Painting before assembly

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Kinesthesia

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The Vagabond that I am building is two colors, the engine tube (and fins) are orange and the other body tube and nosecone are white. The instructions show putting the two halves of the rocket together before painting, which will involve masking.

Not that I mind the masking ... but I'm thinking ... why not just paint each half (being careful not to get paint inside the tubes, etc) and then glue it together afterwards ?

Is this a dumb idea ? Please feel free to be honest, I don't pretend to know what I'm doing :cool:
 
I have almost finished building my Vagabond kit.

The lower body tube is mostly orange but the top 1-1 1/2" is white and is covered by a decal.

As far as masking goes, this kit is pretty straightforward.
 
no reason you cant do that - only downside I can think of is you is the seam will be obvious up close
 
Well, I've had a disappointing night. After getting the fins sanded, sealed and attached better than I have done before ... I take on the incredibly simple task of connecting the two body tubes with a coupler. I put some glue in the tube, set down the glue bottle, spread the glue around the inside of the tube quickly with my finger and insert the coupler ... but it stops. The glue sets faster than I thought possible, I barely get the coupler in and it is not straight. After giving up on fixing it or getting it out, I slid the other end of the coupler into the other tube (without glue) and it is not straight. So now my Vagabond is leaning ever so slightly .... /sigh

I have set the rocket aside for tonight out of frustration and I'm trying to decide if I want to simply order another kit or try to replace the parts.

It's very disappointing, the Vagabond was my favorite kit yet and I was really looking forward to painting, etc ... not to mention launching. :sigh:
 
Kinesthesia said:
Well, I've had a disappointing night. After getting the fins sanded, sealed and attached better than I have done before ... I take on the incredibly simple task of connecting the two body tubes with a coupler. I put some glue in the tube, set down the glue bottle, spread the glue around the inside of the tube quickly with my finger and insert the coupler ... but it stops. The glue sets faster than I thought possible, I barely get the coupler in and it is not straight. After giving up on fixing it or getting it out, I slid the other end of the coupler into the other tube (without glue) and it is not straight. So now my Vagabond is leaning ever so slightly .... /sigh

I have set the rocket aside for tonight out of frustration and I'm trying to decide if I want to simply order another kit or try to replace the parts.

It's very disappointing, the Vagabond was my favorite kit yet and I was really looking forward to painting, etc ... not to mention launching. :sigh:
Click to expand...

I had a similar coupler problem recently while building an AT Astrobee-D (which, btw, is a paint before assembly kit). Lesson learned was to use slow epoxy.
 
When you say slow epoxy, do you mean 5 minute epoxy ? I've heard people mention epoxy that takes even longer to set but I have never seen any in a store.

I have some five minute epoxy, it just didn't occur to me to use it. I never expected Elmer's Carpenters Glue to set that fast. I couldn't believe that I couldn't push the coupler in nor get it out ... in just seconds.
 
Kinesthesia said:
When you say slow epoxy, do you mean 5 minute epoxy ? I've heard people mention epoxy that takes even longer to set but I have never seen any in a store.

I have some five minute epoxy, it just didn't occur to me to use it. I never expected Elmer's Carpenters Glue to set that fast. I couldn't believe that I couldn't push the coupler in nor get it out ... in just seconds.
Click to expand...

I think 5 min epoxy should be fine, but I've been using 20 min just in case.
 
5 minute epoxy works for me, too. 15 minute epoxy might be better if there is a lot of adjustment to be done. I use it when installing MP/HPR motor mounts in airframes so I can roll the tube around. The epoxy flows around inside where you can't normally reach.
 
I put the coupler in the rocket, make sure its straight, then CA it. CA is my friend. I like it.
 
Kinesthesia said:
I never expected Elmer's Carpenters Glue to set that fast. I couldn't believe that I couldn't push the coupler in nor get it out ... in just seconds.
Click to expand...
Yup, pretty amazing, huh? I think that has happened (at least once) to all of us. I think it comes from there being so much surface area of two porous surfaces. Once you know about it, as you now do, it's not that hard to beat it to the punch by acting quickly. With a coupler you don't even have to be that careful about stopping at your mid-length marked line - so what if you are off by a millimeter or two? Or five? So, spread some glue around, slide 'er in there real quick like, and breathe a sigh of satisfaction (or relief), and save the hassle and smell of mixing up a little batch of epoxy.
 

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