Estes Gryphon #7280 Finished

Here's the finished glider with just the gray paint



And with the decals applied.





The engine pod is gloss white with a gloss black nose cone.

The finished build with the glider and pod attached. It's a sharp design.

This glider was finished to match the kit face card. 

Normally you wouldn't use spray paint but instead color the bottom side of a glider with felt tip pens. Felt pens add no noticeable weight and the dark underside helps you find the glider in the sky. This is a smaller glider and you'll need it!

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 10, Streamer and Controller Wire Standoff

The streamer attachment is easy enough.
A few inches down from the nose cone base, the streamer is taped to the shock cord.






TIP: The launch controller wire stand off should be dry assembled first before using glue. It took me two tries to get the right assembly order and the pieces lined up before gluing.




The long dowel sticks out the bottom balsa piece at an angle. It's not necessary to do this but I cut off the overhang.





The bottom lug and dowel ends were sanded flush after the glue dried.

We've all had boost gliders get hung up on the launcher, where the micro clips catch up on the elevon or rudder. With the controller wires tied at the top of the dowel, the clips are far off to the side as the rocket is launched. Follow the instructions for it's use and positioning on the launcher.

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 9, Mask & Paint

A strip of masking tape was pressed into the notch on the engine pod hook. I didn't want paint to stick to the glider body.





After the first white undercoat I noticed a few air bubbles and rough areas.
I used some glue on a toothpick to fill the bubbles and some filler/primer brushed on the rough areas.

There was still some open grain on the hook, Some CWF was rubbed in and sanded with 400 grit.

After this first white undercoat there is always some sanding on the rough areas and glue boogers.

Look close at the tip of the nose cone. There is a molding ridge at the tip. This was sanded smooth before spraying gloss black.

The shoulder ridge was filled with a Sharpie pen.

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 8, Gluing Up The Engine Pod

The filler/primer was scraped off where the hook assembly would be glued.



The hook is glued 1/2 forward of the tube end.

Flipping over the pod,
The launch lug is glued on the balsa finger on the other side.


Here's the lug glued in place. I didn't do any glue fillets, it would be difficult to to smooth them out with a finger along the top.

Your index finger would have to be very thin to fit into the BT-5 tube.

On the right side I'm marking the shock cord at 1" with a pencil. This is my depth gauge when gluing the tri-fold mount in the top end of the tube. 

I ended up using a dowel to lightly press and form the glued tri-fold mount in place.
Press lightly - the BT-5 tubes are thin and could be distorted when wet with glue.

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 7, Glider Assembly

A line of glue was set at the center of the canard. It was slid in place.

I looked straight on the front of the glider, the canard was canted at a slight angle.





TIP: Before the glue could set up, I slid a wedge of balsa into the joint to raise one side and straighten it out. The wedge was easily removed after the glue dried.

The finished glider ready for a coat of gloss light gray paint.

Moving back to the boost pod - 

The shoulder insert on the BT-5 sized nose cone had a raised ridge making it a rough slide into the body tube.
The ridge was sanded down with 220 grit on a block.

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 6, Wing Assembly

The wings were glued up on a flat, clean counter top.
Front two sides first,



Rear piece second.

Looking at the main body I did a dry fit check of the canard. It seemed too tight, probably because I have filled and primed the balsa before gluing it in.

A few passes with a flat diamond file opened up the slot and kept it square.

The two rudders are glued into the slot over the wing joint.

Use the alignment tool to get them at a 90 degree angle.






Both rudders were glued to the rear of the slot. This left an open spot at the bottom front.


FIX: For easier filling, I shaved a balsa wedge shim longer than needed.
It was glued into the hole, then cut off and sanded flat after the glue dried.

Here's the rudders in place with glue fillets applied.

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 5, Filler/Primer and Body Gluing

I'm building two Gryphon kits -
There was a LOT of balsa to prep and fill.

These pieces have already got a coat of CWF and sanded to surface. They are taped down to a cardboard scrap for a moderately heavy shot of filler/primer.
The hook piece (they look gray in the picture) are getting a second shot of filler/primer after sanding the laminates flat.

The main body pieces are glued up. Line up the front curve as close as you can.
All three pieces were clamped with the flipped clothes pins.






The finished main body assembly.

Like the hook assembly,
The three piece and rounded front end was sanded even and flat.



This will require another shot of CWF and filler/primer to close up any joint seams.

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 4, Gluing up the Pod Hook

Pay close attention and do a few dry fits to get an idea how the hook is glued up.

Only the upper half of the outside pieces gets glue!

Here's one side showing the glue. Set the pieces side by side and draw a pencil line at the glue area border.

I used my flipped clothes pins to hold the laminated hook together wile the glue dried.

The front end of the hook was contour sanded with some 400 grit wrapped around a used engine casing.

After sanding I had to fill the seam left from the layered pieces.

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 3, Engine Hook Prep & Fill

Here's the engine pod "hook" parts.

That long finger extension on one side of the hook is delicate and can easily break off.
Later in the build the launch lug is glued on the extension.





All three pieces were filled with CWF then sprayed with filler/primer. Normally you would simply glue them together and fill afterwards, but this is s how model. I had to have every inside edge filled and clean.

In the picture I'm filling the inside corners for a smoother look. I used a diamond file to get inside the corners.




I also hit the pieces with a shot of filler/primer before gluing them together.  I usually sand to surface leaving very little filler/primer. The two side pieces were only sprayed on the outside leaving bare balsa for a better glue bond.
Doing it this way also involved more filling later -

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 2, Cleaning Up The Laser Cut Balsa

I'll be building this model for Estes as a "show" model. You probably shouldn't fill and paint a glider, the extra weight cuts down the flight duration. This one will be filled and painted.

Looking close at the booster engine tube "hook", there is some laser cut wiggles. These should be cleaned up before assembly.

Look close at the lower right of the wing halves. There is a small curved corner. Be careful not to sand this off -





As with most laser cut parts, the cut is a "wedge", wider at the bottom of the flat balsa sheet.
Square these edges up with a sanding block being careful not to change the shape or make the pieces smaller.






The "H" piece is an Alignment Tool. It's handy to have in a kit like this, giving you perfect 90 degree alignment of the glider parts.

Estes Gryphon #7280 Build, Part 1, Parts

I want to call this one "Gry-fon" but it is pronounced "Griffin".
From Wikipedia: The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and sometimes an eagle's talons as its front feet."





Here's the kit parts in the bag -

Some have posted they see a resemblance to the OOP Edmonds Aerospace kits. The new Gryphon is a rear wing, canard design but that's where the similarities end.

Also included in the kit is the Launch Controller Wire Standoff. This standoff helps hold the controller wires and clips away from the lower wings of the glider. A smart addition.
On the right are the black and white decals.

New Gryphon Boost Glider Kit From Estes

The new Gryphon boost glider is now available from Estes.
The website picture might be of the two Gryphons I recently built for Estes. The Boosted Bertha and Sasha are also shown as now available.
A blog build is coming after the Semroc Andromeda, the Estes Boosted Bertha and Estes Sasha!

Lots of builds in the pipeline - 

To see the new kit listing: CLICK HERE