You can almost see the curvature sanded into the root edge of the bottom removable fin. Earlier the side pieces were glued on a little higher than the root edge of the center fin. This allowed me to sand the curve without reducing the fin height.
I glued on the hook fin so the tapered box was even with the end of the body tube.
Here's how the bottom fin slides on.
In a Rocketreviews.com article, the builder said his removable fin fit was tight. It has to be tight enough to stay on at ejection, but also easy enough to remove for display.
I'll be careful with the paint layers when finishing the rocket.
So the fin is just friction fit? No cross pin or anything? Interesting.
ReplyDeleteHi Tim,
DeleteYep, friction fit over the smaller "hook" fin.
I think it was done this way so the model could stand on its side, horizontally. With the bottom fin removed, the model will lay on the smaller skid fins.
The trick is to get it just tight enough that it won't come off at ejection and still remove for display.