Estes Sasha Build #7271, Part 13, Paint & Decals

I spray painted the upper and lower stages separately. The nose cone and tail cone are painted light gray separately.

The green isn't really this dark. It's Rustoleum 2X, Gloss Hunter Green, #334034 from Home Depot.

Those little dowel antennas were hand painted with gloss red, I couldn't see doing a mask for the red antennas.
I found a red that matched the decal color.






Here's the finished booster.
The nozzle was painted light gray off the model and glued in place when it was dry.

TIP: Notice the white band decal is set back from the edge of the body tube end. Setting it back will prevent it from peeling or lifting right off the edge.




Double check the placement of the flap decals before transferring them onto the fin. It would be easy to flip this one, be sure the side lines are parallel to the root edge of the fin.

Sorta' Gross Rocket Tip

I'm building a Mercury Redstone for Estes, so it's got to be clean. You know how it goes - some builds are smooth, some seem cursed! This one is somewhere in the middle.
Bill Stine asked for a flat finish. I spray all my models with gloss paints, apply decals then hit it with a dull coat.
It's very humid now, no matter how careful I was there was some "bluing" on one quarter panel of the fin area. Light coats and drying between coats usually get you through, but not this time.

Sometimes you can use some polishing compound to even out the tones. That helped but didn't get me all the way there.

I didn't want to mask and shoot the black again. It's a very complex mask. I was at the end of my finishing rope.

I had tried this years ago -
Yep, that's my forehead. I rubbed my finger to pick up some oil off my skin. This bit of oil was rubbed on the small blued area.
Polish and even out the black areas with a microfiber cloth. It's not perfect, but pretty good!

I wouldn't recommend this for a large area on a rocket, it's only good for small spots. Yeah, a little weird - but people spit shine their shoes. And, this is why you visit the blog to get the tips nobody else would post!

Now, a rocketry related household tip:
I just finished installing groutable vinyl tiles in my kitchen. After finishing I noticed some small patches of grout haze. That's a little bit of the left over grout still on the tiles.
This is vinyl so I didn't want to use a ceramic tile acid to clean off the grout. I went through the same order of solvents (from mild to strong) I use to remove paint overspray on a rocket.
I tried a Mister Clean Magic Sponge, nothing.
Next was Goo Gone and a paper towel. This did the trick!
Considering grout is waterproof and probably epoxy based, I was surprised it cut through the thin haze. I'm not suggesting removing an epoxy fillet with Goo Gone! It just helped break down very thin, leftover epoxy film.

Goblin Decal Placement?

Moot rocket nerd point of the month - 

I've brought this up before when I was assembling a Goblin kit a few years ago.
Joe Hess posted a picture of a recent Goblin face card on the Estes Model Rocket Facebook page.
I noticed the decals and how they were placed. Notice how the "Goblin" name is visually tight against the outside edge of the fin. The "G" side is angled down below the "N", the name in line with the trailing fin edge.



Here's the instruction drawing from the Jim Z page. The Goblin name is set perpendicular to the body tube. There is more room now using the shape of the fins.
Look at the "3" decal. It's flipped 90 degrees on it's back! The "3" decals were purposely set this way by designer Wayne Kellner adding to the crazy motif.

Here's a TIP to get the Goblin decal in the original position -
The decal is set on the fin face, still wet and can slide.
Set a square corner down the root edge, here I'm using a CD case. Check the baseline of the decal. It should read "flat" when the model is on the launcher. (Or . . . if the finger tab wasn't there, the model might stand up straight on the fin tips!) 

Estes Sasha Build #7271, Part 12, Lugs & Paint Handle

If the launch lugs are stiff and you have a new single edged razor blade, you can cut them without any internal support.
If your blade is dull, slide a dowel into the lug for support and a cleaner cut.





Three launch lugs are glued on the assembled rocket.

Be sure they are in line. I set a bamboo skewer next to them to check the alignment.

Two lugs on the upper stage are meant for single stage launches.

The larger the model, the harder it is to get the paint spray smooth. I sprayed the model in three separate segments - booster, upper stage and nose cone.

Here the booster has some paper towel stuffed into the upper end, the coupler will be glued on after the paint to keep it clean.

I used a BT-50 sized long coupler for a painting wand. A notch was cut to fit the lower bend of the engine hook.

Ashasta-Sadie Instructions Are Back!

Maybe they never left?
My older address didn't work anymore -
Now the kit instructions are hosted by Blues Rock

PAGE 1
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Scroll down for the plans -

You might find a few instruction sets that are not hosted on Jim Zs or Old Rocket Plans.

Estes Sasha Build #7271, Part 11, Upper Motor Mount & Fins

I've already deviated from the assembly order and glued on the upper fins.
It's probably easier to glue in the upper motor mount before the lower fins. They'll be in the way when smoothing out the low centering ring fillet.

The ring of glue shown in the lower picture is probably too much. I don't want it to shrink the body tube and make a "Coke bottle" indentation ring.





The mount was slipped in, both tube ends are even.

Here I'm applying a glue fillet using a Q-tip, one drop of glue at a time.






The tunnels are glued on.
They are balsa, the grain was filled before gluing on the body tube.







The lower fins are glued on, even with the end of the body tube.

The small fins are placed between the upper fin positioning lines. Notice the lower tunnel is in line with the small rear fins.

Estes Sasha Build #7271, Part 10, Antennas Glue & Fill

This is not a necessary step, but you know me!
I had to decide which would look better, rough glue fillets on the joints or a smoother surface transition.

Some thinned CWF was dragged down the joint similar to how I'd normally fill the body tube seams.

On the left is the CWF after sanding with 400 grit.
On the right I've dabbed on some filler primer with a Q-tip for a final fill.

Here's the upper stage fins, antennas and filler smoothed.
All eight fins are ready for gluing on the upper body in the next post.