Micro-Maxx Estes Fat Boy, Part 2, Centering Rings

I sure the small rings are available somewhere, I didn't have them. Why wait for an order. I'm cheap so I'll make a few.

A 1/4" punch was used to start the inside ring hole.

The hole was widened using a knife spin followed by a half round diamond file.

The fit was checked with the yellow engine tube I had.

Center the BT-20 tube over the cut just made and trace with a sharp pencil point.

Cut just inside the pencil line using scissors.

Final fitting in the next post -

Micro-Maxx Estes Fat Boy, Part 1, Parts

The picture above is close to the full size MMX build!

This is a spare parts drawer build.

The only parts missing are the centering rings.

Those will be hand cut out of the white framing mat material. 

The nose cone is a leftover from a retired rocket, already painted silver.

Decals have been drawn up, I doubled the F, A and T letters for both sides of the fins. The original kit only included decals for one side of the three fins.

Kevlar line and tablecloth streamer.

Fins will be cut from 1/16" scrap balsa.

The launch lug is a BIC pen ink tube, cut from the end where there was no ink.

The yellow motor tube and engine block are original Quest MMX parts.

Estes Mini Arcas, #2441, Finished

I built and masked the original BT-55 version of the ARCAS.

To be honest, this BT-20 version wasn't a fun build.

The small balsa fin support pieces are hard to form out of balsa. 1/16" thick fins don't allow you to sand a diamond taper. 

The red color mask was difficult on the downsize model.

Here's the upper end and nose cone showing the mask.

The ARCAS is a sleek rocket with a great looking red/white job.

I wish it were the original, easier to detail and paint BT-55 size.

Estes Mini Arcas, #2441, Part 20, Fin Taper Decals TIP

In April of 2024 on TRF, Neil W made a great suggestion about simulating fin tapers on the Mini Arcas.

The fins are only 1/16" thick, sanding a diamond fin taper would be very difficult.

TIP: Neil suggested a light gray printed decal set onto the rear half of the fins.

I had been wanting to try this ever since - Thanks Neil!

I drew up some fin tapers with a 10% black. Extras were copied and pasted - I did need them.

I'm not releasing this decal for home prints. My fin supports are a little thicker than the kit supplied pieces. My decals probably wouldn't fit your build. 

It's a challenge to fit the decals to the root edge details.

Add the fin fillets and they'll require individual fitting. Good thing I made the outside and trailing edges a little wide.

Here's the finished look. From a few feet away, the illusion is good. 

Maybe it's a bit dark. If a 5% gray were available I could have used that.

The overhanging edges were trimmed off with a "sawing" motion using a single edge razor blade.

Estes Mini Arcas, #2441, Part 19, Decals

I referenced Peter Alway's book, Rockets Of The World to double check the decal placement. ARCAS reads up, the ATLANTIC RESEARCH CORP. reads down on the other side.

Sight down the body tube to check the vertical alignment of the long decal.

TIP: Many people post about using a drop of dish detergent in the soaking water. They claim it allows a slippery decal, easier to position. 

On YORF, Micromeister brought up a good point. The dish soap can dilute the adhesive on the backside of the decal. 

Wet the area where the decal will be placed. Dip your finger in the water and rub the painted body tube leaving the (painted and sealed) tube a bit wet. Then slide the decal off the backing onto the wet model.

Here's the ARCAS decal between the two small lugs.

Estes Mini Arcas, #2441, Part 18, Launch Lugs

I didn't glue on the lugs before painting the rocket body. 

I thought they would be in the way of the complex mask.

Sometimes I skip the launch lug fillets. Bubbles are a pain!  

     

I wish the lug placement were different. I would prefer the the ARCAS name decal not in line with the launch lugs. 

The lug glue areas were scraped down to the body tube. Don't scrape too wide, you'll want the lug to cover where the paint was taken off.

The glue line on the small lugs is narrow and even down its length.

Set down the glue line and even the line with a fingertip. Use white glue because it dries clear.

Both lugs are glued in place. 

Even without a glue fillet, they aren't going anywhere.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 39, Painting The Propulsion Caps

Painting the propulsion caps is a bit tricky. 

On the rim are three raised dots. I decided to mask these, leaving them along with the shoulder ring, a light gray.

This picture shows a marked Scotch tape mask "dot". The next picture shows how it was cut.

To mask the raised dots, I marked a strip of Scotch tape with a wide Sharpie. Wipe off the excess ink with a paper towel.

When punched, you will be left with a perfect circle. Lift it off the dot and hold it on your knife tip.

Place the dot onto the cap while still on your knife tip.

The sides were masked with brown masking tape. Normally I'd use Scotch tape for the mask, but the shoulders of the cap is tapered and Scotch tape doesn't flex. Both brown and blue masking tapes have a little "give".

The back caps were masked using marked Scotch tape.

Here's the caps after the tape was pulled.

That gray might be a little too dark.

The dome color suggestions are copper, bronze or bright orange. I went with Rusto copper.