Brief:
3 stage cone rocket, arrr, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, 3 x 24mm first stage cluster, 18mm second stage, 13mm sustainer, me bucko, and aerobrake recovery.

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

Construction:
T' basic material consist o' foamboard, matey, ya bilge rat, cardstock and that's about it. Arrr! Ahoy! 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. Begad! Art Applewhite provides a .PDF o' t' templates at his website. So far, so good. When really studyin' t' thin' though, matey, matey, I realized several things. Well, blow me down! First, arrr, thar are no instructions. Arrr! 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. Begad! Second, shiver me timbers, nay all o' t' drawings in t' PDF are full scale. Aye aye! Some are and its just a matter o' printin' them out on t' proper cardstock, ya bilge rat, 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". Begad! Blimey! That produced two more problems. Ahoy! Begad! Acrobat only gives "full size" and "scale t' fit". Begad! I could nay generate 200% pages directly so I fell back on plan B.

Art thoughtfully provides t' radii needed for t' larger shrouds. Ahoy! Ahoy! Since I am a lousy manual draftsman, ya bilge rat, I started an Autocad file and was smartly able t' reproduce t' needed templates in a DWG file. Then it be just a simple matter o' printin' it out. Avast! That's when I learned o' t' second problem with me approach. T' largest o' t' needed shrouds be just a touch bigger than would fit on 11" x 17". Arrr! Arrr! 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. Begad! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! I was able t' cut out t' shroud, motor mount, and aft bulkhead without any problem. Avast! T' stock I used was a bit stiff, 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. That seemed simple enough. 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. Avast! When t' lines matched up, shiver me timbers, t' hole looked too small so I grabbed a spent 13mm casin' and sure enough, don't trust t' match line. Arrr! Begad! With that in mind, I rolled t' motor mount around t' casin' and glued it together. Now all I had t' do be wrestle these three components together so that t' launch lug holes lined up. I managed t' do so...eventually. Aye aye! With that, matey, 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. I was nay happy with t' poster board I found at Wal-Mart. It seems much lighter than t' poster board I remember in school. Ya scallywag! Since I had made t' upper shroud with some glossy paper analogous t' that used in rockets like "T' Point" and "Vulcan", me hearties, ya bilge rat, I went t' me local paper distributor t' see if I could get it in large sizes. Arrr! I was in luck. Begad! 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. Begad! Begad! It be 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. Rememberin' t' problem with t' upper stage, I used a spent 18mm casin' t' test t' match line. In this case, arrr, it worked perfectly. Ya scallywag! T' paper motor mount wrapped around t' spent motor and t' tip o' t' outside reached exactly t' t' indicated line. Ahoy! A little white glue set it up and allowed me t' get t' work on t' body.

T' body consisted o' 3 shrouds. Ahoy! I will refer t' them as t' outer (the part you see), me hearties, t' upper (fits in t' interior near t' top) and t' lower (forms an aft bulkhead). I cut t' upper and t' lower out with a razor cutlass without any problem. 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. Aye aye! Blimey! I used a ballpoint pen and pressed down heavily along t' dashed lines. I found that after doin' so, t' shroud was easily bent into t' proper position. I again formed it around t' motor mount. Ya scallywag! Blimey! 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 be too big for tabloid sized paper. I had glued t' template on and allowed it t' dry. Begad! It cut out easily and was again creased with a ballpoint. Avast! It too bent into shape easily usin' t' motor mount as a guide. Ahoy! 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. Ya scallywag! I found that fits which had been "good enough" were no longer good enough. Begad! T' trouble seemed t' be t' evenness o' t' central core through which t' motor mount be t' slide. Avast! Ahoy! Some "flashing" was in t' way. Avast! Arrr! After an interminable exercise with t' razor knife, I used some 120 grit sandpaper t' smooth things out. After that, t' mount slid in much more easily. 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. Avast! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I used a spent 24mm casin' and wrapped t' cardstock around it. Like t' 18mm mount, I found that t' match lines worked perfectly.

T' shroud for t' first stage was also easy. Aye aye! Avast! It be simply a matter o' cuttin' it out since thar be only one and then gluin' along t' line. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Instead o' usin' interior shrouds for support, this stage uses foamboard.

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

T' upper bulkhead slid into place easily. Ahoy! Blimey! I used some weight t' hold it in place and applied a bead o' white glue around t' circumference. Blimey! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! When that be 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, blow me down! Ya scallywag! T' motor tubes were a tight fit, me hearties, both in t' bulkhead and around t' motors. Blimey! 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. Begad! Aye aye! I glued them together in parallel, matey, and when dry, matey, I test fitted them. Ahoy! Arrr! Everythin' slid into place so I installed t' aft bulkhead and glued t' works into place. 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. I applied t' stuff and then sanded it down. Ahoy! It did improve things, however, matey, I did a rushed job o' it in order t' be ready for a club launch. Begad! It could have been much better.

Not bein' very original when it comes t' artwork, ya bilge rat, I painted t' first stage red, t' second stage a brighter red and t' third stage orange. Avast! That too could have looked better. Avast! It was time t' see how this beast works.

Flight and Recovery:
On Art's advice, I started modestly with just t' 2 stage version. Avast! I put a C6-0 in t' booster and an A10-PT in t' sustainer. It be a bit tricky gettin' t' holes aligned on t' launch rod but they were together without any major headache. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Even if it had been a major headache, me hearties, all would have been forgiven after t' launch. Begad! Begad! It be great.

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

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

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

WHOOOOOOSH! It went off like a dream. Arrr! It weathercocked a little bit but everythin' seemed t' work perfectly. 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. Blimey! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! There be a little bit o' tearin' in t' first stage but that was o' t' paper I had printed t' pattern on. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' cardstock was unaffected.

PROs: It worked, it landed in bounds

CONs: None

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

CONs: non-traditional shape, burns up motors quickly