Loc-Precision Weasel Progress

Here are the 3 fin roots. I drilled small holes to allow the epoxy to get into the fin and allow a stronger bond.

I also cut and peeled the glassine layer off the tube where the fin root goes, allowing the epoxy to soak into the cardboard, rather than simply resting on the outside and not penetrating the joint.

My setup for applying the fiberglass to the fins and tube joints. Family Guy DVDs provide support. The cardboard object next to the rocket on the DVD is a "pressure jig" I made from extra coupler tubes. The idea is that this piece gets weighted on the tube between the fins when the fiberglass and epoxy is drying to make sure the fiberglass is tight on the tube.

 Fiberglass, ready for application onto model.

  The first application of fiberglass. The epoxy is cured is this point. It came out decent. I think it is strong, which is the most important part but it's going to take a lot of work to get it smooth for primer.

The second fiberglass piece. I used West Systems epoxy this time instead of 30 minute Bob Smith Industries. This allowed me to get plenty of epoxy this time. Again, it's strong but it's going to take a lot of sanding and filling to smooth it out. Since I'm going for supersonic, it's important that it's as smooth as possible. It's not just for good looks anymore.

Here's the completed electronics bay. The switch is integrated into the electronics board which will make sliding everything together much easier at launch preparation time. Note how the board has an integrated battery mount, allowing assurance that the battery won't budge on 60+ G launches. For flight, the battery will simply have a few wraps of tape to keep it in place where it rests in the board.

Here's the bottom view. I had to make the white threaded rod guides myself. They are rolled paper tubes that are saturated with thin CA glue for strength. They have generous epoxy fillets to hold them in place on the board.

End of the electronics bay.

The other end of the electronics bay.

Here's the electronics bay fully assembled. One of the threaded rods has threaded couplers and the eye bolts for recovery harness anchors. This design assures that no significant recovery load goes into the bulkheads of the electronics bay. Instead, the threaded rod will take all the load.

Demonstrating that the air sampling hole also functions as access to arm the electronics.

The little plastic piece intended for attaching the recovery harness to the nose cone is notorious for failing. For this reason, I've installed an eyebolt and a generous amount of 30 minute epoxy to hold it in place.