Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 14, Sport Version Finished

Well, I do have pictures of this version -
I did my best to match up the blue spray paint with the blue in the decals. It's close!
The Rusto 2X Brilliant Blue is a little bit darker than the decals on the fins.
This model will be a popular rocket for Estes. Big and burly!

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 13, Sport Decals

On the left is the "Sport" decal available by mail from Estes.

I found the decal shapes and the positioning to be a bit confusing. The decals were cut to shape while still on the backing sheet. The decals were taped onto the fins to be sure of the positioning.

Be sure there is a straight line down the middle between the two decals.

Notice the back edge of the decal overhanging the trailing edge. Cut the back edge close.

The black strip bands are from the "scale" decal sheet.

I used a wrap of tape for an alignment guide. This helps insure the narrow decal is on straight and will meet up on the other side.




After the decal thoroughly dried, some Future clear was wiped on the rear edge for better adhesion.

NOTE: The sport decals cover facing fins on two sides of the model. There aren't decals for all sides of all fins.

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 12, Decal Fix & Finished?

I had a chip in the black band wrap decal.

On the left is the chip,
on the right shows the fix.

TIP: Save old decals sheets!
You never know when you might need a patch. I cut a very small piece from an old Estes S.W.A.T. decal sheet. There is some clear on the sides of the black area so I had a little more surface grab.

I don't have finished pictures of the build!

I took finished pictures - outside, because the model is on the bigger side.

For whatever reason, the pictures weren't saved on the flash card.

The image above is from the Estes website page. Two of the scale builds were sent back to Estes.

I do have pictures of the Sport version in the next blog posts - 

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 11, Decals & Chrome Trim

This is the fin rivet and bolt plate decals.
The wider spaced rectangles go to the top. The decal strip is centered down the root edge.

If you are new to water slide decals -
TIP: The picture on the right shows the transfer onto the model. Wet the decal placement position on the model before transferring the decal. Slide a little of the decal off the backing sheet. Set the bottom of the decal onto the model, and continue to slide the backing up and off leaving the decal in place.

Here's the rivet plates on two facing fins.

TIP: Notice the paper wrap at the top. This keeps the model clean while handling. The paper wrap is rolled on and taped in place. Tape the paper wrap to itself, not onto the painted model.

The self-adhesive chrome strips are thin. They are place over the paint mask line. The raised paint edge could show through the thin chrome band.

TIP: Lightly sand the color separation line where the chrome strip will be. The masking paint ridge could show through the chrome band. I've wrapped some 400 grit around a Q-tip for cushioned sanding. Don't over sand, just knock down the raised paint edge.

The placement of the chrome strips shown in the instructions was confusing. I understand it is being corrected.

I wrapped a copy paper strip around the body tube for a straight line reference. You'd be lucky if the sticky wrap would end up in a straight line  without a guide.

On the right, keep your fingers off the sticky back side of the thin bands. Dirt and fingerprints could show through.

Here's the finished wraps.
Chrome always adds a lot to the finished look.

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 10, Overspray & More Masking

I had a little over spray.
This was easily removed with a damp Mr. Clean sponge. Go light with the sponge - it can dull the paint.







TIP: Remove the pencil marks with a white eraser.
Don't use an eraser on the back end of a pencil. A pink eraser will leave pink marks.







Here's the marked Scotch tape masks dividing the nose cone into quarters.

The tip of the nose cone remains white.

This is the upper mask separations.

To get clean corners, the bottom blocks were masked and sprayed.
The bottom is masked off, then the upper orange blocks are masked and sprayed.
You could do all the masking at once but I find better results doing a two-step process.







One black fin.
The fin taper showed up well on the finished model.

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 9, Phosphorescent Orange

Trust me - DON'T USE THIS PAINT!

I've had mixed success with Krylon. I had terrible results with this.
It's hard to find day-glo orange paint. I found this at Michael's and bought two small cans.





On the left is the first mask for the day-glo orange.

The paint went on very rough and spattered. Usually flat paints go on pretty smooth.
I tried some light sandpaper to smooth it out before the next coat. THE PAINT CHIPPED OFF!

I used the back of a single edge razor blade to remove the paint. I didn't scrape it off, just pressing the smooth back of the blade chipped off all the paint! What a mess.

The same masking tape was still used again. The paint came off a little too easily.

I tried to find another brand of day-glo orange with no luck.

On a whim, I compared the Ace Hardware Store Rocket Red to the crappy Krylon orange.
There was no difference in color. The Ace Rocket Red is more of an orange - look at the comparison next to the can caps!
I ended up using the Ace Rocket Red on the model.

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 8, Paint Prep

To make the painting wand -
I didn't have a used 29mm motor casing, so I wrapped and taped a strip of cardboard around a dowel. This was friction fitted into the engine mount as a handle for spray painting.

After the first coat of gloss white, light sanding follows.

Look at the reflection - I've lightly sanded off just the top beads of the rough first coat. No need to sand all the way to surface, just dull the paint.

A second heavier final coat followed.

Here I'm using a piece of paper to find the center between the fins.
A pencil mark is made at the leading edges of the facing fins. Fold the paper in half, mark the center.

The paper is set back on the model and pencil marks are made on the body tube for the paint masks.







Lightly extend the center pencil marks all the way down the tube.

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 7, Engine Mount & Fin Gluing

The top engine mount centering ring got a glue fillet applied drop-by-drop using two Q-tips taped to a dowel.

Place a drop of glue onto the Q-tip, set the drop of glue onto the centering ring/body tube joint and smooth the glue with the Q-tip.

On the left is the first dry fitting of the fin. Notice the slight gap at the root edge.


On the right is the same fin after fitting to remove the gap.

The root edge tabs needed a very slight sanding to shorten them.
It didn't take much sanding. There were two root edge surfaces that needed a small reduction.






All four fins are glued in place.

You can see the the wood glue fillet around the lowest centering ring joint.

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 6, Lug and Engine Mount Gluing

The launch lugs are glued onto the body tube.
Note they are not centered between two fins but are glued to the right side of a fin slot.









The fin slots and tube ends were masked off before shooting it with filler/primer.

The fin slot must line up with the slotted middle centering ring

As shown in the "INSTALL ENGINE MOUNT" instruction step -
Slide in the engine mount. Use the fin to position the mount in the main air frame tube.

Slide in a fin, the horizontal slot in the fin tab must interlock with the slot in the middle centering ring.

Position the engine mount using two fins, one each on opposite sides.
With the engine mount in the correct position, apply a glue fillet to the lowest centering ring inside the bottom. Don't glue the fins on yet!

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 5, Nose Cone & Body Tube Seams

TIP: Always check the nose cone eyelet. With the eyelet removed there can be rough mold lines. These rough lines can wear and possibly cut through the shock cord.

This picture shows the before (rough) and smooth (after).

Lightly smooth any rough mold lines with a small flat file.

The body tube had a rare "double" seam. The clear glassine top wrap had shrunk into the lower seam gap! I marked it with a pencil to show it.

In the past people have wrote about removing the clear wrap, I wouldn't recommend doing this. You'll end up with more work trying to fill twice as many seams!

I did use the pencil to press and indent the shrunken seam where it was deepest.

Note the normal seam below the pencil line.

The normal seam was filled with CWF.
The wider (shrunken in) double seam also got some CWF filler and sanding.
In the picture to the right, the seam at the top and bottom is the shrunken glassine seam.
Between that is the normal body tube seam.

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 4, Fin Filling

Here's the scale fin after shaping.

On the right are all four fins.
Notice the black line, thin and centered down the leading edge. This is all the black that is left after shaping the scale fin.
The black ink is only on the surface, not soaked into the balsa because of the CA glue coat.  Lightly sand the leading edge to remove the black ink.

The fins got a coat of CWF to fill the grain.
The sport fin is in front, the scale fin behind that.

The launch lugs also got some CWF to fill the seams.
I used two Q-tips side by side to make a handle.

After the dried CWF was sanded down, the fins were set on scrap cardboard for filler/primer spraying.
Notice the masking tape set over the root edge to keep the filler/primer off the glue areas.

After the gray filler/primer is sprayed you can see the fin taper more easily.









The balsa was good quality. It didn't take much sanding of the filler/primer. The grain was pretty well filled already with the CWF.

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 3, Fin Shaping

You can build the model as scale or sport style.

On the left is the Scale fin with the diamond taper leading edge.
The Sport fin has a rounded leading edge.

If you extend a parallel line from the lower left fin tip to the root edge, the shaded taper shown above is a little lower.

The inset picture shows where the taper line ends up at the root edge.

Normally I don't use masking tape to shape a taper like this, but the taper is wide and the balsa stock is thin for a fin this size.

To better see the thickness of the taper when sanding, I mark the leading edge with a marker.
FIRST - give the leading edge a good wipe of medium CA glue. This seals the edge so the marker ink wont soak into the soft balsa.
The CA glue also strengthens the thin leading edge.
SECOND - Run a marker down the leading edge blackening it.

The edge taper is sanded with a sanding block with 220 grit sandpaper.

Constantly check the blackened leading edge when sanding. The blackened edge is easier to see over a light beige balsa. The masking tape prevents you from sanding beyond the wide lower end of the taper.
Go light, you can sand through the tape.
Sand a bit, check the taper, flip over the fin and sand the other side evening up the edge taper.

Estes Doorknob, #9720 Build, Part 2, Engine Mount

The green ring had a burr that needed smoothing.
I turned it against the nose cone, but it still required some sanding to slide over the engine mount tube.




This instruction picture was a little confusing.
The ring is used to position the spacing of the lower B ring.
Don't glue the green ring on the tube!

Apply the glue fillet behind the B ring, then slide off the green ring.

I used my sanding block to press down and even up the end of the tube and the green ring.

The picture on the right shows the fillet on the top side joint.

Use the fin slot to set the position of the middle slotted ring.
TIP: Slide a second fin in the opposite slot to be sure the slotted ring in on straight

With the second ring in place, the green ring is glued against it.





The upper ring is glued on the top of the tube.
Glue it over the end a bit to allow a fillet on both sides.