Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 12, White Paint

Assembly is complete except for the parachute and shock cord ties.

Time for paint! Note the dowel/engine casing painting wand locked in the engine mount. I tend to leave this handle in through much of the build, paint and decal placement. It's easier to hold and not as risky for fingerprints.

This shows some of the spots where the sanding has removed glue blobs. The intake fillet also had some high spots. 

I've been using Ace Premium Enamel (Ace Hardware brand) spray paint for a while now. Shoot when humidity is low, around 2:30 in the afternoon. 

The Ace paint dries to the touch in about an hour, recoat within an hour or after 48 hours.

After one hour I was able to handle the model and do the initial undercoat sanding shown above.

Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 11, Gluing On Launch Lug & Rudders

I no longer waste time with glue fillets on the sides of launch lugs. That glue line was straightened and the width narrowed by pinching your thumb and index finger together. 

Run your finger "V" down the lug making a straight, narrow glue line. 

Carefully place the lug with the glue on the pencil line, 1 3/4" from the rear of the main body tube.

Here's the rudders glued onto the wing tips.

Assembly is finished, ready for white undercoats.

Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 10, Fitting The Rudders To The Wing

Stack the rudder assemblies to be sure the glued angles are consistent.

If they don't line up, apply a little warmth with the low setting on a heat gun and gently bend at the glue joint to match the other rudder assembly. 

On the outside (visual) seam,

Drag some CWF down the joint and immediately smooth and remove excess with a fingertip.

Sand after the CWF dries.

The outside side seam is sanded flat for a stronger glue joint against the edge of the wing.

Use a sanding block but don't go any wider the the 3/32" thickness of the wing.

Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 9, Sanding The Rudder Edge Angle

The root edges of the rudder fins have to be sanded at an angle.

Mark the flat root edges shading with the side of a soft pencil.

The picture on the right shows the angle sand about halfway through. The pencil shading gives a better contrast so you can sand the line evenly.

I'd recommend using a sanding block, like the Estes Ultimate Sanding Bar. To reach a 3/4" dihedral height, the sanding angle is not very steep. 

On the right, you can see what's left of the pencil line. Sand until the pencil shading is gone - no further.

With a weight on one side of the rudder assembly,

Raise the other outside edge to 3/4".

Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 8, Engine Mount & Re-gluing A Wing

The Kevlar, elastic and heat shrink wrap are pushed down and through the engine mount for gluing into the main body tube.

With the Kevlar line, shock cord and heat shrink tube out the back of the engine mount - 

To get the lines out the top, I made a hook out of a coat hanger. Slide it into the top, hook the wire on the shock cord and pull through the front of the tube.

 

After the glue set up on the wings I double checked the alignment. It was off, enough that one wing was cut off and repositioned.

Be sure to cut into the glue, not into the tube when removing a fin.

The engine ribs are glued 3/8" from the root edge.

I cut a strip of tape, 3/8" wide to use as an alignment line.

The picture shows a dry fit, no glue yet.

Note the rear of the rib, it overhangs the rounded trailing edge. The back end of the rib was sanded back, just to the start of the rounded edge.

Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 7, Engine Shrouds

A comment by Naoto K. has proved true!

Those round leading and trailing edges cause the engine shrouds to overhang the balsa.

With the front of the shroud pulled back a little from the rounded edge, the rear of the cardstock overhangs the trailing edge.

I tried the fit of the shrouds over the middle rib.

The rib height is good, at 3/8" away from the root edge, it's just a hair off center.

I trimmed back the back side of the shroud to better fit at the rounded trailing edges.

The rounded wing trailing edge also required trimming back the middle rib.

There was some surface cracks at the sharp folds. The thicker the cardstock, the more likely the folds can start to break up.

I brushed on a thin coat of white glue, keeping the glue on the fold, not down the sides.

After the glue dries, some light sanding can smooth some of it out.

Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 6, Engine Shrouds

I wanted to make the shrouds out of something a little thicker than the regular 110 lb. cardstock. I had some thin posterboard for years, it's about time to use it! It's also shinier on one side - perfect!

The templates were printed on cardstock, the posterboard would be too thick to run through the printer. Shrouds were traced onto the the posterboard with a sharp pencil. Fold lines were added.

Emboss the folds before cutting out the shroud.

I always use a un-serrated butter knife tip and a metal straightedge. 

Gently coax the folds little by little to keep the the edge clean. I did get some slight breaking of the paper fibers. More on this in the next post.

The fold was worked in over my aluminum angle, rubbing the line with a burnisher.

The right and left engine shrouds, almost ready for assembly.

There will be some adjustments when fitting to the model.