Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 17, Adding The Second "Finlet"

I drew a pencil line for the second finlet by sighting down the nose cone tip.

This seemed iffy, I matched the straight angle by matching the knife angle to the finlet in the nose cone.

Removing the finlet you can see the slot that was crushed into the balsa. It's actually pretty clean, a tight fit.

The second finlet is pressed into it's slot.

I was lucky - the alignment is good.

After adjusting the height of the finlets, there was a small gap at the bottom of one slot.

A wedge of balsa was cut and pressed into the void. The edges of the finlets should be rounded.

Here's the two nose cones (balsa above the 3D print) compared side by side. If the balsa cone were filled and painted I doubt you could tell the difference. The basswood finlets are a little thicker.

They are the same length, there is a little photo distortion.

Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 16, Making a "Finlet" Nose Cone

If you don't have a plastic PNC-50S nose cone (with the finlets) You can make one using a BNC-50Y balsa nose cone and some 1/16" thick basswood.

When researching this build, I checked the old Vashon Sandpiper instructions. To see them, CLICK HERE

The balsa nose cone gets a slot cut, and the tapered canard root edge is pushed into the slot. 

I thought this would be iffy, but I had an extra BNC-50Y nose cone to experiment with.

The finlets (or canards) pattern is on the PDF available to Patreon subscribers.

The Vashon kit used balsa, but I'd recommend using stiffer basswood.

Cut out the pattern and trace onto 1/16" thick basswood.

The distance behind the trailing edge of the finlet to the shoulder lip is just under 1 3/4".

Mark a straight line with pencil the length of the root edge.

Mark the depth of the exposed root edge on the finlet.

Using a sanding block, sand a sharp taper to the inset tab.

Cut a slit about the depth of the inset tab. There is no need to cut and remove balsa.

Cut another slit on both sides, just to the side of the first slit. Side by side, the three slits are about 1/32" in width.

You should be able to press in the tapered tab up the root edge pencil line.

Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 15, Decals Ready For Patreon Members

The Aries SST decals are available to Patreon supporters.

You can request the decals at: oddlrockets@bellsouth.net

There are usually extras on my decal sheets. These are for soak time and transfer testing. Extras also fill out the sheet.

On the second PDF are the fin patterns and shrouds. The shrouds are marked for a better, closer trim if you decide to round the leading and trailing edges of the wings.

Another PDF, just released is the Estes BT-50 based Sandpiper. The Air Force logos have white decal underlay patterns.

This is a double decal sheet.

A second page holds the fin templates and shrouds.

If you are a Patreon subscriber, ask for the Estes Sandpiper PDF through: oddlrockets@bellsouth.net

If you don't have access to a 3D printer -  in an upcoming post -

I'll show how to make the "finned" nose cone using a balsa cone and thin basswood (or ply).

Estes Aries SST, #1927, Build, Part 14, Moving The Launch Lug

On the flipside (underside) - 

Pencil mark the lug line, the ends just inside the 2 3/8" lug length.

Using a straightedge, cut some very shallow lines just into the paint.

Scrape off the paint, it will chip off between the scribed lines.

The same launch lug was glued on to the scraped area.

With the lug in the right place, 

now I can sleep at night!

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Finished

 

Another build crossed off the list!

Trickiest part of the paint is the nose cone tip.

The white underlays work well. The green and brown bands set over the orange paint could have used a white underlay. Oh well! 

The vertical stripe band sets right on the top of the shroud joint. This would cover any rough edges.

I haven't added the clay weight in the nose cone yet. 

Does anybody know the clay weight that came in the original kit?

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 16, Painting The Nose Cone Tip

One way to mask a nose cone tip - 

Set down a strip of clear Scotch tape.

Draw a curve with a wide point Sharpie. Let dry, wipe off excess ink with a paper towel.

Cut a smooth arc through the middle of the ink line.

The winglets are masked of with strait pieces of tape.

Cut the curved tape in half into shorter segments.

The curve allows you to lay the tape line in a "straight" line.

The lower half of the nose cone is masked off with brown paper tape.

Here's the finished nose cone.

Scotch tape masks will give a good line if your surfaces are smooth (no fillet bubbles or balsa grain) and the tape is sealing the edges.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 15, More Decals

Note the tunnel (launch lug) is considered the bottom when the model is held horizontally.

Set down all the wrap bands first - 

then center the Air Force logo between the two forward bands.

The stars and bars were slid back a little to cover the white underlay. 

The TARGET decal follows behind the stars and bars. Another TARGET decal goes on the opposite side.

Two TARGET decals go on both sides of the wings.

The largest USAF and black stripes decals are a little confusing.

The USAF and stripes decal is separated on the decal sheet. The two pieces go on either side of the tunnel.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 14, White (Under) Decals TIP

On the decal sheet are star and bar outlines. These will be the white decal layer under the blue and red Air Force logo.

The dashed blue border lines are a hair smaller than the blue border on the Air Force logo overlay decal.

The underlay decal is sprayed with gloss white paint. This seals the surface, no clear coat is necessary for a water transfer. 

You should still be able to see the dashed cut lines.

Cut out the white sprayed decals. 

Soak and transfer the white underlay decal.

I'm rolling a damp Q-tip over the paint thickness "decal" to smooth it out and remove excess water and air bubbles. Let dry.

The white decal on the model gets some water lightly rubbed on with a finger - leave wet. This water acts as a lubricant for the overlay positioning.

Soak and transfer the red and blue Air Force logo. In the right side picture it isn't in position yet.

After sliding around a bit, you can center and cover any white edges with the overlay decal. Use the rolled damp Q-tip again to smooth it out.

This white paint decal idea works well in some applications. It certainly looks better than the orange paint showing through the clear areas.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 13, Orange Paint

Finally, a dry afternoon for painting!

The model is an overall orange with a black tip of the nose cone.

Most of the prep was worth it, I had two areas of concern - 

The orange Ace enamel was a bit runny.

The upper edge of this fin had a run. I might wait for it to dry, sand and spray just the outside of the small fin. 

Dog hair! 

It had to happen sooner or later.

Look close and you'll see the fine line hair.

The finlet isn't a clean orange, some of the gray plastic is showing through from some earlier sanding. I may mask this finlet, spray white then orange again.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 12, Ends & Edges, Decals

While waiting two days for the white undercoats to dry.

I doubt I'll get to the orange paint today, it's Father's Day. I'll be spending the afternoon with my daughters. 

My eighth grade woodshop teacher told me: "Anybody can get a table top smooth. A craftsman will focus on the ends and edges."

That statement stayed with me.

One thing I usually do is round out the cut ends of the launch lug. Rotate a sharpened dowel in the lug ends without flaring out the diameter.
 

I re-drew the kit decals. They'll be available soon to Patreon subscribers.

At the bottom are outline templates for cutting out white decals that go underneath the stars and bars. 

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 11, Screw Eye & Nose Cone Pattern

I picked the nose cone shoulder with the screw eye attachment.

The hole did need enlargement using a small file.

Before I can release the decals and templates, I have to print and test the size and fit.

I printed and cut out the nose cone decor pattern over the nose cone and winglets. The black paint line is at the bottom edge of the pattern. 

The one I drew up was a little too long. The lower edge should be just above the halfway point of the finlets root edge.

I made adjustments to the template page.

Here's the templates, as close as I could get them.

These and the decals will be available to Patreon subscribers after I place the decals on the painted model.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 10, Sanding The White Undercoats

After the first white undercoat,

fine sanding with 400 grit showed there was still some uneven fillets.

The inside fillets are a little hard to reach.

This one showed a bubble after sanding. More glue - 

This had to be the best fitting shroud I've ever done!

It was surprising, I didn't have a shroud tool, the one at payloadbay.com wasn't available. Those tools are now at jonrocket.com.

Smooth, with very little filling.

The 3D printed nose cone turned out very smooth!

Initially, there were very subtle ridges, but those sanded out. One shot of filler/primer and sanding got it ready for color.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 9, Fillets Down The Long Launch Lug

Sometimes I don't bother with launch lug fillets, it's a pain dealing with the air bubbles when the glue dries.

To the left is the first glue fillet still wet, just smoothed with a finger. Let the glue totally dry.

Here's the same fillet, dried with air pockets. Another glue fillet will fill some of the open holes.

It'll take three or four fillets to fill and smooth the glue line.

After three fillets the inside fill is looks smooth. 

You can lightly sand the fillet to further smooth before paint.

This launch lug/tunnel reminds me of the old Estes Wac Corporal kit. The long lug on the Wac Corporal is concealed with balsa strip sides.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 8, Gluing The Lug Shroud

The sides of the lug shroud spread out when the glue on the bottom dried. The sides needed to attach to the launch lug.

A line of glue was spread down the edge of a razor blade.

This was transferred and spread down the inside edge of the shroud.

A dowel was pressed against the side to form the shroud flat against the lug.

Hold the dowl in place until the glue starts to set up. Repeat on the other side.

Here's the finished shroud, straight and tight.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 7, Gluing The Lug Shroud

The launch lug shroud is glued on, centered between the two wing fins.

The bottom end is even with the motor mount tube.

The fins are glued on, centered and perpendicular to the wings.

The glue on the shroud bottom shrank a bit and turned the sides out.

It'll take some patient pressure to get the sides adhered to the launch lug.

Estes Sandpiper, Kit #1389, Part 6, The Long Launch Lug

The launch lug is 9 1/2" long.

I slid it over a straightened coat hanger for support when I sanded down the CWF filler.

In the instructions is a full size drawing for the angle cut of the top of the lug.

The low end of the launch lug hangs over the tail cone. To connect the sides, a folded "shroud" glues to the tail cone and the sides of the launch lug.

Pre-fold the lines before cutting out the shroud. I'm using the tip of a non-serrated butter knife to emboss a fold line.

After embossing the fold lines, cut out the shroud.

Coax the lines gradually working up to sharp folds.