Brief:

I ran across some teardrop-shaped plastic Christmas ornaments that I intended to use as wing-tip pods. However, I quickly saw the similarity to Rocket Team Vatsaas' Darmok and Jilad at Tenagra. I love their bulbous rocket designs, so I just had to build one.

Construction:

• Plastic ornament
• 6mm tube
• 1/64” ply
• Thin Kevlar
  
• Lead shot
• Section of a spent Estes motor spacing tube
• 6mm-10mm centering ring (Totally Tubular)
• Piece of an ink tube from a ball point pen

The build was simple. To prep the ornament, I removed the hanger and cut that section off. I then cut the ornament in half just above the mid-point. I mounted a MicroMaxx motor tube using 6mm-10.6mm centering ring and a chunk of an Estes motor spacing tube. The latter also served as a ‘reverse shoulder' for the cone. 5-minute epoxy was used throughout. I added thin Kevlar® to keep the pieces together and added nose weight per the RockSim file. The fins were eyeballed based on the Vatsaas design and were cut from 1/64” ply using scissors.

Finishing:
I painted the fins using Testors silver model paint (brush-on).

Flight and Recovery:
There wasn't much prep for this little rocket since it uses break-apart recovery. I've flown it twice. It was stable, unlike its bigger relative. However, due to its weight and diameter, it isn't much of a performer. On the first flight the body didn't separate and it lawn darted, but the second flight went as planned.

Summary:
I love plastic doohickies and this was a quick way to make a micro, ‘retro-style' rocket. The ornaments are useful for pods and cockpits too!