After the fin skins have dried -
Cut out the fins on the border lines using a straightedge and sharp knife. Only cut on the side that says "Root Edge" with the thin black border.
Cut through all three layers.
After cutting, you may feel a wider swelled edge at the cut lines.
You can compress these sides down with a burnisher.
I'd recommend rubbing in a small bead of white glue down the cut edges to seal them. Keep the glue off flat sides of the fins. Remember - white glue dries clear, wood glue dries yellow.
Four fins, ready for gluing onto the rocket body.
I used the decal placement from the 1970s original Goblin kit.
On my first carded model, I remember being surprised at how strong and stiff the fins were.
The 3 is dead? Was that deliberate?
ReplyDeleteIt depends on how you're viewing it. You could view it as being dead or lazy/laid-back when the rocket is vertically oriented. It could be seen as upright when the rocket is oriented horizontally with the black fin "down". Another perspective on the "3" is that it's acting like a bat with its wings curled upward.
DeleteThe funny bit is that the "3" marking is seen as upright (with the rocket horizontal) in the K-55 instructions, while it's completely missing on the photographic image on the instructions.
Hi Phil,
DeleteVery deliberate! Check out page 4 of the original instructions: https://spacemodeling.org/jimz/estes/k-55.pdf
On the illustrations and photo in the K-55 instructions, the "Goblin" wording is aligned to the perpendicular to the body, while in the 1972 catalog image, the wording is aligned to the trailing edge, and the "3" as depicted in vertical orientation with its baseline following the trailing edge of the fin. In the 1973 and subsequent year catalog the rocket is seen from the opposite side with the "3" fin in the background (with only a slight hint of the "3" marking showing, but not enough to definitively determine its orientation). Also note that the location of the black fin with respect to the launch lug seems to be different.
DeleteAlso note that the instructions do not specify how the markings appear on the other side of the rocket. It would be natural to assume that the "3" marking appears on opposite sides of the fin -- though it's not clear if it should be "mirrored". If you take the interpretation of the "3" emulating a bat, then the "3" on the other side of the fin is a mirror image. It's not apparent if the "Goblin" wording and the cartoon goblin image on the opposite side of the rocket on the same fin, or on opposing fin (i.e. should the "Goblin" and cartoon goblin appear on the opposite side of the same fin, or should the fins have "Goblin" wording on one side and cartoon goblin on the other side).
Hi Chris! This is a fascinating build! Lots of card modeling techniques at play here. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks JHall!
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