Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 20, Red Paint Mask

The front end of the booster and front of the glider get red paint.

The mask line is 2" from the front end of the body tube. The glider mask is about 1/32" behind the canard.

Red was sprayed and the tape pulled.

The mask lines came out clean and sharp.

In the upper right body tube picture above you can see some red over spray.

Some quick wipes with a damp magic sponge took off the red blotch. You can remove small bits of paint like this - Just don't wait too long so the paint won't set up.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 19, A Quick Re-Spray

I found this design difficult to get good coverage on all surfaces. When trying to spray one area you get a light misting on other areas. This can result in a duller finish.

On one wing plate I had to go back and re-shoot some white. The picture shows the mask so paint would only cover one flat outside surface. 

When spraying the same color, you can mask right at the root edge. It won't be seen after the tape is lifted.

In the left side picture above you can see a grayish dot on the wing plate.

This second spray of gloss white covered this marking.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 18, Glued Up, Ready For Paint

The glider is ready for gloss white paint!

I'm hoping that it'll get a decent glide with the weight of a opaque gloss white.

Here's the glider hooked onto the booster.

This is one of those designs with lots of inside edges - tough to get an even spray coat over all the surfaces.

I pushed a dowel painting wand into the BT-5 motor mount. 

It was loose so a wrap of masking tape over the engine hook held the dowel without any spinning while painting. 

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 17, Fitting The Wing

On the left - 

The V tip of the two wing pieces leave a small gap at the fuselage notch.

Looking at the back, the wing overhangs the rear of the fuselage.

By slightly sanding the "V" tip, 

it closes the small gap at the front and moves the wing forward. The back of the wing is now even with the tail end of the fuselage.

I drew a pencil line down the center of the canard for gluing alignment.

The dowel is glued into the notch at the front end of the fuselage.

Check the instruction drawing below - 

On the left is how the tip plates will glue onto the outside edge of the wing.

On the right - I sanded the outside wing edge to get the tip plate to the correct angle.

Here's what I was going for - 

This illustration is from the instructions in the countdown checklist. It probably should have been brought up in Step 20.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 16, Gluing Up The Wing Dihedral

I taped the dihedral guide pieces to my work surface. Otherwise the thin cardboard pieces will flop and fall under the wing halves.

After the glue dried there was a small gap where the two sides meet. This is on the bottom seam of the "V" shaped wing.

Some CWF filler was ran down the seam and sanded.

Filler/primer was shot down the center filled seam only.

The bottom of the "V" was carefully sanded.

The wing is ready for fitting under the fuselage.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 15, Gluing Up The Glider

The stabilizer is glued onto the fuselage.

Do your best to center the thinner piece on the thicker stock fuselage.

The wing panel root edges should be sanded to an angle for a stronger glue bond.

I mark the edge with a soft pencil so I can tell what has been sanded.

On the right side, I'm about half done sanding the angle, you can still see some pencil marking left.

Sand until the pencil mark is gone. 

I used the instruction illustration to get an idea of the wing edge and sanding block angle.

The wing half is on the left, the sanding block is on the right side.

The dihedral guides are on the back of the face card. I didn't want to cut up the face card.

I extended pencil lines and transferred those onto some thick cardstock. The cardboard was cut out for the next steps.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 14, Vertical Stabilizers & Wing Tips

I found myself referring to the face card picture a few times. These are not a standard fin layout.

This was probably a prototype model, not a production kit.

All wing and wing tips are rounded. The instructions only say to round the wings and wing tips. Even the edges of the glider balsa remain square.

I sanded away a little more of the gluing line. 

There is some 400 grit rolled around a Q-Tip.

Here's the vertical stabilizers in position. 

I haven't sanded the glue line on the outside surfaces yet.

The wing tips are glued in place.

On the right - 

Notice the leading edge of the wing tips are a continuation of the large wing leading edge.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 13, Launch Lugs & Standoff

Two of the three launch lugs are glued onto the top of the body tube at 2 1/2" and 6" from the rear end of the tube.

I went "old school" and placed the lugs by sighting down the tube.

The glider requires a balsa standoff to hook onto the booster.

Cut the balsa standoff a hair long. Center and glue it on the lug. Sand the overhanging balsa to the length of the lug.

Here's the lug and standoff after CWF and filler/primer.

It's glued on the top side of the tube 4 3/4" from the rear.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 12, Engine Mount Gluing & Wing Fins

The instructions have you glue on the wings before gluing in the engine mount. Ideally you want the engine mount on the same side of the launch lugs, perpendicular to the larger wings.

I glued the engine mount in first then set the marking guide with the engine mount in line with the launch lugs on the underside.

The engine mount was set beside the body tube to fins out the distance for the inside glue. I like to place set the glue ring a little below the top ring final position.

A dowel was marked. Glue was set in a ring around the top of the dowel.

Use the lower pencil mark on the dowel as a depth gauge for the inside glue. Roll the bead of glue around the inner wall of the tube.

The instructions have the lower ring even with the low end of the body tube.

I set the mount a bit farther in with the lower ring just inside the tube. This allowed a fillet on the recessed ring edge.

The fin marking guide was printed on the back side of the face card. I made one out of paper.

The two launch lugs are in line with the engine hook. 

The large wing fins are glued on.

Check their alignment visually by looking over and across the trailing edges.

New Estes Mini Alpha Instructions - Shock Cord Mount

The new Estes Mini Alpha kit instructions have been posted online: CLICK HERE

Most instructions tend to say tie a "double knot".

This implies tying two overhand knots which gives you a "granny" knot. They are prone to slip and open up. Unless you were a Boy Scout, a first time builder probably doesn't know the difference between the two knots. 

At the arrow point in the illustration, look how short the free end of the shock cord line is! If you've tied a "granny" or "false knot" that short end could easily pull through. Tie so the free end is longer, maybe 3/8" to 1/2".

You can use fancier knots, but a "square knot" is easy and shouldn't come undone when tightened.

In the third picture below, note how both ends come out side by side. Both lines come out under the turned line on one side and over on the other side.

Instruction once said to use a drop of glue to "set" knots.

If you tie and tighten a knot correctly it shouldn't need the glue.

TIP: NEVER, no, no NEVER apply super glues (CA glue) to a knot!

CA dries hard and makes the shroud line or shock cord brittle. 

If you want, you could apply a small bit of white or wood glue to a knot. Again, if you tied a good knot correctly, it won't need the glue.

I tie parachute shroud lines using square knots. In the past, some shroud lines found in Quest kits would come undone by themselves! Those Quest lines did require a small drop of white glue to help hold them closed.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 11, Canard Fit & Masks

I squared up the notches for the canard. 

I wanted a good friction fit.

Filing continued until the center front and rear of the canard could slip in.

The gluing edges were masked off with tape strips before shooting the filler/primer.

After spraying the filler/primer -

Here's the glider body after the tape strips were removed.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 10, Balsa Filler/Primer

After one pass with CWF and sanding, 

the die-cut balsa still showed some crushed edges. I had to go back for more filler.

The balsa was sheet was pretty good. 

Here's a fin right after a shot of filler/primer. You can't see and grain pores.

Here's the tip fins with sprayed filler/primer - 

And a fin after sanding off most of the filler/primer.

The die-cut balsa tip fins have a rounded outside corner.

The instructions show a sharp corner.

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 9, Tri-Fold Mount TIPS

I usually don't like using tri-fold mounts in smaller tubes like a BT-5, 20 or 50. But on this older kit I'll (almost) follow the instructions 

Here's how the instructions show how to glue up a tri-fold mount. 

Three folds and three bends of the shock cord.

Older kits included a mount printed on 65 lb. cardstock.

Current kits have the mount printed on the 20 lb. stock instruction sheet.

Over the years tri-folds have evolved to two folds of rubber.

The original tri-fold mount had you glue the shock cord at an angle. This makes a flatter finished mount inside the body tube.

I run a light line of glue at an angle down the cardstock. The elastic shock cord is pressed into the glue and allowed to dry. 

Apply a skin of glue over Section 1. Note I wrote "skin" of glue. When gluing paper to paper you don't need a heavy glue coat. Be sure the glue coat covers all of the section area - side to side.

On the left I'm burnishing the first section. 

On the right you can see how much glue is placed before folding it over onto section 3.

Shape the mount into an arc to better fit the inside curve of  the body tube.

On the right - you can see how the angled shock cord ends up in the folds. The finished mount is flatter than it might have been otherwise.

 

Estes Condor #0807 Build, Part 8, Parachute Ties

Most instructions show scissors used to cut out the sheet parachutes. 

Use a straightedge and sharp blade to get clean, straight lines.

The shroud lines are old and have bends. 

Run an iron over the lines with the iron on a dry, cotton setting.

NEWBIES:

Try not to touch any stickers. The oils on your fingers could diminish the adhesive. Here I've lifted the reinforcement ring with my knife. Center and position with the sticker still on the blade.

TIP: 

To prevent a tear from starting, punch the hole up against the outside edge of the ring. Rotary punches work great but you've got to have cardstock behind the sheet when punching through the plastic.

Shroud lines can be hard to tie.

TIP: Use long tweezers to tie the knot. On shroud lines, I use a simple square knot.