Saturday, October 8, 2022

Estes Solar Sailer II, Kit # 2044, Step 3, Parts Prep




Cutting tubes isn't difficult and should be part of your rocketry skillset.

Sometimes I use a few wraps of masking tape for a cutting edge guide.








Clean up and square the tube against some 220 grit sand paper on a block.




There are some exposed centering ring faces where the BT-50 top and bottom tubes overlap the interior BT-20 central tube.
TIP: You can smooth out the exposed face for a cleaner finished model.

On the left, a light coat of wood glue is smeared on the flat face of the centering ring. Let dry.
Sand the dried glue and the face will end up smooth and flat. You might have to do a second glue/sand treatment.


The top ring shown is before, rough with the layered wraps showing.
The bottom ring is after the glue - sanding treatment. 
It looks larger than the upper ring, but it is the same size.

I only treat one side of the ring, the side that will be seen on the finished model.
I draw arrows on the sides pointing to the smooth side for reference when gluing up the assembly later on.

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