Sometimes when I'm working on one project, another project will suddenly pop into my muddled brain and demand to be built. Such was the case when I was working on my Sirius Eradicator and I noticed this:
A little backstory is in order, I suppose... You see, years ago I was at a DARS auction and I picked up an LOC...something...for pretty much nothing. It was based on the LOC 2.63 inch tube and nose. It had a busted fin and had obviously been well loved and much flown. Still, it didn't really seem to be worth restoring, and so it sat in my rocket room...and sat...and sat...
Now I have started moving my rocket stuff into my (much larger) air conditioned garage. All of that moving has me looking at stuff again. In this case I happened to notice that the 2.63 LOC tube was a pretty much dead-on match to the Estes BT-80 (which is 2.6 inches). This reminded me that I happened to have a set of Gordon's BT-80 Goblin decals that I had never used... I, therefore, stopped building the Eradicator long enough to snap the picture I just shared with you...mainly to remind myself of my great idea!
Once the Eradicator was finished (and I rebuilt my Estes D-Region Tomahawk) it was time to start my LOC rebirth/kitbash. Here we go!
 |
| The "before" picture. A once proud missile sits mangled and forgotten... |
 |
| First, the launch lug had to go. A Dremel cutoff tool made short work of it. |
 |
| Next, the Dremel was used to sand the epoxy off. Now the tube could be cut to length. |
 |
| After the rear was cut off of the tube, I ripped it apart to harvest the 29mm motor mount. Note the 38mm mount also in the picture. I was tempted, but then regained my sanity... |
 |
| The mount was equipped with four wooden C-channels for the fins to slide into! This isn't a standard LOC design and it's unclear if it was a modification or not. Either way, it didn't help with the busted fin, mainly because the fins were never actually glued into the slots. The mount was turned so that the C-rails and the fin slots didn't match up. Again, a mystery as to why... |
 |
| I mocked the scaled up fins in cardboard and tested the look and fit. |
 |
| Next came cutting them out of the 1/8 inch ply that I purchased from Hobby Lobby...with a 40% off coupon. Total project cost at this point...under four bucks. |
 |
| Dry fitting the unfinished fins. |
 |
| Dry fitting the newly sanded fins. I used the trusty Dremel to cut them out and sand them. |
 |
| ...And the DAP wood filler goes on. |
That's as far as I've gotten this week. Next, I'll finish out the fins and go from there. So, more to come!
Until next time, fly 'em fast and high!
No comments:
Post a Comment