#1
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Guess What I'm Working On
It's not really a question as much as an exclamation. I am in the middle of no less than three rockets when I receive a vision for a certain OOP rocket which stymies many builders only for its wraps. As many of you will attest, you can actually fall asleep thinking about a problem and figure it out somewhere between REM and waking. The visions I had were just for the wraps of this rocket. I woke up searching my house for thin cardboard, the corrugated paper sandwich type. I needed it very thin and found what I needed in one of those chimney sweeping log cartons. I soaked the outer layer by laying it on a wet paper towel for about ten minutes and then peeled away the outer layer to reveal a very tight ripple. After trimming to size, then finding, grinding and sanding the perfect diameter dowels, toothpicks and bamboo Barbeque skewers, I glued them in place. Next, a liberal coating of wood hardener on the exposed side (for stiffness) and some brush on primer. I was so impressed, I immediately took a picture to show my teachers, er...um..., You guys. I don't claim to have invented anything new, but I have never read about it or seen this done and with such great results. The bottom wrap is still drying.
I hope you like. My only fear is the ply on the cardboard may separate if I attach the wrap with white or yellow glue. I might need something more penetrating or maybe pretreat with CA and then 3M the bonding surface. Waddya think? I'll also be needing some input or your thoughts on whether I should complete the rocket as per the posted instructions, or use a single length for tubing. I intend to baffle, upgrade to 24mm and maybe basswood fins. I've already retouched the Decals and drawn the exhaust cone. The tubing, baffle, mount and cones are courtesy of SEMROC. Might try TTW with basswood or balsa and maybe interchangeable mount. Maybe not. I'm a little chicken now because the wrap is sooooo cooool, I don't want to mess up the rest of the build, which is now officially started!!! |
#2
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Jay's Wild "Guess"
Quote:
*Nice* solution to a knotty problem. Maybe the other guys can chime in on your glue concerns. However, if you've got RockSim, you could steal the nose cone from my "Mars Voyager" file. The most recent version is here: http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/show...8&postcount=353 ...with images at the following "Disclosed Location": http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/show...8&postcount=309 Cheers,
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Jay Goemmer "Centuri Guy"/"Tau Zero" YORF Member 28 Semroc SAM #0029 NAR 86131 "I think about organizing things all the time. Never seems to happen. I find something that piques my interest and I'm off on a quest. Or a Centuri. " --Bill Eichelberger, 02/22/2022 “Centuri fret buzz in an updated form.” Bill “Wallyum” Eichelberger re: Estes Flutter-By 03 Sept 2014 |
#3
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Cool! I can't wait to see the results!
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#4
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I assume you are building an Orion based on the cone and comment about upgrade to 24mm (which means it can't be an Enerjet Athena, as they were 29mm).
The only adhesive that I find to work good with wraps is Contact Cement, PERIOD. Anything else usually ends up messing them up in one way or another.. The Orion and Athena kits both used the same exact wraps, which incidentally were cut-down sections of Centuri 1/100 Saturn 1B wraps ! You could try contacting Jim Neubauer as he supplied me with wraps for my Athena Clones.
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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 ! |
#5
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Thanks For the comments.
GH, I'm gluing paper - will contact cement penetrate into the paper ply? If it does, that's the solution. If not, I'd still be fearful of a paper ply separation as the corrugation and detail peel away from a perfectly cemented and secure base ply. I do like the idea of the cement, what would happen it I soak the base ply with CA - it does penetrate - will contact cement still work? Any comments are welcome
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#6
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If you soak it in CA, won't that make the whole thing brittle and hard to work with?
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#7
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Quote:
I think so, but I can let it set (dry) in or close to its finished curve. BUT WILL THE CA BE A GOOD SURFACE FOR CONTACT CEMENT??? I could try the MINWAX wood hardener that I used on the outside, it should work as well for penetration (which it does well). I don't know what they put in that stuff, but when I have used it on balsa cones, it makes the cone considerably more resilient. It is a thinned resin made to harden rotted wood. It seems to work well on paper so far, just don't know about its Glue-ability. Its flex is OK, but it is on the corrugated paper side so that doesn't really tell the whole tale. The other point about the resin is I don't know what it is doing to the elmer's bond for the detail and the paint on the other side!!! I'll experiment with the smaller wrap just to be sure. Bob |
#8
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Since you are working with an unknown, grab some more of the stuff and experiment with it. Take a strip of scrap and soak in CA, take another strip and use the wood hardener, etc. When they are ready, use different glues to apply to a curved surface and see how everything pans out.
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#9
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That's the plan for now. You can imagine the anticipation of getting this together, can't you! I know its killing me - but I'll try.
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#10
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Definately! If it is successful, I'll be digging through all kinds of cardboard at home and work. I can see my co-workers faces when I start hollering not to throw perfectly good cardboard scraps away.
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