Countdown to Adventure

After considerable delay while I mixed in other things, here is the final (probably) segment on the Adventure Team Near Space Vehicle, a model rocket designed to launch a 3 3/4" GI Joe (or compatible) Astronaut in Adventure Team style. Today's installment covers launch-pad, flight, and recovery pictures.

First, one more shot of "Captain Lanard" as we prepare the night before the launch. What a go getter! Already suited up and ready to go! Note the tiny Adventure Team astronaut patches on his chest and shoulder.

The launch was held on a grass farm outside Sheridan, Oregon, about 35 miles from where I live on the coast. The launch is focused on high-power rockets, which the NSV is decidedly not, so the size of the launch area is vast, and the distances between the safety ropes and the launch pads is considerably longer than is absolutely necessary for such a rocket. Keep that in mind when you see my launch photos. My zoom only goes so far, and I was a long way from this little foot-tall rocket. Good thing it's bright yellow!

This first shot is taken at the launch pad, as the rockets are being placed and hooked up for ignition. For those not familiar with model rockets, the metal rods guide the rocket until it is going fast enough for its fins to keep it going straight. Rockets are remotely fired using an electric igniter placed in the engine nozzle. The boxes underneath the launch pads are automotive batteries, which power the whole thing. The metal plates under each pads are blast deflectors, used to direct hot rocket exhaust away from the launcher itself, and to direct it away from the ground. (Given that it's a grass farm and often dry, grass fires are a real concern).

No, that's not me in the picture. The man and his daughter are hooking up an Estes kit rocket on the pad next to mine.


Here we see the fully loaded rack, waiting to fly. As you can see, the NSV isn't very big as model rockets go. In fact, the large white and pink (nothing Freudian here!) rocket is still what is considered "mid-power." "High power" rockets fly from a separate series of pads much further from the crowd line. They're out of sight to the right of the frame.

The first flight of the NSV was made using an Estes "C6-3" rocket motor. For a little motor, that's pretty big, a maximum of 3 pounds of thrust, and a burn time of 1.7 seconds. The "3" is the number of seconds in the coasting delay, which allows the rocket to reach maximum altitude before the parachute is deployed.

The C6-3 has an 18mm case diameter. The motor mount on the NSV was modified to use 24mm diameter motors, and therefore I had to use an adapter to use the smaller diameter engine.


Here's the actual lift-off. As I said, I was a long way away from the pad, and I've pulled out a detail and magnified it so you can see what is happening.

The small, light-colored line pointing straight down from the rocket is actually flame from the motor exhaust. It doesn't look like much, but concentrated on one point, it's very intense. I've seen rockets hang up on the launch rod, and burn a hole in the sheet-steel blast deflector.

Model rocketry has an amazing safety record (you're probably in far more danger going to a Little League game, much less actually playing in one), but the potential for injury and property damage is always there. Organized launches like this follow strict safety rules.


From this point, the rocket was moving too fast and high to follow with the camera. The flight was straight and near perfect. It actually got a lot more altitude out of the C6-3 than I had expected.

I did manage to pick it up with the camera after the recovery system had been deployed, though it wasn't much more than a speck in the sky. Again, there's an inset so you can actually see the rocket.

The nose cone separates from the rocket, and remains connected through a long, elastic, shock cord. A plastic parachute is connected to the nose cone, and (hopefully) slows the rocket for a soft landing.

To be honest, at this point, I had half expected that the cockpit had been ripped open and that Captain Lanard would be lost in the grass somewhere, never to be seen again. Fortunately, I'd built the cockpit well. The canopy remained in place, and Captain Lanard lives to fly another day.

Here we see a posed, post-flight, victory wave. The parachute has already been packed back inside, and we've opened the cockpit so that Captain Lanard can take his bow.

Really, for me, this was an important part of the process. This wasn't some fake pilot head glued into a fake cockpit, as you sometimes see on model airplanes. This was a true action figure, able to be removed from his cockpit, played with and posed.

Encouraged by the success, I decided to pull out the 18mm motor adapter and fly on a more powerful 24mm motor. I chose an Estes D12-5. At a maximum of 6.4 pounds of thrust, this was a big step up from the "C" motor, and that changes a lot of things.

As I tried to explain to people over in the Sandbox recently, as they discussed the idea of building a working rocket pack for a 12" GI Joe, getting any rocket powered object to fly straight is -- well -- rocket science. Actually, for things that actually look like rockets, the rocket science doesn't have to be that hard. The general rules of thumb:

1. The longer (and to some extent, thinner) a rocket is, the more stable it is.
2. Weight in the front of the rocket (moving the center-of-gravity forward) makes a rocket more stable. Weight in the back of the rocket (moving the center-of-gravity backwards) makes a rocket less stable.
3. Fins behind the center-of-gravity make a rocket more stable. Fins in front of the center-of-gravity make it less stable. (Military guided missiles often have fins in the front because they use active, rather than passive stability systems like model rockets, and because instability makes it easy to turn on a dime when you need to, not a desirable characteristic for a model rocket).

The NSV has rule 1 working against it. It isn't long and thin, it's short and thick. Rule 2 is fairly good though, as the astronaut ads some weight to the front. Unfortunately, nose weight works better on long rockets, where it's way out in front and has lots of leverage. Not possible with the NSV. Rule 3 can be a problem too. It's easy to let the center of gravity slip so far back that part of the rear fins is actually on the wrong side of the CG.


So, why are we talking about this when the NSV flew perfectly on it's first flight? Well, as I said, that big motor changes things. For one thing, it's much heavier. It shifts the center of gravity backwards, and on a short rocket, a little shift can make a big difference.

Now on a simple rocket like the others you see in most of these shots, a rocket is pretty much either stable, or it isn't. But the NSV isn't a simple rocket. It's asymmetrical, what with the cockpit bubble, the fin-tip pods, the horizontal tail, the aerodynamics are suddenly dozens, maybe thousands of times more complicated. It's possible to have a rocket that's stable along one axis of rotation, and not along another. It's possible for stability to change under under other circumstances too, such as depending on the "angle-of-attack" at which it hits the oncoming air. Now we're getting into serious rocket science.

Mind you, the NSV did get tested before flight. I slung it around on a string. Seriously, that's an accepted test. You put a loop of string around the rocket, sling it in a circle around your head, and if it flies nose forward, it's theoretically stable. Along that one axis of rotation anyway. On a rocket like this, you rotate the rocket to multiple positions and retest each time. The test seemed to show was stable, even with the D motor. So off to the launch pad it went...

Now, here's some irony for you. The NSV project was inspired by the "Mercury Joe" program, an ongoing effort to launch high-power rockets with 12" GI Joe space capsules and astronauts on top. The launch vehicles are made to look like Redstone boosters, and the capsules are equipped with escape towers and multiple on-board video cameras. Wonderful stuff. If you haven't already, go visit the Vidroc site and watch their Mercury Joe videos. The Gumby rocket videos are also entertaining.

So anyway, it was interesting that I ended up on the pad next to a very nice scale model of a Mercury Redstone rocket.
Here's a closer short of the NSV on the pad. You can see the astronaut and cockpit in launch position. One of my concerns in designing the rocket was that the acceleration is actually pushing the astronaut back into the canopy, and that this might pop it off from inside. I actually considered giving the astronaut his own, small, emergency chute in case he accidently "ejected," but I didn't have time. Fortunately, it was never an issue.

But here we have yet more stability issues. Joe's off-center position throws the CG of the rocket off to one side, and as the rocket moves, he has enough room to shift around the cockpit, shifting the center of gravity on the fly. Now we need one of NASA's super-computers to know quite what is going on. Some things, you just have to try.


So here's what happened. Fortunately, the NSV wasn't completely unstable. If it had have been it could have looped and become a "cruise missile" headed for spectators, launch officials, or other rockets. Dangerous and embarrassing.

But it wasn't entirely stable either. Like I said, I think it had one "lobe" of insufficient stability. This cause the rocket to cork-screw its way into the air, wasting most of the increased thrust. In fact, I'd guess this D motor flight only went about 2/3s as high as the C motor flight, despite the increased thrust.

Fortunately, all ended well. As the motor burned, it became lighter. The rocket straightened out, and flew high enough to safely deploy its parachute and come to a safe landing (well, I think maybe we broke a fin, but it was an easy fix).


So, that was the end of that series of flights. The NSV returned the next year, repaired and improved, with a new Adventure Team astronaut (see previous posts) at the controls. Unfortunately, I was too busy flying to take many pictures that time, but the AT astronaut racked up several successful flights (though minor fin damage on landing continued to be a problem).

The NSV is in sad shape at the moment. It suffered some accidental damage here in my office, and needs major fin repairs. I'll do that eventually, but I'm thinking about retiring the rocket to static display. It's the fate of all rockets, it seems, that if you fly them long enough, either you lose them, or something eventually goes wrong. I'd like the NSV to survive long enough to serve as a reminder of its own glory days.

Now, that doesn't mean that we won't eventually build another Joe rocket...

Sand Rat Upgrade, Start to Finish

As I've made pretty clear, my very favorite 1/6th projects are vehicles. Maybe you've seen some of my heavily customized Adventure Team vehicles, like the MLV (Mobile Logistic Vehicle) and LMUTT (Light Mobile Utility Tow and Transport)that started as Barbie camper vehicles and were modified almost beyond recognition.

While I'm quite proud of these and really had fun doing them, I wonder sometimes if they put people off, simply because they're too involved and it just isn't obvious how I got from that pink monster to the nifty yellow vehicle at the end.

Look, a cool vehicle project doesn't have to be that elaborate. It's a lot of run to take a basic vehicle and, with a little paint, some odds-and-ends, some super-glue, and some imagination, improve it far beyond the basic product, making it your very own. Well, tonight I finished (for now) a long-in-the-works project, and upgrade of the obscure Lanard Ultra-Corps "Sand Rat" vehicle. (Remember, you can click on any of the small pictures to see a large version so you can examine the details.

Most of the materials here are easily found at your local craft or hardware store, or maybe you already have most of what you need in your house.



Here's the Sand Rat as I found it in the box last Christmas. I realize that this is a pretty obscure vehicle, and it's unlikely you'll be able to lay your hands on one. But think of it as an example, an "every-vehicle." You can take the lessons here and apply them to a trashed vintage AT vehicle, a 1/6 RC Snowmobile, a Bratz car, or any other not-quite-right vehicle you might lay your hands on.

The Sand Rat is both the best and the worst case in many ways. The best, in that I think it has great lines. It's clearly a knock-off of the Action Man dune-buggy, which was re-released in the US under the Joe vs. Cobra banner a couple years ago (and should be much easier to find). But while it lacks that vehicle's action features, I think it's better from my standpoint. I think it's more attractive, it's a bit larger, a bit more grounded, and it even has room for two figures (a second one can ride in the back, and the roof was clearly designed to mount a weapon of some sort, which wasn't included).



There is, of course, a machine gun in the front, and ammo cans in the cargo side-wells (another nifty feature that the Hasbro version is lacking). But there are many unused mounting points on the vehicle, the hole for the roof-weapon, the holes in the side of the roll bar, and the mysterious pins on the rear "sissy-bar," that make me think this vehicle was designed to have a lot more goodies on it, probably more paint-applications to some of the molded-on-accessories, and to sell at a higher price point than the $10 or so (including figure) that I paid.

My thinking is that when the 12" market imploded, Lanard cut this item to the bare bones, packed it with the ugly molded-shirt (and boots) figure shown, and blew it out cheap. So, while the lines are nice, it really has a unrealistic toy-like appearance right out of the box.



Rather than paint-apps, we got some rather heavy-handed weathering, as through the vehicle had just been driven through mud, rather than sand. I considered trying to remove the weathering, but elected to live with it. I may add some more realistic dry-brush weathering of my own at some point, and I may swap out the stock stickers for Adventure Team markings, but I haven't done that yet, and I'm not sure I'm going to.

From this rear angle, you can see how it really suffers from lack of paint-apps. Those molded on the seat, pedals, packs and grenades really look fake, as does the half-of-a-fire-extinguisher molded to the left side of the roll cage. Speaking of the cage, you can also see how the "tubing" is actually open on the back. The translucent green plastic really shows this flaw up, and hurts the realism.

From this angle you can also see a couple of other drawbacks. There are not lenses on the headlights and tail-lights. They're just stickers over flat plastic. You can also see the rather unconvincing "exhaust pipes" on the back.



So, what's the plan to upgrade the Sand Rat? Well, here's a shopping list for any vehicle:

1. Decide what your application for the vehicle will be. Change colors, markings, and accessories to match the new mission.

2. Target ugly colors and translucent fake-looking plastic for repainting.

3. Identify unrealistic details. Remove, repaint, or improve.

4. Add small details to increase realism. These don't have to be huge or fancy. Keep in mind that anything that increases the visible number of textures, colors, and surface types will add realism and apparent detail. Think in terms of paint details, things that can be inserted or added in (floor mats, fire-extinguishers, headlight lenses, etc.), or attached (trailer-hitches, gear-shifts, cargo racks, etc.)



So, here's our improved Sand Rat. The overall appearance hasn't changed that much, but there's a huge increase in realism and visual appeal. Notice that there are lots of small areas of color. There are new and functional-looking details, clearly using different and contrasting materials and colors. Obviously we tossed the ugly figure for a kitbashed AT member (never underestimate the value of a nice-looking driver figure in any vehicle). Given that this is an AT vehicle, the heavy machine gun is gone, replaced by a "sensor cluster" (actually, a weapon pod from some smaller-scale sci-fi toy).

The headlights now have real lenses. These are made from plastic rhinestones picked up at a craft store and stuck on with super-glue. These are clear with a silver backing. On the lower lights, that backing has been sanded off, and the lenses glued directly over the existing headlight stickers. On the upper lights, the sticker was removed and the stone, complete with silvered backing, simply glued in place. A pair of smaller amber stones have been glued on as "parking lights."

The biggest single improvement in appearance and realism came from one, relatively-easy, change. I removed the roll-bars and bumpers, and painted them gloss black using Krylon Fusion paint for plastics. The Fusion sticks just fine to the flexible plastic the bars are made from. It hides the translucent plastic, making it more realistic, and the dark color makes the open back-side of the roll-bars less obvious. (We also disguised this to some extent by adding "padding." More on that in a bit.) Black was also more appropriate to the AT than the semi-military looking green. While I was painting all the bars, I also repainted the ammo-boxes black as well.

Note too that the molded in packs, and grenades have been hand painted using acrylic craft paints. Don't forget to paint the buckles in metallic or contrasting colors to add to the realism. You can't see it, but the seat back and molded in pedals have also been painted dark-brown. This doesn't require a lot of artistic ability, just a fine-brush and a steady hand. Pretty much I followed the molded in lines. It's a coloring-book in three dimensions.



From this front angle, you can see one shortcoming of the Sand Rat that I didn't address, those wheels. They're simply hollow shells, open on the back. Getting some realistic wheels, perhaps salvaged from a smaller scale toy truck or construction vehicle would make a huge difference in appearance. But I haven't done this yet, and I'm not sure I will. I'm going for increased realism here, but not hyper-realism. For instance, where's the engine? There's literally almost no space here for an engine or fuel. A stickler would have fabricated an engine cover to go over that rear compartment, but I wanted to keep it available for cargo, or as a place for a second figure to stand.

In this and the previous picture, you can also see how I addressed the half-a-fire-extinguisher on the left (driver's left) of the roll cage. I simply found an ammo-belt-pack in the junk box that was about the size of the extinguisher, and attached it to the open back side using a small, black, wire-tie (sold in electronics and hardware stores).



From the back, you can see some other details I added. The tail-lights are replaced with glued-on colored stones, again from the craft store. The license plate is a plastic souvenir zipper-pull. These are sold in tourist spots across the country with hundreds of common names printed on them. I look for them when I travel, and always pick up a pare of "JOE" tags whenever I spot them. They look great glued on 1/6th vehicles. They really add some color and interest, with hardly any effort at all.

I also upgraded the exhaust pipes, by adding some bits of Aluminum tube purchased at a hardware store. I find that any place that you have a chance to use real, exposed, metal, it can really enhance a vehicle's realism. Bright, shiny surfaces are also nice interest-points. Look around a hardware store, looking at all the screws, nuts, brackets, screw-eyes, drawer pulls and other items, and you'll find lots of stuff that will work on your vehicles, as bumpers, trailer hitches, light-brackets, etc.

Finally, look around and see what interesting gear you can add to enhance the vehicle's mission. Considering this is a desert vehicle, it seemed natural to put a few canteens in the cargo trays on the side. I carefully chose a pair that had tan covers rather than the more common OD green, and that had the added advantage of some silver and black detail paint. More realism points, effectively for free, that wouldn't be gained by dumping molded mono-color canteens in there.

It's worth noting a few other improvements I've added as well. Though you can't see it in the pictures, the cargo well now has a black "floor mat" made simply out of thin craft foam. Craft form is sold in a variety of colors in any craft store, or in the craft section at Wal-Mart. It's cheap, versatile, and easy to work with (just cut it with scissors or a hobby knife). Often it will just stay where you put it (as in my floor-matt application), or you can glue it, or even buy a self-adhesive version with a peel-off backing. You can use this stuff as seat padding, floor mat's, linings for tool boxes, all kinds of things. I recommend keeping a variety of colors on hand, but especially black.

I had originally intended to do the roll-bar padding using craft-foam as well, but went with an alternate plan at the last minute. The padding is "mini-soaker hose," cheap stuff sold in garden departments for use in drip irrigation systems. I cut it to length with scissors, then cut a slit up one side of the hose. Then I spread it open at the slit, and snapped it over the open side of the roll-bar tubes. Finally, I fixed it in place using small, black, plastic wire-ties (see above). What's really nice about this is that it shows that black is not just black. The black of the painted roll bars, the black of the plastic wire-ties, and the black of the padding are completely different. This kind of contrast among things of similar color really adds to realism for some reason.



So, that's our conversion. Just for comparison, lets look at the finished result side-by-side with the mint-original. Looks better, doesn't it?



Of course, there's plenty more that could be done. Mount some science gear or a cargo rack on the roof. Paint the roof and body. Add some AT markings. Upgrade the wheels. Put in a rifle rack, or mount some kind of small seat to the rear bar for a standing passenger to lean on. Maybe even add working lights. That's the beauty of these projects. Anything you do will likely be an improvement, but there's really not limit to what you can do. All it takes is a little patience and imagination.

Rocket pilots

Before we move on to the launch and flight photos of the Adventure Team Near Space Vehicle (NSV-1), let's get a closer look at the pilots.

As I said in my previous post, I gave the hazardous assignment of test pilot, not to a Joe, but to a Lanard Star Corps figure. "Captain Lanard" was actually an experienced astronaut by the time he climbed into the cockpit of the NSV. He'd already taken several high-altitude flights on my "D-Ranger," a modified (stretched with a payload bay, pointed nose-cone, and 24mm engine mount) Estes Ranger.

The rockets in the background, for those who are curious, are an Estes Super-Vega, an Estes D-Region Tomahawk (modified from a single 24mm motor mount, to 3 18mm motors), and an Estes S.W.A.T. As you can see, I have a strong preference for "futuristic" models.



This photo was taken at the launch site outside Sheridan, Oregon just after one of the flights. Captain Lanard can be seen climbing from the payload section of the D-Ranger, giving his "all okay" wave.



After these flights, I felt that Captain Lanard deserved to become an honorary member of the Adventure team, and I made him a small version of this AT astronaut patch. It is inspired by the vintage astronaut patch, and incorporates the astronaut flight wings. The symbol was printed on paper, carefully cut out, and affixed to the figure with a drop of super-glue.

But despite Captain Lanard's excellent service, I really wanted to fly with a "real" Joe, and my chance came with the release of the Comic 3-figure pack that included an astronaut (Flash), as well as Short Fuze and Rock N Roll. I initially planned to fly Flash stock, but he seemed a little plain and boring to me, so I had to modify him.




Since he was supposed to be an Adventure Team Astronaut, I figured a beard would be appropriate, and since Rock N Roll had a beard, out came the screwdriver for a quick head-transplant. The Rock N Roll hair is a little long, even for the AT, but I think he looks pretty good. I also used a Sharpie pen to darken in the "padding" around his helmet opening, and added an AT symbol to his chest. The result is my 3 3/4 AT Air-Adventurer Astronaut.



Finally, we see the hand-off as test pilot makes the official delivery and hand-off of the NSV-1 for regular Adventure Team operations. Who says Adventure Team and 3 3/4" Joes don't mix?