Getting Started You won't need a lot of materials to start this hobby as there are many all-complete kits available to give you everything you need to start.
Kits include all of the parts to build a rocket, a launch pad, parachute or streamer, decals and instructions.
You should read the instructions or outside of the box to see if you will also need a hobby knife (like and x-acto blade), sandpaper, glue, paint, or a ruler.
Mistake #1: Using the right kind of glue can make a big difference in your rocket.
Some rockets will be made of plastic and require a plastic cement for gluing while other rockets are made from a paper tubing and may require a different glue.
Try to make sure you use the appropriate glue and preferably one that isn't flammable! Assembling Your Kit Now let's assemble your rocket! Depending upon the rocket you purchase there will be variations to this procedure.
Traditional rockets will have a cardboard tube body and balsa wood fins.
Using your x-acto knife you will carefully cut these out along the pre-made guide lines.
Then using a fine sandpaper you will sand off the edges and some of the rough spots to give your fins a good, smooth, aerodynamic feel to them.
Using the appropriate glue you will then glue these to the body tube.
You then assemble the cardboard tube engine mount.
This is a specially designed tube for holding the engine and it is the most challenging part of the process.
A few more steps include building the parachute and nosecone assembly.
Now most modern day kits are doing away with the old balsa wood fins and are upgrading to plastic fins which need little to no removal of burrs.
Now most cardboard tube rockets look pretty ugly when you're done putting them together, so that's when you need some paint to help spruce it up! Plastic rockets do not require painting as they are already colored, but many of them include decals that you can use to customize your rocket.
Mistake #2: When just getting started I recommend building the plastic rockets to get a feel for what you are getting into.
You can build these in less than an hour.
Once you are comfortable with the plastic models you can then go to the cardboard rockets.
These require more skill and patience and can take almost an hour to build.
Be sure to let your glue dry thoroughly before moving on to the next task.
There's nothing like having a fin glued down at an angle to throw your rocket off course (and possibly into an unfortunate spot!).
Painting Your Rocket In a nice, clean area outside that is away from the house you can start with a good spray paint.
Testors makes a wonderful spray paint that comes in all sorts of colors.
If you want your rocket all one consistent color then spray keeping your spray can about 18 inches away from the rocket and spray in light, even strokes up and down the model.
Spraying the model in this way helps avoid paint chunks, runs and drips.
It is always better to paint lightly because you can always add a bit more paint after the first coat dries.
It's more of a hassle (and it can potentially ruin your rocket) if you have to sand off globs and drips of paint from your rocket because you sprayed too heavily! Mistake #3: Painting your rocket really dark colors may look cool, but when you launch your rocket it makes it too difficult to find once it lands! Use very bright and colorful paints like yellows, pinks, gold or silver.
This way when it lands you don't have to hunt for a 'camouflaged' rocket!! Launching Your Rocket Now that your rocket is complete you will be ready to launch it and to do this you should find a large open field that is free of any brown or dry grass (for fire safety).
You install the igniter into your engine then put the engine into the rocket and place it on the launching pad.
As a final step you hook up your launch controller and after standing back and doing a countdown you press a button to launch your rocket! Mistake #4: When launching your rocket ALWAYS check weather conditions first.
If it's too windy then save your rocket for another day.
You just put all of that hard work into your rocket so don't launch it if the wind will carry it off into traffic on a nearby highway!! Also, please don't launch at night.
The initial blast of might look cool but then you have to go find your rocket.
In the dark.
Kit Suggestions Estes makes a great beginner kit called the Tandem-X launch set.
It comes with two rockets and the launch pad but doesn't come with engines or wadding so you have to order them separately.
Quest has several kits that have everything including the engines and wadding and two of these kits are the Astra III Quick Kit StarterHAZ and the Vertigo RTF HAZ.
Mistake #5: When you go out to launch your rocket make sure you have a few supplies in a small tool box that you can easily carry out to the launch site.
Such a box is often referred to as a range box.
Bring a few extra things along just in case a fin comes loose, the parachute breaks, or the like.
It will save you several trips and is well worth having it when you need it! You wouldn't want to get to the site, set up your rocket, and just before you launch it a fin falls off and you don't have any glue with you!