Centuri Payloader II on Ebay

A finished Centuri Payloader II is up for auction on Ebay!

This was built from the Estes Classics series re-issue kit with many upgrades.
Heavy walled BT-50H tubing and a longer nose cone is closer to the original Centuri profile.
A Centuri logo has been added to the name decal. Metallic red fins and nose cone.

To see the model - CLICK HERE          Stop by, make a bid and support the blog!

Estes Starship Nova #1371 Build, Part 21, Black Paint TIP

The model is an overall black, you really don't need a white undercoat.
I did do a first black coat then went over the model and sanded a few rough fillets and took down the glue boogers.

This model should be easy enough to paint, it's just BLACK!
(The inside of the engine pods are already fluorescent orange.)

TIP: On this design there are some tight inside angles. You think you have it covered, but later you notice inside areas with missed spots.
Rather than spray on too much paint trying to get the inside areas covered, I used a permanent marker to color them in.

Look inside the engine pod corner (above) and you can see some white. The inset picture shows the marker touch-up.

Under the wing root edge and at the back end of the intake is another tight inside joint. The permanent marker is soft and was able to reach into the fillet area.

Again, this really only works with black paint and a black marker. Don't use this with a lighter color markers. They won't match up with your sprayed color paint. Black works, black is black.
You might be able to see this touch-up if you look very close under direct sunlight, it could look like a dark blue. If you do the touch-up now (before the final black coats) it will end up like a very thin layer of paint. You should lightly sand down the edges. It should blend in and not be noticeable.

My Eclipse Experience

A TV news person was reporting on the eclipse today. In passing she mentioned you could see the eclipse (without special glasses) in the light shining through the leaves on the trees. That made no sense to me until I went outside and looked down.
Look close, there they are on the asphalt. Hundreds of little eclipse crescents like many pinhole cameras! These were the focused sunbeams shining through the open areas in the oak trees.

Estes Starship Nova #1371 Build, Part 20, Fillets, Launch Lug and Wing Tips

The tape mask was lifted but left on the outside edge of the engine pod.
Fillets were applied with Titebond No Run, No Drip glue. (Molding and Trim glue)
After the fillets dry the tape can be rolled down to cover the interior paint in the engine pods.





You will have to use the "Double Glue" method to glue on the wing tips. They are heavy and tend to fall over before the glue sets.
The guide piece comes in handy to get the correct angle and support the tip.

The long launch lug is trimmed to the same length as the lower intake tube. I cut the ends to the slight angle of the fairing wrap.

The paint on the glue line was sanded to get a better bond.

After the glue dried on the wing tips I sanded off the slight balsa overhang on the outside edge.

CWF was added to fill any remaining seam.

Estes Starship Nova #1371 Build, Part 19, Masking TIP and Gluing the Engines

This is one of those masking things that took a day to figure out. How do you mask for the interior of the engines?
I've already blackened the ends and under the fairing lip.

TIP: I didn't want the tape to fully adhere and risk pulling anything up.
I did my old trick of sticking the tape to my pant leg and lifting it a few times. This leaves jean fibers on the tape making it less sticky.

Three pieces of masking tape were set over both ends of the engines.
The overhanging tape was cut off with a new X-Acto blade. Use a "saw" cut, back and forth over the tape. Be careful not to cut into the end cap or tube.

On the left is the back end.
On the right is the front. Notice the tape is now lifted along the gluing edge. This way any glue won't stick to the tape when gluing the engine to the body.

The engines are glued on awaiting fillets.
The fillets down the top and bottom will be like fillets on a launch lug. They are deep and in a tight angle.

The fillets will be applied and left to dry. Then the tape will be pressed back down for the overall spraying of black.

Odd'l Rockets F-104 Fuel Tank Correction

When I posted the first prototype build of the Odd'l Rockets F-104 Starfighter, I heard about it!
Most comments were positive but a few let me know the wing fuel tanks were too small.
To be honest, I didn't have many dowels and grabbed what was handy. I bought larger dowels.

Above is the first prototype. It has quite a few stable test flights.

I cut off the fuel tanks and carved two larger ones. On the left is the size comparison.

The inset shows where the paint was scraped off to glue onto the wing.

Is this better? - hope so!

Compared to the OOP Centuri kit, this version is much closer to the truth.

Now . . . more test flights.

Estes Starship Nova #1371 Build, Part 18, Fluorescent Paint TIP

The new, wider fairing was glued onto the split engine tube.

CA glue was applied with a Q-tip. After drying the fairing was lightly sanded smooth with 400 grit.






The exposed end surfaces were blackened with a Sharpie.

These inside areas would be very hard to get to with a spray can after gluing onto the rocket body.







The housing are set in place and a light pencil line was traced around the housing. Go light with the pencil, you don't want to scar the balsa.

Masking tape was set down a little inside the pencil line.

It took quite a few coats of hand painted fluorescent paint to get a good coverage.
TIP: Only use fluorescent paint over an opaque white surface!

Here's the inside of the engine surface after about four coats of fluorescent orange. Paint, lightly sand the high spots and paint again.