Estes Skytracer Clone #1361 Build, Part 4, Making The Nozzles

I've asked myself: "Why do I hang on to old parts?" The answer: "For builds like this!"

I switched over to some old, pre-flown 20 sized nose cones. The intake tip needed to be a bit wider.

This nose cone with the gold spiral stripe was off  a Wizard my daughter assembled at school.

I used the back of my knife blade like a cabinet scraper to remove the paint. Why use the sharp side and dull the blade? The back of the blade scrapes pretty well.

The second nose cone was already painted red/orange. It got scraped then smooth sanding.

The tips were cut off with a razor saw.

The tip was cut at a 1/2" length,

The nozzle cut off below that at another 1/2" down.

On the right - 

The rough sawn tip. Below that, the sawn edge sanded clean.

Here's the first try at the cut pieces.

This first nozzle (middle piece) was too short, another piece was cut at the better length of 1/2".

Here's what I meant about cutting new nozzle bells.

On the left is the first try,

on the right is the better longer nozzle.

Another reason I hang on to old rocket parts - I had to cut up two more surplus BT-5 nose cones from the spare parts drawer.