By now you should be at the 1 hour mark* of DIY rocketry, and approaching the final touches. Give yourself a pat on the back, and it's time for a break!
*By 1 hour, I mean you may have taken a teensy-weensy bit more time, given all the drying time for the glue and such.
While the headless horseman may be a wonderous spectacle in European mythology of the Middle Ages, a headless rocket is just not all that! For the nose cone, we are going to adapt the natural point of a typical dixie cup and work out from there. Like always, a triple plate of photographs is waiting for you below.
The pointiness of the dixie cup is a natural advantage, while its flimsiness is a natural disadvantage. Along the way, we will try to add elements of strength to the dixie cup nose cone. Begin by cutting a straight line from the base of the dixie cup all the way to its point. The base of the cup will be folded over itself until it fits perfectly (with a slight overhang) on a corrugated cardboard disc that has been cut out to the surface diameter of the small fuselage piece. The base of the dixie cup need only overlap itself by a inch. Cut away any of the excess cup that extends beyond one inch of overlap.
A sample disc is depicted above, in the photo on the left. You will need to cut out another disc, using corrugated cardboard. This second disc should be cut to the interior diameter of the small fuselage piece. Insert this interior diameter disc into the small piece of the fuselage, so that it rests on top of the upper edge of the thin cardboard spacer insert that was made in the Recovery instruction section. The black hash marks in the middle photo (above) of the nose cone indicate the approximate positioning of this disc inside the nose cone assembly. After making sure of a snug fit, glue it in place with wood glue. This interior disc serves the purpose of putting the brakes on the force of the rocket engine's secondary explosive charge. The force of this charge hitting this glued-down disc will cause the two parts of the rocket to separate, thereby deploying the recovery streamer for a somewhat gentle descent.
Overlap the base of the dixie cup with itself so that the new circumference of the dixie cup fits perfectly on (with a slight overhang) the cardboard disc that was cut to the surface diameter of the smaller piece of fuselage. The overlapping flaps of the dixe cup should be glued together, using glue-stick glue, so that the base of the cup still fits perfectly on (with a slight overhang) the cardboard disc. Before proceeding, wait until the gluing process is complete. (i.e. super dry)
Cut small pieces of sponge, or another material, such as extra streamer bits, to carefully stuff into the glued together dixie cup. This action will add some strength to the nose cone assembly.
Next, glue the disc to the base of the stuffed dixie cup, fitting the disc just inside the modified dixie cup. Use hot glue for this operation.
Finally, glue (hot glue) the nose cone assembly, specifically the cardboard disc, to the edging of the smaller piece of the fuselage. The violet-blue-green line in the middle photo shows the application of a thick bead of hot glue.