I'm building a clone of an Estes #1379 Mach-2.

I have a well made balsa nose cone copy made for me by Gordy over at Excelsioras well as the decals. I don't have too much experience with balsa nose cones and may have goten a little nuts with the sealing and sanding process but I figure its the performance of the flight is where it matters most. I bought this kit back in high school around 1983 and lost it on its maiden voyage, and what a glorious voyage it was! My first D powered rocket disappeared into a blue sky and turned into a tiny orange dot, which happened to be a 18" parachute tied to a 2.6 ounce rocket... and after a quarter mile it kept on floating away into the forest....

So, Im going to go ahead and recreate this rocket. The rocket measures 25.5 inches long, diameter is 1.64". This will be my first attempt at putting together a clone. I will be building two identical versions, a "D" & a "E" powered version. I'm not going to use a 18" chute but will use a streamer recovery. I went out to my local Hobby Lobby and bought several rolls of orange 1.75" wide crepe paper to use as a streamer.
I already have the fins cut out and papered. To keep them from warping I sandwiched the fins between plate glass and wax paper and stacked a bunch of heavy books of them and left it overnight.

My order from Estes shipped out today among other things in the order are my BT-60 tubes and engines mounts..

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Looking good there Captain Ron! I'm slowly making progress on my Big Bertha build/upgrade. I've also gone nuts trying to fill the grain in the balsa fins and after three runs with fill/finish, they're looking good. Not great but much better than when I was a kid, glue'm on and paint it! I'm interested in your fin prep, what kind of paper do you use and how is it applied? Do you just prime/paint afterwards?

Since my first post, I've also located a club (SoAR) in north Atlanta that's having a launch this coming weekend in NE Georgia. It's about an hour and a half from me but I'm definately going! Weather looks pretty good at the moment. Can't wait to hook up with a few BARs like myself!

Hi Thank you very much.

I guess Im a BAR myself. When I was a kid i just glued them on and painted over everything. Didnt seem to affect performance or fun factor much.
I haven't gotten together with anyone down here where I live yet for any launch's.

I used average 20lb printer paper and I just applied wood glue with my finger and coated the fin and laid it over the paper, then weighed it down with some heavy books over night on a flat surface and did the other side the same way.

Not sure what others do after wards, and Im not sure if its necessary but I brush thinned epoxy over the paper to harden it then lightly sand it before priming.
I thin my epoxy 50/50 ratio with 91% isopropyl alcohol, NOT rubbing alcohol. Ive done this for years building model RC hydroplanes to seal the wood. The thinned epoxy gets deep into the wood and the alcohol evaporates leaving the wood water proof. By doing this over the paper it makes it very hard, smooth and sandable, in case your paper job leaves wrinkles you can sand it out by doing this.

Morning Cap'n. Sandman's cones are great and one of these days I'll clear enough room to work on one of his three kits I have. FWIW, Sirius Rocketry's Molding Oldies has a resin cone of the PNC-60B for $15. IIRC, that cone was used on the Estes Scud, Dart, and the Mach 2.

Chas

__________________
Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"

Yeah i saw those but I wanted to try my hand on a balsa cone. i most likely will grab a couple of the plastic cones in the future.
Which kits do you have?

Cool.

I have two of his LTV Scout kits and his up-scaled Estes Starship Nova. I keep planning on building a Scout for sports scale competition, but never seem to pull the trigger on it.

C

__________________
Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"

A quick streamer tip!

Go to Hobby Lobby AFTER the 4th of July.

They have red, white and blue streamer (crepe paper) that they practically give away!

Last year I paid $0.10 a roll.

Captain Ron...keep it up it look real good so far.

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

I don't have any rocket sim programs (yet) but I was curious if you guys out there think the Mach-2 can handle a "E" engine, dont see why not. I plan on building both a "D" & "E" version.

yeah I will definately hang out at hobby lobby after the 4th and see if I can take advantage of that. maybe I can go patriotic on my recovery systems
friendly and reliable ( ) UPS tracking says my parts order from Estes will be in tomorrow.

Years ago before there was a roc sim. We tied a string at the cg of the model and swung it around to see if it's stable.

That will still work.

Put an E motor in pack the parachute and swing it.

I'll try to do a roc sim on it for you.

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

How would that work for say, a 1/5 scale model of a Saturn V?