Hans "Chris" Michielssen's Page

AKA: hcmbanjo
Location: Orlando, FL
Club Memberships: NAR
Favorite Rockets: Estes Goblin
Personal Home Page: www.oddlrockets.com
Club Home Page: www.R-O-C-K.org
RocketReviews.com Pages:
Rocket Gallery
Flight Log
Flight Statistics

2024-04-18

The Mystery Fin

Blog
Last November, my Sister finally brought my comic books from California. When I was going through the books, I came across this fin. It looks to be 1/32" plywood. It is airfoiled. I think it came off a Streamer Duration model I flew at NARAM 17. If you are curious, the comics were from the mid to late 1960s. The box of comics sold for $700! [More]

2024-04-17

Estes Mini Bertha Clone, #TK-3, Part 12, Finished

Blog
This was a fun little build. My original 1970s fleet had quite a few Mini-Brutes and this was a favorite. The double layer decals got me close to the full black color density on the nose cone. I tried to clean up the "bug" decal. In the original art the lettering was thicker and a bit hard to read. This one represents the 1970s Estes décor. Many catalog rockets then were only two colors, ... [More]

2024-04-16

Estes Mini Bertha Clone, #TK-3, Part 11, Two-Layer Decals

Blog
This was one of those home print decals that didn't give a good opaque coverage. With the nose cone in place you can really tell the difference between the two blacks. On the left is a single layer decal, on the right is a two layer. There is a big difference. Sometimes home print decals don't cover over white paint. Lay down the first decal and let fully dry overnight . To apply the second ... [More]

2024-04-15

Estes Mini Bertha Clone, #TK-3, Part 10, Black Fin & Nose Cone

Blog
The single black fin was spray painted black. The nose cone was painted black separately, off the model. Note the masking tape doesn't completely cover the shoulder. The edge of the tape is a little below the shoulder lip. The gives you a little paint below the joint. You won't see balsa peeking out if the nose cone isn't completely seated into the body tube. I drew up some decals based on the ... [More]

2024-04-14

Estes Mini Bertha Clone, #TK-3, Part 7, Gluing On The Fins With No Wobble!

Blog
Well, I did it again! This is a missing, out of order post, It's an important one , showing how to get rid of standing wobble of four finned models. Here's post #7. I'll put them into correct order in a few days. Extend the fin position lines under and onto the centering ring. I also mark the intersection of the root edge and trailing edge on the fin itself. It gives me ... [More]

2024-04-13

Estes Mini Bertha Clone, #TK-3, Part 9, White Paint & Masking

Blog
Here's the model after the first white coat. This is an easy mask, the body is white, the nose cone and one fin are black. There are always glue fillet ridges. Here's the same fillet area after sanding. The single fin is painted black. This shows the Scotch tape masks. These are followed with brown masking tape covering the larger areas. A plastic bag covered the upper tube. Before spraying the ... [More]

2024-04-12

Estes Mini Bertha Clone, #TK-3, Part 8, Prep For Paint

Blog
Here's an old school idea: TIP: On a four fin model, look across the trailing edges to check the fin alignment. While they didn't wobble, The trailing edge tips weren't perfectly flat. It took very little 400 grit sanding to square them up. If I had sanded through into the raw balsa, sometimes you can rub some wood glue into the small trailing edge to reseal it. Keep the glue only on the ... [More]

2024-04-11

Estes Mini Bertha Clone, #TK-3, Part 6, Cutting Out The Fins

Blog
I had to search to find some 1/16" thick balsa. 1/16" thick balsa is rarely used in rocket kits anymore. You can still see the SIG logo in purple ink on one fin. Cutting them out by hand makes some small inconsistencies. On the left the four fins are squared up. On the right side, the fins have been stacked and the sides sanded even. Current laser cut fins are uniform, you don't need ... [More]

2024-04-10

Estes Mini Bertha Clone, #TK-3, Part 5, Odds & Ends

Blog
Before marking and gluing on the fins - I fill the gap between the outside of the centering ring and the edge of the tube. Apply some CWF around the outside of the joint. Let dry and sand. You can sand and work around the engine hook with a sanding block. The upper inside edge gets a wipe of CA glue. After drying, the glue gets a light sanding with 400 grit wrapped around a finger ... [More]

2024-04-09

Estes Mini Bertha Clone, #TK-3, Part 4, Slightly Longer Engine Mount?

Blog
An engine block wasn't included in the original kit. I added one, glued in so it's flush with the upper centering ring and body tube edge. Here's why that engine hook was designed to hang 1/2" beyond the bottom of the mount! There isn't much clearance and flex between the BT-5 and BT-20 tubes. The low bend of the engine hook scrapes along the outside of of an engine casing when slid into the ... [More]

2024-04-06

Centuri ARGUS clone

Flight
I only used one parachute, the original kit had two, one for the low end, another for the long upper section. The parachute was taped closed in a "hillbilly hat" for faster descent. - C6-5 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Estes Mini Bertha Clone

Flight
First launch today. After all these years I shouldn't be surprised by how well mini engine models perform. Very stable, the 1/2A3-2t motor. I would guess the altitude capped out at 275'. The two second delay seemed short. - Estes 1/2A3-2t - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Semroc MMX Blue Bird Zero

Flight
I actually captured a MicroMaxx launch! Estimated altitude was 75', no damage after the streamer recovery. - 1/8A-1 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Warped! (Scratch Design)

Flight
A weird one. It started as a regular bagged Custom kit that sat in the direct sun a little too long. The nose cone was melted and bent. I bought the kit. The body tube was cut into angled wedges and glued together like the Fliskits ACME Spitfire. I renamed it WARPED. A B6-4 pushed it to at ... [More]

Custom Solar Explorer

Flight
I wasn't worried about losing this one - the BT-50 tube was crimped above the engine mount from an earlier hard landing. After reaching an altitude around 600', the winds blew it into the trees just South of the flight line. Lost! I really need to thin the heard anyway. - C6-5 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Quest MMX Saturn V

Flight
The larger fins really didn't help much, it was unstable after it cleared the short launch rod. - 1/8A-1 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

2024-03-02

Odd'l Cyclone 18mm

Flight
- B6-4 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Estes Skytracer Clone

Flight
- A8-3 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Rocketship Games R5 Hawkeye

Flight
Boost is always fast on these little models, good thing I had some young eyes to point me to the landing area. - 1/8A-1 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Nike X Goon

Flight
A B6-4 got an altitude of 350'. Full chute, textbook flight. - B6-4 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

2015-04-19

Rockets By Style / Kit-Bash/Modified

Photograph

Hans "Chris" Michielssen's Orange (Q Cobalt Kitbash)

2014-11-09

Rockets By Style / Kit-Bash/Modified

Photograph

MX-774 Kitbash on an Estes A8-3. Bunnell Blast, November 8, 2014

2012-09-22

Saturn Press Saturn V - Step 17

Build Entry
The outside curved lines of the Engine Fairing Shrouds were cut from the cardstock with scissors. The interior Fin Slots were cut with a knife and straight-edge. [More]

Saturn Press Saturn V - Step 16

Build Entry
The A Frames and Fins were pressed together. The C Frames are pressed into the A Frames and Fins. Be careful handling the Fin paint while assembling. Silver or metallic paints are easy to dull with fingerprints. After all were assembled dry (no glue) I applied white glue to all the joints with ... [More]