I really like that checkerboard, Doug!

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John
YORF #003
SAM #004

Thanks, John. Trim Monokote is your friend


[Edit]BTW, I seem to recall using the checkerboard because it was used in one of the catalog schemes, altho the pattern I used had larger squares, but it was all I could find.



Doug


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YORF member #11

John, Your transition turned out really good. I chose to paint mine red. I wanted to avoid applying a tapering stripe to a tapering, rounded object. It makes me dizzy just thinking about it


Doug


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YORF member #11

Thanks Doug;

I wanted to keep the proportions of the roll pattern down the transition, so I prepared a marking guide, lined things up, masked and painted. Not so much dizzy as it was tedious (!).

Attached Thumbnails

     

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John
YORF #003
SAM #004

Quote:

Build it with straight fins because crooked ones hurt your OCD brain?

FWIW, my rationale to forgo the canting was that, with a more potent 1st stage motor, I didn't think it was necessary. The stability off the rod gained by the spin imparted by the canting can be replaced with higher rod speed instead. And a 24mm C11 or D12 does that. Plus, there's less drag with straight fins.

YMMV.

Doug

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YORF member #11

It strikes me that it may have been the Astron Delta that used the checkboard pattern. In the case of your FS-X, I think the proportion of the squares on those fins is just about right. Sharp looking pattern.

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John
YORF #003
SAM #004

Oh, I think you're right - it was the Delta!


Doug


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YORF member #11

Yep.
Astron Delta used a Yellow/Black checkerboard pattern.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

I remember that my kit (Farside-X) included soft balsa. I used AeroGloss Balsa Fillercoat and painted with dope to get the smoothest, glossiest finish, which I did, but some grain was still visible, and the fins ended up wavy as a result of the shrinking of all the fillercoat and dope. first two flights (B-A-A , and B14-B-A) were pretty good, but snapped one fin at the root from each of the first two stages on landing the first time, lost a fin on the second stage the second time. Replaced it with hard balsa. No wave on that fin.

On the third flight I went for broke with B14-C-C and of course lost the upper stage, but it held together!

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Roy
nar12605

I just downloaded the Farside-X plans from Jimz, and printed the fin pattern sheet. I'm going to build the booster for 24mm motor. I'll order the Semroc kit after Christmas. Too much going on now to start the kit, but I really want to build the 24mm booster! I never had a Farside or Farside-X.

I built the Apogee II in the 60s, it was my first multi-stage rocket. At the time, the Farside was 75 cents more (the Farside-X was another dollar or so more than the Apogee II), and thinking about adding another fraction of a dollar for a 3rd motor, that kind of expenditure just scared me off ...

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Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp