Comparing Rocket Motors

Chisel Tip Knife Blades

One of the lesser-known, but really practical tools for hobbyists, is the Chisel Tip Blade for a hobby knife. It can do things that you can't do with a regular #11 blade hobby knife nor a razor blade. What makes it really useful is that you can mount it in the handle of an ordinary hobby knife. That gives you a way of holding it that you can't get with other wide blades like a razor blade. Because it is in a handle, you can get it into hard-to-reach spaces that you can't normally access easily.

Quest SuperBird

The Quest SuperBird rocket was one of our favorites from the past. It is big, has a nice size payload bay, comes down with two parachutes, and rises fairly slow off the pad compared to other rockets. It's back again, and it is just as we remembered it. With its balsa wood fins, the rocket is an easy Skill-Level 2 build, and flies nice and stable. Get one today before they fly off the shelf.

Decal Tweezers

If you're looking for broad tip tweezers for precision tasks like picking up thin water-slide decals, these are just what you're looking for. These stainless steel tweezers with straight, flat, broad tips are useful for sliding under thin paper, and plastic membranes and tapes to lift them off and hold them. But these come without the serrated teeth of standard tweezers that could damage the delicate objects you're holding.

Some rockets, like our Saturn V kit, have very tiny water-slide decals (like the camera targets). These small decals are often hard to position because you can't tell if they are between the pads of your fingers. When you put them down on the rocket, they often stick to your finger instead of to the surface of the model. That is where these decal tweezers come in handy.

Tamiya Putty

Tamiya Basic Type Putty is used for filling in seams when joining parts together in plastic model kits or models that use ABS or styrene plastic bodies. The putty is gray in color and may be applied with a flat surface tool.

It is not intended to fill large gaps. It is meant to fill in small seams and imperfections in plastic model surfaces. The basic putty may also be used for resin model, metal model and vinyl model applications.

Quest Falcon

Ever want a quick build rocket kit, that you can put together in under an hour, and just want to blast it to the moon? The Quest Falcon rocket is just such a bird. With the one-piece plastic fin unit, that simply slides over the tube, this rocket can be assembled in no time at all. Plus it has a 24mm diameter motor mount, so you can load it up with F motors that will put this thing out-of-sight.

Quest Sport

Inexpensive, FAST, and super-simple to build, the Quest Sport rocket is a nice choice for a first time rocket. It can be assembled in under and hour, and it just begs a big 24mm diameter motor to send it to the clouds. Get one today before they are gone.

15-Min Cure Time Epoxy

The Mid-Cure 15-min Epoxy from Bob Smith Industries, is a really nice epoxy for general purpose use. It cures reasonably fast, hardens very clear, and is quite strong. The extra setting time (verses the typical 5 minute epoxies) allows time for air bubbles formed from mixing to come out of the epoxy before it sets up and allows some additional time when you are doing a more complicated joint or gluing job. Comes in a convenient 4.5 oz bottles that allow you to mix a little, or a lot.

RockSim v10.4.0 Beta

We made several changes to the RockSim software, and are announcing this beta version for all current users to try out. There are a few new features, as well as more than a dozen fixes to issues that users have reported. This will be a free upgrade for all v10 (or version 9) users. But we're calling it a "beta" to indicate we're still open to fixing an new issues you might discover. More information and download links are available here.

Make Carbon Fiber Tubes

Here is an extensive and detailed video course on how to make Ultra-Lightweight Carbon-Fiber Rocket Tubes. They're so light, they give you an unfair advantage in competition. These are the ones that my daughters, Allison and Ashley used in Romania last September at the 2021 World SpaceModeling Championships. Allison was part of the senior Silver Medal winning USA team, and Ashley took home the Bronze Medal in the Jr. Division. The girls were taught how to make their own tubes, so if they can do it, so can you.

The training course consists of 5 hours and 42 minutes of video instruction, covering everything I know about how to make a successful tube with a glass-finish using a 2-piece mold. It even includes all the secret techniques and materials, and where to buy them, including where to get the 2-part mold.  

This course is on the Udemy website, not at Apogee Components.