Spacex falcon 9/heavy/dragon/to be determined foam board build

[munlander1]

I've been trying to build a falcon 9 and decided to do a dragon too. I'm trying to use an octagon as the base as I'm trying to use foam board for the whole project and don't want cutting and measuring to be too big of a hassle.

Here is the prototype that was made to test building methods and what not.

 

I've been having trouble getting the octagon to be even though. I've measured each side to be 11.25 centimeters and the interior angles to be 135 +-3 and the distance from each point to the center to be 15cm +-1mm. 

It just doesn't look right though.

What I did to make it was Mark a center point every 45 degrees then measure out 15cm from the center and mark that. I would then connect the 15cm point and cut on that line. Is thee anything I could do differently or improve on so I don't mess up again? @qzgy

Edited March 29, 2018 by munlander1

[qzgy]

Not at all an expert. Full disclosure.

What I would recommend doing here (at least for the fuselage/main rocket body) is cutting 1 piece of foamboard (11.25*8) long and however high, then take that piece and sorta cut it so that you get your n-gon (8, so 7 scoremarks 11.25 cm apart) then bevel the inside of each score mark  so it can be folded over. to create your tube. Then fold it to form a tube and glue it. The one issue is that it will be a bit wonky, but if you put in some pieces to make sure that at least 4 sides or so are square it should work fine.

As for the best way to really make an octagon - Find an image online and print it. Then use it as a template. If its not big enough, print half on one page and the other on another and tape everything to look perfect.

@munlander1 -Edit - Images! https://imgur.com/a/BMaXt

Edited March 7, 2018 by qzgy

[munlander1]

1 hour ago, qzgy said:

Edit - Images! https://imgur.com/a/BMaXt

Thanks, will try it out tomorrow 

[munlander1]

Been working on it again, dont have pictures as my iphone is broken but have decided to do a apollo cms and dont know how to cut a somewhat realistic rcs blocks. I have cut the blocks themselves, but i dont know how to cut the nozzles themselves or if foamcore was a viable material for the shapes needed.

[munlander1]

@qzgy

[qzgy]

Hm. Maybe try using card stock or other thick paper to make the nozzles? If a simple cone will do, just roll up a small cone and stick that into the block. You could also use some more complicated methods to get better nozzles,. Alternatively you could sand down balsa cones but thats quite hard.

I would say to use rolled up cardstock in the shape of a cone and glue it to the block structure. If that doesn't work maybe there's other people who might know better.

In general though I would think foamcore is a good general structure material, but cardstock or even paper is much better for fine details.

Edited March 29, 2018 by qzgy

[munlander1]

On 3/28/2018 at 10:03 PM, qzgy said:

I would say to use rolled up cardstock in the shape of a cone and glue it to the block structure

Worked perfectly, used notebook paper though. How could I get them to the actual nozzle's color?

[qzgy]

2 minutes ago, munlander1 said:

Worked perfectly, used notebook paper though. How could I get them to the actual nozzle's color?

Silver sharpie? Or some form of metallic paint? Not really sure here. You could also try using some form already silvery paper or whatever color you need it to be.

[munlander1]

1 minute ago, qzgy said:

Silver sharpie? Or some form of metallic paint? Not really sure here. You could also try using some form already silvery paper or whatever color you need it to be.

Thanks