Micro Painting Question

I'm asking this question here because I suppose this problem is more likely with a tiny rocket, at least it is with me.

When I paint my micros I often end up with the large gap between the nosecone and the body tube (You can see what I mean on the Cloud Hopper photo and a little less of it on the Micro-Broadsword). I suppose it's just where the paint builds up.

How can I avoid this? I should tell you, right now I always paint rockets with the same color NC and BT with the NC installed.

I don't seem to think it's that bad. Some careful sanding and lighter coats will help. It just never bothers me. Seems like the better the finish, the more the flaws show.

I think we are just or own worst critics.

Very nice work by the way! How does it fly?

I usually just take a paint marker or a Sharpie that is the same color as the nose cone and use it to color the top of the shoulder and the bottom edge of the cone (and sometimes also the top edge of the tube if it is the same color). This eliminates the white line and helps to camouflage the joint.

One of the reasons that you see so many model rockets that have the nose cone painted in a contrasting color is that it actually hides the joint between the bottom of the cone and the top of the tube. It makes it look like there is just a color break there rather than an actual physical break. Another technique that is sometimes used when the n.c. and the tube are the same color is to add a broad stripe around the top of the tube. Instead of drawing attention to the break, it actually deemphasizes it.

MK

You mentioned you have a gap between the nose cone and top of the body tube. Do you mean a paint gap or is the nose cone shoulder a little wider diameter than the body tube?
These suggestions might help -

If there is a gap before painting:
Before building, sand the top (open end) of the body tube square with some 400 grit on a sanding block. Put the nose cone into the squared tube and turn the shoulder against the open end to make the shoulder a sharper edge.
You are actually "crushing" the shoulder just a little bit and making it sit tighter against the open tube end.

Picture 1: If the nose cone shoulder is wider than the body tube:
Put the nose cone in the body tube and sand the shoulder to the diameter of the body tube with 400 grit sandpaper on a block.

If there is a noticable gap in the paint between the nose cone and body tube end:
Just before spraying the rocket, pull the nose cone out slightly so a little bit of the inside shoulder is exposed. You have to be careful with this - the paint can make the fit tighter than you might like.

In Picture 2: As MarkII did, I've used a Sharpie pen to fill the color gap at the shoulder. Sometimes the Sharpie color isn't a great match, but black Sharpie on a black nose cone always works. In the picture the nose cone is pulled out a little to show the Sharpie filled shoulder line.
MarkII is also right about a color band at the top. It can visually cover up a less than perfect gap.

I find this occurs mostly with Balsa Nosecones I'm not really sure if its a paint problem or a materials matching problem.

Generally the seam appears larger on balsa cones I think it's simply where the soft wood contacts the bodytube. When we break the seal after painting there is a small amount that bridges the gap that is flaked off as we adjust the cone seating on the bodytube.
As the previous post mentioned the shoulder material gives just a bit creating the seam. On Basswood and other harder materials it's possible to under cut the inside edge of the shoulder slightly to get a better seal that just doesn't work well on soft balsa cones.

For the most part I don't really worry about this seam. accepting it as Part of the Nature of the beast

Thanks everyone. Now that I see this is just the nature of the beast when it comes to balsa nose cones especially, I won't worry about it.

Well, I wasn't worrying about it that much, I mean, they're model rockets. But if I'm going to do something I want to do it right. Seeing the same situation on the rockets of several guys whose work I admire makes the problem not a problem anymore, at least in my small mind.