MMX Nose Cone Build.

I found a square length of Balsa, nice and soft, and began turning it by hand on a piece of 150 grit paper.
It started to look like it might have potential, so I kept at it til I had this.

Obviously, the next step was to quickly harden my progress with a little CA at the tip, so I would not bugger it up for the next part.
I used masking tape to make the shoulder fit snug inside the tube I was making it for, and after making sure that looked good I stuck it in said tube, and proceeded to poke tiny holes in it with a pin. This would provide a surface that would hold paperclay.
I rubbed the paperclay on real good, then built it up to match up to the diameter of the BT and then a little extra, as paperclay shrinks a little when it cures. I did'nt get a picture of that step, as it was not pretty.
I put this in my make shift warmer to cure, then this morning sanded it by hand again til' it looked as good as I could get it.
Then it was going to be time to turn it, and since the tiny part would likely get buggered up if I chucked it in my drill, I knew I had to rig something up. I came up with the idea to use my Fiskars hand crank drill, as it is awesome. I made a mount for it, and finished sanding to shape.
While I did this, the tape shoulder came loose, so I took a break from sanding and made a proper 110# cardstock shoulder for it, which was saturated with super thin CA before being sanded to the exact right size by hand with 150 grit and then 320.
Upon fitting it back into the tube for more spinning, I found the degree of control I had to be greatly enhanced.
I had it almost where I wanted it, so I soaked it entirely with CA, and did my final 320 grit sanding, before rubbing some Gorilla Brand CA into it for enhanced long term durability.
Anyhow, it came out just fine, so I will practice this method some more, as it yields a serviceable part.

It only weighs something when you add the body tube to it, as paperclay when dry is very light.

Here's the finished product:

very cool. Have you considered trying this technique to make an MMX version of a Crossfire ISX (i.e. a Crossfire MMX)? That nose cone would be a unique challenge with the shoulder, but would look totally awesome.

GlenP said:

very cool. Have you considered trying this technique to make an MMX version of a Crossfire ISX (i.e. a Crossfire MMX)? That nose cone would be a unique challenge with the shoulder, but would look totally awesome.

Click to expand...

You just had to go and mention the Crossfire!


Dang it, I had not, til' now.....


I'll have to do one now I suppose. I have a ton of projects to complete today, so that will have to be on the back burner, but yes, I'll do one, so thanks for the suggestion.