I'm working on an Estes U.S. Army PATRIOT. And I already screwed up and put the fins on the smaller tube, instead of on one of the longer ones. The shorter "yellow" tube was supposed to go on the other end, where the nosecone attached to it. It's really a no-brainer, as it doesn't matter which end it goes on, because the wall thickness is the same on all 3 tubes, which means the weight distribution will be the same. Not completely reading the instructions, I used the short tube for the motor mount and fins, and the coupler fit just fine attaching it to the center body tube. This was the same way I was supposed to assemble it with the Cherokee E rocket - using the short tube for the engine mount and fins. However, I NOW see that the Patriot instructions tell you to measure back 1 inch from the top of the "yellow" tube and paint that section red, and the rest of that short tube is to be painted yellow, not necessarily in that order (I always paint the lighter color first when doing two-tones). Well, since I'm not using the short tube for this paint scheme, now, I've got to do a little simple math for the longer tube to get the paints located in the right positions. Since the short tube is 3-1/4"L, I have to paint the top 3-1/4 inches of the longer tube yellow. Then wait for it to dry and use light tack tape to do the red stripe, there, after bagging the rest of the rocket to keep overspray off the white paint. PITA, I'll tell ya. This was supposed to be a simple 1-hour assembly, minus paint and glue dry time. I was supposed to paint the short tube separately, and then paint the other tubes already coupled, white. Then tape off one end of that tube and paint it red after the fins were attached. I painted the engine mount and inside the bottom of the body tube gloss black, btw. However, because of my mess-up, I've got to do two-tone taping for both ends of the rocket, now - all in one piece...LMBO. Oh, did I mention that I tried painting the body tube, and because it wasn't warm enough, my paint crackled all over and I had to sand it all down and prime and paint all over again??!!! ARGH!! Wow...coming from a true novice. When it's finished, I'll post pics. Until then, here's a few of the Cherokee E rocket I just finished, yesterday. The rocket looks green, however that's the fluorescent tubes playing havoc with my Cannon EOS, which I have yet to figure out to adjust the exposure or what not to show it's true dark blue hue. 'Hope you like the pics. Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!! And Happy Flying.
![IMG_20191124_170821_228[1].jpg](https://cdn.imagearchive.com/rocketryforum/data/attachments/316/316262-ef93947b8e4a2d77ebf3f8a44a1b9856.jpg "IMG_20191124_170821_228[1].jpg")
