Estes Mini Arcas, #2441, Part 20, Fin Taper Decals TIP

In April of 2024 on TRF, Neil W made a great suggestion about simulating fin tapers on the Mini Arcas.

The fins are only 1/16" thick, sanding a diamond fin taper would be very difficult.

TIP: Neil suggested a light gray printed decal set onto the rear half of the fins.

I had been wanting to try this ever since - Thanks Neil!

I drew up some fin tapers with a 10% black. Extras were copied and pasted - I did need them.

I'm not releasing this decal for home prints. My fin supports are a little thicker than the kit supplied pieces. My decals probably wouldn't fit your build. 

It's a challenge to fit the decals to the root edge details.

Add the fin fillets and they'll require individual fitting. Good thing I made the outside and trailing edges a little wide.

Here's the finished look. From a few feet away, the illusion is good. 

Maybe it's a bit dark. If a 5% gray were available I could have used that.

The overhanging edges were trimmed off with a "sawing" motion using a single edge razor blade.

Estes Mini Arcas, #2441, Part 19, Decals

I referenced Peter Alway's book, Rockets Of The World to double check the decal placement. ARCAS reads up, the ATLANTIC RESEARCH CORP. reads down on the other side.

Sight down the body tube to check the vertical alignment of the long decal.

TIP: Many people post about using a drop of dish detergent in the soaking water. They claim it allows a slippery decal, easier to position. 

On YORF, Micromeister brought up a good point. The dish soap can dilute the adhesive on the backside of the decal. 

Wet the area where the decal will be placed. Dip your finger in the water and rub the painted body tube leaving the (painted and sealed) tube a bit wet. Then slide the decal off the backing onto the wet model.

Here's the ARCAS decal between the two small lugs.

Estes Mini Arcas, #2441, Part 18, Launch Lugs

I didn't glue on the lugs before painting the rocket body. 

I thought they would be in the way of the complex mask.

Sometimes I skip the launch lug fillets. Bubbles are a pain!  

     

I wish the lug placement were different. I would prefer the the ARCAS name decal not in line with the launch lugs. 

The lug glue areas were scraped down to the body tube. Don't scrape too wide, you'll want the lug to cover where the paint was taken off.

The glue line on the small lugs is narrow and even down its length.

Set down the glue line and even the line with a fingertip. Use white glue because it dries clear.

Both lugs are glued in place. 

Even without a glue fillet, they aren't going anywhere.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 39, Painting The Propulsion Caps

Painting the propulsion caps is a bit tricky. 

On the rim are three raised dots. I decided to mask these, leaving them along with the shoulder ring, a light gray.

This picture shows a marked Scotch tape mask "dot". The next picture shows how it was cut.

To mask the raised dots, I marked a strip of Scotch tape with a wide Sharpie. Wipe off the excess ink with a paper towel.

When punched, you will be left with a perfect circle. Lift it off the dot and hold it on your knife tip.

Place the dot onto the cap while still on your knife tip.

The sides were masked with brown masking tape. Normally I'd use Scotch tape for the mask, but the shoulders of the cap is tapered and Scotch tape doesn't flex. Both brown and blue masking tapes have a little "give".

The back caps were masked using marked Scotch tape.

Here's the caps after the tape was pulled.

That gray might be a little too dark.

The dome color suggestions are copper, bronze or bright orange. I went with Rusto copper.

Thinner, Lighter Centering Rings?

If you don't have .050" thin cardstock centering rings, You can lighten the engine mount a bit by "halving" 5/20 or 20/50 rings.

On the left is a 5/20 thick centering ring.

Start by drawing a pencil line around the outside of the ring.
 

Using a fine razor saw,

Carefully cut around the ring following the pencil line.

Clean up the rough sawn face using 220 grit on a block.

Here's a single ring, split in two.

Maybe not as light as flat white cardstock rings, but still a reduction of weight in the tail end of the rocket.

 

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 38, Paint - Finally!

The contact cement gluing strop was scraped and lightly sanded before masking with brown masking tape.

The underside of the primary hull.

The smaller rectangles and dowels will be glued on after the decals.

The front and rear propulsion caps were also sprayed off the model.

The Tamiya Insignia White spray paint was the lightest gray I could find. It is gray but with a slight beige tone.

The entire lower body assembly was sprayed with Insignia White.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 37, Sensor Stem Detail, Funky Glue Putty

This works best with yellow wood glue, not white glue - 

Place a drop of glue in the heel of your left hand.

Spread the glue around using your right hand index finger. Let is set up for 20 seconds or so -

As it starts to dry, the glue puddle will gum up.

Continue working the glue into a small ball. Make it as round as possible. Make a few in different diameters.

Let dry overnight.

Drill a tapered hole using a #11 style blade hobby knife. 

This hole should fit onto the tapered dowel.

Here's the sensor stem detail ball in place and shot with a white undercoat.

It's probably too large, but much better than a lopsided glue drop.