Scarab

You know that you need to seek serious psychiatric help when you start looking at innocuous household objects and automatically wonder how to install a motor mount in them. I need to confess that Ive been suffering from this particular neurosis for sometime now. Perhaps it is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain symptomatic of extended exposure to ammonium perchlorate.

I recently had the opportunity to benefit from this peculiar behavioral eccentricity when it collided with my affinity for 1950s sci-fi spacecraft. I was strolling through a discount chain store and found a huge bin of polypropylene drinkware. These unbreakable goblets and tumblers were intended to be used for picnicking at the pool or patio, but to a rocket-wise consumer like myself the alternative uses for the items were obvious.

I purchased a wine goblet with an outside diameter of about 3.5 inches. I also bought a tumbler with a semi-ogive curvature; it was slightly wider than the goblet, so I shortened the height enough to reduce the outside diameter of the tumbler equal to that of goblet.

Last, I removed the base of the goblet and rounded the stem -- when the two halves were matched together I had a perfect retro-style airframe.

Notice how easily these items were converted from beverage containers to airframe components.

I made a ring out of 1/2-inch fir plywood using a 3.5-inch hole saw for the outer diameter and a 1.25-inch hole saw to cut the center hole. This was epoxied into the aft airframe. I left about half of the ring exposed, with enough of the edge protruding to snug the forward airframe down onto the exposed upper portion of the ring. With this method I was able to utilize the entire volume of the forward airframe as a parachute compartment. I put a screw eye in the bulkhead and another at the top of the parachute compartment to attach a Kevlar shock cord and a 24-inch parachute.

I used the 1.25-inch hole saw to cut the hole in the base of the tumbler (whoops I mean aft airframe). There is no aft centering ring. I epoxied a 5-inch length of 29mm tubing into the forward and aft holes.

Not everyone owns a 1/4 inch drill bit that is over a foot long, but I do -- so I used it to drill a hole through the base of the tumbler (sorry again) right through the forward centering ring and out the top of the forward airframe. I kept the drill bit adjacent and parallel to the motor tube along a line I had drawn on it for a guide. I epoxied a length of 1/4-inch brass tubing into the aft section for a launch lug and another in the forward section (I wanted to be able to insert the launch rod through the rocket without snagging the parachute or shock cord).

The airframe material is quite resilient, so I wanted to use a material for the fins that was equally rugged. Instead of buying G10, I decided that I would make a flat sheet of cheap fin stock with the extra resin and scraps fiberglass mat I have lying around. This would still be cheap even if I was only buying small quantities of the materials I needed -- auto parts stores sell it in small quantities as body repair materials. If you've wanted to try fiberglassing and wanted a simple project to get started, this is as simple as it gets. The instructions for making it are avialable [HERE!].

The finishing touches were the most fun. Most solid deodorants are sold with a protective plastic dome under the cap. I shaped one of these to match the curvature of the airframe and painted it black to serve as the cockpit canopy. I also cut the heads off several dozen #2 vinyl screws and glued them to the skin to simulate rivets. After a coat of silver paint it looked like a craft that George Jetson would be proud of. I named it the Scarab because it looks a little like a one-eyed beetle. The Scarab has flown on D12 and E15 motors (using a 24mm adapter) but it will take a 29mm G -- maybe even an H motor.

You may not find the exact same stemware or cups that I did, but there are so many different styles available that you could cheaply build an entire fleet of bizarre designs. Go nuts. Now, if youll excuse me, Im off to Wal-Mart to comb through the Housewares department again.

Showing off the Scarab	Loading the Scarab onto the launch rod
Stefan and dad at the pad	Stefan dislikes copperhead ignitors so dad hooks it up.
Close-up photo on the pad	Ready to launch
Liftoff!	Off it goes on an E35