Estes Leo Space Train #7285 Build, Part 9, Masking The Wings

I can get pretty good results using Scotch tape for masking. But - your surfaces have to be smooth, fillets and balsa grain filled to get a clean separations using any masking tape.

The outside M & L vertical stabilizers are half white, half gray. The color separation runs right down the laser cut line.

I probably should have glued on the Part N wing joint piece after masking the wing. In the face card pictures the N piece is white.
After gluing and filleting I had to mask it right down the middle.

Here's the complete mask for the light gray.

On the lower right, the "H" piece is also open to be painted gray.

After the tape was pulled -

I lucked out on this one, I was expecting problems but the lines came out clean.

LAUNCH! Schoolyard Soccer Field, February 16, 2020

As close to perfect as the Soccer field gets! Cool weather at 7:00 a.m. and no wind.
Sometimes it's surprising what you see this early in the day. Hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of Pelicans flying East in a "V" formation. I've never seen this many together at one time.





I haven't launched an Odd'l Rockets BIRDIE in a while. Too fast with an A10-3t engine to get a launch shot!

Altitude was higher than I remember for a draggy rocket. I would estimate 150'.






The Custom SLV was second up with an Estes A8-3. Peak height was an estimated 200' with a 12" parachute recovery.

The upper BT-50 section is almost too short to pack the 12" diameter parachute. You've got to load wadding beneath that in the longer BT-20 center tube. The parachute is folded twice and pinched into a tight, narrow shape. The parachute also fits into the BT-20 mid section.

The Wasted Engine of the Day was a C6-3 in my FLYING PORTA PAD.
This "one-off" build was a re-draw of the Estes Hex 3 kit made to look like the old yellow Estes launcher from the 1970s.
It was successfully launched and stable three times before with B6 and C6 engines, once at NARAM 60.
Today the flight was not good. I guess a leg came loose during boost. It spiraled and probably only got to 30'. One leg was almost torn off when I picked it up. This one will end up in the trash can! No re-build is planned.





The SLS design was brought up on Facebook, someone asked if a kit was ever produced.
That reminded me I should fly my Dr. Zooch SLS. This one had the Saturn V roll pattern decor.
An Estes B6-4 was perfect for a 250' peak of flight. The Zooch yellow trash bag parachute brought it down easy.








My fifth and last launch of the morning was the classic The Estes RED MAX, boosted with a German made Quest B6-4. The model had just turned over when the ejection charge pushed out the chute. An estimated 275' altitude.









The Max landed a little too close to one of the three trees near the basketball courts! Do you ever talk to your rockets? I found myself saying out loud: "Stay out of the tree! Stay out of the tree!"


Five up, five recovered, one tossed!

OPINION: I'm sure a few are thinking: "I'm not interested in the launches, there are plenty of launch shots on Facebook. Get back on the Leo Space Train build!"
Most build more rockets than we actually fly. I don't seem to have as many launch days as I once did. An occasional launch keeps me in touch with the other side of the hobby. One of the more rewarding aspects for me is to get home, pour a cup of coffee and discover what images I was lucky enough to capture.

Estes Leo Space Train #7285 Build, Part 8, Small Top Engine Supports & Nose Cone Paint

From the earlier post: The two Part "R" supports were glued together. The outside visible sides got a bead of wood glue to round and hide the joint. The glue bead was sanded after it dried.

In the lower right - Even after spraying the first gloss white coat, the sides were still rough. Some light sanding and another spray of white followed.

The black area on the front of the nose cone is angled. Add to that, the NC shape is asymmetrical.
You can't mask for the black area with a wide, straight piece of masking tape.
I cut a smooth curve in my Scotch tape mask freehand on a piece of glass. The black is from a wide point Sharpie so I can see the clear tape.

The nose cone was already sprayed a light gray.
Here's how the tape line was set for the black. Try to get the line smooth and consistent on both sides.


Here's the mask after the tape was pulled. The line is clean, one small area needed a touch up.

Estes Leo Space Train #7285 Build, Part 7, Upper Engine

The new design nose cone was pretty clean, the seams didn't require any filling, just sanding until smooth.

The right side shows the engine mount in the BT-60 main tube. The end got a shot of filler/primer to fill any remaining tube seam.

The two part "S" rings were cleaned up, but not too much sanding. You don't want to decrease the diameter and fit in the upper BT-20 Part "V" tube.






The rings center the plastic nozzle in the rear of the tube.
I had to scrape off some of the paint on the small end for a better glue bond.

Here's the dry fit of the upper engine.
TIP: Don't glue in the nozzle assembly yet, it's easier to spray paint it black separately and glue it in afterwards.

Estes Leo Space Train #7285 Build, Part 6, Gluing Up The Wings

The three wing pieces were glued together after initial filling. (The pictures 1 & 2 shows a test fit before the CWF was applied.)

Do a test fit of the "I" and "J" pieces to check the width when set over the wing center.

GOTCHA: Look close - I had to add a shim to get the "J" piece to the correct width so the sides of the "I" pieces would match the right width.

The DADO joint didn't seem like it was cut deep enough for a good match and fill.



I used a file to deepen the notches slightly, square up the laser cuts and remove any CWF (filler) that might effect the fit.

Estes Leo Space Train #7285 Build, Part 5, Top Engine Pod Supports

The Upper Engine Pod Supports are two pieces of laminated card stock.
Glue three sets of two pieces.
Before the glue sets up, Check the alignment of the pieces against the body tube. I'm not gluing the pieces onto the tube, just pressing down making sure both pieces are in line.





The visible sides (not the curved top and bottom that will be glued to the body tubes) got a wipe of CA glue, applied with a Q-tip.

After it dried, the sides were smoothed with 400 grit.





TIP: To cover the side seam and rough edge, a bead of wood glue was set evenly over the edges and allowed to dry. Round it out with a fingertip, pulling the glue to the edges.

Lightly sand after the glue dries.
This will give a smooth, round visible edge on the finished model.

Smooth Those Fillets!

A little research on JimZs surprised me. I always thought there were smoothed glue fillets in model rocket construction. Here's how fillets have changed over the years:

The original Estes Mark doesn't even mention using glue fillets:
http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/estes/k-02.pdf
The Estes Sky Hook shows fillets but doesn't mention smoothing them out:
http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/estes/k-08.pdf
Step 13 of the Estes Farside instructions say to: "Wipe off all excess glue leaving only enough to form a smooth fillet":
http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/estes/k-12.pdf

Then - The Golden Age of Glue Fillets:

The familiar fickle finger of fillets was shown. This well drawn illustration was used for years!
Now we've seemed to slip back a step or two:

This illustration from the new Estes Olympus instructions show a rough glue fillet line.
There is no mention of removing the excess by smoothing the glue with your finger.