Brief:
3 stage cone rocket, 3 x 24mm first stage cluster, arrr, me hearties, 18mm second stage, 13mm sustainer, me bucko, and aerobrake recovery.

Some time ago, shiver me timbers, Art Applewhite gave me one o' his 13mm Qubit rocket kits at an Alamo Rocketeers launch. Ahoy! Aye aye! It has worked great ever since and while t' "saucers" don't exactly appeal t' me aesthetically, they have found their place in me grand scheme o' thin' because t' field I usually fly in is small. Avast, me proud beauty! That makes clusters and staged rockets problematic...except for this one. It is tailor made for me field.

Construction:
T' basic material consist o' foamboard, matey, cardstock and that's about it. Well, blow me down! I "cheated" and used some BT-50 for t' first stage motor tubes.

This one turned out t' be harder than I expected right from t' beginning. Ya scallywag! Art Applewhite provides a .PDF o' t' templates at his website. Avast! So far, so good. Aye aye! When really studyin' t' thin' though, shiver me timbers, I realized several things. Aye aye! First, matey, arrr, thar are no instructions. Avast, me proud beauty! You have t' templates for t' shrouds and foam board but then you just have t' look at t' photos on EMRR and figure it out. Second, me bucko, nay all o' t' drawings in t' PDF are full scale. Begad! Some are and its just a matter o' printin' them out on t' proper cardstock, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, but others are produced at 50%.

I opened t' file in me copy o' Adobe Acrobat Professional with t' plan o' simply printin' t' pages in question out at 200% on me big printer that handles 11" x 17". Aye aye! That produced two more problems. Aye aye! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Acrobat only gives "full size" and "scale t' fit". I could nay generate 200% pages directly so I fell back on plan B.

Art thoughtfully provides t' radii needed for t' larger shrouds. Begad! Since I am a lousy manual draftsman, I started an Autocad file and was smartly able t' reproduce t' needed templates in a DWG file. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Blimey! Then it be just a simple matter o' printin' it out. That's when I learned o' t' second problem with me approach. Begad! Blimey! T' largest o' t' needed shrouds was just a touch bigger than would fit on 11" x 17". Arrr! Begad! Blimey! I had t' print it in two parts with some match lines and hope I got it right.

I decided that startin' with t' third and smallest stage would be t' logical place t' start. Blimey! I be able t' cut out t' shroud, motor mount, arrr, and aft bulkhead without any problem. Blimey! Begad! T' stock I used was a bit stiff, shiver me timbers, matey, but I still had little problem formin' t' cone. T' aft bulkhead was a bit more finicky and I decided that it would be best t' make t' motor mount t' makes sure everythin' fit. Aye aye! That seemed simple enough. Ya scallywag! I just had t' roll t' stock for t' mount into a tube, matey, and I assumed, glue along t' appropriate line t' form a tube. Aye aye! I rolled t' tube and somethin' looked wrong. When t' lines matched up, t' hole looked too small so I grabbed a spent 13mm casin' and sure enough, ya bilge rat, don't trust t' match line. Begad! Well, blow me down! With that in mind, ya bilge rat, I rolled t' motor mount around t' casin' and glued it together. Avast, me proud beauty! Now all I had t' do was wrestle these three components together so that t' launch lug holes lined up. I managed t' do so...eventually. With that, t' upper stage be done.

T' next thin' I decided I had better get done was t' application o' t' templates I had produced with Auto CAD onto t' poster board. Arrr! Blimey! I was nay happy with t' poster board I found at Wal-Mart. Arrr! Blimey! It seems much lighter than t' poster board I remember in school. Aye aye! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Since I had made t' upper shroud with some glossy paper analogous t' that used in rockets like "T' Point" and "Vulcan", ya bilge rat, I went t' me local paper distributor t' see if I could get it in large sizes. Arrr! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! I was in luck. Avast! Blimey! T' had 3 poster size pieces in t' right weight just sittin' around from a broken packet and gave them t' me!

With t' poster board and templates in hand, I joined them together with 3M's 77 adhesive and set it aside t' dry. Avast, me proud beauty! It was time t' work on t' 2nd stage.

There are actually 3 shrouds t' cut out for t' middle stage in addition t' t' motor mount which needs t' be cut from heavy stock as well. Avast! Ya scallywag! Rememberin' t' problem with t' upper stage, me hearties, I used a spent 18mm casin' t' test t' match line. Ya scallywag! Arrr! In this case, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, it worked perfectly. Ya scallywag! Avast! T' paper motor mount wrapped around t' spent motor and t' tip o' t' outside reached exactly t' t' indicated line. Well, blow me down! A little white glue set it up and allowed me t' get t' work on t' body.

T' body consisted o' 3 shrouds. Aye aye! I will refer t' them as t' outer (the part you see), t' upper (fits in t' interior near t' top) and t' lower (forms an aft bulkhead). Ahoy! Ahoy! I cut t' upper and t' lower out with a razor knife without any problem. Well, blow me down! T' upper involves no creasin' and was easily formed. I did t' formin' around t' motor mount t' make sure t' fit was right and then glued t' tab.

T' lower shroud needed t' be creased along 2 arcs. I used a ballpoint pen and pressed down heavily along t' dashed lines. Avast! Aye aye! I found that after doin' so, t' shroud be easily bent into t' proper position. Avast! I again formed it around t' motor mount. Begad! Aye aye! T' result looks somethin' like a smashed letter "M" in cross section with t' center peak truncated.

T' outer shroud was cut from t' poster board I had gotten for free because it was too big for tabloid sized paper. Blimey! I had glued t' template on and allowed it t' dry. Ya scallywag! It cut out easily and was again creased with a ballpoint. Well, blow me down! It too bent into shape easily usin' t' motor mount as a guide. Begad! Arrr! Assemblin' t' 3 shrouds together though was less easy.

My problem be gettin' t' motor mount through all three pieces and then gettin' them t' line up right with t' launch lug holes. I used a short piece o' 1/8" rod for alignment along with t' motor mount. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I found that fits which had been "good enough" were no longer good enough. T' trouble seemed t' be t' evenness o' t' central core through which t' motor mount was t' slide. Begad! Some "flashing" was in t' way. Avast! After an interminable exercise with t' razor knife, I used some 120 grit sandpaper t' smooth things out. Begad! Begad! After that, me hearties, t' mount slid in much more easily. Well, blow me down! Then it was a matter o' gettin' everythin' aligned and applyin' t' glue.

T' motor mounts for t' first stage were much like that o' t' second. Begad! I used a spent 24mm casin' and wrapped t' cardstock around it. Arrr! Arrr! Like t' 18mm mount, me hearties, matey, I found that t' match lines worked perfectly.

T' shroud for t' first stage was also easy. Ahoy! Begad! It be simply a matter o' cuttin' it out since thar be only one and then gluin' along t' line. Blimey! Instead o' usin' interior shrouds for support, arrr, matey, ya bilge rat, this stage uses foamboard.

T' templates for t' foamboard had already been applied. I used a fresh blade on t' razor and cut around t' outer edge. Avast! T' templates also have a circle markin' t' inner edge. T' foam has t' be cut at an angle t' accommodate t' cone shape o' t' rocket. Begad! Blimey! I found that cuttin' along t' outer line as a cylinder worked best. When t' outer profile be completely formed, I then took t' razor knife and shaved around t' edge t' put in t' proper bevel.

T' upper bulkhead slid into place easily. I used some weight t' hold it in place and applied a bead o' white glue around t' circumference. When that was dry, I inverted t' stage and put a bead around t' forward edge as well.

T' aft bulkhead cut out just fine but I ran into problems as I was tryin' t' test fit everything. Well, matey, blow me down! Blimey! T' motor tubes were a tight fit, both in t' bulkhead and around t' motors. I decided at this stage t' substitute 24mm body tubes for t' paper tubes.

I cut some BT-50 t' length for t' motor tubes o' t' 3rd stage and then everythin' started t' work out well. Ya scallywag! I glued them together in parallel, ya bilge rat, and when dry, I test fitted them. Begad! Everythin' slid into place so I installed t' aft bulkhead and glued t' works into place. Ya scallywag! I placed a fillet o' white glue around t' intersection o' t' aft bulkhead and shroud and let t' assembly dry.

PROs: nay too difficult for a 3-stage cluster

CONs: makin' everythin' keep its shape while workin' with it

Finishing:
I did nay like t' shroud overlap so I decided t' try t' minimize it by usin' Elmer's Fill ‘n' Seal t' fair out t' transitions. Arrr! I applied t' stuff and then sanded it down. Ya scallywag! Begad! It did improve things, me hearties, however, I did a rushed job o' it in order t' be ready for a club launch. It could have been much better.

Not bein' very original when it comes t' artwork, shiver me timbers, I painted t' first stage red, me hearties, matey, me hearties, t' second stage a brighter red and t' third stage orange. Aye aye! Blimey! That too could have looked better. Ya scallywag! It be time t' see how this beast works.

Flight and Recovery:
On Art's advice, ya bilge rat, me bucko, I started modestly with just t' 2 stage version. Aye aye! Blimey! I put a C6-0 in t' booster and an A10-PT in t' sustainer. Arrr! Blimey! It be a bit tricky gettin' t' holes aligned on t' launch rod but they were together without any major headache. Ahoy! Blimey! Even if it had been a major headache, all would have been forgiven after t' launch. It was great.

It went straight up, arrr, spinnin' unexpectedly, ya bilge rat, and then staged perfectly. Well, blow me down! Both sections recovered without a scratch. Ya scallywag! There was just some minor scorchin' on t' bottom o' t' upper stage and that was expected. Now it was time t' try t' full stack!

T' outboard motors were Estes D12-Ps. Avast! Blimey! T' central motor be a D12-0. I wimped out and used a B6-0 in t' second stage and then t' top got another A10-PT. Blimey! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! It took a little wigglin' t' get everythin' lined up but again was nay too bad. Begad! Blimey! Again, almost anythin' would have been forgiven after launch.

Upon first pressin' t' button, arrr, nothin' happened. I waited a little bit and then check things out only t' find that one o' t' clips from me whip be grounded out on t' rod. Begad! I fixed that and tried again.

WHOOOOOOSH! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! It went off like a dream. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It weathercocked a little bit but everythin' seemed t' work perfectly. Begad! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I remember bein' bitterly disappointed that I wimped out with t' B6-0 and wishin' that I had used a C6-0 instead but t' B performed as it was supposed t' and they all come down in bounds.

A quick check showed that all motors had ignited. Avast! Arrr! There was a little bit o' tearin' in t' first stage but that was o' t' paper I had printed t' pattern on. Avast, me proud beauty! T' cardstock was unaffected.

PROs: It worked, arrr, it landed in bounds

CONs: None

Summary:
PROs: 3-stager able t' be flown from small fields, arrr, matey, cluster able t' be flown from small fields, arrr, it works

CONs: non-traditional shape, shiver me timbers, burns up motors quickly