Estes Asteroid Hunter #3224, Build, Part 16, Gluing On The Fins

Before: The fin tabs were just a little tall, not allowing the outside root edges to touch the card stock body.

After: This is a simple fix, some sanding on the internal fin tab root edge brought the fin down for full contact on the body skin.

On a dry fit of the fin -

If the card stock slot is distorted along the root edge, you might have to widen the slot.

A few passes with a small diamond file made for a much better fit along the edge. 

The instruction drawing shows glue all the way around the root edge and more glue on the side faces of the fin tab. The glue on the side face would be pushed out to the outside when the fin is slid in.

The fin fit is very strong without the glue on the sides of the tab. Initially I only applied a line of glue on the bottom of the fin tab and the bottom of the edges that touch the card stock body. 

Here's where the build stands today - 

A big burly model, much stockier than I thought it would be.  

It reminds me of a squared off version of the OOP Quest X-30 Aerospace Plane.