing, one "Rocket Blast"decal was facing the wrong way

On the instruction sheet the decal placed behind the nose cone canopy was supposed to go around, matching the half diameter of the black nose cone top.
It was short!
The decal was placed a little behind the end of the body tube making it look like a strut between the blue windows.

These flap decals go against the trailing edge of the wings.
Double check how these sit on the wing before soaking.
I cut them short removing the clear area so I wouldn't have to trim it off later.
Notice the crease in the third square at the top. That would lead to problems coming up.

I usually don't have problems with water slide decals, but that crease broke up the ink and led to a tear.
I'll try to fill in that broken area. Half of the bottom trapezoid from the intake decal was cut off for a fill piece.

TIP: As more decals were applied there were other small tears.
If you build this kit, you might want to add a coat of MicroScale Liquid Decal Film to the decal sheet.

Here's the backward "Rocket Blast" decal.
The one on the other side faces to the rear as it should.

I wanted to keep the arrow directional point.
The incorrect decal was cut and pieced together.
It's not perfect but better than omitting it all together.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 17, Nose Cone Decal

I could see this coming - the rear of the decal won't lay down where the shoulder straightens out. You can see the two raised areas on the blue area of the decal.

I don't have decal setting solution.
Here's one way to fix and get rid of the wrinkles.

With a new razor blade, cut straight lines through the decal skin a little above the length of the raised wrinkle.
When cutting a decal already on the model you are making light cuts. You don't want to slice into the paint!

Lift the middle (the back of the decal had two slices, cutting the rear of the decal into thirds) and set the outsides down first.
Lay the center piece over the sides you've already set down.
The middle cut will overlap the sides and get rid of the raised wrinkles.

"Mold" the decal to the surface by rolling over it with a damp Q-tip.
You can see the cuts if you look very close, still it's better than the raised folds.

On the back edge there is still some very small raised areas in the clear border.
Making small slices, cut through these too. Wet the decal and roll over he cuts with the damp Q-tip.

NOTE: This slice and overlay idea doesn't always work. It can work with water slide decals - not with stick on decals!

Here's the assembled nose cone with the decal on the upper half.
This is only a dry fit - no glue yet!
I will probably have to add clay weight inside the nose cone with the heavier D12-5 engine in the rear.

Thankfully the decal has a white undercoat and the blue cockpit shows up well. If there were no white background it would disappear into the black paint.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 16, Black Mask

The model got an overall white undercoat, then Rusto Metallic Bright Silver.

Along with one half of the nose cone, the only other black paint goes on the two larger rear fins.
I used my regular Scotch tape mask.
The corners were rounded off a bit.

Masking tape and grocery bags followed.
With the big intake tube so close there is some areas where the paint could sneak in. Double check for any open areas and apply more tape if in doubt.

After spraying with the Rusto black night metallic the tape was pulled.

My Titebond M&TG fillets were smooth and the mask lines came out sharp.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 15, Nose Cone Paint Solution

I'm jumping ahead to the nose cone paint . . .

You are given two choices on painting the nose cone.
Step 20 has you paint both halves separately then glue them together.
(The copy says Step 19 - 22, but it is really Step 20 - 23, Oops!)
Step 23 has you mask off one half after the two piece cone was glued together.
This is a no-brainer. Why mask when you can simply glue the two painted sides together.

It's a brilliant solution to a nose cone made from old molds.
In my experience, the Quest (MPC) Nike Smoke nose cone takes a bit of fill and sanding to get rid of the seams. Why not use the seams to your advantage?
Painting one side silver and the other black will visually cover up any bad fit.

I'm using Rustoleum Metallics, for sport models it's my new favorite paint.
This paint covers easily and dries very fast. It looks best under sunlight.
The shoulder and nose cone tip were masked off.
Metallic Black went on one side and the tip.
Metallic Silver went on the half of the nose cone.

The picture doesn't do justice to the Rusto Metallic paint.
Nobody will be looking for the seam on the half-half nose cone. They might wonder how you got such a good mask line.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 14, Sands and Preps

This post is a mixed bag.

From the back end you get an idea of Shrox designs, certainly not a four fin model with the fins spaced at an even 90 degrees.
(Yeah, I know - there are five fins here.)

I cut a higher spine that is between the two wing fins.
This was done so it could be sanded to surface afterwards.

Originally the plan was to sand the spine flat and keep the top square.
In the end it was slightly rounded off.

I looked ahead at the canopy decal placement.

On the old Nike Smoke nose cone there is an molded antenna (I believe it's an antenna) that would sit under the front center of the decal.
Like the hatches this will be sanded off.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 13, Wing and Rudder Gluing

Dry fit the wing against the spine and look where the wing surface contacts the body tube. I drew a pencil mark to show where the second glue line will go.

The inset picture shows the glue was applied - 
Down the angled root edge and on the tube contact area on the flat side.

Before gluing any fins on the primered tube surface,
Sand any primer off down the glue line with 220 grit on a block.

On the right is the sanded line for the enlarged rudder.

I can't resist doing a dry fit to see how the model will look.
What a great design.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 12, Fin Fit and Gluing

The front end of the tail fins tuck under the intake tube.
Extend the positioning lines onto the intake so you have something to center them on.

I went ahead and put a Titebond M&TG fillet on the front and rear of the spine piece. It might be hard to get the fillet right after the wing is glued on.

For the strongest joint, sand an angle into the root edge of the wing fins. You'll get complete contact of the root edges to the side of the spine.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 11, Cutting a Larger Rudder

After all the concerns about stability a larger rudder fin was drawn up.
Mine is twice the height of the original and flipped so more fin area is to the rear.
In the picture on the right the original rudder line pattern is the dashed line.
My re-draw is the larger solid lined fin.




The top shows the original smaller fin.
The inset shows the new larger rudder.

I also cut a new wider spine piece.
After sanding down the laser cut burnt edges I felt the spine wasn't high enough to match the thickness of the wings.
The slightly higher spine will allow me to sand it down to the top of the wings and require less seam filling.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 10, Stability Issues and a Larger Rudder

Before starting a kit build I'll got to www.rocketreviews.com and look up the kit build review.
It's great way to find out if there are any "kinks" or "gotchas" along the way.
There wasn't any reviews for the Quest Stiletto. I started my build figuring I'd make any corrections as I went.

Halfway through the build I did a search on The Rocketry Forum and found a few build threads about the Stiletto.
There were some flight stability issues!

John (Rocket 86) may have found a solution HERE.
Scroll down to Post #27.
John extended out the span of the underside rudder and had great stable flights.
After reading about some other flight results, I'll be cutting out a new rudder as shown here!

John Bergsmith (Boosterdude on TRF) posted this, My responses are in italic:

"Just wanted to some up the issues I found with the kit. All are really minor and wouldn't prevent me from building another one. They could easily trip up a beginner, but for experienced builders it's no problem. I hear that Quest is addressing the issues in the new release. The finished product is really awesome, great design Shrox!"

1. The laser cut balsa pieces for the wings are not the same size. Meaning the left wing doesn't match the right. So you have to trim the larger wing to match the smaller.

My kit wings were the same size - correction made!

2. The template for cutting the intake is a little small so it doesn't wrap around the BT. However, it still gets the job done.

The intake cut template was the right size - correction made!

3. The fuselage marking guide that is supplied is way to small to wrap around the BT. You need to blow it up to 140%, I think that's what I did.

My kit had the revision sheet with the larger marking guide.

4. The supplied nose cone is the Quest Nike cone. It takes some work to get it to fit together to close the seam gaps.

While you do have to sand down the plastic "flash" the seams won't be noticeable. 

You paint one half silver, the other side black.

5. The supplied decals only provide two star and bars when the supplied artwork shows four.

My kit only had two "Stars and Bars" decals!

6. The two USAF decals that go on each side of the inlet are not supplied. I used two from an Estes kit.

In the end I printed up two USAF decals for the sides.

7. The two red arrow decals that say "rocket blast" that go on each side are not printed correctly. One of the the words will be upside down if placed according to the artwork.

One "Rocket Blast" decals was wrong and will read upside down. 

8. The centering rings although adequate are very thin and flimsy. I put some thin CA on both sides and that seemed to help.

I beefed up the engine mount with balsa gussets between the centering rings.

It looks like Quest made some changes in the laser cut balsa but the decal sheet didn't change.

It's an impressive design. I'll make the needed adjustments for stable D engine flights.

Some report it's under powered with 18mm engines. I saw that coming before finding the TRF reviews. It's just too large a model for a B6 or C6 engine.

Quest Stiletto Build Part 9, Intake Tube Gluing

Draw lines down the tube at the spine mark. Draw a line down the middle of the intake tube.

Three lines of white glue were applied down the tube between the 4" and 13" marks. The two outside glue lines will make a interior fillet on both sides of the center line.






Line up both lines and press the two tubes together.

After that dried a fillet was applied on the ends at the front and rear joints.






The revision sheet also mentions the rudder fin might be off "slightly".
You can see the gap underneath when the fin gets a dry fit.
When the root edge is sanded down, 1/8" of the rudder fin height is reduced.
Was this just enough to cause some stability problems?

Quest Stiletto Build Part 8, Marking for the Intake Tube

You'll be able to see some of the inside edges of the intake tube when it is glued to the main body tube.
CWF was brushed on the inside of both ends.
After sanding smooth some CA was applied with a Q-tip.


The inset shows Step 10 of the instruction.
There is a "Instruction Revision" sheet with a new, larger tube marking guide and the correction for Step 10.
The instruction illustration shows the tube flipped with the shock cord to the left. You have to make the 4" and 13" marks from the engine mount side.

As it turns out, the intake tube is 1/2" longer than the 9" span between the two marks.
I ended up just gluing the end at the 4" mark and letting the front end go the 1/2" beyond the 13" mark.

The tube marking guide in the instructions is too small.
There is a larger marking guide on the revision sheet.
As it turned out, the revised marking guide was a hair too long.