Set the fin face flat on the sanding block to see if the side is flat. Look close and you can see the root and outside ends are slightly raised. A little more sanding was needed through the center section.
After the tapers are finished, the ink is sanded off.
These die-cut fins were pitted and some ink remained. Luckily, the fins are to be painted black and the ink won't be seen. Normally the outside edge is smoother and the ink will be removed and sanded off clean.
Mentioned earlier, one set of instructions says to round the leading edge, the other instructions leave it square.
I chose to round the leading edge. With the fin taper, the rounded leading edge makes for a more aerodynamic look.
There is more fin fitting needed.
On the older kit face card the back end of the root edge floats over the tail cone. On the left you can see the wedge gap.
On the newer kit the face card shows the gap fitted and closed. Peter Alway's ROTW book doesn't show a open gap. The instructions don't show a gap. I'd rather have the full root edge contact all the way down to the end of the tail cone.
Chris, I was reviewing the FSI BBII instructions on the YORP website and it says "for true scale effect" the fins should have a 1/16" gap in the tail cone area. It also says for sport flying you can glue the fins in that area. So builder's choice, the Estes instructions should have been clearer on that.
ReplyDeleteThanks BAR,
DeleteInteresting. So there is a gap! this was not clear in the Estes instructions (not in two different instruction sheets) I thought it may have been a glitch in the die cutting.