Snoopy, The WWI Flying Ace - An Odd-Roc Scratch Build

Thought I'd take a crack at building a flying rocket that looks like Snoopy and his dog house. This would be Snoopy as the World War I flying ace, patrolling the skies.

The Dog House is built from 1/8" Basswood, and utilizes a figurine of Snoopy, complete with his googles and scarf.​

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Ordered the figurine, and assuming it's weight is accurate online, I plugged that into the Open Rocket Simulation. It's a pig... but, it's an odd-roc. The aero drag from the roof is also dramatic... but again, it's an odd-roc.​

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The Open Rocket Simulation isn't going to be accurate, but it's a starting point.​

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The body is based on BT-80... or maybe BT-300. I'll pick the one that works best once the figurine arrives.​

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Also features a large ring fin for stability.​

 

 2026-10-25 Preliminary Model and Drawing...

 

 2026-10-30 Picked Snoopy up today at the airport, flew in from China.

Scale Stuff: Paperwork said he was 5" tall, he's actually 4.163" tall. He weighs in at 85 grams.​

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I must say he's a real stand-up fella, made from a one piece Vinyl mold, solid as, well... PVC.​

 

 Proctology 101

Made some modifications to Snoopy to allow for adding a Ballast Tube and some Ballast. He's hollow and his head swivels... go figure.​

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Ya gotta be tough to be a WWI Flying Ace... those pre-flight physicals are rough...​

 

 2026-10-31 CAD Revision

 

Revised the CAD model to look more like Charles Schulz's version of a Dog House.... then updated the drawing.

 

Gluing Side / End Panel Stock

 

 

2026-11-01 Cutting and Gluing the Dog House Walls

 

 

 

2026-11-02 BT/C-300 - End Closure and Titebond Q&T Glue Fillets

Cut the BT/C-300 tube, turned the End Closure and Finished the Internal Dog House Corner Q&T Flue Fillets.​ 

 

The owner testing out the build.... 

 

2026-11-04 Ballast and Snoopy's Seat

I used a 2" Dia steel washer that's 1/8" thick as ballast. It's attached by the Recovery Eyebolt.​

 

 

For Snoopy's seat I used a 1-1/4" long piece of BT/C-80. This will allow the entire Dog House to be built and finish painted, and then Snoopy can slide into the seat. I drilled Snoopy for a 3/8" dia. poplar dowel, I can glue that to the bore of the BT/C-80.​

 

2026-11-05 The Roof, The Roof Is On Fire... we don't need no water let the ***** ****** burn....

Layed out the Basswood using the cardboard roof template. Cut the Roof Panels on the Table Saw, then cut the opening for Snoopy's Seat on the Skill Saw. Coped the back using a Dremel with a Sanding Drum, then set-about to glue them in place using Gorilla Wood Glue.​

 

 

 

 

 

Glue Fillets

 

2026-11-06 Roof Cap

Used a 1/4" Poplar Dowel to cap the Roof.​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Plasma Interceptor... A Scratch Design / Build

Here's a rocket that borrows design features from @neil_w 's Plasma Dart and the Star Wars X-Wing Fighter.

It's based on a BT-80H Fin Can, and features a 36" Dia Rear Eject Motor Spool.

 

 

The Flying Wing: A Scratch Design / Build

A 29mm Powered Flying Wing utilizing a Rear Eject Spool 

 

 2026-10-11 Nose Cone

Turned the Nose Cone on my wood lathe from Pine, I glued a couple pieces of 2 X 4 together to make this.​

 

 Also cut the templates for the Wings

2026-10-12 Wings and Tubes

Cut, Sanded and routed the wings... Cut the BT/C-70 Tubes​

 

2026-10-13 ​ C-70 and Wings

Laid out and prepped the C-70 for the fins.​

Poked (70) 0.044 diameter holes through the C-70 for each fin.​

Then injected glue through those holes, wiped the excess glue from the coupler,​

and then glued the wings in place.​

 

 

​Wing Fillet Dowels

 

2026-10-14 Through Wall Gluing

 

Poked (120) 0.044 diameter holes through the C-70 tubes, adjacent to the 3/16" dia dowels. Then injected Gorilla Wood Glue through the holes, incorporated into the fillets. 

 

 

Titebond Quick and Thick Glue Fillets

 

I noticed the C-70 tube was oval, due to the shrinking of the tube due to the glue drying.

I installed the fixture I built that's used to make a C-60 tube oval, basically two wooden ramps. I used these to force the tube back into a round condition while the glue dries. The Nose Cone was insert also to use as a rounding fixture.

 

 

2026-10-15 Sanding C-70 i.d. and installing the BT-70H

Used my home made Bore Sander to smooth out the through the wall glue "rivets".​

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Cut the BT-70H, applied Gorilla Wood Glue onto the outside of the C-70 and Elmer's Glue -All White Glue to the snout of the C-70, and then slid it into place.​

 

After letting the glue set-up for a couple hours I started gluing the BT-70H to the Wing Dowels. The BT-70H was sanded at the glue joints.

 

2026-10-16 Nose Cone Ballast and Dowel

Cut the Steel Ballast, 1" Dia. x 1/2" Long, and the 1" Dia Pine Dowel. Then used Gorilla Wood Glue to secure everything.

 

 Tube Fins

Cut the BT/C60 Tube Fins using my Chop Saw. Scuffed the Tube Fins at the attachment locations using Sandpaper, then applied Gorilla Wood Glue to the Wings and placed the Tube Fins.​

 

 

 

2026-10-17 Nose Cone Gluing To BT/C-70

Applying Super Glue to the C-70 

 

2026-10-18 Wing Tip Install... Day 01 

 

 

2026-10-19 Wing Tip Dowels (Underside) 

 

 

 

2026-10-20 Wing Tip Dowel Mod's and Body Tube Mod's

Used my Dremel with a sanding drum and sanded down the dowels... then added some Titebond Quick and Thick.​

 

To make the top rear of the rocket look less like just a blunt BT-204 I decided to cut it at an angle, just like the lower half. Looks much better. The spool rear Centering Ring is inset 2", so this modification works with that configuration.​

 

2026-10-22 Spool

Cut the Centering Rings from 1/4" Plywood using a Fly Cutter. Then glued them to the BT-52HMF. After about 4 hours of glue drying I chucked the spool in the Wood Lathe and cut the O.D. of the Centering Rings for a slip fit into the BT/C-70H.​

 

 

 Schwing Test

Passed the swing test with "flying" colors. All up with a G74 fresh motor and 24" parachute.

 

 

Link To Video 

 

2026-10-23 Added the Altimeter Bay and Launch Lug

Used a piece of BT/C-50H for the Altimeter Tube, angle cut it on the Chop Saw, cut out a 5/8" wide longitudinal strip, punched a hole thru the tube and then glued it to the C-70H. Once the Gorilla Wood Glue set-up the BT-3 Launch Lug was installed.​

 

 

 

2026-10-29 CWF - Sand - CWF -...

Started applying CWF and Sanding. Photos shown are of the 2nd application. Just filling the Wingtips to Wing glue joints and some of the imperfections in the Plywood Fin Material.​ 

 

 

2026-10-20 Primer

Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer.... a.k.a. Red Oxide​

2026-10-31 Camouflage Top Surfaces

Used some Rusto Army Green and just a bit of Gloss Black... easy peazy.​