Flare / Bell Bottom Build, Part 2 Design Process

Here's the back view with the shroud over a 5/60 centering ring.
There's no engine hook, the engine is slid in place and gets a wrap of masking tape over the BT-5 tube.

The extended shroud isn't as strong as I would like.

Below the centering ring I'm adding a short "nested" shroud.
This will but up against the centering ring and be even with the back end of the outside shroud.

The entire model was dry fitted to see the finished shape.
I'll probably keep the launch lug short, right beneath the hole in the shroud. It's never easy to trim the lug end even with the angle of the shroud.

Flare / Bell Bottom Build, Part 1 Design Process

Drawing up a shroud can be tough, if you are off by the slightest bit the fit will be poor.
I use the shroud tool on www.payloadbay.com for a start.
But, the shroud will have to be printed later with more than one shroud per sheet of card stock.

The shroud was dropped into Corel Draw and redrawn.
Three shrouds were made, one slightly larger another a bit larger.
One of the three should give a friction fit over the BT-5 body.

The lug hole is pre-punched and will be in the kit.
That small hole is hard to cut out after the shroud is formed. By pre-punching the lug hole I'll have a perfectly round top to the lug recess hole.

After the shroud is glued up, the straight vertical lines in the lug slot are cut with scissors.
This keeps the shroud stiffer when forming and gluing. If the lug slot were completely cut out (before forming the shroud) it is harder to get it round on the narrow end.

"FLARE" Shroud Design

I made the first drawings of the conical base stability model, tentatively called the Flare. (The Bell Bottom name is already owned by Hot Rod Rockets.)
The shroud was drawn up using the Payload Bay Transition Tool
CLICK HERE then transferred to Corel Draw.
Only three will fit on a 8 1/2" x 11" card stock sheet.

One feature in the upcoming kit revision - 
The hard to cut launch lug hole will be pre-punched. You can see it indicated by the black dot in the upper left shroud.
For now - print, fit, redraw - repeat!

Powered FLIC Replacement

The combo kit was pretty successful with school groups. Some teachers like to show students other methods of stability.
I'm almost out Shuttle FLICs. Quest doesn't offer them on the website anymore.
The Shuttle looks great but I need to find something appropriate as a substitute.

The Corkscrew demonstrates a different kind of stability. The FLIC replacement model should do the same.







Over the past four years I've had great luck with the Hot Rod Rockets Bell Bottom design. Stable and seemingly indestructable! Something like this would be a perfect fit.

It's a BT-5 based model that flys high with inexpensive 13mm engines. Streamer recovery works well for smaller schoolyard recovery.
My model won't be a copy of the Hot Rod Rocket design. This was a great kit.

First and Second Prototype Comparisons

The previous posts showed the first prototype build.
To the left is the second Little Green Man Prototype and the final kit version.

Anytime an original design is finished, I'll look at it close and wish some things were different.
This design went through subtle changes between the first and second versions.




The finished model is on the left.
The belt buckle is slightly smaller and an oval shape.
If you cut it out carefully, the buckle will have a black border.
The hands now have individual fingers. The finger and toe nails are now green.



The angle of the feet are turned up, closer to vertical.
The feet are a bit larger.
The green toe nails are bordered in black and have a more defined shape.

The upper half of the model stayed pretty much the same.

Odd'l Rockets Blog Improvements

Last night I stayed up and added:

   *  Art topper logo (it's not showing it all, just the left side)
   *  Kits Pages 1 & 2
   *  Accessories Page
   *  Dealers Page

Give me a few weeks to get these pages up to speed.

(I know, where's the Pigasus kit?) Fixed!

I still want to add a "Coming Soon" Page

Getting a new blog to look right takes some time.