Centuri Astro 1, Build, Part 11, Fin Border Trim, Second Try

I went back to my old, standard trim material, the Contact Paper Blackboard Covering.
It's stiffer and easier to place than a thin decal.

Three strips were cut. The top of the hole position marked with pencil and holes were punched.
A straight edge and knife were used to cut the fin "slot" out of the center.





The center hole half was set over the rounded leading edge of the fin.

Leave the sides long so you have something to hold onto while setting the lines down the root edge

On the left is 1972 catalog page showing the Astro I.

The black fin border I did looks thicker than the ones in the catalog. After the previous decal try, the thicker lines are okay by me.

Centuri Astro 1, Build, Part 10, Fin Border Decals, First Try

The 1972 Centuri Astro I catalog model had a black border line around the root edge of the fins.

I tried a decal first. It wasn't successful.
I printed up the decal at home and hit it with three coats of clear acrylic.
A hole was punched to fit over the rounded leading edge of the fins.

Straight lines were cut down the middle and to the sides of the punched circle.
Decals tend to be a bit brittle and the punched holes weren't that sharp.

Here's how the decal fits over the fin and down onto the body tube.
This is a dry fit before soaking and transferring the decal.

I could see this coming.
After the thin strips were flexed and pressed into position, the decal edges broke off.
I'll have to try something else.

Old MRN Idea Box, June 1963

Mojo1986 (Joe) is sellng some old Estes Model Rocket News issues on Ebay.
Here's an "Idea Box" post from the June 1963 issue.

I recently used this launch lug wrap piece after realizing I forgot to glue on a launch lug on the AVI Nike Tomahawk. Here they use a wrap of stiff paper. I used a split body tube segment.

Centuri Astro 1, Build, Part 9, Fillets

After the fins are glued in place with white glue, Titebond M&TG is used for the fillets.

If you use the right amount of pressure and apply the right amount of glue, the fillet should be pretty even right out of the bottle.
The inset picture show the glue fillet smoothed out using a fingertip.

Many builders forget about the front leading edge tip of the fin.

Roll some glue around the tip joint and smooth with a fingertip.



The back end root edge joint also needs some extra glue set into the seam. You can use a Q-tip to pick up the excess if it is too hard to reach.

Check out the tube wall thickness of the ST-10 and ST-7 tubes. SO MUCH STRONGER than the Estes BT-50 and BT-20 tubes.

Centuri Astro 1, Build, Part 8, Fin Gluing

The fin lines were drawn down the body tube with pencil.
The primer was then sanded off with some old 220 grit on a block for a better gluing surface. I sanded down just to the white body tube.

The pencil line was re-drawn.





Look close at the glue on the root edge of the fin.
TIP: After applying a line of glue, run your fingertip down the edge at an angle removing some of the glue and evening out the glue bead.
This makes for a cleaner glue joint with less glue to remove when the fin is pressed onto the body tube.





After the first fin was glued on a straight paper strip was taped and slid down to the top corner of the fin.

The other fins were glued on just touching the paper strip. Also check the rear of the model to be sure the trailing edge is even with the end of the body tube.

NEFAR Launch?

I didn't make it to the N.E.F.A.R. launch in Bunnell, FL yesterday.
Plenty of rockets, a chair and snacks were packed.
I got on I/4 just outside of downtown Orlando, hoping to drive North.
Orlando is in the process of rebuilding 1/4, something they are calling 1/4 Ultimate. Construction slowed traffic to a standstill.

I didn't feel like staying in traffic for an extra hour. It usually takes 1 1/2 hours to get to the launch site. A 2 1/2 hour drive? Not today.

Centuri Astro 1, Build, Part 7, Semroc Parachute

The print on the Semroc parachute sheet looks like the old Centuri chutes. The shroud line attachment is very different.

If you were to tie the shroud line on before sticking down the disk, the adhesive on the disk would be covered with skin oils and dirt, diminishing it's hold on the plastic sheet.

Avoid touching the sticky side of the reinforcement disks.
Use some long tweezers and set the line through the sticky back side before setting the disk onto the chute. Orient the shroud lines as shown for an easier tie.
The picture here shows the disk flipped over after the shroud line was stuck down on the back side.

Tie a square knot after the disk (with line attached) is stuck to the parachute.









You can cut the excess line off with scissors or knife.
I usually use a small wire cutter. It leaves a clean cut with no frayed edges.