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Scavenger! Build Part 1 Parts
As it turned out, the Quest 50mm tube was a very close fit to the plastic flute nose cone. I ordered some tubing from Quest, but like the nose cone it sat in my spare parts box - until now! This is going to be a real spare parts build. I'm not buying any new parts, no order will be made. ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 2 DIY Centering Rings
TIP: Here's your cheap tip for the week! Framing stores or framing departments at craft stores always have unusable smaller squares of 1/16" thick mat board. These are the center squares left over from the wide outside border cuts. These are perfect for making your centering rings. You can usually ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 3 Centering Rings
To the side of the mat material, trace around your engine mount tube, in this case, the BT-50H. This will be your guide to set the width of your compass. I'm using a old, school compass but for this perpose it'll be fine. Try to find the center and adjust the compass untill it matches the diameter ...
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Scavenger Build Part 4 Centering Rings
It's easier to cut out the center first and the outside after. On this interior circle, you can pretty much cut right on the line and the fit will be close. Test fit the engine mount tube in the center circle. I had to sand and widen the diameter slightly. Here I used 220 grit sandpaper wrapped ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 5 Centering Rings
Because you traced around the outside of the mainframe tube, you can cut a little inside your pencil line. It shouldn't be too hard if your scissors are sharp. If not, use a new knife blade. All four rings were set over the BT-50H tube and sanded round and to size. Go back and forth between ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 6 Centering Rings
Two rings were set back to back and a slot was punched for the engine hook. The edge "ticks" were cut off the punched circle to make it a rounded slot. The inset picture shows the finished engine hook slot. To make an engine block, a 1/4" length of a D engine casing was cut with a razor saw.
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Scavenger! Build Part 7 Centering Rings
A thin layer of white glue was spread over one side of a centering ring. The engine hook slots were lined up and both rings pressed together. To be sure the laminated rings were in line, they were both slipped over the BT-50H tube. Clothes pin clamps held the centering rings together while the ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 8 Decal Font
The font should match the name and theme of the rocket. The Scavenger name is just that, a model built from spare parts. The rocket name font should be a little rough. In high school I spent too many hours working in a print shop on a VGC PhotoTypositor machine. I did lots of headline and ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 9 Fin Plan
Here's the fin plan for the Scavenger rocket. These are based on the Estes Optima, a fin style I have always liked. I start with full-size pencil drawings on copy paper. After one drawing, another new piece of paper is taped on top of the first. I make corrections by tracing over the first ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 10 TIP Fin Drawing Transfer
This is the "old school" way to preserve your fin plans. The idea is to make a fin pattern on cardstock without cutting up your original drawn plan. Tape down some new cardstock on your work area. The drawn fin plan is taped over the cardstock. Punch through all the corners, through the drawing ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 11 Fin Slots
Using a fin marking guide, the tube was marked for three fins. With the trailing edge of the fin even with the end of the body tube, the top and bottom of the thru-the-wall tab is marked. The 1/8" fin width is marked on the three fin lines. This is the area to be removed for the TTW tab. The ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 12 Fin Slots
The top of the slot is rounded using a small rat tail diamond file. File a bit, check the fin fit and file some more until the fit is good. This is the finished slot showing the alignment of the rounded leading edge to the rounded top. This is the fin fit up to now. The fin tab was purposely cut ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 13 Root Tab Fitting
With the fins slots cut the engine mount was slid into position. On this model, the end of the engine mount tube and mainframe tube are even. A ruler was slid into the cut fin slot. With the end of the ruler making contact against the BT-50H engine mount tube read the measurement of the ruler. ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 14 Root Edge Fitting
Here's the fin fit after the trimming. Adding the extra recess for the wrap of tape on the engine mount made a big difference in getting the best fit. With the rear fin in place, you can now see how they'll both look together.
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Scavenger! Build Part 15 Engine Mount Gluing
A dowel was measured from just below the upper centering ring to the rear of the mount tube. A ring of glue was added to the top of the rounded dowel. The glue ended dowel was set in the mainframe tube up to the pencil mark. The dowel was rolled around the inside of the tube transferring the glue ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 16 Upper Shock Cord Mount
I could have used a Estes Tri-Fold mount for the shock cord connection on the nose cone shoulder, but I wanted something stronger. This is based on what Centuri did at the body tube end on some of their larger diameter rockets. A half segment about 1" long was cut from some scrap 50mm tube. Last ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 17 Fin Gluing
When you thing about it, Through-The-Wall or TTW fins really changed the structure and strength of mid and high power rocketry. When I started in 1969, all model rocket fins were surface mounted. For low power models it was fine - for the most part. The Scavenger fins are Basswood. The interior ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 18 Forward Fin Alignment
A straight edged strip of paper was wrapper around the tube, 1" above the leading edge of the rear fins. This assures my forward fins will all be the same distance from the rear fins. The surface mounted forward fins were glued on with white glue. The rear trailing edge just touched the paper ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 19 Launch Lug Alignment
This model will get two, 3/16" diameter lugs. The lower lug is centered between two fins, flush with the end of the main frame tube. It's positioned opposite the engine hook. The upper lug is glued on the C/G (center of gravity) location. Some builder's will glue the lug a little forward of the ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 20 Epoxy Fillets
Here's a technique I don't have enough experience with! Epoxy fillets, like any new technique take practice. Normally I do built up white glue fillets, sometimes I use Titebond Molding and Trim Glue for fillet work. On a rocket this size, the radius (or roundness) of the fillet should be larger. ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 21 Epoxy Fillets
After the epoxy is transferred to the root edge, smooth out the bead and remove excess with the rounded end of the Popsicle stick. Do about half the root edge, wipe off the stick and smooth the rest of the root edge. When the epoxy is just starting to set up, remove the tape. You might have a ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 22 Epoxy Sand and Prime
After the epoxy fillets had dried, some high spots were taken down with some 220 grit wrapped around a dowel. As epoxy dries, it self-levels. The surface should be pretty smooth already, requiring little sanding. Many builders will add Micro-Balloons to the epoxy mix to make it easier to sand. ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 23 This Model Is Cursed!
After the gray primer was sprayed and sanded, I followed with the first white coat of paint. Looking closer at the epoxy fillets, they weren't as smooth as I would have liked. There was some high spots. If 30 minute epoxy were used, I would have had more time to get it smoothed before the fillets ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 24 Back To It - Paint!
Ever have one of those builds you just wanted to be done? I had too many bad experiences with the Rustoleum 2X gloss white. After sanding smooth again I took a chance with Duplicolor Gloss White. While the coverage wasn't as heavy or opaque as the 2X Rustoleum, it did flow well. I copped out a bit ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 25 Monokote Trim Stripes
The paper cover envelope was cut on the drawn pencil lines. We'll only be using the center piece for a template. The center piece was opened up and taped to the gold Monokote trim material. You can still see the crease at the middle or the fold at the leading edge. The high point in the middle of ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 26 Black Tape Trim
1/8" wide strips of black electrical tape were set on either side of the gold Monokote trim. This helps tie in the black color on the upper body. I didn't have to cut the black strips at an angle over the root edge. These stripes were thin and would fold over the root edge easier than the wider ...
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Scavenger! Build Part 27 Decal
Only one post today - this is long one! I ended up printing two sizes of the Scavenger name and picked the smaller of the two. The only decal on this rocket is the name - big and simple. The name decal was printed on Bel decal paper on my ink jet printer. Two light coats of Krylon clear gloss were ...
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Scavenger! Finished
I used the old Estes Optima scheme for some painting ideas. The fin and body tube trim looks a little like the the new Estes Pro Series models. The finished model is 29 3/8" tall. Body Tube diameter is 1.92" or Quest 50mm tubing. I'll probably fly it with D12-5 and E9-6 engines for now. Lessons ...
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The Big Fix! - Scavenger
After a hard landing at the May NEFAR launch, the Scavenger needs a new upper tube. The ejection charge pushed off the nose cone but not the parachute. This should be any easy repair. I've got a few Quest 50mm tubes. The bent tube was cut off right at the black color separation line. A ...
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