Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Finished

Well, it still looks cool! All black - no decals.

Cardstock has it's own build concerns but at least you don't have to fill balsa grain.

Here's the view from the back. You can see some white inside where the black spray didn't reach.

Mentioned before, cutting all the vent tubes was difficult. I wonder if younger builders gave up on the build because of the tough tube cuts.

The white Centuri version with the rear eject was the easier way to go. 

And. the other kit from the Buck Rogers series. On the left is the Draconian Marauder, just about the same length.

The Draconian Marauder was not a great flyer. Very heavy and draggy.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 17, A Fix & Decals?

Directly opposite the knife tip you could see a corner of a fin split.

Set some glue on the knife blade and work it into the split cardstock.
 

Pinch the split together with tweezers until the glue sets.

You can use the tweezers to reform and get rid of any crease lines. 

The parachute assembly is standard. 

A longer elastic shock cord was substituted for the short rubber cord.

The tri-fold shock cord mount was glued 1 1/2" below the top of the tube, 1/2" farther down than the instructions recommended.

I was worried about the age of the decals so I gave them a coat of decal film. 

The decal film goes on with visible brush strokes but is smooth after it dries.

This time around, the decal film didn't help at all.

The first decal easily broke up! Why bother with the rest of them, this wasn't a good sign.

So for now, I've got a black rocket.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 16, Black Paint

There is no reason to do white undercoats on a model that is going to be painted an overall black.

Here's the model before paint. All fillets are done and surfaces are as smooth as I can make them.

The first light coats of gloss black showed some ridges around the fillets. Fine 400 grit sandpaper smoothed them out before the next coat.

On the right - 

It's difficult to get paint into all the nooks and crannies in the profile engine vanes.

On an overall black model you can use a wide point Sharpie to darken up the edges that may not have got a full black coverage.

After the second coat I still had some minor smooth sanding around the canopy and flat fin surfaces.

The final black coat will be heavier. The trick to a good gloss finish is to spray more than the initial coats but not enough to cause drips.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 15, Landing Skid & Parachute

Here's the display support.

I didn't have all the dowels that should have been in the kit bag so I used a piece of Bamboo skewer. It is close to 1/8" diameter.

The inset picture shows how it slides into the launch lug for support while on the display shelf.

For whatever reason I sprayed the support before  realizing I left off two dowels. Reinforcement is needed so the cardstock won't bend at that narrow point in the middle.

The old Centuri instructions say to use a toothpick. Two toothpicks were cut to size and the paint was scraped down the line where they were glued on.

More black paint and done!

Over the years the kit tape disks had lost their adhesion. I substituted some plastic Avery tape disks.

The original shroud lines were used on the solid black kit parachute.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 14, More Small Fins

The next large fins are glued at a 45 degree angle to the previous glued fins. 

Do your best to center them and check back a few times before the glue sets and locks them in place.

I found with the smaller engine "profile" fins easier to glue in place as follows:

Don't set glue on the root edge of the smaller fins. Apply a narrow glue line to the inside root edge of the previously set larger fins. (Left side picture) 

Set the small engine fin in that still wet glue line in the root edge. 

Here's how it all looks before the black paint is applied.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 13, Launch Lug, Cover Plates & Major Fins

The launch lug is glued on the bottom center pencil line.

The two thin cover plates are glued on, tucked into the root edge of the launch lug and against the bottom front plate tab.

The largest top fin is glued into the back end of the BT-50 tubes.

Use the central plates to line up the top fin. 

When fitting the fins and smaller detail engine fins, you may have to sand down the inside span for a friction fit. Some were too tight, others too loose.

Here's the first two largest fins, set at 90 degree angles. Sight from the back and make adjustments.

Check back before the glue sets up - These pieces can slide and move just when you think all is lined up.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 12, Front Plates & Canopy

The top and bottom front plates are creased to fit and cover the open area at the tp of the rear assembly.

The embossed lines were folded over the edge of my straightedge.

The forward bend was creased sharp using a burnisher.

Here the model is upside down with the bottom plate facing up.

Here's how the front looks. Notice the "sandwich" of the lower plate bend, the thick central plate in the middle and the upper plate front bend.

 

The canopy marking guide is set to the left and the inside line traced with pencil.

Flip it over and trace the other side.

Do some canopy dry fits. The inset picture shows the canopy front where the cut out angle fits over the fold of the front plate.

You'll find the right and left side of the canopy has to open up to match the traced pencil lines.

Before gluing the canopy on, I reformed the canopy base wider than how it ended up after gluing together.

Rather than set glue on the very thin inside edges, I held the canopy on the pencil lines then applied short shallow glue fillets. 

When gluing thin cardstock like this, you don't initially need much glue.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 11, Gluing Top & Bottom Plates

There's the two internal vent tubes with the BT-50 main tubes glued to the outside.

So the ejection charge goes up - turns left - then turns up again to blow out the parachute. The tube on the right side doesn't have a parachutes.

Look close to see the glue line down the side top and bottom plates. See the picture below for positioning.

These really add to the strength of the whole unit.

On the left is the top plate. There is a long notch for the engine hook movement.

On the right is the bottom plate. There are cut out panels that will be covered with thinner cardstock pieces. This might have been done to reduce weight on the back end. Down the middle of the bottom plate is a pencil line for the launch lug positioning.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 10, Cleaning Up The Nose Cones

There was a molding divot near the base of both nose cones.

Apply a small CA glue drop and let thoroughly dry. While drying, prop the nose cone on it's side or the thin CA will run.

Sand the raised drop to surface with some 400 grit sandpaper.

While there wasn't any molding ridges running down the length of the nose cone, there was a very slight ridge around the tip.

On the left is the nose cone right out of the bag.

After some 400 grit sanding, the nose cone on the right has the ridge removed and a better contour.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 9, Canopy Forming

The canopy is made up of three pieces.

The two sides and the many folded top.

Do a few dry fits (no glue) to be sure you are lining up the the right tab to the right cut on the side piece.

One of the tricks to gluing cardstock like this is not to use too much glue on the tabs.

Apply some glue to a single center tab and spread it around, especially towards the outside edges. You should have a light overall "skin" of wet glue.

Joint the top tab to the side piece. 

It helps to have a long, smooth jawed tweezers to pressure hold the tab in place. 

Continue doing single tab gluing until both sides are glued to the top.

Look on the inside. If one of the tabs is raised, you can sneak some glue under the tab using your knife blade.

Here's the finished canopy, 

Inside and outside.

I thought the canopy shape would be more like a rectangular box shape with the bottom side open. I found out later the sides flare out and have a wider span than the top - more of a trapezoidal shape.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 8, Cleaning Up More Parts

Now I get to dig into all the die-cut cardstock.

Free up the pieces by cutting through the hold down tics. 

Don't take for granted the die-cutting is all the way through the cardstock. Turn over the piece and check before pressing out the pieces.

On the right it shows a rough edge. Sand the edge square removing the tics. 

Here's an example of a die-crush.

On the left you can see the pressure cut bump along the edge.

I used a Sharpie barrel burnisher to compress the edge shown on the right side piece. 

Sometimes the raised bump is too high to be pressed down with the burnisher. It'll have to be sanded down.

That can raise fibers in the cardstock and look rough after spray paint.

Squeeze out a drop of medium CA glue. Dip a Q-tip and rub the glue into the raised edge. This hardens up the cardstock.

Now you can sand with 400 grit and you should have a smoother edge after paint is applied.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 7, Gluing The Mount & Tubes

Again I used some 220 grit wrapped around a casing to open up the side tube hole.

A dry fit and tracing around the tube joint with pencil. 

A glue line was set on the pencil line and the tubes joined. 

Double check the alignment before the glue starts to set up.

Like on the old Estes Trident -

TIP: Be sure to add some heavy fillets that won't blow out at ejection.

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 6, A Third Vent Tube!

This instruction drawing better shows the assembly.

The ejection charge goes up, makes left turn then goes up again. Remeber, there's a bulkhead in the larger tube that directs the ejection charge up. 

That Centuri rear eject would have been easier.

Here's the final vertical tube, a BT-50.

This one also gets a reinforcement coupler and another cut hole.

I'm marking the dowel to apply glue inside the tube. The tubes above give me a height reference.

The yellow tube pushes in the coupler.

The yellow tube also sets the cardstock bulkhead. 

The final circle cut!

Tape and mark with the guide wrap. Pencil trace and another new #11 blade!

Estes Blackhawk #2053 Build, Part 5, Gluing Vent Tubes & Interior Supports

With the engine mount tube straight in the vent tube - 

I traced around the joint for glue placement.

A line of glue was placed around the pencil line and the two tubes joined.

After that dried,

Both of the cardstock central plates is set next to the engine tube. (See next picture.)

Mark both sides for the the retainer ring (or tape).

Cut a slight notch in both of the central plates.

Couldn't this have been included in the die-cuts?

This is in the instructions, to cut out an area to allow for the retainer ring.