Estes Mini Arcas released

[SolarYellow]

I was thinking that too.

I think you could fool the casual observer by shading the bottom half of the fins slightly darker (could be accomplished with a very light grey transparent decal).
View attachment 642156

Or maybe wedge the upper parts a little, leave the TE thick for landing durability. Paint the lower half with a grey paint before painting the whole fins red. That will show a slightly darker hue of the same red, no need for decals.

Or go over the top and layer 1/32 balsa or bass over a central core of 0.020 carbon fiber.

Or just resin print the whole fin can...

 

[neil_w]

Paint the lower half with a grey paint before painting the whole fins red. That will show a slightly darker hue of the same red, no need for decals.

Hey that's a nifty idea. I wonder how much shade difference you'd get that way. Undoubtedly dependent on the exact variety of red paint used.

 

[SolarYellow]

Hey that's a nifty idea. I wonder how much shade difference you'd get that way. Undoubtedly dependent on the exact variety of red paint used.

And how thick, etc.

I mostly use Krylon Acryli-Quik. With their brighter red, the difference going over white vs. grey primer is fairly noticeable when they are adjacent. That's why I was able to be so clever.

One could also vary the effect with different shades of grey.

 

[SolarYellow]

View attachment 641953

It's interesting to me that that round is the only Sidewinder-Arcas I can find photos of (there's another image out there with what looks like that same launcher elevated and the same paint on the rocket) with the Sidewinder fins shaped like Sidewinder fins. Most of the drawings and photos had trapezoidal fins installed.

Just ran numbers on Sidewinder-Arcas airframe diameters and available cardboard tube sizes. Lots of nice options that are a good match. Annoyingly, BT-55 isn't among them.

 

[n3tjm]

I can see myself building one of these. It also reignites my desire to get another Aerotech HV Arcas.

 

[DocSeuss]

Here's the Mini Arcas and parts.

 

[DocSeuss]

Bahaha, I accidentally had two parts wedged in the nose cone! A tiny yellow motor ring and another part of the launch lug.

Noticed that the green rings don't fit the motor tube very well, fun.