Newbie with Madcow 'Lil Goblin

Hi All, first post on the forum!

I am just getting started in mid-power rocketry (and plan on probably going on to hi-power later) after just building Estes rockets as a kid. Back then I never filled and sanded the body tubes or the balsa fins. Just threw 'em together with Elmer's white or wood glue and painted them by hand with model enamels!

So here I am over twenty years later, ready to do it all over again. I went to the same place I used to buy Estes rocket kits back in the day: Science Education Center here in Wichita. Picked up the 'Lil Goblin by Madcow Rocketry. Being a big boy now, I want to finish this kit better than those of my youth. I've done some searching here on the forum for how to fill the lines on the body tube and how to prep the plywood fins.

What I think I'm going to do will be to fill seams in the body tube with an automotive body putty (got a tube at home I was gonna use on a resin Star Trek model to fill some bad air bubbles). Then carefully sand it down. Next I'll get the fins ready (not sure exactly what I'll do yet). Then I'll glue the fins on - they go through the body tube, a touch I like. I'll put the fillets on around the fins. Next, I'll spray it all with primer, maybe Duplicolor primer as it seems a lot of people like that. After 2 - 3 coats and sanding, I'm hoping it will look good and be ready to color coat.

What do you all think? Do you think I can skip the auto body putty and just go with the Duplicolor primer?

Thanks for your input!

You can definitely use filler putty (everyone has their own preference), but a high-build automotive primer will typically fill in those grooves nicely. Just remember to have some various grits of sandpaper, I like to sand twice with three coats of primer before hitting it with paint but again everyone is slightly different.

Most likely you're going to find your own method that works for you, your shop, your availability of supplies, etc.

Post some pictures as you go!

Madcow's Tube spirals are pretty tight so you might be fine with a few coats of primer. For filling tube spirals I use Wood putty+water with some decent results . There is a video on how to do this at the Apogee components website. For the fins I would use 5min epoxy or wood glue (both work fine)

Welcome to the Forum.

Thanks guys!

I'm looking forward to getting her all finished up and ready to fly. I'll look into how to post pictures so you can see how it comes along.

-SGTPepper