Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Estes Nike Apache Old Unfinished Build Part 2


Now that I have new BT-55 tubes for replacement, the old tube was peeled off and the engine mount removed.
27 (or so) years ago masking tape was wrapped over the engine hook.
When the hook was lifted the old tape easily tore!
Electrical tape is a much better retention wrap.



The left over tape adhesive was brittle and easily scraped off.
The tube was pretty clean after light scraping.

I decided to add a replaceable Kevlar loop to the lower centering ring.

The rotary punch tube wouldn't reach with the ring already glued on.
A small hole was drilled by spinning the tip of a #11 X-Acto blade into the ring.
The hole was widened and better rounded using a sharpened dowel.

Here's the repaired and improved mount.
(I probably should have rolled the black tape over the Kevlar tube)

An engine block was added, there wasn't one in the original kit.

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