Building the Quasar

When I was choosing the rocket Pete gave plenty of good advice which helped me in deciding to purchase the Quasar, Pete also gave me plenty of advice on how to assemble the rocket and little tips and tricks that would make the job easier, stronger and look better when finished.

The kit was opened once back home and all parts were identified with the aid of the well laid out instructions, I test fitted all of the bits to check that everything went together without the need of any modifications.

The first job was to fill all of the spiral groves in the phenolic tube for this I used a two part wood filler made by Ronseal. Having filled and sanded the body tubes I could start the assembly of the Quasar.

The kit was to be built as per the instructions apart from the addition of an Engine Retainer. The instructions provided clear step by step details on the assembly process, the only area that proved difficult was applying the epoxy fillets to the joint where the fins meet the inside of the body tube and 54mm motor tube. This was carried out by sucking the epoxy up a straw and blowing it out into the narrow gap, the instructions say to apply it with a stick but this proved impossible, in the end this was applied by sucking epoxy up a straw and blowing it back out with the straw in the narrow slot (note: don't suck too hard!).

The fillets on the outside of the body tube where the fins come through were carried out by applying masking tape to the fin and body tube about 8mm from the fin/tube joint, the epoxy was positioned  along the joint up to the tape, then when the epoxy was still wet the tape was removed leaving a neat professional looking fillet.

Launch at Largs during the IRW99