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Old 03-16-2015, 03:53 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Default MPC fiber body tubes?

Hello All,

The body tubes in MPC's model rocket kits (particularly the later ones that had plastic nose cones and fin units) were referred to as "fiber body tubes," and I believe G. Harry Stine may have made this distinction as well in earlier editions of his "Handbook of Model Rocketry," between fiber and kraft paper body tubes. Those tubes do look different and have a different consistency (they're stiffer and harder) from Estes' and Centuri's body tubes. Was the "fiber" a different material (and if so, what was it?), or was "fiber" just a fancy name for a different type of paper? Many thanks in advance to anyone who can shed light on this!
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Old 03-16-2015, 06:46 AM
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Jerry Irvine Jerry Irvine is offline
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Paper is a fiber. The ones we commonly see today are 100% virgin kraft. The CMR and MPC tubes has a partial recycled paper content and were a bit more rough or porous. These days you cannot buy virgin kraft tubes in CA at any price.

Jerry
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  #3  
Old 03-16-2015, 07:20 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Irvine
Paper is a fiber. The ones we commonly see today are 100% virgin kraft. The CMR and MPC tubes has a partial recycled paper content and were a bit more rough or porous. These days you cannot buy virgin kraft tubes in CA at any price.

Jerry
Thank you. That's what I figured; they don't seem to be anything other than paper, just a different "grade" or type of paper. There is an increasing number of things that are becoming harder or impossible to buy in California--the same mindset that resulted in the warning on packs of black powder motors ("This product contains silica, which is known to the state of California to cause cancer") is the cause--when a state government thinks that *sand* is a carcinogen, anything can be banned there...
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Old 03-16-2015, 08:50 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blackshire
Hello All,

The body tubes in MPC's model rocket kits (particularly the later ones that had plastic nose cones and fin units) were referred to as "fiber body tubes," and I believe G. Harry Stine may have made this distinction as well in earlier editions of his "Handbook of Model Rocketry," between fiber and kraft paper body tubes. Those tubes do look different and have a different consistency (they're stiffer and harder) from Estes' and Centuri's body tubes. Was the "fiber" a different material (and if so, what was it?), or was "fiber" just a fancy name for a different type of paper? Many thanks in advance to anyone who can shed light on this!


They were regular body tubes, but the outside was not a glassine wrap, at least not the glassine of Estes/Centuri tubes, and envelope windows of the time. I don't know precisely what it was, but it was a little more sandable, a little chalky (which made it white or off-white). I remember Space Age Industries had tubes like this that came with a slight texture that could be sanded smooth.
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Old 03-17-2015, 04:59 AM
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California is full of enviro-whacko FRIGGIN' IDIOTS.
Half of the crapola the politicians and bureaucrats pull there would get one LYNCHED here in Michigan.
We have the most correct vehicle regs here; speed limits are treated as SUGGESTIONS, ZERO vehicle environmental testing/checks, ZERO non-commercial vehicle safety inspections.
If it belches smoke like a 1920's coal-fired power plant, that's tuff fecal matter to enviro whaks. You can drive it down the road for as long as it lasts !
HUFF some fumes !
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Old 03-17-2015, 02:34 PM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Royatl
They were regular body tubes, but the outside was not a glassine wrap, at least not the glassine of Estes/Centuri tubes, and envelope windows of the time. I don't know precisely what it was, but it was a little more sandable, a little chalky (which made it white or off-white). I remember Space Age Industries had tubes like this that came with a slight texture that could be sanded smooth.
That's something I like about those tubes, that they are sandable.
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http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
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Old 03-17-2015, 02:39 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
California is full of enviro-whacko FRIGGIN' IDIOTS.
Half of the crapola the politicians and bureaucrats pull there would get one LYNCHED here in Michigan.
We have the most correct vehicle regs here; speed limits are treated as SUGGESTIONS, ZERO vehicle environmental testing/checks, ZERO non-commercial vehicle safety inspections.
If it belches smoke like a 1920's coal-fired power plant, that's tuff fecal matter to enviro whaks. You can drive it down the road for as long as it lasts !
HUFF some fumes !
Yep...it's such a beautiful place, but that aspect of life there is one reason (the high cost of living is another) why I could never live in California. That hobbyist rocket companies actually prosper there is a minor miracle, and a testament to their thriftiness.
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http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
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Old 03-18-2015, 04:27 PM
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I wouldn't live in California if you GAVE me the place...

Later! OL JR
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Old 03-19-2015, 07:32 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by luke strawwalker
I wouldn't live in California if you GAVE me the place...

Later! OL JR
I'm reminded of the historic comment (I forget from whom; I think he was an Englishman) who said--this isn't a word-for-word quotation, but it's close--that "France is a lovely place, except for all of the French" (I don't share that sentiment; the infamous French rudeness seems to be an urban--and mostly Parisian--thing, while French rural folk seem to be kind, salt-of-the-Earth people). With California, it's not the people as much as the government (regardless of party) that would chafe me if I lived there; it's an expensive, highly-restrictive place to live. The extra hoops that the NAR has to jump through to get motors permitted there, and their own special required gasoline blends, are just two examples of that.
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http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
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  #10  
Old 03-19-2015, 09:05 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
California is full of enviro-whacko FRIGGIN' IDIOTS.
Half of the crapola the politicians and bureaucrats pull there would get one LYNCHED here in Michigan.
We have the most correct vehicle regs here; speed limits are treated as SUGGESTIONS, ZERO vehicle environmental testing/checks, ZERO non-commercial vehicle safety inspections.
If it belches smoke like a 1920's coal-fired power plant, that's tuff fecal matter to enviro whaks. You can drive it down the road for as long as it lasts !
HUFF some fumes !


Hi GH -
I'm tired of the California cliches.
Have you ever spent any time in California, beyond a few days vacation in Los Angeles?
Take a drive up the coast and stay longer than a week before you make judgments about people or lifestyles.
Before you leave this post, please read all of it.

I was very fortunate to be born and raised in Northern California, in the Monterey Bay.
The weather was great! Mostly in the 70s, it only snowed once when I was five years old.
No humidity on the coast.
I never knew how great it was until I moved out of state.

I've lived in many cities, all across the country, most for over a year.
"Enviro-whacko FRIGGIN' IDIOTS?" There are idiots everywhere I've lived.
The percentage of idiots is no bigger in California.
The problem is, they put them on TV. That's all most people see representing the state.
People are people everywhere. There are good and bad, smart and not so much.
The percentage doesn't change by location.

Gasoline?
In the 1960s and 70s, the Los Angeles basin was covered in smog.
Too many cars and too much exhaust.
After all the emission regulations the sky is clear now, you can see the mountains and breathe the air.

Rocketry regulations?
In 1969 I couldn't get engines. Estes and Centuri would ship kits, parts and launchers but no engines.
It was a hassle, but I did get a permit. I bought engines and flew rockets.

Everywhere I've lived has had it's positives and negatives.
I've lived in Florida for years. It's a hot swamp. But for now, it's home.
Florida Traffic? Yes. Tourists who can't drive? Yes. Nut cases? Yes.
People are people everywhere.

If I had the choice, I hope to go back to California to live one day.
Sure it's more expensive, but you are buying the whole package.
The weather, the scenery, mountains and ocean. And yes, even the people.
Earthquakes? You'd feel a few each year. Since the 1950s, newer buildings are built to flex.
Usually it's the older buildings that fall.

I'm a nut case. I play the banjo, bagpipes and the accordion.
I also build and fly rockets so maybe I get a pass.

I've never lived in Michigan, so until they broadcast a "Real Housewives Of Detroit",
I couldn't possibly form an opinion about the people there.

Sorry to sidetrack Blackshire's topic. Now back to the more interesting MPC body tube discussion.
I liked the MPC tubes. Sand off the roughness and no seams to fill!
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