Screw It

Scratch build Blue Tube. Going to be a fat & heavy rocket so I can fly L & M motors & stay inside waiver - low & slow!

2 layers of 6 oz glass topped with 1 layer of 3 oz. glass.

Had to add 1 layer of 3 oz. gass to coupler as it was a very loose fit.

Plan on tip to tip as fins have quite a bit of flex and will surely break on a hard landing.

4/26/17 update: Did a tip to tip on one fin set. 2 layers on 6 oz on the fin covered with a 3 oz. veil. Only put one 6 oz layer on air frame followed by 3 oz veil.

4/28/17: Finished 3rd set of tip to tip. Now to start sanding & blending & priming & painting

5/17/17: More sanding & priming & filling & priming & sanding - man do I hate sanding!

5/18/17: Booster & payload primed, just a little light sanding before I hit it with the base coat of Grabber Green. Holding off on priming NC until I figure out CG. May have to add some weight so don't want to bugger up the paint.

5/19/17: test coat on vent band - came out really nice with Duplicolor grabber green. That is my base coat for entire rocket except fins. Fins will be chrome then the final top caot on rocket will be a pain in the ass but I WILL do it!

5/29/17: more sanding in preparation for final coat of Ford Blue; Also lots of masking - took all afternoon. AV bay vent band finished!

5/30/17: final coat of blue applied. Light wet sanding with some 2000 grit, then hit the fin can with chrome. Still have to prime NC too!

5/31/17: Booster & Payload paint complete. Now on the wet sanding/polish/wax. Still have to work on the NC!

6/2/17: Wet sanding is a mess & time consuming but really pays off!. Booster/AV bay?payload wet sanding complete. Polished the payload/AV bay. Next comes the wax. The Chrome paint didn't respond to the wet sanding too well as the chrome shine is gone but the polishing brought a lot of it back.

6/7/17: More polishing - mirror finish on most of airframe!

6/17/17: working on NC but turning out to be a pain in arse! When I taped the spiral the first time, and went to remove it, it removed all the paint! So had to start all over. Never had that problem before but I read that Adhesion Promoter helps. We shall see - have base coat on now - will let it cure a few days before wet sanding and applying tape again. I n themean time I have been working on AV bay. Using all Lipos on this one, no switches, just twist/tape. Simple & cheap & reliable!

6/18/17: Sucess on NC paint. Tape came right off this time but the paint stayed right where it is supposed to. Now once the paint cures, I'll wet sand to remove ocerspray and then top off the NC tip with Chrome paint.

6/19/17: NC paint is finished, now let it all cure for a few days, then wet sand, polish & wax. Need final weight & check CG. maybe need to add weight!

6/20/17: Wet sanded NC & polished. Lot of work polishing NC! Now on to ground testing!

6/28/17: Had to repaint NC - paint wasnt dry while polishing. Been a week, all cured & was able to polish. Have final weight - 415 oz. Now all that is left is measure CG & perform ground test!

1/23/19 update: lot of work since the CATO but not many pics. Finally got replacement tube, glassed it and tacked fins today. Also received brand new AT 75-5120 case from Aerotech today. It was warranty!

1/28/19 update: finished glassing, attaching fins & tip to tip. Now some sanding and then attaching to undamaged air frame.

1/31/19 update: Sanded & painted and ready for flight. Didn't repaint with same theme, just used some Rustoleum "hammered" silver paint from joint on down.