Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 16, Those White Backed Decals

From the original kit instructions,

Here's the decal placement.

There is some white in the background of the maple leaf circles and the Canadian flag.

I used one of my white decal layering tricks to get the right look. A clear decal sheet is sprayed with gloss white paint. White spray paint is all that's needed, no clear coat. 

This makes a water transfer white decal.

After the white paint dries - 

Over a bright light, set the sprayed decal sheet over the home print decals.

Trace the white areas needed lightly with pencil. Trace just inside the blue ring.

The white under the Canadian flag should be a good rectangle right up to the red border.

The round white circle can be inside but still covered by the thick blue ring.

While the Mini Bomarc Paint Dries -

I used the only brown I had on the Mini Bomarc nose cone - Rusto Custom Spray Enamel. One of those new cans with that crappy "5 in 1 custom spray nozzle". The paint is still tacky after two days!

While I'm watching paint dry, a new project is in the works:

    

I got the Centuri Skylab 3D parts back from a commercial printer I found on Etsy.

These are resin printed, much smoother than the older 3D printers.

Almost all the original kit plastic parts were vacu-formed. 

At $80.00 (including shipping), it was more expensive than I would have liked. I don't have a 3D printer.

In the lower right is a "docking collar". Two are needed for the build, I was only sent one!

I've messaged the printer and a second collar is being sent out.

The Centuri Skylab Thingverse page: CLICK HERE

Thanks to Scott Dee for drawing up the 3D parts and  to Kevin Hedspeth for inspiration and answering all my questions about his build experience.

You aren't told on the Thingverse page - but - 

The two pod nose cones and nozzles fit a BT-20, not the original Centuri ST-7 tubes.

The engine mount tube is also a BT-20. A Centuri ST-7 won't slide through the large nozzle.

I don't have any ST-10 Centuri tubes, I found some Estes BT-52 tubes from an old Thor Agena B build.

Hang onto those spare parts! The nose cone shoulder slides smoothly in the BT-52 tube. 

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 15, Silver Paint On The Nacelles

The front end of the nacelles are masked for silver paint

The silver starts at the rear end of the "P" support pieces.

After spraying and pulling the tape,

I got a clean color separation.

There's not much of a gluing area on the root edge of the supports.

I'm using the thicker Aleene's Tacky Glue to attach the nacelles. The body was masked for a open strip for glue on the body tube.

After that first glue line dried, a fillet of the Aleene's glue was applied.

The Aleene's glue will dry clear and with a semi-gloss. Elmer's white glue dries with a flat finish. Don't use yellow wood glue on a visible glue fillet like this.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 14, Color Paint

Paint is pretty easy on this one.

Nose cone is brown, the main body is a light gray.

After these dry, the rear of the nacelle tube is painted silver.

I was concerned about the balsa grain fill on the nacelle nose cone. 

This turned out pretty well.

There is still a masking paper strip on the root edge (gluing surface) of the "P" support piece.

I

The main body assembly is an overall light gray.

The nacelles are ready to be masked for the silver. 

The main body still needs some sanding and another final gray coat.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 13, White Undercoats

I thought it would be difficult to get paint around the ramjet assemblies. The main body and nacelles will be painted separately.

I masked off two gluing lines for the root edges of the nacelle support "P" pieces. I shaded the mask strips with pencil to show up better in the photo.

On the right is the inside end of the body tube masked off.

The root edge of the "P" supports were masked off with a thin piece of tape. These were taped down to a scrap piece of cardboard.

The top and sides were spray painted gloss white. 

After that paint dried, 

The nacelle assembly was slid over a dowel and the underside sprayed.

This is the underside of the wing and body.

You can see how difficult it is to get paint coverage on the inside areas.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 12, Launch Lugs

The launch lugs are short, two LL-2AM at .37" long.

These were cut from scrap pieces and sanded to insure both were the same length.

Because these lugs are short - 

Hold on to the lug with the tweezers while applying two thin glue lines. While still holding with the tweezers, set the lug in place under the rudder and wing.

The rear lug is even with the low end of the tube.

The upper lug is tucked under the forward tip of the wing. 

I didn't apply glue fillets on the lugs. It's difficult to get a good fill in that tight corner with all the air bubbles that can form.

School Supplies? Rocket Building Stuff!

Save some money - School supplies can are cheaper now than any other time of the year.

This is the nozzle on a bottle of school glue. I wouldn't recommend the water soluble school glue for model rocket building. 

Replace the wide applicator nozzle on your wood glue bottle with this orange, fine point nozzle for more control of the glue flow. 

Unscrew the nozzle at the white collar, wash out any school glue and replace  the wood glue nozzle. It will fit the threads on the wood glue bottle.

I've used glue sticks for cardstock adapters and in carded rocketry.

Using a glue stick can give your more control on a cardstock adapter "glue tab".

Sharpies come in handy for black paint touchups, line details and Saturn V masking. Go to my Saturn V build for more details.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 11, Gluing On The Raceway

The upper picture is s a dry fit of the raceway checking the fit over the wing and stabilizer.

The inset picture shows the line of glue just down the centerline on the underside of the raceway. The side edges won't be making contact with the round tube. I also didn't want squeeze out of glue. Any gaps will be filled with a glue fillet.

I didn't initially cut the curve to fit over the low end of the raceway. 

Set the rudder over the back and trace over the raceway curve end with a pencil.

On the right is the rough cut.

After more forming with sandpaper rolled over a dowel, I got a good fit.

 

Follow up with some glue fillets to fill any gaps.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 10, Gluing On The Rudder & Wing

The fin lines are extended down the length of the body tube.

The rudder goes on first using the center lines down the tube and rudder.

ry fit the wing under the raceway and mark the position.

Glue the wing onto the body tube. While the glue is still  wet check the placement with a dry fit of the raceway. 

When all is fitting together, remove the raceway.

Let the wing and rudder glue joints dry with the assembly placed on a flat surface. This aligns the wing and rudder.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 9, Gluing Together The Nacelles

Draw a pencil line down the Nacelle tube.

Glue the P1 support pieces onto the line, even with the front end of the tube.

The picture on the right is a dry fit (no glue) of the nacelle nose cone.
 

Before gluing in the nose cone - the fit could be better. 

Slide in the nose cone, not quite against the body tube.

I folded up a piece of 400 grit and lightly ran it around the gap between the nose cone and body tube. This will clean up any rough shoulder and give a closer joint.

The print of the instructions marking guide wouldn't fit around the BT-20 tube.

I went to payloadbay.com and clicked on "tools".

Click on "fin wrap tool".

I entered a three fin BT-20, just to get the correct width of the tube diameter.

I dropped the scan into Corel Draw and blew up the original fin marking guide to the width of the payload bay image. The "Nacelle" and "Top" lines were extended onto the correct wrap diameter.
 

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 8, Raceway Buildup

The stabilizer is even with the end of the body tube.

The raceway sits on top, 1" from the end.

These are still dry fittings, don't glue the raceway on yet.

The front of the raceway overhangs the front end of the body tube.

Cut it off even and sand flat.

With the raceway off the body, it's easier to form the ends.

With a sanding block, shape the side profiles first.

then round down the top.

Then round the sides.

Smooth things out with 400 grit over your fingers.

For a better fit over the round tube, I sanded a slight dip into the underside.

400 grit was wrapped around a BT-5 tube and the underside was sanded. Don't sand to a perfect fit, the raceway still needs to fit over the wing and stab.

I used a smaller tube than what it will be glued to. This can make for a better fit.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 7, Raceway Buildup

Step 7 in the instructions have you build up the raceway on the model, then sand the ends "to a point". This is when I steered away from the instructions. I couldn't see how you could sand and form the raceway ends after they were glued to the body.

I taped the pieces down to a countertop keeping all in line.

See the next #8 post to understand why. 

This is the rear R1 piece pressed in between the wing and rudder. Don't glue the ends to the wing and rudder yet.

Butt the forward R2 piece against the front of the wing, no glue.

Just the top of the raceway (the original kit included a rounded raceway top) is glued to the R1 and R2 pieces. Don't glue the top raceway piece to the wing and rudder, glue only to the R1 and R2 pieces underneath.

Do your best to line up the sides of the R1 and R2 even with the sides of the long upper raceway piece.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 6, Nose Weights

I needed two Estes NCW-1 nose cone weights. I found an single original lead weight in my spare parts drawer.

The older Estes catalogs say one lead washer weighs 0.12 oz. Two would weigh 0.24 oz.

Deep in the spare parts drawer was a few older Semroc NCW-1 weights. One weighs 0.15 oz. There is no center hole for the screw eye.

The Semroc weight is larger in diameter and won't slide into the BT-20 main body tube.

I used a wire cutter to reduce the diameter. 

The lead disk was rounded on some 220 grit sandpaper.

A diamond rat tail file started a hole for the screw eye.

After drilling and shaping, the disk now weighs 0.30 oz. I did some more sizing and got the two lead disks down to 0.25 oz.

The nose cone was from Balsa Machining Service (BMS).

BMS drills out their nose cones for a hardwood dowel. The screw eye is turned into a small hole in the dowel center. This attachment is much stronger than balsa alone.

The fit of the dowel was tight. I sanded the sides a bit, but it wasn't enough.

When pressed into the hole, the nose cone started to split! Some CA glue was run into the split and the gap filled.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 6, Downsizing A Parachute

The original Mini Bomarc kit had a 10" parachute. Estes makes a 9" chute, but I didn't want to spend the $4.49 price.

I have a lot of Odd'l Rockets parachutes. I'll cut a 10 chute from one of these.

Mark the center of the chute material. Then, simply mark 5" on either side of the center. Repeat for all six sides.

Make straight cuts, parallel to the 12" dashed lines above. 

Rotate the chute make the next five cut lines.

Here's the 10" chute with the plastic reinforcement rings in place.

The finished chute using #10 cotton embroidery thread for the shroud lines.

Estes Mini Bomarc Clone, Kit #TK-5, Part 5, CWF Sand & Filler Primer

The old Estes instructions don't mention it,

but I rounded the leading edges of the wing, stab and rudder.

I also rounded the leading edge of the nacelle support. You've got to be careful because of the balsa grain direction.

The balsa pieces were taped down to a piece of cardboard and shot with filler/primer.

Sanding follows.

On the left the nose cone is shown with the CWF applied.

I realized the nose cone was also used in the Estes Stinger (K-53) kit.

After sanding, the filler/primer was sprayed and sanded.

Here's the rudder and stabilizer after the filler/primer was sanded.

I tend to sand down more filler than others might.

The filler/primer soaks into the balsa a bit and still seals the surface if most is sanded off.