Neptune Bluestone

by Diana Sojourner

The Idea

I got the idea from the Mercury Redstone. Neptune is blue, and blue is my favorite color. Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun, and eight is my favorite number. I got the idea for the rocket because Mercury Redstone is famous so I wanted Neptune Bluestone to be famous.

A long time ago my dad got some BT80 tube and nose cone. I liked the size because it won't be too short and it won't be too tall and it won't be too fat. I wanted lightning fins because I thought it would be really cool. And lots of people would like it.

The building

Finally we started to build the design. We designed it on the computer first (using Rocksim). Then we printed it and cut out the fins. We used 1/8" plywood for the fins because it wouldn't break and the design was a thin shape.

We cut out the motor mount from a piece of rocket tube. It is a piece of BT50. It fits C, D, and E motors.

We used Rocksim to print a pattern for the motor mount rings. We cut the rings out of a piece of cardboard. We had to sand the rings to get them to fit.

Then we glued it all together. We used wood glue. The glue is really runny, and a yellow color. We did fillets afterwards.

The Decorating

The paint color is "Candy Apple Blue". First we put on white primer. Then we let it dry for a half an hour. After that we painted it Candy Apple Blue. The paint was fun, not too stinky.

After we were done with the paint we let it dry. Then we put on the sparkly stickers.

I put sparkly bands of 2" stickers. The sparkle pattern is squares. I got the sticker material from TAP Plastics.

When I was all finished, I put a sparkly Neptune sticker on the nose cone. The sticker came from a sheet of planet stickers from my brother's rocket party.

The Flying

First I flew it on a C11. 3 seconds delay. It landed in the soccer field. The parachute was great. It was a shiny silver parachute, my dad made it from a Mylar space blanket.

Then I flew it on a C11-3 again. I picked C11-3 again because the first flight was good.

Then I flew it on a D12-3. It stood up at landing. But the wind and parachute blew it down. The parachute got holes in it. So that was it for the day.

I am going to fly it again once it gets a new parachute. Mostly I am going to use D12-3s. I might use an E9-6 some time when there is lots of launching room.

That is why and how I built Neptune Bluestone.

Return to Index

All content is the responsibility of LUNAR. If you have comments or suggestions regarding these web pages, please contact the