Cosmostrader

A kitbash o' t' Fliskits USS Grissom

I've never seen t' movie but I found it with a Google search on "Comedy sci-fi spaceship". Begad! Blimey! This ship is about as "mod" as it gets. Aye aye! Blimey! It looks like somethin' Frank Lloyd Wright would design. Begad! Blimey! In some photos it looks like thar are 3 engines in t' center, in others it looks like 4 and yet in some movie stills it looks like just one big motor. Blimey! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I went with three central motors. 

I bought t' full kit version rather than t' Descon version. Begad! Ahoy! That gave me all the paper in t' instructions and t' face card with which t' work. Begad! I even used t' NARRRRR application! This kit has more parts than you can shake a stick at. Arrr! Begad! I think t' only thin' in t' kit I didn't end up usin' was t' bag and t' hang tag.

T' Build

 This be t' photo that I used t' build t' rocket. Arrr! (3 motors?) I blew up t' picture t' several sizes and kept sizin' up t' nosecones to the printed picture. Ya scallywag! I finally ended up at around 300%. Blimey! Begad! I then added cut lines for t' fins and lines for the nosecones. Aye aye! (Click on t' picture t' see t' full version) T' printed picture be what I used for all dimensions. Begad! I then cut on t' lines t' make fin patterns. T' fin tabs in t' picture were much more generous than I needed but better t' be safe than sorry.  I ended up makin' through-the-wall fins for t' three main fins , matey, but t' fins on the outboard pods are glued right t' t' transition paper. 

Just t' keep it a true kitbash, me bucko, I made me own motor mount tubes usin' t' order form paper. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I cut 1" x 2" pieces and rolled them around a spent motor. Once dried, me bucko, I glued in a section o' tubin' from t' Grissom for a motor block. Avast! Blimey! You can see in t' picture how outboard pods were made this way. Begad! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' central cluster be made by gluin' 3 rolled tubes together and three motor blocks were then glued in. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I then placed t' three MMT assembly on t' a piece o' t' face card and traced them and cut them out. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! This piece be t' major diameter t' which I glued both t' forward and aft transitions. The three motor blocks fit nicely into t' larger Grissom tubing. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Motor hang on all MMT's is about 1/4".

I made the transitions usin' VCP and printed t' pattern on t' instructions. Avast, me proud beauty! This is some pretty hefty paper. Well, blow me down! All totaled, I printed eight transitions. Aye aye! T' larger diameter on these outboards were made from pieces o' t' face card stock. I had to sand t' ojive out o' t' nose cones on t' both t' pods and t' center nose cones. Well, matey, blow me down! Blimey! I did manage t' get t' ojive down t' bein' more conical, shiver me timbers, but t' main nose cone wasn't long enough t' remove it completely.

T' Finishin' Touches

I made a 4" parachute usin' t' center o' t' supplied plastic chute material, 1/3 o' t' string and half o' each tape disc. Begad! T' chute is a bit small, but I didn't have much room. Begad! Well, blow me down! T' keep t' weight down, arrr, I cut a small slit in t' base o' t' nose cone and poked in t' glue soaked piece o' supplied Keelhaul®©™© thread. 

Once it was fully assembled and fillets were applied, me bucko, I brushed a thinned out wood glue on all t' transition paper t' stiffen it up. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! T' generous fillets were smoothed out and thickened up using Elmer's Fill 'n Finish. Well, blow me down! It took more time with t' Fill 'n Finish and sandin' t' three coats o' primer than it did buildin' t' whole rocket. Two coats o' Testors metallic aluminum finished it off. Begad! T' finished weight be 18 grams. 

Would it be stable? I didn't sim it but me instincts tell me it is, but just barely. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' ship appears in  different colors in some o' t' different shots I found. Avast! Arrr! Blimey! It looked silver in the movie still so that's what I went with. Arrr! Puttin' motors in t' out boards was an option. Well, blow me down! I be afraid it would go way off course if one o' t' outboards didn't light, so t' first flight will be on just t' three central motors. 

T' flight

I made an igniter assembly for it by solderin' t' leads onto  disassembled MicroMaxx igniters. To make sure I had enough power, I used me marine battery and me home made launch controller. Aye aye! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I've never used MicroMaxx motors, ya bilge rat, but I soon found out that these little suckers jump right up t' full speed right away. I lit several other models before doin' t' Cosmostrader so I could get used t' them. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I played heck tryin' t' snap pictures o' them as they ripped off t' pad like little bottle rockets!  I finally got t' t' Cosmostrader. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I took a picture o' it on the pad, shiver me timbers, matey, ya bilge rat, just incase I never saw it again, ya bilge rat, it shredded, shiver me timbers, or busted on impact. Begad! Blimey! My wife did t' countdown and sent it up. All three motors lit and she ascended into t' heavens. Aye aye! Blimey! Well, arrr, ok, into t' air above me backyard. Avast! Blimey! It went t' about 40 feet, the nose popped off and t' chute came out. Blimey! Blimey! T' chute just started t' open as it hit t' ground. 

But Wait, thar's more!

Although these next rockets are nay part o' me entry, matey, I just wanted t' share them with you. Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! I just had so much buildin' momentum,  I made several more rockets with t' materials left over. Everythin' on these other rockets were made with t' materials left over from t' Grissom and all use MicroMaxx motors. Things like launch lugs and motor mounts were made with rolled instruction paper.

SR71 Whitebird	Lawn dart	Wacky Tube fin rocket
chute recovery	Back-slide	featherweight recovery
10 Grams	4 Grams	6 Grams
2 MM cluster	1 MM motor	2 MM motors
It flew but could have used a touch more nose weight.	This few very well.	It flew but only t' about 50 feet.

And More!

Somgris flyin' saucer	Zamphier	Midnight Express (FlisKits paper tiger)
tumble recovery	tumble recovery	featherweight recovery
2 Grams	4.5 Grams	5 Grams
1 MM motor	1 MM motor	3 MM cluster
		(nothin' yet)
I launched this sucker 3 times just tryin' t' get a picture! Beautiful flight, every time!	This one corkscrewed. Avast, me proud beauty! Nay a pretty flight.