Estes MRN Orbital Transport Laboratory Build, Part 13, Chrome Trim & Fin Gluing

The old MRN black and white picture showed the black end color  as black. The 1973 Estes catalog showed the OTL in color. I could now see it wasn't black, but reflective chrome.
Why apply the chrome wrap before gluing on the fins? It would be very difficult to apply the wrap with the fin dowels in the way.
A 1" wide piece of Monokote Chrome Trim was wrapped around the tube. A notch was cut to fit around the launch lug.

After the wrap was stuck down I pressed the chrome with a fingertip to find the punched holes. A pencil was pressed into the holes to better see the locations.

Small "X" cuts were made with the tip of an X-Acto knife. You probably couldn't punch through with a pencil tip. I didn't remove the circle, I figured the folded in corners of the chrome layer would make for a tighter fit of the dowel ends.

The fins were pressed in place with no glue.
The contact point at the bottom of the ring was marked and the paint chipped off at the glue point.

The picture on the right shows a small square of paint scored and lifted off.

A "ball" of white glue was set on the dowel end. A small amount of glue was also set on the corner of the fin to contact the rear ring.

The idea is some of the glue would be pushed out along the dowel and make a fillet bead on the outside of the body tube. There is still glue on the dowel tip going into the drilled centering ring holes. White glue is used here, it could be seen outside the finished model and will dry clear.

Here's all four fins glued in place, ready for the home printed decals.