Clear tube to paper bond

Clear payload tube (apogee, no idea what material) to paper bulkhead.
It was recommended to me to use epoxy. I used bsi and scuffed up the clear tube. After 1 flight and a hard landing, I'm surprised at just how easy it was to pull the two apart.

Now that I'm building another I'm curious if there is a better way, or something I missed.
Thanks!

Use self adhesive paper labels or strips of masking tape to stick to the inside of the clear tube, then use white glue to make the bond between the clear tube, and the tube connector. Tape isn't as good as the labels, as it will dry out over time and may become brittle.

Also, I've used CA glue with good results, for low power rockets.

After gluing your clear payload section to the tube connector, I strongly recommend that you mask the clear part (inside and out with a wrap of paper) and use primer and your regular spray paint to "hide the crimes". If you're not getting good results with that, you can paint the paper, and use that as a wrap to hide the crimes.

(Yes, I spend a lot of time watching Adam Savage's Tested videos)

mbeels said:

Also, I've used CA glue with good results, for low power rockets.

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Just be careful with CA and clear plastic. The fumes offgassing as the CA cures can fog the plastic. Some formulations/brands are worse than others, and some don’t do it at all. Scale plastic model builders have a certain type of glue they use for clear parts like airplane canopies, but I don’t remember it’s name. I’m sure Google does, though.

Here’s the damage to my Estes Firebolt clear payload section from CA fumes.

Culprit said:

Just be careful with CA and clear plastic. The fumes offgassing as the CA cures can fog the plastic

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Egh, that's no good. I've never had that happen to me, perhaps I've been lucky. I use BSI medium CA. What type of CA did you use?

Good time to pull out the Supergold.

Excellent ideas!
The label inside the tube makes complete sense. Gives me an essential reason to go shopping lol.

I have several brands and types of CA and some spare clear tube. I could test a few.

The rocket is white, I was thinking I'd just use white vinyl wrap. Didn't even consider gluing on a paintable surface.

FlyingMonkey said:

The rocket is white, I was thinking I'd just use white vinyl wrap. Didn't even consider gluing on a paintable surface.

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You can extend the vinyl rap to cover the clear tube up to the top of the inner shoulder...

mbeels said:

Egh, that's no good. I've never had that happen to me, perhaps I've been lucky. I use BSI medium CA. What type of CA did you use?

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I’ve been through so many brands of CA I have no way of knowing which did this. I seem to remember a thread on here from a few years back that might have more specifics. I’ll see if I can find it.

I didn’t quickly find an old discussion on the brands of CA that do or do not fog clear plastic.
Here is the canopy glue I was talking about.

Also: BSI SuperGold and SuperGold+. Great stuff but expensive.

Culprit said:

I didn’t quickly find an old discussion on the brands of CA that do or do not fog clear plastic.
Here is the canopy glue I was talking about.
View attachment 411240

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This!! This is what I have been using for paper to plastic joints since long before I got back into rockets about 12 years ago (for the original purpose - attaching clear plastic canopies to RC aircraft). Cleans up with water. The only downside is it takes several hours to dry fully.

In fact, I'm building an old Silver Comet right now and just today have used Formula 560 for the fin-to-tailcone joints and also for attaching the aft AR-2050 ring in an Alpha VI motor mount assembly to the fin can.

Possibly also Beacon Fabri-Tac or Foam-Tac would work. This is Chris Michielsson's go-to for paper to plastic joints. (modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com)