Estes Cosmic Interceptor Build, Part 25, Gluing The T & V Pieces

The instructions have you glue the vertical V piece (rudder) before gluing on the horizontal T pieces. Wait to glue the V piece. Even though the paper marking guide fit well, the V rudder piece ended up a little off the pencil line. I ended up visually centering the V piece between the glued in T pieces.

   

No glue yet - 

Set the T piece in it's slot, resting the tapered side on the body tube.

Trace around the tapered end outlining in pencil on the body tube.

Scrap away any paint until you can see the bare body tube. 

Scrape inside the pencil lines.

Then glue on the V rudder piece even with the tube end. 

Note the taper. You might be tempted to glued it flipped the other way.

Estes Cosmic Interceptor Build, Part 24, Fitting The "T" Brace

The T pieces fit into a notch in the vertical S pieces. They sit high on the body tube and have to be sanded to fit. The T pieces should end up flat, parallel to the face of the large wing. 

The upper picture shows the start of the sand, a small bit has been sanded away. 

The bottom picture shows the angle sanded down so the T piece sits flat.

You can get a better fit against the body tube.

I wrapped some 220 grit around a dowel to make the flat root edge curved.

On the left, the curve has been sanded.

The right side picture shows the new root edge fit against the body tube.

You might have noticed the pre-painting of the areas inside and under and T pieces. If glued together it would be hard to get white paint to cover the hidden surfaces.

Estes Cosmic Interceptor Build, Part 23, Wing Gluing

These large wing fins were difficult to glue on!

They remind me of the large Orbital Transport or even the Gyroc fins. You think they are tacked on then the weight of the fin pulls it off the body tube.

Looking from the rear - 

Make sure the fins are perpendicular before the glue sets up.

This fin required some tweaking.

On the left is an example of wood glue placed down the root edge.

TIP: Even out the glue line before placing on the body tube.

In the left side picture, notice the "V" formed by the thumb and index finger. Hold the V and run your fingers down the glue.

You should end up with an even glue line as shown on the right side. When pressed on the body tube fin line, there will be a cleaner joint with less glue squeezed out. 
 

Estes Mini Scale Combo Pak, #0874, Tomahawk & Exocet, Build, Part 3, Fin Prep

All the outside edges (not the root edge) get a narrow bead of glue.

Smooth and even the bead with the side of a finger.

After the glue dries, the fin edges are sealed.

Sand the dried glue with some 400 grit.

The root edges are set against each other to keep them clear of the filler/primer.

The fins get a good shot of filler/primer.

Estes Mini Scale Combo Pak, #0874, Tomahawk & Exocet, Build, Part 2, Fin Prep

The die-cut hold down "tics" have to be cut through and extended to finish off the tip of the leading edges.

 

Start the blade cuts below the gap and continue straight up through the open tip.

Stacking the fins shows how much the die-cut blades were off.

Sand and even up the sides. Hold the four fins tightly, the cardstock is slippery!

The top of the die-cut is slightly rounded. 

On the left - The back side shows raised pressure crushing. 

On the right - The fin back side was sanded flat with 320 grit on a block. 

To smooth the rough edges, the fins will require some filler/primer sprays and sanding.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 4, Cutting Out The Fins

These kids have it too easy! 

In 1970, we had to hand cut 36 pieces of balsa to assemble an Orbital Transport!

If you ever have to cut balsa from a cardstock template, be sure your (sharp) blade is at a 90 degree angle to the balsa sheet. The illustration is from the yellow pages in the 1971 Estes catalog.

 

Here's the four smaller fins being gang sanded using 220 grit on a block.

After gang sanding - 

Check the corners being sure everything is even and square.

The root edges of the wings were glued together on a sheet of glass.

Weights were set on the top while the glue dried.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 8, Engine Mount & Fin Gluing

Set the engine mount and Kevlar line alongside the lower, longer tube.

The BT-20 engine tube is even with the bottom of the BT-50 main body.

This gives you an idea how long the Kevlar line should be, a little shorter than the top of the BT-50.

Tie a overhand loop knot (shown on the right) for the elastic shock cord attachment.

I used epoxy to glue the mount in, allowing me some positioning time.

Here's the BT-50 tube with the filler/primer scraped off where the fins will be glued. The scraping is a little shorter than the length of the leading edge.

The low fins are glued even with the end of the body tube.

On the forward fins and thrusters, I used a wrap of masking tape as an low alignment line at the corner of the trailing edges.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 6, Fins & Decals

The original kit fins were die cut. I don't know why the guidance thrusters weren't cut. Maybe they were too small?

The way they are set on the sheet, it would be difficult to cut all four with an even height. On my redraw (below) they are cut from a long strip.

Note the forward fins were cut with the grain running parallel to the trailing edge, not the leading edge. In my pattern draw below, the fins are rotated for the correct grain direction.

Even as cut with the wrong grain direction, the forward fins aren't subject to any real stress.

The USAF red, white and blue fin decal uses the same design (or close to) the Interceptor fins.

This decal and fin pattern is available as a PDF (home decal prints) only for Patreon subscribers. 

Email me at: oddlrockets@bellsouth.net 

and ask for the Shark PDF.

I added thruster decal dots. The instructions say "Ink in black thruster nozzles". I made them oval decals that go on the lower face of the thrusters.

Estes Time Warp Build, #7321, Part 11, Lower Fin Gluing

My plan was to spray the BT-5 cluster tubes - just the tight areas at the center.

Notice the centering rings and upper tubes between the rings has been masked off.

I ended up spraying more of the tube surface and the area where the main fins will be glued.

I sprayed the yellow fin tip (front and back) yellow before gluing the fins onto the model. On the left is the white undercoat, on the right is the yellow. 

Yellow paint was sprayed on the outside face and underneath into the fillet area.  

I tried to concentrate the yellow paint to just the inside areas between the tubes but the spray covered a wider area. 

The glue line (fin root edge contact area) was marked and the paint sanded off down to the tube.

Here's the gluing line sanded down to the white tube.

Keep the sanded area narrow so it will be covered by the width of the root edge.

The fins are a bit difficult to place, they want to fall off when gluing, like on the Gyroc and Orbital Transport. 

On the right, the fins are in place and filleted with white glue. 

Pre-painting will make masking the black easier and gives a consistent  yellow coverage. Those inside areas would be difficult to spray if all were glued together.

Estes Time Warp Build, #7321, Part 10, Upper Fin Gluing

The scratched fin glue line was slightly widened using the side of a diamond file.

Note the masking tape. That's the stop point so the scratch stops before the top of the root edge of the fin. 

The lower tape is the top of the launch lug glue line.

The glue fillets are done with white glue. The white glue dries clear, yellow glue would dry yellow.

The white glue also dries with a flat finish. To gloss it up, I applied some clear acrylic using a Q-tip. No masking here - 

The inside lip of the BT-55 got a wipe of super glue then light sanding with 400 grit.

The brown edge was "painted" gray with a second Q-tip.

Estes Time Warp Build, #7321, Part 9, Upper Fins

The upper fins were filled with CWF and sanded. Then, filler/primer and sanding with 400 grit. Two steps and the balsa grain is filled.

I'll be painting these upper fins off the model. This will save some masking. The upper fins won't break off as the lower fins take the stress on landing.

Estes got it right!

The fin marking guide and alignment drawing are on a separate page of the instructions. There is no printing on the reverse side. You don't have to cut up an instruction page - no build steps on the other side - 

The fin marking guide matched up perfectly.

I wouldn't normally glue fins on this way and wouldn't recommend it for the occasional builder. This will not give you the strongest glue joint. 

The BT-55 mid tube was already seam filled and painted dark gray.

A fin glue line was scraped using an aluminum angle and the tip of a diamond file. Be sure the scraped line is shorter than the top of the root edge length.

Estes Semi-Scale Saturn V, Kit #K-39, Part 7, Cutting Out The Fins

The fin pattern is taped down, face up on the cutting board.

The clear fin material is taped on top.

Using a straightedge and sharp knife - 

Cut and score the clear material about 1/2 the way through.

Flex the material back and forth at the cut lines. The cut line should crack.

I used small, smooth faced pliers on some lines that weren't wide enough to grasp with my fingers.

Run a sanding block over the edges to clean and square them up.

Estes Monarch Build, #7214, Part 14, Placing The Upper Tube Trim

The upper body was spray painted gloss black, followed by two coats of my favorite Rusto Metallic Black. The black extends down 8.5" from the nose cone tip.

The metallic black compliments the reflective specks in the purple vinyl trim.

A 1/4" wrap of chrome is space about 1/8" from the bottom of the black.

The 1/2" wide purple butts up against the chrome.

Another 1/4" wrap of chrome sets against the bottom of the purple.

Estes Monarch Build, #7214, Part 13, Placing The Purple Fin Trim

The wider purple trim is cut much the same way as the chrome strip. 

A light wipe of glue stick and press the template onto the trim material.

Cut out the purple trim, a little long for overhang of the trailing edge. 

The purple is rolled over the leading edge and evenly spaced from the chrome strip.

The picture was taken after the overhang was trimmed off.

The left side shows the rolled over purple and chrome on the rounded leading edge.

The inset picture shows the trimmed squared trailing edge.

Estes Monarch Build, #7214, Part 12, Placing The Chrome Fin Trim

With the right side of my ruler set into the root edge - The right side of the chrome strip is about 2 1/16". (The ruler has a little extra border on the left side.)

This measurement is consistent from the top to the bottom.

 Notice the masking tape set down as a right side vertical guide for the chrome strip.

Set the center of the chrome V strip on the rounded leading edge.

The tails on the sides aren't stuck down yet.

Set the right side edge down using the tape edge.

When all it lined up, burnish the chrome strip down.

Trim off the overhang from the trailing edge with a sharp knife using a short back and forth sawing motion. 

With the tape guide removed, 

the chrome strips are placed, parallel to the root edge line.

Estes Monarch Build, #7214, Part 11, Cutting The Chrome Fin Trim - TIP

TIP: The larger Estes Optima kit supplies you with holographic tape trim. It's a long strip that won't wrap over the rounded leading edge of the fin, leaving a gap. Here's how I made a continuous "roll-over" piece. 

   

A fin tracing and indications of the purple and chrome trim.

The tracing is mirrored so the pieces could smoothly cover and connect on the leading edge.

A little bit of planning could saves a lot of frustration when dealing with peel and stick trim.

Here's the two templates cut from cardstock. The wider purple piece is on the left, the thinner chrome strip is to the right.

Mark the center fold over line.

Note the top and bottom ends are extended beyond the trailing edges of the fins. This allows an overhang to be trimmed off later.

Apply a light wipe of glue stick to the backside of the thinner chrome template.

The glue coat holds the template in place as you cut the chrome underneath.

The top picture shows the template tacked to the chrome. Cut around the template using a straightedge and sharp knife.

The light wipe of the glue stick allows the template to be lifted after cutting and used again.

Estes Monarch Build, #7214, Part 10, Planning Ahead For Paint & Trim

The instructions don't mention where the black paint starts on the upper end of the body. 

I assume the black paint separation mask is at the low end of the payload tube. The payload tube (catalog #031380) length doesn't come up on the Estes website.

To estimate the length - On my computer screen, I enlarged the instruction picture close to the diameter of the downscale BT-55.

The black paint area measured out at 8 1/2" from the tip of the nose cone down.

The instructions show colors and dimensions of the holographic tape trim. I'll simply half the height.

At Hobby Lobby I found some self adhesive metallic purple vinyl.

The self adhesive chrome is left over from the Estes Doorknob build. I didn't use the chrome trim on the blue "sport" version. I sometimes hang onto unused parts and trim for moments like this.

While not an exact match to the full size Pro 2 holographic trim, it's close enough for my downscale.