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  #11  
Old 06-05-2021, 06:51 PM
Scott_650 Scott_650 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dlazarus6660
Can I use a V2 rocket kit and convert it a Silver Comet?

If you can find a Silver Comet nose cone - it has unique molded rivet and hatch details - those could be simulated with etching and/or paint. Otherwise you’d need the fin patterns - not sure if the V-2 fins could be modified into Comet shapes or not...
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  #12  
Old 06-05-2021, 06:55 PM
stefanj stefanj is offline
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I fetched a crashed Silver Comet from the trash. Estes sold me a replacement cone (this was in 2000 or so). I lengthened it by about 6", and added teardrop-shaped "pods" to the tip of each fin.

Used circles of blue Trim Monokote for the windows.

Let's see if I have a picture . . . .
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  #13  
Old 06-06-2021, 04:03 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stefanj
I fetched a crashed Silver Comet from the trash. Estes sold me a replacement cone (this was in 2000 or so). I lengthened it by about 6", and added teardrop-shaped "pods" to the tip of each fin.

Used circles of blue Trim Monokote for the windows.

Let's see if I have a picture . . . .

PERFECT! I love the fin pods!
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  #14  
Old 06-06-2021, 09:38 AM
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+1 on the love for the tip pods.

I always wanted to open up the "windows" on the Silver Comet nose cone, add tinted or clear panels and build up some kind of interior. You'd have to cut off the bottom of the shoulder section to have access to that area, but it seems doable.

Anybody ever tried that?
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  #15  
Old 06-06-2021, 01:18 PM
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OK, put me down as a fin pod fan. Those swept fins just don’t look right without pods.
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  #16  
Old 06-06-2021, 05:16 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkB.
+1 on the love for the tip pods.

I always wanted to open up the "windows" on the Silver Comet nose cone, add tinted or clear panels and build up some kind of interior. You'd have to cut off the bottom of the shoulder section to have access to that area, but it seems doable.

Anybody ever tried that?


I'm currently working on a BT-80 based model from the Dan Dare comics series that has a clear nose cone and a flight deck interior.
It has no bottom on the shoulder so I'm just going to make one and attach everything to that.
It would be easy to open the Silver Comet windows with a Dremel tool and insert clear mylar panels.
I was going to do that to my Fireball XL5 model but decided the nose was too small to be worth the effort.

As for those fin pods, they really do finish the model nicely. I would make them like the ones on my Tintin moon rocket. Use balsa nose cones split lengthwise, include the pod profile on the tip of the fin pattern, then glue the pod halves directly to each side of the fin. Nearly unbreakable.
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  #17  
Old 06-06-2021, 09:57 PM
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So, how DID you make the fin pods? Is each one carved from a solid block and the fin tip inserted? (I’m assuming not.) Or are they a glued stack?

Or something else completely?
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  #18  
Old 06-07-2021, 10:53 AM
stefanj stefanj is offline
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Quote:
So, how DID you make the fin pods?


A glued stack.

There are three layers. The outer ones, as I recall, are soft 3/16" or 1/4" balsa. The middle layer is the same thickness balsa as the Silver Comet's fins. The profile of all three layers is identical, but the middle layer has a notch traced from the edge of the fin.

I glued the layers together, sanded them to a nice rounded shape, filled and painted them.

* * *

I have parts for four spaceships with Silver Comet cones. Two with official tail cones, two with cardstock cones. I plan on fancier fin pods for at least two of these. I have several little BT-20 tail cones from Apogee. These would go on four pods with tubes and cones that would be fitted TTW to tabs on the tips of the fins. I'm having trouble visualizing the fins; something swept back and space-opera-ish.

I might make one model for myself, and kit up the remainder. If the parts fit in a priority box, I might offer them up here.
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  #19  
Old 06-07-2021, 06:30 PM
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Increase the length of the MMT to act like a stuffer tube, or something. The Silver Comet suffered from "weak ejections" kind of like how the Big Daddy suffers from ejection failures. It's the shape of the bottom of the nose cone that allows the pressure to vent before the nose cone has been fully ejected from the airframe.
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