Hans "Chris" Michielssen's Page

AKA: hcmbanjo
Location: Orlando, FL
Club Memberships: NAR
Favorite Rockets: Estes Goblin
Personal Home Page: www.oddlrockets.com
Club Home Page: www.R-O-C-K.org
RocketReviews.com Pages:
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2024-05-14

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 17, Fitting The Wing

Blog
On the left - The V tip of the two wing pieces leave a small gap at the fuselage notch. Looking at the back, the wing overhangs the rear of the fuselage. By slightly sanding the "V" tip, it closes the small gap at the front and moves the wing forward. The back of the wing is now even with the tail end of the fuselage. I drew a pencil line down the center of the canard for gluing ... [More]

2024-05-13

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 16, Gluing Up The Wing Dihedral

Blog
I taped the dihedral guide pieces to my work surface. Otherwise the thin cardboard pieces will flop and fall under the wing halves. After the glue dried there was a small gap where the two sides meet. This is on the bottom seam of the "V" shaped wing. Some CWF filler was ran down the seam and sanded. Filler/primer was shot down the center filled seam only. The bottom of the "V" was carefully ... [More]

2024-05-12

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 15, Gluing Up The Glider

Blog
The stabilizer is glued onto the fuselage. Do your best to center the thinner piece on the thicker stock fuselage. The wing panel root edges should be sanded to an angle for a stronger glue bond. I mark the edge with a soft pencil so I can tell what has been sanded. On the right side, I'm about half done sanding the angle, you can still see some pencil marking left. Sand until the pencil mark is ... [More]

2024-05-11

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 14, Vertical Stabilizers & Wing Tips

Blog
I found myself referring to the face card picture a few times. These are not a standard fin layout. This was probably a prototype model, not a production kit. All wing and wing tips are rounded. The instructions only say to round the wings and wing tips. Even the edges of the glider balsa remain square. I sanded away a little more of the gluing line. There is some 400 grit rolled around a ... [More]

2024-05-10

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 13, Launch Lugs & Standoff

Blog
Two of the three launch lugs are glued onto the top of the body tube at 2 1/2" and 6" from the rear end of the tube. I went "old school" and placed the lugs by sighting down the tube. The glider requires a balsa standoff to hook onto the booster. Cut the balsa standoff a hair long. Center and glue it on the lug. Sand the overhanging balsa to the length of the lug. Here's the lug and standoff ... [More]

2024-05-09

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 12, Engine Mount Gluing & Wing Fins

Blog
The instructions have you glue on the wings before gluing in the engine mount. Ideally you want the engine mount on the same side of the launch lugs, perpendicular to the larger wings. I glued the engine mount in first then set the marking guide with the engine mount in line with the launch lugs on the underside. The engine mount was set beside the body tube to fins out the distance for ... [More]

2024-05-08

New Estes Mini Alpha Instructions - Shock Cord Mount

Blog
The new Estes Mini Alpha kit instructions have been posted online: CLICK HERE Most instructions tend to say tie a "double knot". This implies tying two overhand knots which gives you a "granny" knot. They are prone to slip and open up. Unless you were a Boy Scout, a first time builder probably doesn't know the difference between the two knots. At the arrow point in the illustration, look ... [More]

2024-05-07

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 11, Canard Fit & Masks

Blog
I squared up the notches for the canard. I wanted a good friction fit. Filing continued until the center front and rear of the canard could slip in. The gluing edges were masked off with tape strips before shooting the filler/primer. After spraying the filler/primer - Here's the glider body after the tape strips were removed. [More]

2024-05-06

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 10, Balsa Filler/Primer

Blog
After one pass with CWF and sanding, the die-cut balsa still showed some crushed edges. I had to go back for more filler. The balsa was sheet was pretty good. Here's a fin right after a shot of filler/primer. You can't see and grain pores. Here's the tip fins with sprayed filler/primer - And a fin after sanding off most of the filler/primer. The die-cut balsa tip fins ... [More]

2024-05-05

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 9, Tri-Fold Mount TIPS

Blog
I usually don't like using tri-fold mounts in smaller tubes like a BT-5, 20 or 50. But on this older kit I'll (almost) follow the instructions Here's how the instructions show how to glue up a tri-fold mount. Three folds and three bends of the shock cord. Older kits included a mount printed on 65 lb. cardstock. Current kits have the mount printed on the 20 lb. stock instruction ... [More]

2024-04-06

Centuri ARGUS clone

Flight
I only used one parachute, the original kit had two, one for the low end, another for the long upper section. The parachute was taped closed in a "hillbilly hat" for faster descent. - C6-5 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Estes Mini Bertha Clone

Flight
First launch today. After all these years I shouldn't be surprised by how well mini engine models perform. Very stable, the 1/2A3-2t motor. I would guess the altitude capped out at 275'. The two second delay seemed short. - Estes 1/2A3-2t - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Semroc MMX Blue Bird Zero

Flight
I actually captured a MicroMaxx launch! Estimated altitude was 75', no damage after the streamer recovery. - 1/8A-1 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Warped! (Scratch Design)

Flight
A weird one. It started as a regular bagged Custom kit that sat in the direct sun a little too long. The nose cone was melted and bent. I bought the kit. The body tube was cut into angled wedges and glued together like the Fliskits ACME Spitfire. I renamed it WARPED. A B6-4 pushed it to at ... [More]

Custom Solar Explorer

Flight
I wasn't worried about losing this one - the BT-50 tube was crimped above the engine mount from an earlier hard landing. After reaching an altitude around 600', the winds blew it into the trees just South of the flight line. Lost! I really need to thin the heard anyway. - C6-5 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Quest MMX Saturn V

Flight
The larger fins really didn't help much, it was unstable after it cleared the short launch rod. - 1/8A-1 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

2024-03-02

Odd'l Cyclone 18mm

Flight
- B6-4 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Estes Skytracer Clone

Flight
- A8-3 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Rocketship Games R5 Hawkeye

Flight
Boost is always fast on these little models, good thing I had some young eyes to point me to the landing area. - 1/8A-1 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

Nike X Goon

Flight
A B6-4 got an altitude of 350'. Full chute, textbook flight. - B6-4 - Orlando R.O.C.K. [More]

2015-04-19

Rockets By Style / Kit-Bash/Modified

Photograph

Hans "Chris" Michielssen's Orange (Q Cobalt Kitbash)

2014-11-09

Rockets By Style / Kit-Bash/Modified

Photograph

MX-774 Kitbash on an Estes A8-3. Bunnell Blast, November 8, 2014

2012-09-22

Saturn Press Saturn V - Step 17

Build Entry
The outside curved lines of the Engine Fairing Shrouds were cut from the cardstock with scissors. The interior Fin Slots were cut with a knife and straight-edge. [More]

Saturn Press Saturn V - Step 16

Build Entry
The A Frames and Fins were pressed together. The C Frames are pressed into the A Frames and Fins. Be careful handling the Fin paint while assembling. Silver or metallic paints are easy to dull with fingerprints. After all were assembled dry (no glue) I applied white glue to all the joints with ... [More]