The Little Bucky Jones is a downscale of Pemberton Technologies' Bucky Jones. Layne makes some other stuff too but it is the retro science fiction look that he practically owns. This rocket is not exception. It harkens back to a day when Flash Gordon and and Buck Rodgers ruled the serials. I miss those days.

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__________________
John A. Lee O.S.L.
Alamo Rocketeers NAR Section 661
NAR 87285, L1 8 March 2008
TRA 03040, L1 8 March 2008
Photos of the "Fleet": http://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/

I used to tell Mom, "...I want to fly rockets when I grow up!"

She said, "Make up your mind, you can't do both!"

I normally don't worry about the spirals in my tubes unless they are excessively hideous. The spirals on the body tube for this kit were miniscule. Even so, I decided that I wanted to make this rocket a "best effort". Accordingly, and guided by the "desctructions", I decided to start off by filling in the spirals. I brushed some Elmers Filler over the lines and then screeded away the excess with a razor blade. This did not leave much to dry so it dried quickly. About an hour later, I sanded the tube down with #330 sandpaper, also removing the sheen from the BT. After that, I gave it a once over with the #400.

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__________________
John A. Lee O.S.L.
Alamo Rocketeers NAR Section 661
NAR 87285, L1 8 March 2008
TRA 03040, L1 8 March 2008
Photos of the "Fleet": http://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/

I used to tell Mom, "...I want to fly rockets when I grow up!"

She said, "Make up your mind, you can't do both!"

Printed on the last page of the instructions were templates for the fins, finlets, mitered tube cutting guide and alignment guide. I cut out the miter guide and the alignment guide. I lined the marks for the dorsal fin up with the point at which the spiral ended at the edge of teh tube and decided that this would be my dorsal surface. The miter guide as then wrapped around the tube so that its farthest extension lined up with the dorsal line. The guides were taped into place and an angle was used to transfer all of the alignment marks to the BT. The contour of the mitered cut was also transferred.

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__________________
John A. Lee O.S.L.
Alamo Rocketeers NAR Section 661
NAR 87285, L1 8 March 2008
TRA 03040, L1 8 March 2008
Photos of the "Fleet": http://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/

I used to tell Mom, "...I want to fly rockets when I grow up!"

She said, "Make up your mind, you can't do both!"

A fresh blade was put in the X-acto and the process of cutting the mitered end of the BT began. I drew the blade around the marked line not pressing very much. It took several circuts to complete. The resulting cut was pretty good with just one significant burr and a few minor ones. These were sanded away with #330.

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__________________
John A. Lee O.S.L.
Alamo Rocketeers NAR Section 661
NAR 87285, L1 8 March 2008
TRA 03040, L1 8 March 2008
Photos of the "Fleet": http://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/

I used to tell Mom, "...I want to fly rockets when I grow up!"

She said, "Make up your mind, you can't do both!"

The templates for the fins and the finlets were cut from the last page. They were then taped down to the plywood sheets and the outlines transferred with a mechanical pencil. Orientation really does not matter because of the plywood. There are 2 finlets and 3 fins.

The instructions give suggestions for several ways in which to cut the sheet material. Since I didn't have any of the nice power tools, most of the "good" options were out. I wasn't about to try it with a pair of shears. That left just the "multiple pass with X-acto" method. It is fortunate that I had a new box of blades. I went through 5 of them cutting the first fin. After that I had to leave this project aside for a while.

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__________________
John A. Lee O.S.L.
Alamo Rocketeers NAR Section 661
NAR 87285, L1 8 March 2008
TRA 03040, L1 8 March 2008
Photos of the "Fleet": http://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/

I used to tell Mom, "...I want to fly rockets when I grow up!"

She said, "Make up your mind, you can't do both!"

I just got one for Christmas...nice to see a build thread. Been awhile since i have posted but life always seems to get in the way of my hobbies...... By the way...HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!
Looking forward to the rest of the build.

Merry 8th day of Christmas and a happy new year to you as well.

Great fortune on the rocket. Its a good one. I got a tie.

__________________
John A. Lee O.S.L.
Alamo Rocketeers NAR Section 661
NAR 87285, L1 8 March 2008
TRA 03040, L1 8 March 2008
Photos of the "Fleet": http://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/

I used to tell Mom, "...I want to fly rockets when I grow up!"

She said, "Make up your mind, you can't do both!"

It took a while, LOTS of passes with the X-acto and many blades but I finally got all three fins cut out. I used #220 paper smooth out the rough edges and then used #330 to round all the edges except for the root. Then, breaking from my usual practice, I filled them with Elmer's, screeded off the surplus and gave them a couple of hours to dry. I then sanded them down with #400 and have to admit they look much better than they would have if I had waited until after they are installed.

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__________________
John A. Lee O.S.L.
Alamo Rocketeers NAR Section 661
NAR 87285, L1 8 March 2008
TRA 03040, L1 8 March 2008
Photos of the "Fleet": http://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/

I used to tell Mom, "...I want to fly rockets when I grow up!"

She said, "Make up your mind, you can't do both!"

Cutting out the little finlets turned out to be harder than the big fins. There was not as much to cut but keeping the right shape was tougher as was handling and sealing them.

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__________________
John A. Lee O.S.L.
Alamo Rocketeers NAR Section 661
NAR 87285, L1 8 March 2008
TRA 03040, L1 8 March 2008
Photos of the "Fleet": http://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/

I used to tell Mom, "...I want to fly rockets when I grow up!"

She said, "Make up your mind, you can't do both!"

Since I was in filling mode, I went ahead and sealed the nose cone. Unfortunately, the screeding with a razor blade does not work on this type of surface so it will take considerably more time to dry. The recommeded method in the instructions is to seal and sand with thin CA but I found my bottle hardened past the possibility of use.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
John A. Lee O.S.L.
Alamo Rocketeers NAR Section 661
NAR 87285, L1 8 March 2008
TRA 03040, L1 8 March 2008
Photos of the "Fleet": http://www.flickr.com/photos/23694991@N03/

I used to tell Mom, "...I want to fly rockets when I grow up!"

She said, "Make up your mind, you can't do both!"