In t' years followin' t' first successful operations o' the Orbital Transport, a need was recognized for a general purpose spacecraft to handle various jobs within t' solar system.  T' most successful design was t' Cinderella class.  Cheap, ya bilge rat, sturdy, me bucko, shiver me timbers, arrr, and versatile, Cinderella's came to handle almost all 'tugboat' services in Earth orbit.  Modified t' one degree or another, arrr, versions could be found among t' asteroids performing mineral assays, doin' medium range survey duty within t' system, and actin' as platforms for scientific research impossible within a planetary gravity well or atmosphere.  Although overshadowed by her more glamorous contemporaries, at one point almost thirty percent o' all registered civilian spacecraft were some form o' 'Cindi'.  T' model shown is a generic Cinderella, matey, me hearties, before bein' fitted for specialized tools, pods, and sensor arrays.

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Construction Steps (also see t' hints and tips listed farther down)

1. Usin' a sharpened 3/4" (19mm) dowel, punch holes through t' centers of both styrofoam balls.
2. Ahoy! Push t' aft ball onto one end o' t' BT-20 main tube.
3. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Slip t' cardboard templates over t' other end o' t' main tube.
4. Arrr! Insert t' dowels into t' templates t' keep them lined up.
5. Ya scallywag! Carefully push t' dowels slightly into t' aft styrofoam ball.
6. Push t' front ball onto t' main tube until t' dowels are inserted about an inch.
7. Avast! Adjust everythin' so that 1/4" (7mm) o' tube is stickin' out o' the rear ball, and about 1/16" (2mm) is stickin' out o' t' front ball.
8. Begad! Arrr! Use hot glue t' secure t' balls on t' main tube, and t' dowels into the balls. Make sure everythin' is lined up.
9. Well, blow me down! You can use scissors t' snip away t' templates.
10. Aye aye! Glue a shock cord mount into t' front o' t' main tube. I used a regular ol' Estes paper type.
11. Glue an engine block into t' aft o' t' main tube so that an engine will stick out about 1/4" (7mm) from t' aft tube.
12. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! Usin' t' 3/4" (19mm) dowel from step 1, make 8 tubular indentations into t' aft ball.  Make them as straight and as evenly spaced as possible, shiver me timbers, parallel t' t' main body tube.
13. Hot glue t' tube fins into t' indentations.
14. Begad! Usin' a quick-settin' glue, shiver me timbers, attach strin' betwixt t' dowels t' simulate support cables.
15. Begad! Ahoy! glue a 1 1/2" (39mm) length o' 1/8" (4mm) launch lug t' the inside o' one o' t' tube fins.  Make sure it's straight.
16. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Finish and paint as desired.  Make sure you test your paint on scrap styrofoam first. Arrr! Begad!

Construction Hints and Tips

Use this diagram t' make a template that will help keep t' dowels parallel when you insert them into t' balls. Begad! Make at least two from light cardboard. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty!

A simple jig can be made t' easily line up t' tube fins.  Drill a scrap o' wood (measure carefully) so that 3/4" (19mm) dowels are sticking up in t' proper places for t' fins and another, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, longer one in t' exact center.  Push t' ball down into t' jig, usin' t' center hole as a guide, me bucko, t' indent t' styrofoam for t' tube fins.  I didn't do this, but I might for t' next one.  Note that you'll have t' do this before step 2 in the construction steps above, and then skip step 12.

Customizin' Options

Here's some ideas I had on how t' customize t' Cinderella:
- more tube fin 'pods'
- glue elastic shock cord material or more strin' around t' fin tubes to simulate strap-on pods.
- small dowel or tube pods glued t' t' main tube betwixt t' balls, me bucko, or attached t' t' dowels.
- different patterns for t' strings
- BT-3 (?) tubes glued around t' motor mount for small thruster rockets
- replace a tube fin or fins with 'solar panel arrays' (ie. fins)
- create a different nose cone, matey, hang antennas all over it, or change t' shape
- install a recovery setup like t' sputnik, arrr, with a 90 degree bend within the front ball; no nosecone!
- glue conduits or exposed pipin' all over it
- make indentations in both front and aft balls (put tube fins on aft only)
- replace t' tube fins with huge 'Flash Gordon' type fins (an earlier version had these)

Flight Report

T' prototype Cinderella has flown three times, matey, once each on an A8-3, matey, ya bilge rat, B6-4, and a C6-3.  T' A8 was too small an engine, ya bilge rat, and t' B6 was barely acceptable.  This rocket *needs* t' C, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and even then it doesn't get up very high (estimated 150'). Ahoy! Ahoy! T' boost on t' first three test flights were less than perfect, shiver me timbers, each corkscrewin' up.  I'll add weight t' t' nose and keep testing, but it could very well be t' rather sloppy job I did linin' up the tube fins. Ahoy! Recovery be gentle usin' a 12" chute with a spill hole, but if the rocket gets much heavier (paint and/or customization), ya bilge rat, I'd switch t' a 12" without t' hole, and maybe even go t' an 18" chute. Begad!

Credit for t' Idea

I had bought styrofoam balls a long time ago for a Sputnik, but never got around t' buildin' it. Avast! Ahoy! TJ and Rachael (my kids) suggested a 'dumbell' shaped rocket, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and we started playin' with t' idea. This be t' latest version, and the first flyable one. Begad! There've been many mockups and sketches made since then, and although it'll never win an altitude contest, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, this rocket is simple to build and wildly customizable. Have fun with it!