I have lots of 13mm Estes engines, 79 to be precise. And 23 of them are boosters.
But it has been hard to use them up, especially the boosters.
I bought all of Walmart’s Estes engine inventory in the early 2000s when they were clearancing Estes products. I paid $1 a pack. Also got an assortment of 18mm packs.
I built a gap-staged Mini Max, but decided to build another two-stage rocket. I had the booster sitting around from an old build. It was painted yellow, and was just in need of an upper stage.
Earlier this year I decided that the upper stage should be blue, not necessarily as a tribute to Ukraine, but I liked their flag colors.

I have tried to do a variety of decals for scratch-builds using my Cricut, and the biggest challenge so far has been sizing roll patterns to precisely fit a given tube size. (The Cricut design software is not the greatest.)

This time I think I nailed it — best fit yet.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
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

Excellent job, Lee! Looks great!

__________________
John
YORF #003
SAM #004

That looks great, Lee.

My favorite way to use up 13mm boosters is to fly the Estes Checkmate....just in case you're looking for another option.

__________________
Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

John, thanks!

Bernard, thanks as well, and it didn’t occur to me that the Checkmate is a 13mm stager. Guess I could also look around for a Mini Comanche-3, or scratch-build one.

__________________
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

Clone a Midget?


Bill

__________________
It is well past time to Drill, Baby, Drill!

If your June, July, August and September was like this, you might just hate summer too...

Please unload your question before you ask it unless you have a concealed harry permit.

: countdown begin cr dup . 1- ?dup 0= until cr ." Launch!" cr ;

Give a man a rocket and he will fly for a day; teach him to build and he will spend the rest of his days sanding...

+1 To the Midget idea.
Many dont know that the Midget was offered by Estes in two sizes.
The Astron Midget used a BT20 booster and BT50 sustainer. It used 18mm "S" engines.
The later "Mini Brute" Midget used a BT5 booster and 18mm sustainer. It used 13mm engines.
I like and have both.

__________________
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 !

Great ideas! I had a Midget (the one that used “S” motors), cool little rocket.

But if I build too many stagers I’ll use up all my 13mm booster motors too quickly, and have to buy more!

__________________
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

A mini brute Astron Beta is a good'n too.

__________________
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 !

Great looking two-stager Lee!
I've yet to get a Cricut vinyl cutter, but seeing your graphics makes it very tempting.

__________________
Hans "Chris" Michielssen
Old/New NAR # 19086 SR

www.oddlrockets.com
www.modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com
http://www.nar.org/educational-reso...ing-techniques/
Your results may vary
"Nose cones roll, be careful with that."
Every spaceman needs a ray gun.
Look out - I'm the Meister Shyster!

Chris,

Thanks! The Cricut is a very handy tool. It is best suited to graphics with few colors, otherwise overlaying them can be very difficult. A good example would be the planet image on an Orbital Transport. Or tiny lettering, like the warhead text on an Honest John. But for names, roll patterns, simple graphics like on the Goblin, they are great. Also worth looking into is the Silhouette, which supposedly has better design software.

The Cricut is really useful for cutting paper and cardstock, like for making butterfly parts for your kids/grandkids to glue together.

I have not fully explored all the design elements, but one I found handy was the ability to combine, and even exclude, parts of designs. For a Super Big Bertha, I selected to eliminate the overlap of “SUPER” on the “BIG”. If you zoom in, you can see how those parts of “BIG” are cut out.

A word of warning — once you get one you will label everything!

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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