Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Estes Saturn V #1969 Build, Part 14, Gluing the Vacu-Form Wraps

I would recommend the Scotch 77 spray adhesive to attach the wraps. It does come in different looking cans.
The "45" adhesive is meant for lighter applications, like mounting a photo in an album.
"77" is a mid grade adhesive and allows for re-positioning. Trust me - You will probably be lifting and re-positioning these. You'll have about 10 minutes of working time before the adhesive starts to dry.
The "90" adhesive will certainly work, but really grabs! You could have trouble trying to lift and realign the wraps. The 90 formula comes out like a spider web. The thickness of the spray may change the wrap fit on the body tube.

TIP: Spray and place only one wrap at a time! If you were to spray them all at once, the upper wraps would be dry by the time you get around to them.

Tape rolls were set on the outside of the wrap, the side that will show on the model. Flip over the wrap and stick the tape rolls on a piece of cardboard.

Spray the adhesive on some scrap cardboard to check width and density of the spray.
Spray the adhesive directly over the top of the wrap back, not at an angle. You don't want any spray on the underside face of the wrap. You will probably get a bit of adhesive on the edges. You'll notice that when you are handling the wrap.
Be sure the sides (left and right side near the butt joint) get sprayed.

TIP: Before setting down the lowest fin area wrap, double check the directions of the corrugations. This lowest wrap is an easy one to set upside down.
The left edge of this first wrap goes down the pencil line you drew down the body tube at the start of the build.
Set down the wrap, don't press to adhere it yet. After getting back to the start point, see how it matches up. Lift and re-position until the end of the wrap is matched with the start with no "step" at the ends. On the last re-position, pull on the end as you roll it down to get rid of any raised areas at the top and bottom. 

You will probably have some end lifts after the wrap has sat for an hour. Hold down the end and "sneak" some thin CA glue on the seam. Do an inch at a time.
Have Q-tips and paper towels handy to pick up any excess CA glue before it dries.

You can carefully size the wraps and you might still end up with a gap. The spray adhesive might add some diameter thickness to the wrap.

I mentioned to save those thin plastic trimmed strips. Find one that'll friction fit into the gap.
The fill strip will want to move around so position and apply the brush on glue about an inch at a time.
Brush on the glue, wipe off the excess with a Q-tip.
Fold up a piece of sandpaper and clean up the filled corrugation.

Each wrap takes about 15 minutes to spray and position on the model.
Four wraps on the lower body = 1 hour. Filling the edge gaps on two wraps 30 minutes.

Assembly time so far:
 6:30 minutes previous
 1:30 minutes gluing four wraps on lower body - this post
 8:00 hours total

5 comments:

  1. I don’t know where I saw the recommendation but I used Beacon Foam-Tac to put the wraps on my 2157 Saturn V and I think it’s worked out nicely. I know - “now you tell me!”.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bernard,
      I saw that, too. I haven't tried the Beacon Foam-Tac but have used their Fabri-Tac a lot. It's very good for gluing a plastic fin can to a Kraft body tube. It's stringy (a string of glue is there when you pull the bottle away) and reminds me of plastic glue I used in the 1960s.
      I wasn't aware of the Foam-Tac glue. I'm always a little wary of trying something new on the thin vacu-form plastic.

      Delete
    2. I cut and positioned the wraps on the body tube, taped the joint and wicked super thin gold CA (plastic safe) at the joint and let capillary action suck it in. No positioning issues that way.

      Delete
    3. Hi Jim,
      Whatever works for you is great! My concern is some brands of super glues have dissolved the vacu-form plastic. That plastic safe glue is fine, but some builder's use what they had on hand with issues.
      For me, I like to be able to reposition the wraps if they don't line up when the ends meet. I still used a little CA glue afterwards on some lifting details on the interstage wrap.

      Delete
  2. Ok they have you mark the BARE main body at 3 inches.....they have you cut the lower wrap at 3 inches .....but then you have the reinforcing ring 11/16 down from the tube that was marked BEFORE ring installation.....so the line is useless.....the wrap must go at the bottom of the tube/ring assembly ....the line is going to be 11/16 off from the wrap yes? Or am I missing something?

    ReplyDelete