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

Some time ago, Art Applewhite gave me one o' his 13mm Qubit rocket kits at an Alamo Rocketeers launch. 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. Aye aye! That makes clusters and staged rockets problematic...except for this one. Blimey! It is tailor made for me field.

Construction:
T' basic material consist o' foamboard, me hearties, cardstock and that's about it. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! 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. Blimey! Art Applewhite provides a .PDF o' t' templates at his website. So far, arrr, shiver me timbers, so good. When really studyin' t' thin' though, me hearties, I realized several things. Blimey! First, ya bilge rat, thar are no instructions. Ahoy! 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. Aye aye! Second, matey, nay all o' t' drawings in t' PDF are full scale. Ya scallywag! Some are and its just a matter o' printin' them out on t' proper cardstock, arrr, 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". Ya scallywag! Blimey! That produced two more problems. 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. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! Since I am a lousy manual draftsman, shiver me timbers, I started an Autocad file and be smartly able t' reproduce t' needed templates in a DWG file. Then it be just a simple matter o' printin' it out. Aye aye! That's when I learned o' t' second problem with me approach. Ahoy! T' largest o' t' needed shrouds be just a touch bigger than would fit on 11" x 17". 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. Aye aye! Begad! I was able t' cut out t' shroud, me hearties, motor mount, and aft bulkhead without any problem. Ya scallywag! T' stock I used was a bit stiff, matey, but I still had little problem formin' t' cone. Ya scallywag! 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. Well, blow me down! That seemed simple enough. I just had t' roll t' stock for t' mount into a tube, and I assumed, arrr, glue along t' appropriate line t' form a tube. Ya scallywag! I rolled t' tube and somethin' looked wrong. Aye aye! When t' lines matched up, me hearties, t' hole looked too small so I grabbed a spent 13mm casin' and sure enough, don't trust t' match line. Ahoy! Aye aye! With that in mind, ya bilge rat, I rolled t' motor mount around t' casin' and glued it together. Blimey! Now all I had t' do was wrestle these three components together so that t' launch lug holes lined up. Blimey! I managed t' do so...eventually. Blimey! 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. Begad! I was nay happy with t' poster board I found at Wal-Mart. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! It seems much lighter than t' poster board I remember in school. Avast, me proud beauty! Since I had made t' upper shroud with some glossy paper analogous t' that used in rockets like "T' Point" and "Vulcan", I went t' me local paper distributor t' see if I could get it in large sizes. I was in luck. Ya scallywag! 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, matey, shiver me timbers, I joined them together with 3M's 77 adhesive and set it aside t' dry. 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. Ahoy! Rememberin' t' problem with t' upper stage, I used a spent 18mm casin' t' test t' match line. Begad! Begad! In this case, me bucko, ya bilge rat, it worked perfectly. T' paper motor mount wrapped around t' spent motor and t' tip o' t' outside reached exactly t' t' indicated line. Avast, me proud beauty! A little white glue set it up and allowed me t' get t' work on t' body.

T' body consisted o' 3 shrouds. Begad! 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). Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! I cut t' upper and t' lower out with a razor knife without any problem. Arrr! T' upper involves no creasin' and was easily formed. Aye aye! 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. Ahoy! I found that after doin' so, t' shroud be easily bent into t' proper position. Begad! I again formed it around t' motor mount. Begad! 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. Begad! Blimey! I had glued t' template on and allowed it t' dry. Begad! Blimey! It cut out easily and be again creased with a ballpoint. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It too bent into shape easily usin' t' motor mount as a guide. Assemblin' t' 3 shrouds together though be less easy.

My problem was gettin' t' motor mount through all three pieces and then gettin' them t' line up right with t' launch lug holes. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! I used a short piece o' 1/8" rod for alignment along with t' motor mount. 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. Begad! Well, blow me down! Some "flashing" was in t' way. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! After an interminable exercise with t' razor knife, me hearties, I used some 120 grit sandpaper t' smooth things out. Avast! After that, t' mount slid in much more easily. Then it be a matter o' gettin' everythin' aligned and applyin' t' glue.

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

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

T' templates for t' foamboard had already been applied. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I used a fresh blade on t' razor and cut around t' outer edge. Blimey! T' templates also have a circle markin' t' inner edge. Arrr! Blimey! 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. Avast! Blimey! When t' outer profile be completely formed, me bucko, I then took t' razor knife and shaved around t' edge t' put in t' proper bevel.

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

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

Flight and Recovery:
On Art's advice, me bucko, I started modestly with just t' 2 stage version. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! 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, blow me down! Arrr! Even if it had been a major headache, all would have been forgiven after t' launch. Begad! Arrr! It be great.

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

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

Upon first pressin' t' button, nothin' happened. Begad! Blimey! 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. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! I fixed that and tried again.

WHOOOOOOSH! Blimey! It went off like a dream. Aye aye! It weathercocked a little bit but everythin' seemed t' work perfectly. 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 be supposed t' and they all come down in bounds.

A quick check showed that all motors had ignited. There be a little bit o' tearin' in t' first stage but that be o' t' paper I had printed t' pattern on. 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, arrr, burns up motors quickly