Brief:
This is a Micromaxx version of the old Sputnik model rocket that used dowels and a styrofoam ball.

Construction:
My MMX Sputnik requires:

• 1 styrofoam ball (approx. 1" in diameter)
• 3 toothpicks
• 1 piece of fiberboard (for the foot pods)
• 1 small piece of T2+ body tube
• 1 small piece of MMX style launch lug
• decals and paint as necessary

My wife had picked up a bunch of stuff from Michael's recently for projects for my 3-year old. I found a bag of small styrofoam balls and immediately I knew what I had to do.

I took the styrofoam and used a small metal file to create a hole big enough for the BT2+ to fit inside. This is the motor mount. I pushed it into the styrofoam (trying to center it), and then removed it to release the loose styrofoam. Next, I glued the tube in place.

After the motor mount had dried, I took the launch lug and pushed it along side the motor mount until it poked through the top of the styrofoam. I simply cut the launch lug to an appropriate size and then glued it to the motor mount and styrofoam.

Next, I trimmed one of the pointy ends off of each toothpick. I pushed the pointy end into the styrofoam, approximately 120 degrees apart, with the toothpicks angling outwards. Once I was sure that the toothpicks were at the right angle and the correct length, I glued them in place.

I used a hole puncher to create three small disks from the black fiber board. When building a few FlisKits models recently, I kept some of the black fiberboard from the middle of the centering rings and placed them in my parts bin. These small disks I created are meant to be little pods at the end of the Sputnik. I simply glued these on to the ends of the toothpicks, making sure they were rather flat so the Sputnik could stand up nicely.

Finishing:
After everything was dry, I gave the rocket a good coating of silver paint. I used acrylic paint and my airbrush. The solvents in the Krylon-style paint are not good for this project as they will melt the styrofoam.

Once the silver was dry, I simply dipped each "foot" into a bath of red acrylic paint and let the whole thing dry. I used sticky decals from my excess decals bin to add more details on my Sputnik. I then clear coated the rocket with Future Floor Polish.

Flight:
Prepping is simple. There is no recovery device. All I had to do was put a MMX motor in the rocket and attach igniter and clips. I have had one flight so far, but this thing really zoomed off the pad nicely. For a Sputnik (high drag), it has some respectable altitude. I was very pleased with the results. Next, I have to make a few more launches so that I can repeat my success.

The rocket did spit the motor. On my MMX Sputnik, there actually is part of the body tube beneath the styrofoam, so I could tape the motor to the rocket. I think I will try this for the next launch.

Recovery:
There was some slight blackening under the MMX Sputnik, but nothing threatening or out of the ordinary. Also, the rocket is a tad hard to find since it is small. Have some extra pair of eyes with you when you launch it.

Summary:
PROs: Cheap and easy build. Get a few styrofoam balls and build these with your children.

CONs: I can't really think of any.