Estes Black Brant III, Final Finished

Fixed!
This is much better. The double layered white decals weren't that hard to do, it just took extra time.
The double layer of white isn't thick or too high off the surface.
The black NRC meatball logo shows a little transparency, but I can live with that.

Estes Black Brant III, Paart 17, Decal Re-do Again, Fixed

I didn't like how the white decal strips came out.
They were translucent and looked like a light pink color, except where another layer of white was set over it.

I realized all the white areas would take two layers of the white decal, just like two coats of white paint to be opaque.
All the black type and flag overlay decals were lifted and thrown away. I hadn't sealed these with Future and they lifted pretty easily.

The long strip down the middle stayed down, but had to be cut out where the new double layers would go.

Here's the middle strip with double layers applied.
The rectangle near the center will get a second layer. This is the white area under the flag.
In the end, there were twelve cut and fitted doubled white areas.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 16, Decal Fix? Part 2

The rivets and panel decal were re-drawn from a scan of Estes kit decal sheet.
It doesn't match up to the Alway data but this was supposed to be an Estes clone so compromises were made.

The inset picture shows how the overlap was trimmed.
The screw spacing matched up very well.

After that decal was thoroughly dry, the clear overlap edge was sanded off.
You could trim this off with a new razor blade. Sanding sometimes leaves a clean edge without tearing.

The NRC logo was applied.
Another wider band of white was set down for the N.R.C.O.C. name border.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 15, Decal Fix? Part 1

The model sat for a month until I put in another order of decal sheets.
This time my ordered included "white" decals. These are meant for decals that need a white undercoat or border. I thought these would be much thinner than the clear sheets I sprayed with white paint.
They were - almost too thin.
The decal sheet did get three coats of Krylon clear.

Down the main body of the rocket there is a white vertical band around 3/8" wide.

These stripes were cut down the long 11" side of the sheet, still too small  for the length of the body tube.
The second piece was carefully matched up.
I tried to plan ahead, the seam will be covered by the Canada flag decal.

The Canada flag decal gets a slight white border.
More white was cut, just a bit larger than the flag.

The white box was set down first followed by the red flag.

Mentioned earlier, the decals are a bit translucent over the red body.
I probably could have done two layers of white, making it opaque.
I was concerned about it being three layers and ending up too thick.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 14, White Background Decal Problems

Things don't always go as planned!
Mistakes sometimes lead to solutions and better techniques.

That's better! Two red fins and one white fin.
I did another mask down the root edge fillet.

I thought I would do the white vertical stripes using a clear decal sheet sprayed with white paint. You end up sliding off a trimmed coat of paint and applying that onto the model.
It's worked before - not this time!

The longest white vertical stripes were cut to 3/8" width.

When cutting spray painted decal sheets you have to do very light surface cuts. The paint can chip if you are too aggressive.

The wide band at the top wrapped fine. (See below)
The vertical strips didn't adhere well. Maybe the white spray paint was too thick to roll down the body tube.

This shows the upper band, it adhered pretty well.
A second try at the vertical stripes was done with white electrical tape.
The long body decal looked translucent next to the upper band. This tape line was pulled and thrown away.
When I find one -
I'll have to try again later with a white backed decal sheet, not the sprayed clear sheet.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 13, Mask and Paint

EDIT: Boy did I screw this one up!
I read the Peter Alway ROTW drawings wrong.
I painted two white and one red fin.
The Black Brant III has a long white stripe between two of the three fin positions.
There is a reason Estes only included one white stripe decal. You can't apply the two opposite decals with the launch lug in the way!
I should have double checked the Estes and Canaroc instructions before masking this one.
I'll have to go back and paint another fin red.
I'll end up doing just one white stripe and decals down one side

The nose cone and tail nozzle were pulled out and will be painted separately.
According to Always Rockets Of the World, it's a pretty simple pattern. Two red fins and one white one. (Wrong - See EDIT above)
The whole body tube is painted gloss red.

The root edges were masked off with Scotch tape, the rest of the fin covered in cheap masking tape.

Here's the reveal.
All was good, a little back scraping was needed right at the tip of the leading edge where it meets the body tube.

The nose cone color is silver, I'll use aluminum.
The tail cone is painted black. I'll use gloss black then hit that with a dull coat.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 12, NRC Logo

After searching through a hundred fonts, I couldn't find anything close to the NRC logo shown in Alway's ROTW book. I'll have to draw something close.

Here's how it looks side-by-side in Corel Draw.
The NRC letters were traced over the book art with straight lines.
Then using the shape tool, curves were added to match the original.
Some line ends are rounded, others are squared off.

The only thing I can't figure out is how to change the line weight.
For example, the middle diagonal of the N is heavier than the verticals.

The Estes decal is much more detailed. To keep it easier I went with the Alway art.
This "meatball" will be pretty small on the model. It's close enough for me!

Estes Black Brant III, Part 11, Fin Gluing

Good thing I checked back to the Black Brant III instructions at:
www.oldrocketplans.com
The "rear edge of the fins are even with the rear edge of the nozzle section."
I'll leave off the nozzle until after the model and nozzle are painted.
The nozzle is flat black, the only black on the model. Painting the nozzle first just saves a masking step around the fins.

I'll glue the fins on with the nozzle slipped in, no glue.
The nozzle will be painted then glued in later.

The root edge lines were roughed up with some sandpaper on a block.

A pencil mark was drawn under the nozzle lip placement of the rear fin root edge.

Look close and you can see the rear root edge overhanging the body tube end and onto the nozzle lip.











After the initial glue dried the nozzle was pulled out and white glue fillets applied.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 10, Nose Cone Lug Tip

The Estes Black Brant III instructions don't mention clearing the plastic from the nose cone attachment lug.
This tie point is square and the sides aren't that thick.
Normally I'd use a #11 X-Acto blade and cut out the square center.
I didn't want to take the chance of cutting through the sides.
I used a small rat tail diamond file instead.

The tip was spun in the center until the tip broke through.
The file was spun until the file edges met the square sides of the lug.

TIP: A round hole has less chance of breaking through. You aren't cutting out the corners with a sharp knife that might start a tear.
The little bit of plastic left in the corners make the attachment point much stronger.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 9, Engine Mount and Launch Lug

The fit of the mount was loose in the BT-50.
With a glue stick, one wrap of copy paper was glued around both green rings.

Glue was applied inside the tube using the dowel pencil line from the last step.
The coupler was quickly inserted and pushed in place using the engine mount up to the lower pencil line on the engine mount tube.
The engine mount was removed.

After the coupler glue had dried the mount was glued in.
With the coupler in place you have a "stop". The mount is slid in until it stops against the reinforcement coupler edge.

The Estes instructions have you glue in the nozzle and mask if off for the black paint.
Don't glue it in now, paint it black then glue in place and save yourself some tight masking.

The launch lug is glued in line with the engine hook, 4" above the end of the body tube.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 8, Reinforcement Coupler

Lately, BT-50s in every build have buckled after recovery. Even with a soft landing the BT-50 crimps down the inside spiral above the engine mount.

I made an interior coupler from Crossfire BT-50 tube.
1 1/2" was cut and slit straight down its length.
The tube was overlapped and slid into the Black Brant tube.
Push it to the inside diameter and mark the edge with a sharp pencil.


Enlarge the picture to see the cut line.

With sharp scissors cut just to the side of the pencil line.
This should give you a tight slip fit in the body tube.
The edges of the split coupler will butt tightly together.




The coupler will be pushed in place with the engine mount. It will sit right above the upper green centering ring.
Apply glue far enough inside the tube for the coupler first, slide it in place with the engine mount. Remove the mount.

At the bottom of the engine mount tube is a pencil line. Apply glue in the main tube, the mount is pushed in up to the line.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 7, Tube Fill, Fin Primer

This replacement BMS BT-50 had the tightest seams I'd seen in a while.
Normally I'll run a mechanical pencil down the seam rut so it's easier to see when applying CWF.
The pencil kept slipping out of the seam.
Still, if you can feel it with a fingernail it gets CWF and primer.

The front and back ends of the tube got a wipe of CA glue.
You can use your fingers as a depth gauge as you go around the edge.

The fins were shot with primer/filler and sanded.

On the left you can still see the sanded fin taper.
I sand the tapers first trying to keep the sandpaper away from the high ridges.






After sanding the primer still shows on the high points of the tapers.

As thin as the sprayed primer coat is, what's left after sanding helps define the sharpness of the taper edge.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 6, Fin Taper Sanding

Use your thumb as a "stop" against the high point lines.
(For clarity I left the pencil shading off the surface of this fin.)

Sand a few stokes and take a look at the black ink left on the leading edge. Turn over the fin and sand some on the other side.
Always check back to the ink on the leading edge. Make sure the remaining ink thickness is consistent on both sides.
When the taper is done, a quick hit with 400 grit will take off any of the remaining black line on the leading and trailing edges.

Here's a finished fin.
The pencil shading help you see how straight the sanded edge is even if you take off some of the original pencil line.









On the left is a view from the root edge.
The inset picture shows the outside edge closest to you.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 5, Fin Shaping Prep

Sanding accurate scale fin tapers can takes extra time and some preparation.
Some of these techniques were shown in an article I wrote for the Apogee Peak Of Flight newsletter HERE

In addition to the leading and trailing edge taper, the Black Brant III fins were wider at the root edge and tapered thinner towards the outside edge.
The fins on this size model are only 1/16" thick. I won't be tapering the fins from the root edge out.
I'm concentrating on the leading and trailing edge wedge tapers.
You could use 1/16" balsa, but on something this thin I'd recommend basswood.

I'm convinced anyone can do these fin tapers.
You simply have to take more time, sand with a lighter touch and check your work often while shaping.

One problem is you can't see the taper and sanded edge on a small piece of light colored wood.
I mark and pencil the edges for a better visual contrast.

You'll be marking the edges with a wide point permanent marker.
Seal the edges so the ink won't seep in too deep into the wood.
Keep the ink on the outside and it will be removed before any painting. Ink will show through sprayed paint.

Rub some medium CA glue on the leading and trailing edge to be sanded. The CA doesn't allow the marker to soak very deep into the wood. It also strengthens the thin wood edges.

Here's the marked edges.
On the left is leading edge. Start from the middle and make a quick pass to the outside. Start again from the middle and mark the other side.
Go quickly, you don't want a lot of ink soaking into the wood.
The inset shows the ink on the trailing edge.

Mark the high points of the fins with pencil.

For more contrast on the flat surfaces, mark with the side of a pencil and shade towards the center.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 4, Engine Mount and Nozzle

TIP: You'll find it easier to cut the engine hook notch if the nozzle is left attached to the nose cone. There is just more to hold onto.

Remove the back end off the nozzle.
Now you can score the raised area that opens up into the hook movement relief.
Don't cut to the edge but go a little inside the raised block.

The rest of the raised lip was shaped down with a rectangular file.

Now you can the nose cone from the nozzle end.

A dry fit over the engine mount didn't allow enough movement of the engine hook.
Looking inside the nozzle, there was a raised area inside and above the notch.
This bump was cut and filed down. The engine hook moves more now allowing an engine to be slid in.

The entire engine mount was dry fitted to see how the nozzle would fit against the centering ring.
A Kevlar line was added below the upper ring. The upper ring will be glued lower than the Estes Black Brant instructions say. I wanted the ring over the top bend of the engine hook.

The inset picture shows the fit of the nozzle when butted up against the lower ring.

Estes Black Brant III, Part 3, Decal Draw

The colors and type fonts of the Estes kit decals at www.oldrocketplans.com
didn't match up to the Alway drawings in ROTW.

The Black Brant III drawing was scanned and dropped into an new page in Corel Draw.
I enlarged the Alway drawing until the body diameter was .976" or the diameter of a BT-50.
Everything was traced. The NRC logo isn't the final art. I still have to re-work it.

Since I can't print white on my inkjet printer -
The white bands will be made by spraying gloss white on a clear decal sheet.
The white bands will be cut and water transferred.
The NRC logo, "National Research Council Of Canada" and Canada flag will be a second layer of decals on top of the white bands.
I'm still not sure about the decals with the blue rectangles and screw heads.

Sorry, I won't be able to send out a decal PDF on this one.
Black Brant III decals are available from ExcelsiorRocketry.com: HERE

Estes Black Brant III, Part 2, Fin Drawing

I found the instructions and fins at Old Rocket Plans HERE


Buzz McDermott submitted the plans and placed a ruler reference below the fins.
TIP: If you ever submit plans to a website, place a ruler in the picture for size reference.

The fin picture was copied and dropped into Corel Draw.
I drew a 1" square box and matched the ruler in the picture to the 1" span.
A fin outline was traced. 
To be sure I was tracing the fin outline and not just a shadow, the original tracing was set on the two other fins. Small adjustments were made, the final fin drawing is on the right.

I had assumed the kit fins were 3/32" thick but JeffyJeep went with 1/16" thick basswood.
Page 344 of Peter Alway's Rockets Of The World shows the Black Brant fins being thin so the 1/16" thickness was probably included in the Estes kit.
As shown in the upper right, the fins will get the scale taper so basswood will be used instead of balsa for strength.