Estes V2 Build Part 27 Masking the Roll Pattern

Working from the G. Harry Stine drawings the black areas were temporarily marked with black electrical tape.
If you've ever done a roll pattern before, you know it's hard to remember where you are. The black tape helps me keep track as I rotate the body and check the drawings.

To be sure the horizontal lines are horizontal, I've stack up some CD cases to the correct height. Your eyes can play tricks on you when laying down the tape masks.
Try laying a tape mask without a horizontal guide then check with the cases. (or any square block) Chances are, your line will not be right..

I used my standard Scotch tape strips for the edge masks.
The tape is marked with a wide Sharpie then cut through the black line for a clean edge.
The Sharpie edge is much easier to see and line up.

These corners are the toughest part of the mask.
If they all match up I'll be surprised.

Oops!
A black tape "guide" piece pulled up the paint with it was removed!
I had stuck the electrical tape on my jeans to get rid of some of the stickiness. It wasn't enough to prevent this. The white base coat didn't adhere very well to the white plastic tail cone.
Note to self: Next time rough up the smooth plastic a bit more for better paint adhesion.

Luckily I'll be spraying black over this.
The white edges were sanded before this black coat. After the black dried it was sanded again, using the paint to fill in any recess.
A piece of masking tape was set over the Scotch tape mask line above the lifted paint area. This protected the tube when the lifted area was sanded smooth.

With any luck it won't be noticable when the model is finished.

Cyclone Egg Lofter!

Mike Debreceni (MarmotFL on YORF) has taken the Jonathan Mills Cyclone design to new heights - as an Egg Lofter!

Here's Mike's launch report from YORF -

"This Saturday, we held our egg loft duration contest.

I'm proud to say that my 2X upscaled Cyclone won, with a flight duration of approx 30 seconds and a safe recovery of the egg. The spinning motion was beautiful to watch. The descent was so slow that the rocket appeared to be floating on its way down -- for a few seconds, it seemed to be hovering in place. It was a definite crowd favorite."

"Here are a couple I took on Saturday. These show the separate spin and stabilizer assemblies, and the assembled and launch ready rocket (with egg installed in the plastic bottle).

To give you an idea of the size, the assembled rocket stands approximately 2 feet tall, and uses a 12oz plastic bottle for its egg capsule. The main body tube is BT-50, large enough to carry a D-sized motor."

It's interesting how Mike used a soft drink bottle to hold the egg payload.
Congratulations Mike, the Cyclone is amazing to watch on recovery. With a Egg payload - even more so!

Mike is a member of the NAR FLASH section of Cape Coral, FL.

Estes V2 Build Part 26 Air Vanes

Glue the corner vanes onto the strip already in the fin recess.

I'm using a razor blade to pick up any white glue that was pressed out.
I want the edges to be sharp.

Here's how one of the vanes looks after drying.

Launch - Soccer Field August 20, 2012

Last Saturday's Tampa TTRA launch was scrubbed because of rain.
On Monday morning I went to the soccer field early - 7:00 a.m. The winds were already starting up. I set up my camera tripod launcher in the middle of the field.

First up was the FlisKits MMX INTERLOPER. (Not pictured)
Flight was good with streamer deploy before apogee. There was drift.
I angled the launch rod a few degrees into the wind.

The Semroc ASTRON was next with a Quest A6-4 to an estimated 300'. After a loud boost (Quest engines are louder than the Estes) it flew to the west - not because of the winds.
After ejecting the parachute, I thought it would land in the street. It did land in the field, 200 feet away. Time to move the launcher 200 feet to the southwest.

The best flight of the day was the Centuri FINLESS with a B6-2.
I hadn't flown this one since it went unstable with a C6-3. (C engines are not recommended on the plan sheet.)

Perfectly straight boost, with a little tail wag at burnout.
Full parachute ejection and I caught it before it hit the wet grass.

This was the only disappointment of the morning.

My Dr. Zooch ARES 1 with an A8-3 to 195' (OpenRocket estimate)
Boost was flawless, you can see the angle the rod is set at now.

I was waiting for the 8" parachute but it never ejected!

The Stick came straight in an stuck about 4" into the wet ground.
The picture with the grass shows the nose cone section pushed into the body tube. The nose cone shoulder is pretty much gone, shaved off by the body tube edge.

When I got home the Estes A8-3 was checked. The clay ejection cap was still in place!
No ejection = repairs!
Below the nose section, the rest of the model is fine.

Maybe I'll just build a new one, I have a new Ares 1-X kit upstairs.

There has been a few forum posts about the MPC NIKE PATRIOT. Today mine flew with an Estes B6-4 to an est. 425'.
Textbook launch and recovery. Indestructible.

Also flown:
Art Applewhite QUBIT with the Stars and Stripes decor.
This "freebie" arced off to the south during boost with an Estes A10-PT plugged engine.
No damage, just a little ink running after it landed in the wet grass. (I'd better spray the next one with a clear coat.)

Estes V2 Build Part 25 Air Vanes

Small strips of 110 lb. card stock were cut to fit the air vane locations on the fins.

The strips were a little less than 1/16" wide, narrower than the fin thickness.

The back rounded side of a razor blade was used to score the inside corner fold. 

When glued into the vane corner the strip will raise the vane away from the fin.

Before gluing on the strip,  scrape away a little of the paint for a better glue bond.

Glue was applied to the back of the strip and the corner bend pressed into corner of the vane cutaway.

The picture at the right shows the strip with just the center fold glued down.
Use a toothpick to smoothly roll the strip onto the glue and into position.

Center the strip down it's length in the corner.

New Estes Kit Instructions Posted

Bryan B on YORF posted links to upcoming kit instructions on the Estes website.
"The Centuri seems to have the PNC-50BB with nozzle so Black Brant III clones should be easier. It's also weird seeing 'Centuri' and 'Estes' on the same rocket. The Black star voyager will have to go in the 'Build soon' pile once it comes out."

Thanks Bryan!

Here are those links and some low res images from the instructions.

The CENTURI
(with the old Centuri logo on the side!) The wrap decals look like they came from the old Centuri kits.
http://www.estesrockets.com/media/instructions/003232_CENTURI.pdf

The BLACK STAR VOYAGER
The most elaborate of the new kits, lots of complex fin building.
http://www.estesrockets.com/media/instructions/007222_BLACK_STAR_VOYAGER.pdf

The ROGUE WARRIOR
Some angle cut tubes on this one.
http://www.estesrockets.com/media/instructions/007223_ROGUE_VOYAGER.pdf









The SPRINT XL
A 24mm model brought back in tribute to Mike Dorffler.

This one has a molded tailcone with an engine hook cutaway (fender) molded in.
http://www.estesrockets.com/media/instructions/007224_ASTRON_SPRINT_XL.pdf

MEGA DER RED MAX
Part of the Estes ProLine II series
I didn't post a picture of this one - you probably already know what it looks like.
http://www.estesrockets.com/media/instructions/009705_MEGA_DER_RED_MAX.pdf

Estes V2 Build Part 24 White Spray and Sand

After the first white color coat, I had to go back and wet sand with 400 grit.

The picture shows how much sanding was done, in some places down to the grey primer.

It's hard to get sand flat on the rear of the tail cone. There was some fillets lines that needed to be taken down.

This is a four sided fingernail file I picked up at a Sally Beauty Supply store.
There is four different grits from 100 to about 400 grit.
The file is padded and washable.

To keep paint out of the hollow area round the engine mount, I stuffed strips of paper towel in the recesses.
Be sure it is tucked in far enough that it doesn't block any paint from the rear of the tail cone.

In the engine mount tube itself, I'll slide in a E engine casing stuck on a dowel painting wand.