Photographic Tutorial: Making Balsa Nosecones Look Like Plastic...

MichaelRapp said:

Would I do this before or after sealing the trailing edge with CA?

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B4.

I just tried to CA a nose cone for the first time. It did not go particularly well. Details here: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...ond-Cutter-build-thread&p=1516083#post1516083

Basically, I could not sand out the sharpie applied after the first CA application; in my attempt to do so I ended up removing all the CA (other than what may have filled in some pits). After the second CA application I could not sand it smooth.

I think the final result is going to be OK. There does seem to be a layer of CA there, and it is certainly smoother and harder than the raw balsa, but it is not what I expected.

I am wondering if this might have worked better, on this nose cone, if I had applied CWF first to fill the deep pits. Would the CA soak into and harden the CWF like it does the balsa? I would expect it to, and if so, that'd be a very easy first step to ensure better results.

Here's what the "finished" cone looks like. I won't know for a while what it looks like after paint, since I'm not at that stage yet.

Did you get to a point when applying the thin CA that the nosecone felt slimy when rubbing the nozzle against it? It when it's slimy that you've reached the point where the balsa has soaked in all it's going to take, and you're building the thickness needed to fill the pores.

I sure think I did, but since it was my first time I have nothing to compare to and can't be certain. By the time I was finished, most of the CA I was applying was dripping off the point of the cone, so I figured it was pretty much filled and saturated at that point.

I will definitely try this again next time I'm faced with a balsa nose cone, not giving up even though I had issues this time. I might skip the sharpie step in the future and see if I can do it by feel and reflectivity, but the Sharpie wasn't the root cause of any of my problems here.

I'd still recommend that you use a Sharpie. Without it, it can be hard to tell if the surface is really smooth (until you hit it with primer), and almost impossible to tell if you've sanded through the CA.

One variation of the idea that I've thought about trying is to figure out a way of using something like a rotisserie to hold the NC horizontal, then apply Epoxy to it while it spins, and keep it spinning until the epoxy sets. The potential drawback to that method could be that the epoxy might run down the NC and collect at the back edge of the exposed area, and thus thicken it.

I rushed this one, so it has some blemishes, but I'm happy with my process.

I spread Elmer's "Carpenter's Color Change Interior Wood Filler" on the cone, let it dry, and sand it smooth.

I then brush on 20-minute finish epoxy; let it cure, and sand it smooth.

Prime with Killz, and sand it smooth.

Paint with 2x Painter's Touch, sand it with 400 wet, 800 wet, and 2000 wet. Polish with McGuire's Scratch-X.

It doesn't just look like plastic, it is plastic, and is very resistant to dents.

Samuron said:

I rushed this one, so it has some blemishes, but I'm happy with my process.

I spread Elmer's "Carpenter's Color Change Interior Wood Filler" on the cone, let it dry, and sand it smooth.

I then brush on 20-minute finish epoxy; let it cure, and sand it smooth.

Prime with Killz, and sand it smooth.

Paint with 2x Painter's Touch, sand it with 400 wet, 800 wet, and 2000 wet. Polish with McGuire's Scratch-X.

It doesn't just look like plastic, it is plastic, and is very resistant to dents.

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WOW!

Here's my nose cone after filler/primer (sanded) and then Rusto 2x Key Lime:


Pretty good I would say. After the paint cures, I may try to wet sand it just a bit before applying Future, and then I'll see if it'll pass the reflection test.

Sweet!!!

neil_w said:

Here's my nose cone after filler/primer (sanded) and then Rusto 2x Key Lime:
View attachment 276224

Pretty good I would say. After the paint cures, I may try to wet sand it just a bit before applying Future, and then I'll see if it'll pass the reflection test.

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Looks like it'll pass the test. :clap:

Nicely done... procedure and pictorial. Thanks for taking the time to present this to us K'Tesh.