Balsa fins - finishing and strength?

Just been building an Estes Baby Bertha with my partner. Our first rocket together. Have called it a night letting the 2 set of fin fillets dry.

Have made a small mod/upgrade with a Kevlar recover mounted to the motor mount. Nomex and nylon chute is next.

What's the best way to finishing the fins? Adding strength a better finish.

Thanks

Pete & Lisa.

I have used full sheet label paper to strengthen the fins. You cut it just over sized and then trim it off the fins once its stuck on just like a fin sticker. gives a little more strength and is reasonably light.

Look up "papering fins"... the topic has been covered in about two dozen threads over the last year or two...

Later and good luck! OL JR

Papering fins is the best way to go. It is a little intimidating at first but once you get the hang of it, it is a really simple way to not only strengthen the fins but also to fill the balsa. Practice on a piece of scarp balsa first.

Tim at Apogee did a good video on the process, also there are many threads here on the fourm that reference the technique, and seems like there are about a dozen different ways to do it, but ultimately you end up with the same outcome.

[video=youtube;JnYBSbYr8ZE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnYBSbYr8ZE[/video]

I have a tutorial that covers papering fins.

I've had good results with papering, then when that's dry, I smear on a thin layer of CA. After this I can sand the fins quite smooth.

You can also use 3M 77 spray adhesive to paper the fins and then soak in CA after they dry and then sand with 220 and then 320 and primer. This method works well and not as messy as glue and less chance of warping the fins