Estes Patriot Build #2056, Part 7, Nose Cone Prep

There's not a lot of length in the payload compartment. The nose cone base will be opened up.
It's important to leave the tie down lug on the nose cone base. I like to tie a line so if the nose cone comes off at ejection it'll still stay attached to the model.

A fine tooth razor saw was used to remove most of the base.
A round file rounded out the corners. A tear could start from a sharp inside corner. Rounding the corner keeps the base strong.

Here's the finished open nose cone base.
The curved edge is retained.
Notice the inside corners are rounded.

The engine mount was glued in. The center engine tube is flush with the end of the lower BT-60 tube.

As the mount was pushed in, it was turned to even out the glue ring already inside the tube.
I used the flat sanding block against both tubes to be sure they were even.

With this now a D engine model, a 3/16" lug was used in place of the 1/8" lug.
I set the lugs over two Q-tips for a handle when the CWF filler is brushed on.

Build time:
Sand N.C. seams and fill low spots = 15 minutes
Remove and smooth N.C. base = 15 minutes
Glue in engine mount = 5 minutes
Total build time so far = 2 hours 15 minutes