Sticky Sprayed Clear Coats? TIP

On YORF, Erik 442 wrote:
"Steve, please be careful not to leave anything coated with that clear out in direct sunlight for an extended period. I learned the hard way when I left my new Redstone on the sidelines while I was flying other models.
The heat made it very sticky and all the dust and black powder on my fingers left big marks all over it when I finally picked it up.Now I make sure to keep it in the shade until I'm ready to fly it." 

Yep, everybody seems to recommend sprayed acrylic clear coats after the decals are applied. I also learned the hard way - 
When I got back into the hobby I did a fairly heavy sprayed clear coat on my Red Max. The clear was thick enough that it made everything very glossy, almost wet looking.
Then came the Florida August club launch.
The heat and humidity softened the clear coats making it sticky. Fingerprints and dirt stuck to the body anywhere it was touched. 
Never again!

I only use Future clear coat where decal edges could peel, lightly applied with a Q-Tip. For example, when two trim decals meet going over the top of a rounded fin leading edge. Or, when a roll pattern decal (wrapped around a body tube) is right on the end of the body tube. 

If your surfaces are really smooth and glossy, a (well-produced) decal should stick and stay down without a sticky clear coat.

When I lived on the coast of Northern California, I would occasionally clear coat a rocket with no problems. But, the Monterey Bay has cooler temperatures and very low humidity.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 6, Gluing It All Together & White Undercoat

There is a small overlap where the hinge sets over the open slot. This is cut away so the stabilizer can be glued in.
I didn't remove the overlap, but folded it into the slot for a tighter fit of the stabilizer tab.

With the pieces glued up you can really see the resemblance to the original smaller BT-20 based Gyroc.

The instructions don't mention it -
GOTCHA: You had better apply fillets, especially to the fin/slot areas on the body tube.
I'd hate to see some ejection charge charring at the open fin slot joints.

I haven't glued on the plastic locks, hooks and guide ring. I'm going to glue them on after the final color spraying to keep them clean and clear of paint.

11 Year Blog Anniversary & NEW Patreon Changes!

(A late) Happy Fourth of July!
ELEVEN YEARS and almost 6,500 posts later . . .
Who woulda' thunk it would last this long! 
PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST . . .

I've learned a lot in the process and hope your builds and rocketry experiences have improved. At present, the blog gets 1,200 hits daily worldwide. Things change over time, and that leads to a few adjustments to the blog and how it is produced.

Up until now, all available PDFs were "Freebees". But in the past year email requests have grown and are sometimes overwhelming.
Each morning I check emails at oddlrockets@bellsouth.net. I answer questions and send out decal draws, shroud patterns, Saturn V Build Books and carded model PDFs. Some days it takes over an hour to get through questions and requests.

So, from today forward -
Pdfs, cardstock models, decal draws and email questions will only be available to active Patreon members and those who have donated to my Paypal account.
The lowest Patreon tier is only $1.00 per month. I chose to make it inexpensive thinking I could draw more member support. I wasn't offering tiered premiums.
Heck, you'd pay $10.00 for one decal sheet from other vendors. Granted you print a PDF decal at home, but an emailed decal PDF can save money and hours of drawing time.
___________________________________________________________________

I'll still answer blog comments, but won't be able to answer email questions unless you are a Patreon member. Email questions tend to require more detailed explanations.
I watch some YouTube videos. In every video the producers ask for donations through Patreon or their branded souvenirs sold through Etsy.
I've rarely suggested Patreon support until today. The Patreon membership box sits in the upper right corner of the blog page. Rest assured, Patreon donations go towards model rocket builds and supplies.

I realize this change may bother a few. I want the Patreon membership to offer benefits.
If your model building has improved or the blog has helped you through a difficult step -
Please consider supporting the blog through Patreon. Thank You!  

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 5, Fill & Hinges

The launch lug was glued on and fillets applied.
The body tube and glued in nose cone were shot with filler/primer and sanded to surface.

This is a BT-50 sized tube, I didn't have any D engine casings to fit on a painting wand dowel. I taped some cardboard around the 18mm engine casing already on the dowel wand.







This is the main wing after a spray of filler/primer.
On the right is after sanding. This kit had some good balsa, there was very little grain left to fill.

The spin tab flaps (part N) are held on with clear hinges.
I had already filled all the balsa so the hinges will stick better than if it were rough wood.

I didn't see a reason for hinges on both sides. A double hinge is similar to the way you attach flaps to RC plane wings.
I decided to use just the single L hinges on one side of each wing.
With the thickness of doubled tape hinges you wouldn't be able to butt the edges together.

Check the picture above, right. I drew a faint pencil line down the center of the L hinge. The line allows me to see the center fold as it is placed on the butt joint of the two wing pieces.

The wing pieces were taped down so I could concentrate on the hinge placement.
Again, lift and position the hinge with a blade to keep the (down) sticky side clean.
Set the center pencil line over the joint.
Note the hinge doesn't go all the way out to the sides, but a little short of the outside edges.

If you were to apply the hinges to bare unsealed balsa, you probably should use two hinges or one on each side. I filled and primered the fin and flaps so the sticky hinges will have a stronger hold.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 4, Balsa Filling

I brushed on thinned CWF.
Keep the filler out of the stabilizer fin slots.
TIP: After you brush over the holes for the hook and lock pieces, clear the hole with a sharpened dowel.

The dried CWF was sanded to surface using 400 grit sandpaper.

On the right, the pieces are taped down to some cardboard for a good shot of filler/primer.
Notice the root edges and tabs on the stabilizers are taped off to keep the primer off the glue areas. The root edges of the two piece wings are butted up against each other along the root edges.

The BMS made nose cone has a hole in the shoulder for a dowel and screw eye attachment.
The dowel was glued in with about 1/4" extending out. This was sawed off and sanded flat with the nose cone base.

The base of the nose cone got a coat of wood glue to protect the back from ejection charge flame.

After the nose cone was glued into the top end of the tube, the sides were sanded flat and even with the body tube sides.

On the right side picture, notice the pink balsa grain peeking through. I sanded too much and exposed some raw balsa grain. This will get another coat of CWF and light sanding before being shot with filler/primer.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 3, Balsa and a Substitute Nose Cone

On the far left is the plastic nose cone that comes with the kit.

I'll be substituting a BT-50 Gyroc style nose cone. I like the older style cone better (because I'm old) and a blunt nose cone makes more sense considering it touches down nose first.

On the far right is the BT-20 based Gyroc next to the BT-50 based TAZZ with the switched out nose cone.

The fins edge on the left has the laser burned edge sanded about half off. On the right is the other fin edge sanded clean.

I'm showing this so you can see how rough a laser cut fin edge can be. A flat edge gives more glue contact area on the body tube. Glue doesn't stick as well to a burnt, ash edge.





Pretty interesting how the Part Q and P stabilizers fit into the wing slot.








These have a good friction fit even without glue. All lined up at 90 degrees to the wing plane without any coaxing.

Estes Tazz #7282 Build, Part 2, Engine Mount

The instructions show the engine block glued in first, before the engine hook is set in the slot. This might imply the engine block is glued flush with the end of the motor mount tube.







GOTCHA: With the engine block glued farther down, against the upper bend of the engine hook, it is actually recessed about 3/16" from the top edge of the motor mount tube.





TIP: Slide a centering ring onto position on the engine mount tube (no glue) and trace a pencil line all the way around the tube for easier positioning after glue is applied.
TIP: It's not mentioned, but a notch will help with the ring fit over the engine hook.

Here's the finished mount with the white plastic ring glued on the low end. The inside notch centers over the engine hook.