Construction

For plans I downloaded t' intructions for t' Estes Bomarc from "JimZ."  I upscaled t' outlines for t' main wing, shiver me timbers, tail, and aft wings by 1.237 on a copier. Well, blow me down!  I layed t' outlines on t' 1/8" balsa, arrr, shiver me timbers, me hearties, outlined them with a pencil, matey, me hearties, and then cut them out with an X-Acto knife.  All t' pieces were glued together with Elmer's wood glue and allowed t' dry. Arrr!  When t' glue be dry I rounded t' leadin' and trailin' edges o' t' wings and tail. Aye aye! Begad!  T' ramjet extensions were cut t' size then sanded t' an airfoil shape. Blimey!  For t' raceway, ya bilge rat, me bucko, I cut a 21" long by 1/2" strip from t' 1/4" balsa stock, shiver me timbers, t' which I laminated a 1/8" strip in order t' make t' raceway 3/8" wide.  I sanded a taper into t' front and aft o' t' raceway, shiver me timbers, and then cut a strip from t' center o' t' aft taper where t' tail would slide in. Arrr!  T' raceway be t' least scale like feature o' this model, arrr, t' real missile raceway has a halfround cross section whereas mine is basically straight sided.  Next time I will use a long tube sectioned lengthwise with shaped balsa ends. Ahoy! Arrr!  T' ramjet cones were created by makin' cones from copier paper. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty!  Once t' cone was formed I soaked t' paper with super glue t' strengthen it. Blimey!  I constructed t' ramjet transitions from thin cardboard by wrappin' it around a pointed BT-55 nose cone and trimmin' by eye until it looked right.  I glued t' cones into t' transitions which were then glued t' t' end o' t' 6 3/4" tubes. Blimey!  T' plastic knozzles were super glued t' t' aft o' t' tubes. Blimey! Ahoy!  T' solid balsa nosecone be hollowed out inside with a power drill in order t' provide room for nose weight which Bomarc models usually require. Begad! Aye aye!  In this case, ya bilge rat, t' total weight o' t' nosecone is 5.5 oz. Aye aye! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty!  Due t' t' heavy nose cone I was concerned it would stike t' body tube after ejectin' so I decided t' have it recover on its own chute. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!  Later testin' in t' backyard showed that both t' cone and t' main body needed 24" chutes for slow recovery.  T' body tube had been prepared by removin' all t' fins and t' launch lug, matey, then sandin' t' paint from t' tube. Ahoy!  In order t' ease t' paint removal, shiver me timbers, I sprayed t' tube with oven cleaner which dissolved t' color coat and softened t' primer.  With careful work and sandin' t' tube came out smooth and ready for assembly.  I used wood glue t' attach t' wings, raceway, tail, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and ramjets t' t' body tube.  I made 3/16" launch lugs by wrappin' paper around a launch rod and soakin' it with super glue. Blimey! (after removin' it from t' rod!)  I glued one lug under t' aft win' and another under t' main wing.  I added shock cords t' t' main body and nosecone usin' t' common Estes method. Begad!  T' cords don't need t' be very long due t' t' seperate recovery, me hearties, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and I made mine from old shoe laces. Avast!  Although t' Estes plans would have you add antennas t' each o' t' main and tail wings, I opted nay t' add these as I feered they might snag t' shock cords or parachutes resultin' in a bad recovery. Avast! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty!  Once assembly be finished I moved onto finishing.