Estes Tazz #7282, Finished

This décor is the new upscale twist on the old Estes Gyroc.

The name "Tazz" is short for the spinning Warner Brothers Tasmanian Devil character.

I haven't put on the rubber bands yet.

Here's that nose decal.

When carefully placed over the nose cone / body tube joint you won't see the seam. Well, except for the back where the decal ends don't meet up.
 

Estes Tazz #7282, Suggested Decal Placement

A few months back, I built an Estes Tazz using the old Estes Gyroc yellow color and decals. This most recent build will use the current kit decals. 

You should do some dry positioning to get a better orientation of the black "swirl" decal and a centering for the TAZZ name decal.

The top edge of the swirl decal sits at tube/nose cone joint but doesn't go entirely around the body tube.

In the lower picture I taped the swirl decal in place to get the Z in line with the swirl point.

Here's both decals in correct position.

The wing decals are a little confusing. Don't soak them until you are sure of the positioning.

The rear black edges were cut very close to the ink border.

These were set down very close to the squared rear edge. The trailing edge got a wipe of Future with a Q-tip. The excess was picked up with another Q-tip.

Do a dry fit on the vertical stabilizer decals. They probably won't sit as you might first expect.

Plan Ahead - The Tazz Engine Mount #7282

There's a good reason why instructions say to read them all the way through before starting construction. Sometimes you have to make adjustments. Dry fit everything before squeezing out any glue!

   

The engine block and centering ring placement on the Estes Tazz instructions can be confusing. 

In the instructions the engine block (Part B) isn't butted up against the upper bend of the engine hook. If glued as shown (even with the tube end) there will be a 1/4" gap between the hook bend and the block. You want the engine block touching the top bend of the hook otherwise the hook could get loose after a few flights tearing into the tube.

The instructions show the centering rings glued directly over the 1/2" and 2" marks. There isn't a side view drawing to double check things.

If the rings were glued over the pencil marks there wouldn't be enough space between them for the supplied 1 1/4" wide streamer. Sure, you could cut down the width, but I'd rather have as much descent drag as I can get.

Dry fit the parts before using any glue on the rings. Use the streamer width to set the space between the rings. The upper ring will end up higher, closer to the top bend of the engine hook.

Estes Tazz - Post Flight

Last week I launched my Estes Tazz for the second time.

I didn't notice any damage until I got home.

On the right you can see the paint cracking along the hinge line. I expected this to happen over time. My old Gyroc had a paint crack down the hinge.

This concerns me though.

The new Tazz has a body tube slot for a thru the wall tab. The tab is on the upper half of the root edge of the wing/fin.

The ejection charge broke through the glue fillet and made a small tear in the body tube.

Keep this in mind if you build one - make those fillets strong!

Estes Tazz Follow-up

TIP: I already lost one of the rubber bands! The kit does give your four.
To retain the rubber band when it is loosened between flights -
Close off the open end with of the Part R Hooks a bead line of  white glue. It won't be permanent, you can pop out the glue bridge to replace the rubber band.



Bernard Cawley wrote on YORF:

"During the build I ran into a couple of little “gotchas”. The first one involves the fin-to-flap hinges.

The flaps are hinged on both sides with what amounts to thin clear sticker stock (shapes precut to fit). On one side, the hinge material just goes from the top of one part to the top of the other. On the bottom, however, the hinge material goes from the bottom of the fixed fin to the TE to the LE of the flap to the bottom of the flap. Those of you who have used tape hinges on small RC airplanes have probably seen something like this. However, if you haven’t (or if you forget, as I did) that some space between the surfaces needs to be left to make room for those two thicknesses of of hinge material, if you butt the two parts together and put the top hinge material on, you won’t be able to get the flaps all the way parallel with the fins after putting the bottom hinge material on.

(If you use both top and bottom hinge pieces)
Of course what one needs to do is leave about 1/32 of an inch gap between when putting the top portion on and then exercise a little care installing the bottom piece as it wraps from flap across the edges to the fin. Or, perhaps more simply, do the BOTTOM first instead of the top.

This is lots of words. The first attachment is a diagram I found with a quick search. If you imagine the “elevon” and the “wing” are both the same thickness and the “elevon” is not tapered, then you can see what I’ve clumsily tried to explain."

"The “gotcha” is that there is no standoff for the launch lug, so the launch rod rides on the the ring, takes advantage of the fact that Estes launch lugs are a fairly loose fit on a 1/8-inch rod, and then rides on the base of the nose cone. It doesn’t bind so much that the model wouldn’t get off the rod (though a rod that’s a full 1/8-inch diameter binds a bit more than an Estes rod). But still, that struck me as less than ideal.

Since my model was already built and painted, my solution was to grab a cordless Dremel tool, the small diameter sanding mandrel with a fine-grit drum attached and relieve the ring where the rod passes over it. See the picture to the right.

The obvious thing to do while building it is to cut a strip from the fin scraps the length of the launch lug and about 1/8 inch wide and use it as a standoff for the launch lug."

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Finished

Compared to the original Gyroc, I like the larger size of the new Tazz.

The new plastic hinges are much more flexible and won't easily crack like the older paper ones.
The fin silhouette is almost identical to the original Gyroc, just larger. The leading edge outside corner on the Gyroc wing and vertical stabs were rounded.
The Tazz balsa is 3/32" thick, the Gyroc was 1/16".
The older Rocketeers will remember this color and decals from the old catalogs. I wasn't too hot about the new decals so I went old school.
The upper body and nose cone picture shows how well the wrap decal matched up. The start and finish of these tube wraps don't always end with equal spacing.

These decals will be available to Patreon members, give me a day or two to finish up the drawings.
Email me at: oddlrockets@bellsouth.net and ask for the Gyroc/Tazz decals PDF.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 10, Plastic Retainers

The guide ring is glued onto the rear of the tube, even with the end.
The notches on the ring are on the opposite side of the launch lug.
Be sure the notches are centered between the wing fins.

This shows how the ring tab extensions hold down the flaps.
Notice the engine hook, tabs and notches on the ring are on the other side of the launch lug.

The rubber band locks and hooks fit into the round holes in the wings and flaps.

These can rotate while you are setting the locks on the other side.
You can carefully straighten them with tweezers. Go light - you can scar the balsa.







After the locks and hooks are straight, you can set them with a drop of liquid cement.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 9, Engine Mount Trim TIP

Here's the engine mount, the streamer is taped to hold the end down.
The low end of the engine mount has 3/16" of bare tube exposed.
I didn't want to go through a tight masking job with the white lock ring in the way.






I sprayed some scrap peel and stick paper stock with gloss yellow.





A 3/16" wide strip was cut.
The engine hook was lifted and the strip end started under the hook.
Release the hook, continue the sticky strip around the bare tube.
Cut the end, hide it under the raised engine hook.






Here's the finished engine mount with a smooth yellow end.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 8, Overall Yellow Painting TIPS

This is a tough rocket to get an overall even spray. The four vertical stabilizers (small fins) block certain areas from getting a final wet coat.

Summertime painting in hot, humid weather is a crap shoot.The picture on the right shows some spatter "pebbling" after some between coat light sanding sanding. When I light sand, I only knock off the tops of the raised orange peel spatters before the next coat. There's no need to sand the paint completely to surface. The next spray coat will flow and and help level the surface.

Before spraying the entire rocket -
Spray the leading and trailing edges of the fins, the (tight) fillet areas of the launch lug and tip of the nose cone. Those initial areas are sometimes missed when trying to paint the overall model.

Look at the third picture below- Another area to hit first - A hard area to evenly cover  (behind the smaller vertical fins) is highlighted in gray.

To get better, smoother coverage on these complex surfaces, shoot the vertical stab fins first - then spray the larger main wings.

I spray horizontally with a painting wand (dowel and engine casing) in the back end or engine mount.

On the left - Follow the numbers and the directional arrows, try to get and even spray coat on the small vertical stab fins, do the wing "flats and main body after.

Enlarge the picture to better see the numbers and arrows.

Again, notice the gray areas behind the vertical stabs. Be sure to get spray coverage there. The vertical stabs can block the paint coverage.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 7, White Undercoats

Oh no!
I was using the Rustoleum Premium with great sucess - until today.
The gloss white sprayed out rough! I stopped immediately, only a small area got the rough spray. Luckily it easily sanded smooth.
I test sprayed about ten passes of the gloss white on scrap cardboard before hitting the rocket again.
This time the paint went down smooth.




After the first white coat, you could see some tube bulges at the front leading edge of the main fins.


These were sanded down a bit and shouldn't be as obvious by the time the final color is sprayed.






Here is both sides of the rocket showing the launch lug fillet and leading edge bulge after sanding.

The rocket got an additional shot of gloss white before the overall final color.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 6, Gluing It All Together & White Undercoat

There is a small overlap where the hinge sets over the open slot. This is cut away so the stabilizer can be glued in.
I didn't remove the overlap, but folded it into the slot for a tighter fit of the stabilizer tab.

With the pieces glued up you can really see the resemblance to the original smaller BT-20 based Gyroc.

The instructions don't mention it -
GOTCHA: You had better apply fillets, especially to the fin/slot areas on the body tube.
I'd hate to see some ejection charge charring at the open fin slot joints.

I haven't glued on the plastic locks, hooks and guide ring. I'm going to glue them on after the final color spraying to keep them clean and clear of paint.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 5, Fill & Hinges

The launch lug was glued on and fillets applied.
The body tube and glued in nose cone were shot with filler/primer and sanded to surface.

This is a BT-50 sized tube, I didn't have any D engine casings to fit on a painting wand dowel. I taped some cardboard around the 18mm engine casing already on the dowel wand.







This is the main wing after a spray of filler/primer.
On the right is after sanding. This kit had some good balsa, there was very little grain left to fill.

The spin tab flaps (part N) are held on with clear hinges.
I had already filled all the balsa so the hinges will stick better than if it were rough wood.

I didn't see a reason for hinges on both sides. A double hinge is similar to the way you attach flaps to RC plane wings.
I decided to use just the single L hinges on one side of each wing.
With the thickness of doubled tape hinges you wouldn't be able to butt the edges together.

Check the picture above, right. I drew a faint pencil line down the center of the L hinge. The line allows me to see the center fold as it is placed on the butt joint of the two wing pieces.

The wing pieces were taped down so I could concentrate on the hinge placement.
Again, lift and position the hinge with a blade to keep the (down) sticky side clean.
Set the center pencil line over the joint.
Note the hinge doesn't go all the way out to the sides, but a little short of the outside edges.

If you were to apply the hinges to bare unsealed balsa, you probably should use two hinges or one on each side. I filled and primered the fin and flaps so the sticky hinges will have a stronger hold.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 4, Balsa Filling

I brushed on thinned CWF.
Keep the filler out of the stabilizer fin slots.
TIP: After you brush over the holes for the hook and lock pieces, clear the hole with a sharpened dowel.

The dried CWF was sanded to surface using 400 grit sandpaper.

On the right, the pieces are taped down to some cardboard for a good shot of filler/primer.
Notice the root edges and tabs on the stabilizers are taped off to keep the primer off the glue areas. The root edges of the two piece wings are butted up against each other along the root edges.

The BMS made nose cone has a hole in the shoulder for a dowel and screw eye attachment.
The dowel was glued in with about 1/4" extending out. This was sawed off and sanded flat with the nose cone base.

The base of the nose cone got a coat of wood glue to protect the back from ejection charge flame.

After the nose cone was glued into the top end of the tube, the sides were sanded flat and even with the body tube sides.

On the right side picture, notice the pink balsa grain peeking through. I sanded too much and exposed some raw balsa grain. This will get another coat of CWF and light sanding before being shot with filler/primer.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 3, Balsa and a Substitute Nose Cone

On the far left is the plastic nose cone that comes with the kit.

I'll be substituting a BT-50 Gyroc style nose cone. I like the older style cone better (because I'm old) and a blunt nose cone makes more sense considering it touches down nose first.

On the far right is the BT-20 based Gyroc next to the BT-50 based TAZZ with the switched out nose cone.

The fins edge on the left has the laser burned edge sanded about half off. On the right is the other fin edge sanded clean.

I'm showing this so you can see how rough a laser cut fin edge can be. A flat edge gives more glue contact area on the body tube. Glue doesn't stick as well to a burnt, ash edge.





Pretty interesting how the Part Q and P stabilizers fit into the wing slot.








These have a good friction fit even without glue. All lined up at 90 degrees to the wing plane without any coaxing.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 2, Engine Mount

The instructions show the engine block glued in first, before the engine hook is set in the slot. This might imply the engine block is glued flush with the end of the motor mount tube.







GOTCHA: With the engine block glued farther down, against the upper bend of the engine hook, it is actually recessed about 3/16" from the top edge of the motor mount tube.





TIP: Slide a centering ring onto position on the engine mount tube (no glue) and trace a pencil line all the way around the tube for easier positioning after glue is applied.
TIP: It's not mentioned, but a notch will help with the ring fit over the engine hook.

Here's the finished mount with the white plastic ring glued on the low end. The inside notch centers over the engine hook.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 1, Parts

Estes has updated the old Gyroc kit.
This time it's called the TAZZ. I assume that is short for the spinning Warner Brother's cartoon character, the Tasmanian Devil.

It's bigger this time around, BT-50 based. The old Gyroc had a BT-20 airframe tube.

Here's all the parts -

The BT-50 body tube is pre-slotted for the large forward TTW fin tab.

Below the water slide decals are the clear fin hinges.

In the center are four activator rubber bands.

The plastic nose cone is pointed this time around.

There are new plastic parts, made just for this kit.

The rubber band hook pieces fit into the small round holes in the fins.

The rings hold the movable fins flat during boost.

The engine mount ejects and recovers under a streamer.