I've always liked the Nike Smoke with it's clean, rakish lines. That long nose cone and fluorescent fins really set it off. The parts available from Quest are very reasonable. The Nike nose cone is ... [Read More]
The original instruction specs say the rocket is 19.5" long. The plastic nose cone is 8 3/8" exposed. The fin can is 2.5" tall. For everything to add up to the overall length of 19.5", I cut some ... [Read More]
Here's the fin can as it came out of the box. It's pretty clean, except for the edges. All four fins will have to be squared up with a sanding block. To make it easier, I'll mask and paint it off ... [Read More]
Two strips were cut off the Popsicle stick, 3/16" X 1 1/2" The original Nike Smoke kit had a thick plastic lug measuring 1 1/2" long. Both were glued together with white glue. Clothespin clamps held ... [Read More]
Just to test paint adhesion on the plastic, I lightly sprayed the fin can with gray primer and let it dry. I stuck masking tape down on the dried paint and pulled the tape off quickly. I didn't lift ... [Read More]
Those bright orange centering rings won't look great on a scale model. Well, if on any rocket, the orange might go along with the fluorescent red and yellow fins on the Nike Smoke! Still, I didn't ... [Read More]
The nose cone replacement came quickly from Quest. When I joined the two sides there was a pretty evident seam. I don't know if it's an old piece of plastic or an old mold. There was a warp and the ... [Read More]
Here you can see the deep seams down the sides of the nose cone. I'm going to fill the seams the same way I did the scratches on the fin can. Before filling, I used 220 grit sandpaper on a block, ... [Read More]
That dried CA is very hard and will take some careful sanding with 220 grit on a block, followed by 400 grit. While sanding the CA down to the seams I took a little off the plastic "transitional" ... [Read More]
Here's the nose cone sprayed white and finished. One of the filled seams is facing the camera, right above and next to the light relection. Filling the seams was a more work than I would have liked ... [Read More]
This is a complicated fin mask. With all the angled tapering at the root edge and the ends, there is eight masking lines on each fin. Or to put it another way, each fin will have eight pieces of ... [Read More]
Here's the complete mask, ready for the fluorescent Red/Orange. As I mentioned before, this is a complex mask. It required twenty pieces of Scotch tape just around the fin root edges. On top of ... [Read More]
Here's the dry fit, awaiting the stenciled "UNITED STATES" decal. The decal has been drawn up on Corel Draw. I'm waiting on another project so I can print for two rockets on one decal sheet. After ... [Read More]
I finally printed off the Nike Smoke decals today. Usually I'll wait until a few models are ready for decals, three rockets were combined on one sheet so there wasn't much waste. The decals were ... [Read More]
I don't have the new Estes BT-60 based Nike Smoke kit yet, I don't even know if I'll get it or not. On oldrocketplans.com they have the old Centuri Nike Smoke instructions with a fin scan and ruler. ... [Read More]
I probably won't be doing a full build on the new Estes Nike Smoke. It's a standard build except for the scale fin shaping. These following posts will focus on the fins. Mentioned earlier, the older ... [Read More]
You can't effectively shape fins like this with a sheet of sandpaper taped down to your work table. You've got to use a good sanding block. I have 220 grit stuck to my Great Planes E-Z Sander. The ... [Read More]
After the root to outside edge taper is done the leading and trailing edges are hit with a quick swipe of the black marker. The inset picture shows the pencil lines for the next tapers. On the root ... [Read More]
On a shaped fin like this one, each step helps define the sanded edge taper. The first shaping step is the balsa fin shaping with 220 grit on a block. The second step is the sanding of the CWF. ... [Read More]
From the NAR Facebook page, Randy Gilbert responded to a post on the Estes Nike Smoke - "It is a great kit, but the fins can be difficult to sand to shape. There are other ways to mimic the ... [Read More]
I first saw the Centuri Nike Smoke in the 1971 Centuri Catalog. At the time it was big, 23.65" tall. The airframe was an ST-16 at 1.64" diameter. I never built this version. Estes recently released ... [Read More]
This is one everybody should have in their fleet. Classic and pointy. I've had different versions of the Nike Smoke over the years, first was the Enerjet Nike Smoke (essentially the Centuri Nike kit ... [Read More]
The original Enerjet Nike Smoke had a smoking nose cone. To see how it was done - CLICK HERE The tip of the nose cone was cut off and a BT-5 was slipped in acting as a ram-jet. During boost, the ... [Read More]
I used my aluminum angle to get side slot sides straight. The short end cuts were made by punching the tops and bottoms with a sharp blade tip. Punch the top corner with the sharp side down. Turn ... [Read More]
Two holes are drilled into the nose cone base for a shock cord loop tie. Start the hole by spinning the tip of a #11 blade in the plastic. Use an older blade, this really dulls a new one. The hole ... [Read More]
Look at the low end of the fin and you can see the lighter wood tip. Some kit wood is pieced together from smaller strips. The problem is the differences in the different wood densities. It becomes ... [Read More]
I've described how to shape this style fin in the past on the blog: http://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2016/06/shaping-estes-nike-smoke-fins-part-1.html http://modelrocketbuilding.blog ... [Read More]
I'm making two Nike Smoke kits, one with the standard 18mm engine mount, the other with a 24mm mount with the Enerjet smoking nose cone. First up is the 24mm engine mount. I used the kits 18mm ... [Read More]
I saved the ring centers from the previous step. This will become the engine block for the 24mm engine mount. These were glued together, back to back. The notches were not lined up. Here's the ... [Read More]
The lower centering ring is recessed inside the body tube. I can go ahead and give the inside edge a coat of CA glue. The glue fillet around the lower ring will be above the CA glue ring. TIP: When ... [Read More]
Here we go again! I gave the shroud lines a light, quick tug and they broke too easily. I've seen broken shroud lines at club launches. These will be replaced, along with the paper reinforcement ... [Read More]
On the left is the longer Estes nose cone shoulder. The pencil mark shows how long the Centuri nose cone shoulder was. The inset picture shows the original slot cut at 1" above the tube end. The new ... [Read More]
On the left is the fin root edge, looking straight on. The inset picture shows the fin outside edge looking straight on. The back corner of the fins are glued on 5/8" up from the back edge of the ... [Read More]
The entire model - fins, tube and nose cone - got an overall coat of gloss white. Next up are the fins. three are fluorescent red-orange the fourth fin is fluorescent yellow. These diamond shaped ... [Read More]
Well, Estes did get the position of the one fluorescent yellow fin correct. With the real rocket horizontal in the cradle, the UNITED STATES is positioned below and to the right of the yellow ... [Read More]
Questions in a comment from BAR Geezer - Hey Chris, Two questions for you: 1. Are you using Rustoleum Specialty Fluorescent paint? 2. Was the base coat on the fins the same gloss white as the rest ... [Read More]
The Estes instructions show the bottom of the UNITED STATES at 6 1/4" from the rear of the body tube. I did a dry fit and that sets the decal too far forward. Looking at the Peter Alway's Rockets Of ... [Read More]
The rubber shock cord was switched out with a longer elastic cord. It was joined to the replaceable Kevlar line from the engine mount. The parachute shroud lines broke with an easy ... [Read More]
This rocket was introduced to the MPC line in 1970. The same design was sold through Quest as the Nike K for many years. It stands 22.5" tall with the lower body tube diameter at 1.340" or 35mm. The ... [Read More]
I almost didn't go to the Tampa TTRA launch today. I had a evening show scheduled and realized the venue was only ten miles from the TTRA site! So, it was a launch in the afternoon then banjos at ... [Read More]
I was looking through an old AVI catalog on Ninfinger's: HERE and ran across the old Nike Tomahawk kit. The specs say it's a 35mm below and a 20mm body tube above. It looks to be a composite of the ... [Read More]
There are plenty of kits coming soon on the Estes website: http://www.estesrockets.com/ On the left is the JETLINER, a Goony style model. According to the description, it'll reach 150' with an ... [Read More]
If you've ever made a Nike Smoke, to paint the fins you'll need: Fluorescent Yellow and Fluorescent Red / Orange I had already bought the Rustoleum Fluorescent Orange at Home Depot. I ... [Read More]
Here's a great Shrox design introduced in the 2010 Quest catalog. I understand Shrox likes conical pointy nose cones, the older MPC Nike Smoke nose cone is used here. This design also used a ... [Read More]
You'll definitely want to sand the laser cut edges on the fins. Here is the root edge on a wing. For some reason the middle of the root edge was cut inside the the hold down tabs. After sanding a ... [Read More]
This post is a mixed bag. From the back end you get an idea of Shrox designs, certainly not a four fin model with the fins spaced at an even 90 degrees. (Yeah, I know - there are five fins here.) ... [Read More]
I'm jumping ahead to the nose cone paint . . . You are given two choices on painting the nose cone. Step 20 has you paint both halves separately then glue them together. (The copy says Step 19 - 22, ... [Read More]
This is a BIG model, probably under powered with a C6 engine. Like the earlier Quest Aerospace One, this one will fly with 24mm engines. After some weight comparisons with an 18mm ... [Read More]
On TRF, Kramer714 posted pics of the best design I'd seen in quite a while - Real Fake Nike Smoke "Me and the boy worked up a project for ROCstock. This year year is going to be a Nike Smoke mass ... [Read More]
I like seeing a sample of kit instructions before buying a kit. Sometimes I won't buy a model if the instructions aren't good. I found this page showing the instructions for the ModelRockets.US ... [Read More]
In a comment, Jim asked to see some other models in the fleet.
Here's the Shelf Queens, the models that don't fly!
(Yes, they are in a kitchen cabinet. I'm single and ... [Read More]
Months back I searched everywhere for fluorescent red-orange and found it at Lowe's. It was Krylon, a brand I rarely use. No other brand I found had the red-orange color. The can is new, never ... [Read More]
From the Quest website: CLICK HERE
"Quest Aerospace is proud to announce the release of the Q4C model rocket kit. The Q4C kit was designed in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer ... [Read More]
Sometimes the burst mode on a cheaper camera can distort the images. That's why so many of my posted launch shots haven't cleared the launcher. On the left is my MPC / Quest Nike Smoke on a Quest ... [Read More]
I don't know what this is . . . When you go to the Estes website and look at the Upcoming Nike Smoke kit, this comes up as the parts picture. CLICK HERE and go to "Additional Images". That is a ... [Read More]
A while back, Estes posted these parts for the upcoming Nike Smoke kit. These aren't the right parts and many speculated what they were for. I took a guess and came up with this - To me, not my ... [Read More]
Hobby Lobby is resetting the rocket shelves with some new Estes products. Many of last years kits were on clearance at 40% off. It looks like they are keeping some standard fare next year, including ... [Read More]
The "virtual" NARCON is actually a great value at $25.00, considering you usually pay for gas, hotel and food. The Zoom style broadcast had some issues. T he format is fairly new to all ... [Read More]
I've always liked the Nike Smoke with it's clean, rakish lines. That long nose cone and fluorescent fins really set it off. The parts available from Quest are very reasonable. The Nike nose cone is ... [Read More]
