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

2025-07-02

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 19, Drilling The Rail Buttons

Blog
The rail buttons are centered between two fins, on the other side of the INITIATOR name sticker. It's difficult to find the center on a round tube. I used a piece of paper pressed into the root edge fillets. Mark the two fold sides with pencil. With your ruler, find the center and mark. The lower hole is to be placed about 1/2" above the lower engine mount centering ring. That ... [More]

2025-07-01

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 18, Setting The Name Sticker

Blog
From the last Mega Initiator post - With the O and R "cut" directly over the tube joint, sight down the body to make sure the orange line and type are straight. Tape down the sticker. Use your aluminum angle to check the orange stripe is straight. The placement illustration says to overlap by 1/8", but I wanted to end up with a clean cut between the O and the R. A 1/4" overlap ... [More]

2025-06-30

Estes AMRAAM AIM-120 Downscale, Build, Part 14, Finished

Blog
There are PLENTY of small decals on the model. It's confusing trying to apply them using the Estes instructions. I did my best, some placements are a good guess. Online pictures of the real missile don't show the AMRAAM name. It might be Estes took some liberties like they did with the old Honest John kit. The name Honest John never appeared on the actual missile. Here's the upper ... [More]

2025-06-29

Estes AMRAAM AIM-120 Downscale, Build, Part 13, Decals

Blog
Applying a light color home print decal over gray paint will end up a much darker color. You'll need a white underlay. Black decals don't need any white underneath. You can either: Use a white decal strip under the light colored decal or - Spray gloss white onto a clear decal sheet. TIP: Cut a strip of the white sheet, the same width of the colored band. Lay the white underlay strip down ... [More]

2025-06-28

Estes AMRAAM AIM-120 Downscale, Build, Part 12, Shock Cord & Parachute

Blog
The elastic shock cord was tied to the lug at the bottom of the nose cone shoulder. Notice the tail was not cut off. When packing the chute, the short shock cord tail can get wedged between the nose cone shoulder and the end of the body tube. TIP: On this style nose cone - Push the shock cord tail inside the open holes beneath the tie off lug. The parachute shroud lines were tied to a shock cord ... [More]

2025-06-27

Estes AMRAAM AIM-120 Downscale, Build, Part 11, Gray Paint & Decal Print

Blog
Here's the lower half, painted with Ace Hardware Light Gray. The upper half, also in Light Gray. There are still some glue boogers that need to be sanded. Another final light gray coat will follow. The nose cone is painted white. I drew up decals for the downscale BT-50 size. The decal sheet is only available to Patreon supporters. Email me at oddlrockets@bellsouth.net and ask for the AMRAAM ... [More]

2025-06-26

Estes AMRAAM AIM-120 Downscale, Build, Part 10, Fillets & White Undercoats

Blog
I know, I'm bouncing between builds! I'm sure you have two or three rockets in progress at one time. Even though I had a fairly tight fit, there were still bubbles in the conduit glue fillets! There isn't much space between the fins and conduit for a glue fillet. I applied a line of wood glue to a Q-tip and spread the fillet drop by drop. White undercoats have been sprayed. After the ... [More]

2025-06-25

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 17, Setting The Name Sticker

Blog
Take it from an old typesetter - "Os" are typically taller and extend beyond the baselines of the other letters. Be careful when trimming close so you don't cut off the top and bottom of the O. You have to decide if the vertical orange line or the name INITIATOR will be centered between two fins. The INITIATOR name is bolder so I decided to center that vertically. Don't peel the backing ... [More]

2025-06-24

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 16, Pulling The Mask - Sucess!

Blog
The nose cone was slipped in and the upper end was sprayed with Rusto 2X Apple red. I would normally prefer using Ace Hardware Premium Enamel, but their "Banner Red" is darker and I wanted to get close to the red color on the model stickers. In the end, if the top roll sticker and bottom fin red colors are a close match. You can't tell a difference with the visual distance between them. ... [More]

2025-06-23

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 15, Matching The Nose Cone Color

Blog
The question has come up on the forums: "Which Red spray paint color will match the red sticker on the Initiator? Some considerations: 1. The nose cone is molded in black plastic so it would require a good white undercoat. Otherwise, you'll get a darker red on the sprayed nose cone. 2. The Aerotech printed stickers are translucent. The white paint under the sticker makes the red in ... [More]

2025-01-04

Estes Mini Bertha Clone

Flight
- Estes A3-4t - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Estes Blue Origin, New Shepard

Flight
Stable with a B6-4, not so much with a C6-5. Flew a bit south over the trees. Recovered by other club members with the pole. No damage! - B6-4 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Semroc Snake Jumper

Flight
Launch wasn't vertical and veered off to the south. Landed in trees, given up for lost. - B6-4 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

2024-12-07

Centuri Vector V

Flight
My Centuri VECTOR V clone was first in the air with an Estes A8-3. On the left is an Estes Viking, the kit used to make my clone. Altitude was estimated to be around 225 feet. Reefed 12" chute recovery. - A8-3 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Odd'l Rockets Stealth

Flight
Stable and true. Broke off one of the smaller winglet fins, not recovered. - B6-4 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Odd'l X-15 Goony

Flight
A favorite is my Goony X-15 . Part are from a Quest X-15 parts pack but built around a shorter BT-60. Great stable flight using an older Chinese made Quest B6-4 motor. Estimated altitude was 325'. - German Made Quest B6-4 - ROCK Monthly [More]

ASP Micro Wac Corporal

Flight
This is the ASP MMX CORPORAL , a well performing MMX bird. It was easy to follow the Mylar streamer as it descended. - 1/8A-1 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Semroc Centurion

Flight
Very stable, slow lift off. Ejection blistered the paint right above the baffle inside. - B6-4 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

2024-06-29

Odd'l Rockets Little Green Man

Flight
A little wobble on the way up. Not much altitude but recovered safely. - B4-4 - Muncie AMA Field [More]

2024-04-06

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]

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]