lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
Fin-again.... 
Last edited:
Neil_W's half-baked design thread
- Thread starter neil_w
- Start date
Help Support The Rocketry Forum:
I like post 1617, what if you added very small canards to the front white section to make it mimic the fin can?
Think I'm gonna have to put this one aside for now, not converging.
Variations. There's a lot of experimenting to do on this one to see what looks most pleasingly weird/alien.
[edit: replaced the first image with a slightly better one]
[edit: replaced the first image with a slightly better one]
Last edited:
I think I agree on both counts, although appearance trumps survivability with this rocket. Need to keep exploring possibilities before finalizing.
I think on survivability there's not any question. I both agree and don't agree on the looks. Yes, I like the pointy ones better, but I think the rounded ones fit the rocket's overall look better.
Perhaps if you used 110# cardstock and 15-30 minute epoxy to paper the pointy fins, they'd have a better chance of survival.
However, when I used that method of "papering", it tripled the weight of the balsa fin, so you'd want to take the extra weight into account.
However, when I used that method of "papering", it tripled the weight of the balsa fin, so you'd want to take the extra weight into account.
Hmm, I’m not sure. Need to keep experimenting. It’s a hell of a lot easier now that I have the design in OR.
If the answer is stronger, tougher material for those particular bits, I'd just use plywood. All the rest could still be the usual balsa (or basswood) and use plywood in those places where it's really needed. And if that's not enough, there are penetrating epoxies that will bind the cellulose fibers together better than the lignin in the wood, making it more or less a wood-based composite.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Messages
- 11,917
- Reaction score
- 6,622
Keep fins inside the pink. Make them right angled (or minimal delta), but they will need to stick out much further, maybe drop the rear ring. (except the minimal cone symmetrical with the front). Given you will have 8 (four equal black and 4 equal white) tail fins, they won’t stick out that far.
I think I might like this better than the extreme spikey version, even though it is simpler... and it should be pretty safe for landing. I still can't help thinking the whole thing needs one more weird touch.... but I'm not sure what it would be. I could do something the shape of the rear of the tube fins, but I actually kind of like the look it has right now with the tubes extending out the back.
Good grief, I'm going to be fiddling with this design *forever*.
Good grief, I'm going to be fiddling with this design *forever*.
You know what's weird? Holes in rockets. Like a doughnut part way up the nose:
Or a hole crossing clean through the body:
You wanted weird, I give you weird. The doughnut could be some sort of antenna. I've got no idea what the other hole would be, but that's because the technology is so utterly alien to us.
That first one is kind of awesome, to be honest.
Not quite what you all were suggesting, but....
Or in purple
Or in purple
But it got you going, which I call a job well done.
I'm split on the color. Coordinating the color with the other purple components feels right, but I like the black better anyway.
Indeed!
I probably agree. For now the purple makes it easier to see what's going on in the render, though.
I'm unsure if it's needed My plan would be to 3D-print the whole thing as one piece, which should yield something pretty strong... I think? I mean, I can make the little fins as thick as necessary to make the whole thing strong enough. Of course, I have no clue how thick they would actually need to be, but.....
Learn SCAD. Replication is easy. And it's free. You could create a basic STL in Tinkercad and add the difficult bits in SCAD.
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
Come on Neil... ya gotta build this old school. Cardboard tubes, centering rings and cardstock conical transitions.
In case there's any confusion, I'm only talking about 3D-printing that crazy nose cone. I'm just not sure I could assemble it myself and have it be strong enough (also getting alignment correct would be very difficult).
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
You could do it...no doubt in my mind.
Not in mine either. I even have an idea how. But I would consider 3D printing it a better option if I were building this, and won't even consider criticizing whatever choice you make.
Do tell.
Now bear in mind, that I've never done any card stock construction and you're the master, so if you don't think this sounds like a good idea then I'd be sure it isn't. But all that said, this is what comes to mind.
I assume that a card stock nose cone doesn't sound like a good idea, so you'll want a solid balsa cone down as far as the break. You make the lower portion using your usual methods of a central tube and centering rings to support the paper. I guess you usually use a tube with the diameter of the top opening, and I don't know how far down the first ring would be. But in this case, you pick a tube a little bit smaller, and put the first ring right at the front, and the second slightly closer than where the "cage fins" end. After the skin is attached and the glue dried, cut and/or sand the paper away from the rings just where the cage fins will be attached; those locations can be marked on a template, perhaps printed write on the skinning paper.
To mark the locations for the cage fins on the balsa nose, use another template then mark the balsa by pressing something like a ball point pen along the template lines; balsa is so easy to dent that the lines will easily be transferred through the paper. After cutting and carefully shaping the cage fins, glue them to the nose along the pressed in lines.
Once the glue is hard, you can bring that whole subassembly down over the lower portion.
I assume that a card stock nose cone doesn't sound like a good idea, so you'll want a solid balsa cone down as far as the break. You make the lower portion using your usual methods of a central tube and centering rings to support the paper. I guess you usually use a tube with the diameter of the top opening, and I don't know how far down the first ring would be. But in this case, you pick a tube a little bit smaller, and put the first ring right at the front, and the second slightly closer than where the "cage fins" end. After the skin is attached and the glue dried, cut and/or sand the paper away from the rings just where the cage fins will be attached; those locations can be marked on a template, perhaps printed write on the skinning paper.
To mark the locations for the cage fins on the balsa nose, use another template then mark the balsa by pressing something like a ball point pen along the template lines; balsa is so easy to dent that the lines will easily be transferred through the paper. After cutting and carefully shaping the cage fins, glue them to the nose along the pressed in lines.
Once the glue is hard, you can bring that whole subassembly down over the lower portion.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Messages
- 11,917
- Reaction score
- 6,622
Hey, card stock nose cones can work great. I am well into my second decade using them.
Well, like I said, I really don't know and am either shooting from the hip or from around the corner.
In this particular instance the long pointy tip is not at all suited to being done in cardstock. Would need to be either a chunk of wood or a hollow tip of a plastic nose or a 3D-printed piece that can be filled with nose weight if needed. Slots in which to insert the fins are highly desirable, and difficult to do manually, unless it's balsa, which isn't the ideal material here.
I'm actually thinking that a 3-piece 3D-printed construction would be best here: one for the tip, one for the fin assembly, and one for the base/shoulder.
I'm actually thinking that a 3-piece 3D-printed construction would be best here: one for the tip, one for the fin assembly, and one for the base/shoulder.
Similar threads
