Estes AMRAAM AIM-120 Downscale, Build, Part 10, Fillets & White Undercoats

I know, I'm bouncing between builds! I'm sure you have two or three rockets in progress at one time.

Even though I had a fairly tight fit, there were still bubbles in the conduit glue fillets!

There isn't much space between the fins and conduit for a glue fillet.

I applied a line of wood glue to a Q-tip and spread the fillet drop by drop. 

White undercoats have been sprayed.

After the paint dried, those fillets between the fins and conduits weren't that smooth. The rough areas required some sanding with 400 grit before additional white coats.

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 17, Setting The Name Sticker

Take it from an old typesetter - 

"Os" are typically taller and extend beyond the baselines of the other letters.

Be careful when trimming close so you don't cut off the top and bottom of the O.

You have to decide if the vertical orange line or the name INITIATOR will be centered between two fins.

The INITIATOR name is bolder so I decided to center that vertically.

Don't peel the backing off yet. With tape on the back to hold it onto the tube, measure and center the name.

Rotate the to upper tube to line up the lower vertical orange line with the upper line trailing down. I used my aluminum angle to position the lines.

When both the orange ends are joined and touching, tape the body tube to keep everything in line.

With the vertical orange line overlapping about 1/4" at the top, it puts the break line between the O and the R.

Peel off the backing and carefully set the name sticker in place.

Cut the separation line between the O and R. 

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 16, Pulling The Mask - Sucess!

The nose cone was slipped in and the upper end was sprayed with Rusto 2X Apple red. 

I would normally prefer using Ace Hardware Premium Enamel, but their "Banner Red" is darker and I wanted to get close to the red color on the model stickers. In the end, if the top roll sticker and bottom fin red colors are a close match. You can't tell a difference with the visual distance between them.

After about 30 minutes the paint dried quick enough to pull the masks.

The color mask lines were clean and sharp.

I had a small bit of red that got under the tape.

This was easily scraped off the clear area using a knife blade.

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 15, Matching The Nose Cone Color

The question has come up on the forums: 

"Which Red spray paint color will match the red sticker on the Initiator? 

Some considerations:

1. The nose cone is molded in black plastic so it would require a good white undercoat. Otherwise, you'll get a darker red on the sprayed nose cone.

2. The Aerotech printed stickers are translucent. The white paint under the sticker makes the red in the sticker almost a brighter red "candy" color. 

I've been to a few hardware stores with my kit stickers in hand, trying to match with any red spray paint available. Sure, they look close side by side, but on the model it's a different story.

Model building is a little like a puzzle. Sometimes I ponder assembly questions awhile until I can come up with a good solution. This one took longer than expected.

I decided to mask and spray the red on the wrap and nose cone at the same time. This will require masking the area at the top of the upper wrap.

Before spraying the model, I tested to see if the paint might bubble up on a scrap piece of leftover sticker material.

No bubbles and a good adhesion.

I marked a thin strip of Scotch tape with a Sharpie. After marking the tape, wipe off any excess ink with a paper towel.

I had to use a thin strip so I could flex the tape around the curve without raised folds.

On the right is the full border mask. The rest of the area underneath must be masked off.

Widen the mask below with a single strip of brown masking tape. Note there are many fold bulges. The upper edge covers about half of the Scotch tape mask.

On the right side is the full mask. The nose cone will be slid in and both will be shot with the same red color.

I know - Why not just use Tamiya tape? 

I'm cheap and I get just as good a result using inexpensive Scotch tape.

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 14, Applying The Upper Roll Stickers

A great thing about this design, the separate upper section allows you to center the vertical name and red stripes after the large roll sticker is in place. Simply rotate the upper section and center the remaining vertical name stickers between two fins.

To start, don't peel off the entire backing,

Peel back an inch and fold back the backing paper.

This gives you control as you line up the left edge onto the faint pencil line you drew with the aluminum angle.

With the top and left side edges lined up - 

peel back the backing paper as you go.

Smooth the sticker removing any bubbles.

Peel back more of the backing paper and smooth again.

Continue around the tube to the starting point.

With any luck, you'll get a good match of the orange and red prints.

I had to carefully lift the sticker edges to erase the pencil line which showed up under the clear areas. Whew!

Mentioned earlier - these stickers go on without using water as a lubricant. They did go on easier than I thought they would.

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 13, Prepping More Stickers

Here's the upper body wrap. 

The curves were cut with scissors. Notice I cut a little away from the orange arcs, just playing it safe on the clear border.

Cut the straight lines with a knife and straightedge.

 

In addition to lining up the top edge with the tube end,

you'll need to line up the wrap left side down the tube.

Use your aluminum angle to draw a light pencil line down the tube, as long as the left edge of the wrap.

Before peeling off the backing, do a dry fit.

When the lower arcs were lined up, I noticed one side of the wrap was a bit tall. I went back with a straightedge and cut a long sliver to even up both sides.

Next post we'll attach the roll wrap. It's easier than I thought it would be.

Aerotech Mega Initiator #89541, Part 12, Applying The Stickers

I know - I postponed some posts on this build. There are good reasons why. 

I'm not very experienced making epoxy fillets. Sure I've done them, but I'm not enough to show you a best method. 

Another reason - It's difficult to get an even, gloss paint finish on large rockets using store bought spray cans. If you've ever tried to get a good gloss on a 4" diameter model you know what I mean. You really need a spray gun and maybe an auto body spray booth! 

 I do have experience with stickers, this kit has peel and stick decor. But, there are some concerns. Some kit stickers are now printed at Aero tech and require different considerations. 

In the past I've wet the surface of the model and dipped the sticker in a dish of water. The water allows repositioning. It's rare when a sticker is perfectly positioned on the first try. 

I tried the water dip but it loosened the adhesive on the back of the sticker! Pulling up the sticker to reposition it lifted off the adhesive making the surface lumpy and unacceptable. 

Something different about these stickers - Using no water allowed for some lifting and repositioning! 

They still grab so be careful when initially setting them on the model surface.

You may have an older Aerotech kit, the stickers might work fine when dipped in water. 

TIP: Test using water on some of the blank scrap material between the print images.

   

It helps to dry position the fin stickers.

Don't peel off the backing yet!

Here is a roll of masking tape on the back of a fin panel.

The decal is dry positioned on the fin and the tape pressed to hold it in place.

With the sticker set on the fin - 

Use some small pieces of masking tape to "frame" the sticker centered on the fin.

Lift the sticker panel leaving the tape frame in place.

Peel off the backing and set the sticker on the fin using the masking tape frame to position the sticker.

Smooth out the sticker from the center to the outside edges.

With any luck the other fins should be centered (even white borders) and mirror each other.