Estes Cosmic Interceptor Build, Part 6, Balsa Prepping

I kept the glue fillets on the vanes small. Any excess glue was picked up with Q-tips.

Lots of laser cut balsa in this kit!

Four sheets of 1/8" thick wood.

This is part of one fin assembly.

On the left - I've sanded the edges with 320 grit on a block. This is about halfway through the edge sand. 

On the right - The finished edge sand, just a small bit of laser cut ash remains. Sand off just the ash, don't change the size or shape of the piece.

Another sand,

On the left - With the block held perpendicular to the fin face, you can see how the laser cut isn't cut at a true 90 degree angle. 

The fit will be better if the edges are true.

On the right - 

The ash is removed and the fin edges square.

Old School Krylon Available Again?

From the Estes Model Rockets Group on Facebook - 

David Scigs wrote:

"Great news, Krylon has listened to us and brought back their Acrylic Lacquer spray paint now being sold at Lowes. No more heavy enamel paint and a paint you can recoat anytime without getting the rocket herpes. Much more affordable than Tamiya."

CLICK HERE

This is great news! The same paint I used back in the 1970s on all my model rockets.

Bear in mind, you will need a solid white undercoat as the lighter colors are somewhat translucent.

Avoid spraying a lacquer over enamel. The lacquer might craze the enamel paint.

Doing an availability search, it looks like the Krylon Classic is available at some Ace hardware stores and Walmart. It MIGHT be available at these stores.

Estes Cosmic Interceptor Build, Part 5, Fitting The Vanes

The engine hook retainer ring is rough with a wide seam that could be seen when painted.

I added a wrap of copy paper with a glue stick. This smooths out the surface and covers the seam spiral.

I sealed the surface with some CA glue wiped on with a Q-tip.

Notice the CA glue is not applied on the line where the vanes will be glued.

On the left is the glue applied to the vane root edge.

On the right is the same glue line after smoothing and removing the excess. This makes a cleaner glue line when the vane is pressed in place.

Set the first four vanes in a standard cruciform pattern.

When setting the other four, you might want to rely on visual spacing instead of strict pencil lines. Even with my payloadbay.com marking guide, I found a visual spacing was closer to the truth.

On the left - Notice the fit of the two vanes that glue beside the engine hook. Over the engine hook, the retainer ring is raised. 

On the right - The center notch was deepened with a diamond file to bring all three contact points onto the tube.

Estes Cosmic Interceptor Build, Part 4, Prepping The Engine Mount Tubes

There are many tubes in this kit - I'll be filling seams as I go.

The engine mount tube and the short tube that goes over the vanes got the seams pencil marked.

Thinned CWF was dragged into the seams using the tip of an old X-Acto #11 blade.

After it dried, sanding followed to surface with 400 grit.

I know - I'm filling an inside seam.

I won't know how visible this will be until the vanes are glued on.

After filling, more sanding.

The two tubes got a shot of Duplicolor Filler/Primer (FP101) and sanding. Two steps and the seams are filled.

The engine mount marking guide didn't quite match up around the engine tube. 

A comment once said: "It won't match up after the tube diameter is increased if the seams were filled."

The wrap was placed at the upper end of the tube where no filling was done. A new marking guide was printed at payloadbay.com.

To place the engine block, tape wraps were done at the 1/2" mark.

Estes Cosmic Interceptor Build, Part 3, Prepping The Engine Vanes

Lightly sand the laser cut ash edges with 400 grit.

The pics show the before and after sanding.

The exposed edges (shown here marked with pencil) should be sealed. If not sealed, the paint will soak into the open fibers and the edges will be uneven.

A segment of tubing will glue over the edge without the pencil line. 

Run a narrow bead of glue down the side edges. 

With the side of your finger, even out the bead getting a rounded even coverage from side to side. Remove the glue from the sides of the vane, leaving only a rounded bead over the edge.

After the glue bead dries, lightly smooth with 400 grit.

Estes Cosmic Interceptor Build, Part 2, Centering Ring Fitting

Here's all the engine mount parts - 

The centering rings are on the laser cut cardstock sheet to the right side.

This build will involve some fine fitting of parts.

Save the excess cardstock,

at least the large pieces left over.

It'll come in handy for a future build.

The fit of the rings was so tight, they wouldn't slip over the engine tube!

Wrap some 220 around a finger to enlarge the hole until you get a friction fit.

 

Here's the fit I was looking for!

Estes Cosmic Interceptor Build, Part 1, Parts

This one has been in the build pile too long!

40" tall, 2" diameter and the upscaled Interceptor nose cone.

Multi-piece wings , a detailed engine and an air intake scoop.

Another great John Boren design. released in 2012 and discontinued between 2017 and 2018.

Two lengths of 2" diameter body tube, the two long tubes are the main body, the shorter (slightly wider diameter) tube is for the intake.

Two couplers, one to join the main body tubes, the second is for the engine mount.

That small ring fits over the engine mount ribs.

Other parts, most are self explanatory.

A 24" nylon parachute,

1/4" wide x 38" long elastic shock cord

Two 1/4" diameter launch lugs

That coupler is one from the above picture, used in the engine mount.

Four sheets of 1/8" dense balsa.

Plenty of laser cut, cardstock details. The smaller piece is for the air intake scoop, the larger piece holds the engine mount parts.

Estes Mini Scale Combo Pak, #0874, Tomahawk & Exocet, Build, Finished

Not much to these BT-5 based, mini rockets.

Nose blow recovery, no parachute or streamer. I did add streamers to both models. Without the chromed streamers they'll be hard to track during recovery.

The die-cut cardstock fins were difficult to get smooth and flat. 

The fin decals on the Tomahawk weren't much. If you didn't black the outside edges before applying the decals, you'd end up with white borders on all sides. 

The shock cord cover could have been better positioned, lower so the black band decal wouldn't go right over the lumpy top cover. Oh well!

Estes Mini Scale Combo Pak, #0874, Tomahawk & Exocet, Part 17, Recovery Streamers

Before simply turning the screw eye into the nose cone shoulder - 

Find the center with a pencil point. It might take a few tries to find the actual center. If the screw eye isn't centered you might rub against the inside of the tube.

Screw in one full turn and check the vertical alignment. Adjust before continuing.

Here's the Exocet nose cone, the forward fins require the nose weight washers for stability. The diameter of the washers are another good reason to be sure the screw eye is centered. 

The shock cord is tied on using the Duncan Uni-Knot: CLICK HERE

Using this knot the shock cord end points down. When packing the shock cord you'll appreciate the shock cord end facing down into the tube.

The streamer (dollar store table cover) material was gold on one side and chrome on the other.

Tape the shock cord to the streamer . 

Fold the overhang and tape again.

Estes Mini Scale Combo Pak, #0874, Tomahawk & Exocet, Build, Part 16, Exocet Paint & Decals

Earlier in the build I questioned why there two tubes joined by a coupler. As it turns out, the upper tube on the Exocet is the color separation line between the orange and black paint!

It's a simple mask, body tube color separations usually come out very clean. The upper body was covered.

The Scotch tape mask left a very clean line.

Only two decals, centered between the upper fins. 

The same decal is on the other side.

These decals are old, but held up very well when transferred. They just needed a longer soak time.

Estes Mini Scale Combo Pak, #0874, Tomahawk & Exocet, Build, Part 15, Tomahawk Fin Decal

The Tomahawk also has black decals that cover both sides of one fin.

That leaves all the exposed edge white. 

Before placing the decal fins, I blacked the edges with a Sharpie.

The root edge is cut right up to the black ink. This gives you a clean root edge color separation. The rest of the fin though -

The fin decals are slightly larger than the fin face.

Roll over the edges as best you can. They aren't long enough to stick to the other side of the fin.

Apply one side of the fin decal and let dry.

You can trim them to the fin edges using a new single edge razor blade.

Estes Mini Scale Combo Pak, #0874, Tomahawk & Exocet, Build, Part 14, Tomahawk Wrap Decal

I should have checked beforehand - 

That upper black band goes right over the lumpy shock cord cover! I've seen this a few times in kits. As an example: Decals are sometimes placed over launch lugs. Poor planning and kit design. 

If I had looked ahead I could have put the shock cord cover lower, just beneath the black band decal.

Before placing the black band, I ran a black Sharpie around the top edge of the body tube. It will make for a cleaner color separation if you cover up the white paint.

Start the decal with the left side set into the edge of the shock cord cover.

The decal rolled around all right but there was a bump directly above the raised shock cord.

While it was still malleable, I cut through the decal from the center area forward. This made a "flap" where after one side was pressed down, the other side layered on top. 

The raised area is now pretty flat. Not perfect, but better.

Estes Mini Scale Combo Pak, #0874, Tomahawk & Exocet, Build, Part 13, Color Coats - Finally!

I had the two models prepped for color coats - ready to move onto my patio to spray paint. I looked out the back window and saw this - 

Two hours later the rain had dried up. I was risking some "bluing" or a dulled finish, but decided to spray anyway. Enough delays!

The upper body of the Exocet was painted orange. The final black on the lower body will fully cover the orange and white fade.

The Tomahawk nose cone was taped to a dowel and painted red.

There was some dullness in the gloss white caused by the humidity after the rain. Sometimes you can shine it up using automotive polishing compound and a microfiber cloth. 

On the left is the dulled white - 

On the right, the same fin after polishing.

Apollo Spacecraft Video

While I wait for the white undercoats to dry - 

 Here's an interesting, in depth video: CLICK HERE 

Rain! . . . and more rain!

Just about the time the humidity drops at 2:30 p.m.  It rains! I can't paint.

Work continues on the Mini Scale Combo Pack rockets, but is stalled by the weather!

School Supplies - Rocket Supplies

An annual reminder - Back To School Supplies are on sale!

I don't use school glue. I use wood glue.

But - the wood glue nozzle is too wide! 

Buy a bottle of school glue, and change the two nozzles.

The threads are the same.

At the Dollar Tree store - 

Clay nose weight for $1.50.

It's also good for trimming boost gliders.

 

Occasionally I can use glue sticks.

They are great for paper body wraps.

Another buy at the Dollar Tree store.

Mylar table cover sheeting for streamers and parachutes.

Also available in a chrome finish.

This sheeting is pretty thin, it's more prone to ejection charge  damage. 

So, be extra careful when packing the wadding: CLICK HERE

Estes Mini Scale Combo Pak, #0874, Tomahawk & Exocet, Build, Part 12, Sanding White Undercoats

Here's the same fin, before and after fine sanding after a white undercoat.

The die-cut pressure crimped the backside of the fin edges.

It's finally smoothing out after initial sanding, filler/primer and sanding and now sanding the white undercoats.

The paper shock cord anchor looks okay after light sanding. There is still a shock cord hump.

 

The tube joint should look better after the color coats.