Multistage Rocket

Summary continued: 

A model rocket roughly based on the Gemini rocket program will surely satisfy your needs.

Extra Information:

I made this as a final project for an engineering class. We were allowed to make anything we wanted and had to apply skills we had learned from previous projects.

Assembly:

When you print all the parts, you should assemble it by putting the block with two engines first, then put the section without an engine on top of it, this is the first stage. After that, put the block with a wider engine on top of the first stage to get the second stage, then do the same with the other engine block to get the third stage. Lastly put the capsule (the cone shaped piece) on the tip and it will look just like the photos! As a bonus you can even dock the capsule with the third stage, but the connection is pretty weak.

Instructions:

First, I made the body and engines of the first stage with the revolve tool.

Then I made the rest of the stages also with the revolve tool.

Finally, I added 0.1 cm extrusions so the 3D printers could add another color to make the paint job more accurate. 

Design Choices:

Design choice #1: added struts

When I first added the first stage, the engines looked pretty barren, especially compared to what the actual engines looked like on the Gemini rocket. To fix this I decided to add some struts to make the engine look more realistic. I also moved the engines closer together to make it look like the rocket I modeled it after more.

Design choice #2: engine design

The first time I tried making the engine, it was complex and looked extremely weird. I fixed this by making the round piece part of the same sketch as the engine to make it simpler, then I redrew the engine sketch to make it look better, and to make the inside hollow.

Design chois #3: size issue

After I finished making the entire rocket, another problem came up. The size of the first stage was too big for our 3D printers. First, I tried to shorten the first stage, which worked a little, but it was still too big, so I had to split it up into two sections that the printer could handle. This also led to me changing the size of the second engine to a worse looking, but smaller counterpart.