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:
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2024-12-18

Estes Constellation Build Part 12, Primer Sanding

Blog
Here's the body tube and nose cone after the primer filler was sanded down. The nose cone was slipped into the body tube for primer painting. The clear payload section will be trim painted later. The fin and fin pod transition joints looked pretty good after spraying with the primer filler. The primer was sanded with 400 grit . There is plenty of inside edges that need to be sanded. TIP: ... [More]

2024-12-17

Estes Constellation Build Part 11, Odds & Ends

Blog
This lug standoff probably isn't needed, the payload section isn't wider than the low end tube. This style of standoff goes back to when Estes sold it's "C Rail". The dowel standoff fits the C Rail launch rod. TIP: A BT-50 tube reinforcement coupler was made out of a split piece of body tube. This was glued in place in the tail end, pushed in place with the engine mount. I'm tired of BT-20 ... [More]

2024-12-16

Estes Constellation Build Part 10, Nose Cone and Adapter Details

Blog
On the left is the nose cone and adapter from the Semroc kit. You'll see these shoulders through the clear payload section when the model is finished. I usually sand these flat then round the edges. On the right is the dry fitted payload section with the rough ends smoothed out. TIP: To get a sharper edge on a balsa nose cone shoulder - Brush on some CWF just slightly over the ... [More]

2024-12-15

Estes Constellation Build Part 9, Fin Pod Gluing

Blog
Each fin will be individually fitted. Draw a line on the side of the pod side that will be glued to the fin. Mark the outside edge of the fin with a "1" and the matching pod "1". Match the edges of the pod and the outside curved edge of the fin. Lightly trace around the side of the pod. (While not shown well in this picture, the tip of the pod should be even with the leading edge of the fin.) ... [More]

2024-12-14

Estes Constellation, Part 8, Airfoiling The Fins

Blog
I used the rounded side of my old sanding block with 400 grit to sand the recess at the rear trailing edge. This seemed to be the best way to get a round concave shape. You could also use some 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a 24mm engine casing for the round contour. With the trailing edge facing up - Here's how that sanded recess looked after sanding. You can see how the trailing ... [More]

2024-12-13

Estes Constellation, Part 7, Shaping The Fins

Blog
The reissue Estes kit has you round just the leading edge of the fins. I'm showing an earlier Semroc build that follows the original Estes instructions where the fins are airfoiled. This is difficult because of the sharp tip at the rear of the root edge. This post shows one way to airfoil the fin and still keep that extended tip strong. The old Estes instructions tell ... [More]

2024-12-12

Estes Constellation, Part 6, Fin Tip Pods

Blog
Both sides of the dowel pod were sanded flat to match the thickness of the three layer kit fins. The flattened side edges were rounded again. The dowel pod was set on the fin edge matching up the top, bottom and sides. A fine pencil line was drawn around the side. The fin pod was cut off just outside the line for shaping. Sandpaper wrapped around a pen barrel to smooth the curve and fit the pod ... [More]

2024-12-11

Estes Constellation, Part 5, Fin Tip Pods

Blog
After the front is shaped, the dowel is cut to length. The rear of the teardrop pod is carved and sanded smooth. Here's a finished pod next to one of the three laminate balsa pieces. Each dowel pod carving took 25 minutes to make. Note: After the pod was made I checked the dowel thickness against the three layers of 3/32" thick balsa. While the dowel is round, the 3 layer kit pod was more oval ... [More]

2024-12-10

Estes Constellation, Part 4, Fin Tip Pods

Blog
I was never happy with the way my fin tip "pods" came out. Trying to form a teardrop pod at the end of an airfoiled fin is hard enough. Trying to form the pod out of three laminated pieces of balsa makes it even harder. This time I wanted to make the fin and pods separately. Making the pods from a dowel will make a stronger fin tip assembly. The widest part of the pod is 3/8". I pulled some 3/8' ... [More]

2024-12-09

Estes Constellation, Part 3, Engine Mount & Kevlar Upgrade

Blog
Onto the forward centering ring - I'll be using some 150 lb. Kevlar in addition to a longer replacement shock cord. The forward centering ring was notched with the side of a small rectangular file. The Kevlar will loop through this notch. The old instructions have you glue the rings even with both ends of the engine mount tube. This would put the upper ring just past the top of the ... [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

Centuri ARGUS clone

Flight
I only used one parachute, the original kit had two, one for the low end, another for the long upper section. The parachute was taped closed in a "hillbilly hat" for faster descent. - C6-5 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Estes Mini Bertha Clone

Flight
First launch today. After all these years I shouldn't be surprised by how well mini engine models perform. Very stable, the 1/2A3-2t motor. I would guess the altitude capped out at 275'. The two second delay seemed short. - Estes 1/2A3-2t - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Semroc MMX Blue Bird Zero

Flight
I actually captured a MicroMaxx launch! Estimated altitude was 75', no damage after the streamer recovery. - 1/8A-1 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Warped! (Scratch Design)

Flight
A weird one. It started as a regular bagged Custom kit that sat in the direct sun a little too long. The nose cone was melted and bent. I bought the kit. The body tube was cut into angled wedges and glued together like the Fliskits ACME Spitfire. I renamed it WARPED. A B6-4 pushed it to at ... [More]

Custom Solar Explorer

Flight
I wasn't worried about losing this one - the BT-50 tube was crimped above the engine mount from an earlier hard landing. After reaching an altitude around 600', the winds blew it into the trees just South of the flight line. Lost! I really need to thin the heard anyway. - C6-5 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

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]

2024-03-02

Estes Skytracer Clone

Flight
- A8-3 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Rocketship Games R5 Hawkeye

Flight
Boost is always fast on these little models, good thing I had some young eyes to point me to the landing area. - 1/8A-1 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Nike X Goon

Flight
A B6-4 got an altitude of 350'. Full chute, textbook flight. - B6-4 - 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]