Bad Tubes?

If you ever built a vintage kit from the 1970s, 80s or 1990s -

You probably noticed the body tubes were of higher quality than what you find in kits now.

Tubes felt stronger and the diagonal wrapped seams were narrower and tighter.

Euclid Spiral Paper Tube company was bought by Paramount Tube a few years back. The older, experienced tube maker employees have probably retired.

Some of the newer tubes have more than one outer seam to fill. 

Layers underneath bulge at overlaps. The outer glassine layer sometimes shrinks into the wide seams underneath. The glassine layers didn't get enough glue that look like they can easily be peeled off. 

I've heard stories of vendors refusing orders of bad tubes.

Some of the crap tubes have showed up in kits.

 

Here's an example - 

The clear outer glassine was sucked into a seam gap underneath.

It was wide and shallow and would have shown under final paint. I ended up cutting through and removing the glassine 

On the left you can see the layer removed over the seam gap.

On the right, the tube has been lightly sanded and the usual clear seam marked with pencil.

Both seams have been filled with CWF.

On the right is after sanding the CWF to surface. Notice the irregular tube surface that shows when the tube is sanded.

I followed up with a coat of filler/primer and sanding to get the tube smooth for color coats.

This is not the fault of Estes or other vendors. Currently, the quality of some Paramount Tubes is very poor.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Finished

I've never assembled a rocket this tall before! I had to take the finished picture outside in the patio.

It's an impressive model with a good amount of scale detail.

The upper section with the antennas and antenna shoes. The long antennas are friction fitted for display. Remove them for flight.

The metal wrap really adds to the grays surrounding it.

The fins - 

and the gold lower scale launch lug.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 33, Ends & Edges

The inside of the interior ring can be roughed up before epoxying to the engine mount tube.

I used one of my diamond files. 

On the right side is the interior ring slid onto the engine tube.

The main body is tied to the larger of the two parachutes.

The upper body gets the smaller chute.

You could do the "loop tie" like on LPR kits, but I tied the shroud lines to the elastic with some doubled Kevlar.

Fabri-Tac Drying UP? TIP

My bottle of Fabri-Tac glue was drying out and quite thick. I could barely shake it down to the nozzle tip. When new, the glue is a bit thick, like the old plastic model cement I used in the 1960s.

One of the ingredients in Fabri-Tac is Acetone. The acetone breaks down and allow plastics to be joined. 

I simply poured a small amount of 100% acetone into the Fabri-Tac bottle and shook it up to mix.

Fabri-Tac is a great glue for joining plastic adapters to body tubes. It is not a good glue for a delicate Apollo or Mercury Redstone tower.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 32, Gluing On The Rear Lugs

Check the scale data sheet for positioning of the rear launch lugs. One goes on each side, centered between two fins.

A positioning template is supplied.

I cut out the sides and the center.

Double check to see if the lug fits accurately in the center area. 

A pencil line was drawn, but inside the edges of the paper template. I didn't want a pencil line that couldn't be erased being so close to the edges of the glued on lug.

Two pieces of tape were set down for a positioning aid. The centers were marked.

I applied medium CA glue to the underside of the lug, not to near the outside edges. 

The lug was pressed in place and held until set. The masking tape pieces were removed.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 31, Gluing On The Forward Lug

The two side pieces of masking tape are more alignment tools. Using CA glue to attach these details doesn't give you much time to reposition once you set the piece down.

Notice the medium CA glue beads set on the back of the forward lug base. I keep the glue away from the outside edges. There will be some "squeeze out" of the glue. Keeping the glue towards the center doesn't allow glue to go beyond the edges when pressed in place.

Here's the forward launch lug in place, centered over the aluminum band. 

It's a good looking scale detail piece.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 30, Setting The Aluminum Wrap

Scale drawings are included in the kit.
This shows the two possible build variations, a Flight Configuration (with three bands of screws) or the Launch Configuration with the aluminum band.

I ended up using the aluminum band after peeling up the two lower rows of sticker screws.

The scale drawing says the aluminum band should be 1.31" wide. The supplied self adhesive strip is around 1.25" wide.

I was concerned the raised color separation line might show under the thin metal band.

The paint line will be covered with the wrap, so the mask line was sanded down and smoothed out.

Note the white strip of paper above the the top of where the strip will be placed. This gives me a straight reference line for placement.

The strip was rolled around the tube, smoothing as you go, using the paper edge as a top guideline.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 29, Oops!

I wanted to show the "Launch" version with the shiny aluminum wrap. 

The screws sticker strip was carefully removed.

    

It happens to all of us! I screwed up.

I don't think I've ever had a perfect finish. I know where the flaws are.

On the left you can see some rough finish with some white undercoat peeking through.

I held the upper body with a paper towel as I sprayed a dull coat acrylic onto the glossy gray. Some of that clear dull coat landed on the paper towel I was holding onto. It soaked into the paper towel and into the paint already on the tube.

After the clear coat dried, some light sanding followed with 800 grit.

I resprayed with what was left of the Tamiya International White. Let dry, lightly sand to help fill.

One more spray coat covered the mistake.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 28, Main Body Decals

Where you can, cut the decals close to the ink like on the "B" Aerojet General and "C" S/G stickers. 

The sticker thickness and clear border won't be as noticeable after spraying on the dull coat.

The long name decal is cut just outside the top and bottom ink.

The long ASTROBEE D ADD 010 decal is not at scale length. You can't set it at the 21.5" measurement from the rear and be able to cut it through the center of the B in Astrobee.

I set mine to be cut down the clear stencil line opening.

Wet the decal after peeling off the backing. Wet the body tube where the decal will sit for easier repositioning.

The C/G decal is set directly below the vertical line on the "D".

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 27, Setting The Screw Stickers

Note: These are not water slide decals but peel and stick. 

I rub some water onto the body tube while the sticker sits on my knife edge in a bowl of water. The water doesn't let the sticker initially grab and allows for repositioning.  

The start / finish joint of the screw strips didn't end up perfectly spaced. The start / finish of the strip is in line with the launch lug and on the back side of the model whether on display or on the launcher.

The screw lines are in place,

Now tackle the screw plates and valve sticker.

The template is slid down while still lined up with fin "A".

The piece of tape has pencil marks for alignment of the sides. The low edge of the tape is the top of the sticker position.

Here's all the upper stickers in place.

When the glossy stickers are all in position, the shiny paint and stickers will get a shot of clear dull coat.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 26, Ready For The Screw Stickers

There is a choice of the "Flight" version with screw heads around the upper section or

The "Launch" version has the self adhesive aluminum band and forward lug.

These pictures will show the Flight version with the three bands of screws. The Launch version will follow. 

You are supplied with a wrap around sticker placement guide for the Flight version.

Note the spacing, how close the screws are to the color separation line. Refer the guide and cut the clear border spacing closer or farther from the outside edge of the printed screws. 

The wrap around placement template almost made it around the tube. Not a perfect match.

Pick one of the fins as the "A" alignment fin, opposite the launch lug. It won't be exactly opposite the launch lug because the "ASTROBEE D ADD 010" sticker is directly above the leading edge of the "A" reference fin, not centered between two fins. There is a "A" line on the upper screw placement template. Be sure the launch lugs aren't in line with the upper antenna housings.

Getting ready to place the line of screws towards the top right.

I slid the template up or down to set the screw strips while being sure the "A" fin is in alignment with the placement guide.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 25, Rear Centering Ring

With the TTW tabs locked into the fin lock rings, the body tube is squeezed in on four sides.

The rear centering ring is slid over the engine mount tube and down against the back of the TTW tabs.

To make the slide in easier, 

I lightly sanded the edge of the ring on one side to slip over the engine mount tube.

It took some coaxing - 

But I got the ring all the way over, in and against the TTW tabs. 

There is still a slight distortion of the round main airframe tube.

A wood glue fillet was applied drop by drop using a Q-tip applicator. Apply a drop of glue on a Q-tip, place the drop and smooth it out using the same Q-tip.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 24, Gluing In The Fins

The fins are glued into the body tube slots and fin lock tabs.

Apply medium CA down the foot edges and onto the edge of the tab rood edge that will contact the engine mount tube. Keep the glue towards the middle of the fin lock tabs. This will prevent squeeze out when the fin is snapped into the fin lock tabs.

Here's the fin assembly all locked in place.

The instructions recommend applying glue into the rear root edge joint. But that's quite a reach -

TIP: You can get CA glue into the back of the fin lock by running a drip of CA onto and down a toothpick.

Place the toothpick tip into the root edge. Drip the glue down onto the toothpick and it will run down into the joint.

Enerjet by Aerotech, Astrobee D Build, Part 23, Engine Mount Positioning

The pre-cut fin slots are removed before the engine mount.

TIP: Don't attempt to push the slot pieces inside the tube. They'll get stuck on remaining fibers and hang up inside. Cut and lift them from the outside.

Carefully remove any remaining masking tape left from the inside of the tube edge. Lift carefully so you don't pull up any Kraft paper wraps.

The engine mount is slid in place.

Here you can see the upper centering ring a little low, below the top of the fin slot. It'll have to be slid up until the ring bottom is even with the upper end of the slot.

Looking inside from the top - 

Turn the engine mount until the fin lock tabs are in line with the slots.

The mount isn't glued in yet, for now it is locked in place by the fin tabs. The TTW fin tabs are glued to the engine mount. There is CA glue applied to the root edges of the fins before clicking them into place. (See next post.)