06 Final Construction
It’s been fun so far. Mike Cummings lent me a dremel and I fixed my depth issue.
It isn’t the prettiest job perhaps, but more importantly, it is done. It can stand on it’s own now, and I like that the bottom CR is flush with the airframe. It just looks more “planned” that way.
That let me get on to more important issues. To crazy go nuts or be a little more circumspect in my epoxy usage. I decided that I would not use any epoxy to join the fins on the internal side of the airframe. It just seemed like a waste for a rocket that would never see anything larger than an H motor. Wasted effort, wasted weight, and I’m not completely convinced that it wouldn’t be wasted in an engineering sense.
So, I did some 30 minute epoxy on the bottom CR, fixing it to the motor mount and the 3 fins. Then, after some xacto knife work for a final fit on the fin slots, I slid the lower airframe over the assembly for the last time.
Time to fillet the fins. I’m using 5 minute epoxy here for two reasons. First, it is much faster, I can finish in one setting rather than doing a bit if and when. Also, I can shape it a lot more easily by dipping a finger tip into isopropyl alcohol, I can make the fillet smooth and even. And I don’t have to worry about it running too far.
And that’s about where I was when I realized that I had an unanswered question. Launch lugs? Rail buttons? Great, now what?
Well, I had purchased some LOC launch lugs way back when I got the original tubes. So, if I’m going to use them, now’s the time. I’d have to snuggle one up to one of those fins, Estes-style, and epoxy around it. But I doubted any self-respecting club used rods anymore–didn’t everyone use rails now?
Thanks to Rick from KCAR who answered my pleas on rec.models.rockets. The button it is. They are not expensive, so I’ll get some on order, but the great thing is that I don’t have to wait on them to arrive. I can do the last fillet and start filling the tube spirals.
I’ll probably install the rail buttons before final paint, and then mask them off. I should be getting ready for primer when I next update.
Off to the paint mines!
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