GoPro Model Rocket

This is a completely scratch-built model rocket designed to carry my GoPro camera.

It is 42" tall and flies on three "E" size Estes motors, and it is recovered by a 54 inch parachute. The camera is housed completely within the main body tube, which allows for great footage on the way up, and great right-side-up footage on the way down.

Two 18-inch tubes were made using the method I have outlined in this instructable. Each tube was made using a 3" mailing tube as a blank.

The motor housing tubes were made using the same method described in the instructable noted in the previous step. The engine block rings shown in the first photo were made from 1/4" MDF. The two circles that hold the three motor tubes were cut from 1/8" craft plywood.

All craft plywood used for this project was cut with a scroll saw.

The motor housing was glued in place in the end of one of the body tubes. 2.5 inches were removed from each tube, one to be used as a coupling and the other as part of the camera housing.

Pieces of craft plywood were cut and glued into the tubes to act as reinforcement.

Four fins were made from 3/16" balsa. These were glued in place with wood glue. These were made extra large to create enough drag so the rocket will fly stable.

The camera housing was made with craft plywood along with the body tube material that was removed earlier on. Scrap foam was cut to shape and glued in place to hold the camera snug within the housing.

An opening was cut in the body tube where the camera bay will be exposed. The camera housing unit was slid in from the top of the tube and glued in place.

This part was the highlight of the project for me. I've always struggled with making my own nose cones for homemade model rockets, and finally found a method that produced something I was mostly happy with. It will take some refining, but it worked reasonably well this first time around.

The nose cone was made from 1" pink foam insulation circles that were cut, glued together, and then shaped on a homemade makeshift lathe. I used a sanding block with 60 grit sandpaper to sand down the foam into the final nose cone shape.

The parachute was made with polyester jacket liner and tulle in a method similar to one described in this youtube video.

I was hesitant to make a parachute in this manner for a model rocket, as both materials are fairly flammable. If the parachute is packed properly and an appropriate amount of wadding is used, it should be fine.

This parachute proved to work just fine in the test flight and had no damage afterword.

The nose cone was painted with three coats of decoupage gloss to seal it prior to painting with spray paint. (Spray paint eats the foam if it is not sealed well.)

The entire rocket received a few coats of primer and then three coats of white spray paint.

The camera bay is covered by a piece of plastic cut from a 1-liter soda bottle. It is taped in place with clear tape once the camera is turned on and placed in the bay in preparation for flight.