toddler put a crease in a bt-80

can it be fixed without replacing? its small and just feels weak. its a new scratch build of a super big bertha. The bt that got hurt was the upper portion. I built the motor section like the executioner style. any help would be great, i'm hoping i dont have to slice and coupler another if possible.

It's possible you might be able to stabilize the dent in the body tube with an appropriately sized coupler. Especially seeing as how it's at the forward end of the airframe. Gets iffy when the dent is in the area near the motor mount or very close to the nose cone. Remember that you will need room to fit the nose cone fully into the body tube. If the dent is too far forward, you may indeed have to slice and couple.

I'd recommend using epoxy inside the body tube as that greatly reduces your chances of the coupler getting stuck before it's correctly positioned. Depending how far down inside the tube the dent is, you'll probably need to use a stick to push the coupler into position. Mark the stick so that you can tell when the coupler has been pushed down inside far enough.

Let us know what you decide and how it turns out.

good idea on the coupler. i believe its right in the middle of the upper part of the bt. i had a hell of a time getting the coupler in to start with. im not sure why the bt and couplers are all estes.

well pushing the coupler was too hard. i just cut the tube where it was coupled together. peeled a layer off the old coupler and glued a new bt80. shes all fixed. just minus one bt80 from one of my packs. but they are cheap to replace. Not to mention i have like 5 rockets to finish before i even think about starting another. I got the bug bad, but i enjoy it so much. I hope this bird flys well. i wish i could have done through the body tube fins. maybe next time. I am using wood filler i hope that adds more strength to the fins.

The fin gusset strips called for in the original SBB/Broadsword kits work great to provide more surface area for the fins. I broke the fin tips on my SBB several times but never once had one of the roots pop off the body tube with the gussets.

kj

im installing those last. i used wood filler and sanded them mostly, i am also working on a big daddy. after the fins are paint ready i will glue those on and prime.

i also bought a mouse sander. amd what a luxury that tool is. it takes 90% of the sanding. the other 10% i do by hand with a higher grit 400 or 600 dry. Lowes has them on sale for 15 bucks couldnt say no