On the template, the outside of the left and right dashed lines says "Root Edge". I took that to mean it was the root edge of the fins. I cut out the wrong part of the fin template. Calling the edge of the template the "Root Edge" was a bit confusing.
My knife blade is set on the center triangles - cut out the two solid line triangle pieces in the center.
The Root Edge markings have been corrected in the production kits. My kit was pre-production.
The instructions say to use double sided tape. I taped the flat plastic down then taped the template on top of that.
I scored the plastic about halfway through, removed the template and finished the cut.
When I set the wing tip on the outside edge of the wing fin I realized I should have cut out the larger center wing template.
This is the little nose cone fin piece.
The dry fit in the nose cone slot is pretty good.
There are some small gaps at the top and bottom. I can fill that with some CA glue on a toothpick tip.
This is where Scotch double - sided tape is your friend. It makes cutting out these small fins a breeze.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, everybody builds their own way.
Hi Metal,
DeleteI didn't have any double sided tape handy. At the time it wasn't worth a drive to the office supply store.
Noticed you are using a retractable exacto knife. Any reason as to why you use that over say a XACTO hobby knife or a razer blade? I have noticed that balsa cuts easier with the XACTO and it is more nimble.
ReplyDeleteJust Curious
Hi Professor,
DeleteI find that 90% of my balsa cutting is simply freeing up fins from laser cut balsa sheets. Cutting the little hold down tabs doesn't require an X-Acto.
X-Acto blade tips seem to break off, which made me think of a break off blade knife. I save a lot of money using the cheaper break-off blades.
I still keep an #11 X-Acto knife handy for delicate things, but the bulk of my work is done with the Break-off blade knife.
Here's a blog post:
https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2019/10/tools-essentials-hobby-knife.html