The nose cone mold seam was slight, both sides of the cone were pretty well aligned.
I started with a flat file then moved to 220 grit sandpaper.
I would prefer to use Squadron Putty. It sticks well, I think there is acetone in the putty. The putty always dries out and is very hard to get out of the tube. Some have used acetone to soften the dry putty but I hate using it.
The shock cord tie lug on the nose cone had a nick in it!
After removing the flash from the center it seems like a weak place to tie the shock cord.
The lug was removed and a hole was drilled for the shock cord tie. This is a much stronger retention. I remember having to do this on the Bull Pup nose cone.
I typically cut off the molded loop and drill a hole in the nosecone base - I've had a couple of loops break off during ejection and this always keeps that from happening :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteI don't always cut the molded loop off, only when it is questionable. The worst is the circle loop on the Estes Bullpup nose cone.
The instructions had you do the same thing on the SkyPyrates Sky Wolf (now the AMW White Wolf). It was made from pretty heavy duty LOC parts, so I was surprised. It was the first time I did something like that.
ReplyDeleteBut the loop on that LOC nose cone is pretty thin. I've since done it on a few small Apogee kits, like the Avion. The loop on that is so thin, I've had several snap and lost the nose!
Hi Daniel,
DeleteI wasn't aware the Sky Wolf kit had you cut off the plastic tie loop. They must have had some breaks to include that in the instructions.
Oh, I must have missed the detail where you cut off the loop.
DeleteI don't think the instructions had you cut anything off, but they did have you drill holes in the base like you did here to pass a shock cord through for a stronger attachment.