After 2 years of planning, testing and building, the V2 is now sitting in a paddock, in the middle of central Queensland undergoing final prep before launch. 

The rocket was hauled up to the launch site, across three states and 1500km or nearly 1000 miles. It took 2 days to get there and was carried in three parts. Two car trailers were used to carry the nose cone and central airframe while an enclosed truck was used to cart the fin can.

Nose Cone, Fin Can and Central Airframe of the V2 rocket

Misc V2

This is Part 3 of this build. If you haven't started at the start, you may want to jump back to Part 1 or Part 2 and read those first.

Before the Patrol Cruiser Excalibur can launch, it needs a motor mount! The original design called for a number of extra tubes around the main motor mount - for aesthetic purposes. For this build, I used 29mm blue tube for the engine mount and discovered that I could fit 29mm blue tube couplers around the outside - and still fit within the flanged end of the airframe. Since the tubes were't going to actually touch each other, I used a laser cut jig to hold the tubes in place as I glued them in.

Patrol Cruiser Excalibur 4" Upscale (Build)

This is Part 2 of the 4" Upscale Build of Estes' Patrol Cruiser Excalibur. Click back to Part 1

Part 1 of the build saw the airframe being assembled, now in Part 2, we're going to look at the steps used to make the upscale nose cone.  The first stage of making the nose cone can be found here where I made the mold.

The first step of fabricating the nose cone was to coat the inside of the mold with wax.

Patrol Cruiser Excalibur 4" Upscale (Build)

Back in the early 80's Estes released the Patrol Cruiser Excalibur (Kit #1399) as part of the "Galactic Pirates" series.

It was a great futuristic looking rocket designed by Keith Niskern, selling for $7.00 and available from 1980 to '81.

Here's the Catalog Page from 1980

Estes Patrol Cruiser Excalibur Catalog Page

I ended up scratch-building one to the same dimensions as Estes originally offered - BT60 body tube, the nose cone was the same for the Der Red Max - all easily obtainable parts. Looked neat, but I wanted bigger.... So upscale it was!

Here's the parts.... And the final result!

Patrol Cruiser Excalibur 4" Upscale (Build)   Sascha's Patrol Cruiser Excalibur (4" Upscale)

Click through for the build photos of the airframe

The V2 project is rapidly heading towards completion. Since the last build day I attended, a lot of work has been done. Much of the foam has been bonded into place and wrapped in vinyl. Today's build centered around separation and the launch tower along with recovery and some internal work.  Just a few weeks to launch now!

Fin Can - Ashley for scale

Fin can - Ashley Hill for scale - V2 Build Day 20th Feb, 2015

I don't think you could get much more scratch built than cobbling together a rocket with old toilet paper rolls. These were built as part of Rocketfest XX, where I successfully flew and recovered the X-Wing :)

TP X-Wing

TP X-Wing   TP X-Wing   TP Tube Fin

Just a couple of photos for today's build session - forward section coming together that will form the nose cone.

Nose Cone Fabrication - V2 Build Day 23rd May, 2014

Nose Cone Fabrication - V2 Build Day 23rd May, 2014

A few more photos of the build session on FLICKR

Rocketry Victoria is in the process of building a V2 - not just any V2, but a full-scale replica!

My role in this build is deployment and here's some testing I've been doing to get a full man-rated parachute out. While on the rocket, we plan to use drag separation to pull the parachute clear of the rocket, the back-up plan is to have a car airbag in the bottom of each parachute well.

The 1:1 V2 rocket build is progressing. Today Jase continued work on the fins & we got to see the central airframe for the first time.

Here's Jase hard at work with one of the 4 massive fins that will go onto the V2.

Fin (Jase) - V2 Build Day 16th Mar, 2014

The fin itself is made from aluminium box section with a core of styrene foam. The whole assembly is then clad in fiberglass cloth & resin. Due to the overall size of the rocket once completed, these fins are approximately 3" / 75mm too narrow compared to the original V2. The reason for this is that had the fins be the correct size, it would exceed the maximum allowable limit for road transport!  A fin extension will be fabricated and attached prior to launch.

Here's Karl watching on in amazement at Jase's skill with the fiberglass!

Fin Fabrication (Jase Batey & Karl Hemphill) - V2 Build Day 16th Mar, 2014

Some time ago I had an idea for a spin-stabilised rocket. Instead of using fins, I thought if I could get a rocket to spin fast enough, it would travel straight much like a bullet does.  The idea bumped around inside my head until the other day - so I started building!

First thing was to construct a motor mount. This comprised of a cluster of three 13mm motors. I also created an internal launch lug.

Continued after the jump!