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

2025-07-15

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 9, Gluing Together The Nacelles

Blog
Draw a pencil line down the Nacelle tube. Glue the P1 support pieces onto the line, even with the front end of the tube. The picture on the right is a dry fit (no glue) of the nacelle nose cone. Before gluing in the nose cone - the fit could be better. Slide in the nose cone, not quite against the body tube. I folded up a piece of 400 grit and lightly ran it around the gap between ... [More]

2025-07-14

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 8, Raceway Buildup

Blog
The stabilizer is even with the end of the body tube. The raceway sits on top, 1" from the end. These are still dry fittings, don't glue the raceway on yet. The front of the raceway overhangs the front end of the body tube. Cut it off even and sand flat. With the raceway off the body, it's easier to form the ends. With a sanding block, shape the side profiles first. then round down the top. ... [More]

2025-07-13

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 7, Raceway Buildup

Blog
Step 7 in the instructions have you build up the raceway on the model, then sand the ends "to a point". This is when I steered away from the instructions. I couldn't see how you could sand and form the raceway ends after they were glued to the body. I taped the pieces down to a countertop keeping all in line. See the next #8 post to understand why. This is the rear R1 piece pressed in ... [More]

2025-07-12

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 6, Nose Weights

Blog
I needed two Estes NCW-1 nose cone weights. I found an single original lead weight in my spare parts drawer. The older Estes catalogs say one lead washer weighs 0.12 oz. Two would weigh 0.24 oz. Deep in the spare parts drawer was a few older Semroc NCW-1 weights. One weighs 0.15 oz. There is no center hole for the screw eye. The Semroc weight is larger in diameter and won't slide into the BT-20 ... [More]

2025-07-11

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 6, Downsizing A Parachute

Blog
The original Mini Bomarc kit had a 10" parachute. Estes makes a 9" chute, but I didn't want to spend the $4.49 price. I have a lot of Odd'l Rockets parachutes. I'll cut a 10 chute from one of these. Mark the center of the chute material. Then, simply mark 5" on either side of the center. Repeat for all six sides. Make straight cuts, parallel to the 12" dashed lines above. Rotate the chute ... [More]

2025-07-10

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 5, CWF Sand & Filler Primer

Blog
The old Estes instructions don't mention it, but I rounded the leading edges of the wing, stab and rudder. I also rounded the leading edge of the nacelle support. You've got to be careful because of the balsa grain direction. The balsa pieces were taped down to a piece of cardboard and shot with filler/primer. Sanding follows. On the left the nose cone is shown with the CWF applied. I realized ... [More]

2025-07-09

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 4, Filling Nacelle Nose Cones

Blog
The small (BT-5 size) nacelle intake nose cones are difficult to fill. There are some inside angles that should be sharp and remain round. On the left - the CWF has been brushed on. On the right - the CWF has been sanded down and smoothed. The secret? A good sanding block with 400 grit. The sandpaper is only on the bottom surface, not rolled up on the sides. You can't sand into the corner of the ... [More]

2025-07-08

A SHOT DOG Find and a Question

Blog
This design goes back to 2008, and entry in the old EMRR Odd Ball Design Contest. A flying Hot Dog, or SHOT DOG . Open bun, with empty condiment packages surrounding the balsa fins. You can read about the ups and downs of the Shot Dog here - https://www.rocketreviews.com/scratch-shot-dog-by-hans-chris-michielssen.html I was looking at some 3D parts on Makerspace and came across a 3D ... [More]

2025-07-07

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 3, Engine Mount

Blog
The original kit instructions don't mention it - I did have to cut a relief notch for the engine hook. Here I've marked it with pencil. The burrs inside the rings needed some light layer peeling to fit over the BT-5 engine mount tube. I don't like using a tri-fold mount in smaller diameter tubes so I laced some Kevlar below the upper ring. After pulling tight, a glue fillet will lock it in ... [More]

2025-07-06

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 2, Fins & Decals

Blog
The balsa scan was copied, dropped into Corel Draw and traced. There was some resizing to lock into the ruler reference underneath. The kit used 1/16" balsa. The sheet is 3" x 9". The decals were redrawn. These will require some white decal material under the Canadian circle logo and flags. [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]