A bit.I just finished applying “Tube Spiral-B-Gone” (Elmer’s Wood Filler).
I may have overdone it a bit.
Agreed!One day to work on rockets before busy work week. Work is overrated.
Great tips! Thanks!A bit.
Just use your finger to wipe away the excess while it’s still wet and you’ll save yourself a ton of sanding.
Also it is *much* easier to sand the spirals if you do it all before attaching anything to the tube (e.g. fins).
Agreed!
@neil_w is right, as usual. You need to wipe off excess wood filler before it dries. This is how far I have gotten after sanding with 320 grit sandpaper. Sigh.Great tips! Thanks!
Live and learn!@neil_w is right, as usual. You need to wipe off excess wood filler before it dries. This is how far I have gotten after sanding with 320 grit sandpaper. Sigh.
I am willing to accept, say, a 15 foot finish, or whatever the length is for a standard Estes launch controller.My LPR technique is to take unthinned CWF and run it down the spiral with my finger. After I get to the bottom of the tube, I use my finger or hand to rub perpendicular to the spiral to “sand” off the rest of the filler.
I don’t even take sandpaper to it until I shoot it with a high-build auto primer. Of course, I spend a long time sanding that, so YMMV.
Really seems that if you want better than a 30 foot finish, you need to pick a point and say “Now, at this step we spend forever with a piece of sandpaper getting a nice smooth surface.”
I wonder if I could use vinyl electrical tape (just the cheap, black stuff) as a masking tape to make a candy cane effect using a second spray paint color?I like the candy cane technique.
Initially, ignore the spirals and build and finish the rocket. Use electrical, vinyl tape (because it stretches and deforms easily, a flat ribbon like tape cannnot form a true cylindrical helix) and wrap it around covering the spirals. Since the tape domes in numerous colors, you can often come up with a nice complementary paint scheme.
Fin areas do get a little tricky. But combine this with papered fins and a plastic nose cone and you have little if any sanding.
Absolutely. I thought about adding this option.I wonder if I could use vinyl electrical tape (just the cheap, black stuff) as a masking tape to make a candy cane effect using a second spray paint color?
Your point about keeping the sanding right on the spirals is well taken. When I was sanding off the excess wood filler with the 320 grit sandpaper, I had to sand portions of the body tube that had no wood filler on them, just because I could not control the sanding by hand to just the area with the wood filler. I was concerned I might take off too much of the outer layer of the body tube trying to get the wood filler off. It worked out OK. The 320 grit sandpaper is still pretty fine and the stock Estes BT-60 tube is pretty thick.I use a battery-powered toothbrush to sand the wood filler for the spirals. Came across this suggestion somewhere years ago.
Made the sanding a good bit easier, and also kept the sanded area right to the spirals.
The pictures pretty much explain it all. Bought an inexpensive toothbrush at Walmart. Trimmed off the brushes.
Used adhesive-backed sandpaper to make up the little sanding squares. I have a couple of different grits too.
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Well, in my case, I would not call it rocket science. Let’s call it rocket “tinkering”.Who knew paper bird spirals would turn into "rocket science"?
Haha, I said that 57 years ago. Maybe your immune system is stronger than mine.I would pay a small premium to have spirals pre filled to be honest.
I’ve already wasted enough time! And I’ve only been doing this for a year or two!
That is the alternate approach, Don't try to hide it, embellish it. Make it look like a weld line, of add rows of rivet heads.I just thought of something...
Has anyone ever tried string or floss (unwaxed) glued into the spirals?
I might try that this week.
I actually enjoy filling in spirals, now. I view it as part of the building fun, like papering fins (even if they're not balsa).I would pay a small premium to have spirals pre filled to be honest.
I’ve already wasted enough time! And I’ve only been doing this for a year or two!
"This is the Rocket Police, how can I help you?"I actually enjoy filling in spirals, now. I view it as part of the building fun, like papering fins (even if they're not balsa).
For the record, I fill in spirals with sandable primer, not Elmer's CWF. This is because I'm usually building a BT-20 rocket and CWF doesn't easily fill in the very narrow spirals. I also sand the primer with 400, 600 and 1,500 grit sandpaper. 220? What am I trying to do, turn a 2x4 into a toothpick?"This is the Rocket Police, how can I help you?"
"There's a person in my neighborhood who is claiming that he enjoys filling spirals."
"OhMiGawd, ROCKET SWAT TEAM, prepare for deployment!! Deranged rocketeer on the loose! Almost certainly armed with multiple containers of Elmer's CWF. He is considered highly dusty and must be approached with extreme caution. Search carefully upon capture as he is probably concealing 220-grit sandpaper about his person!"
After the final sanding of primer, we will be applying the top coat - Rusoleum metallic "aluminum".
Then, once that is on, some metallic "copper" for the swoopy fins.
Then, once the paint is on, some clear coat to make the metallic finish nice and glossy.
THAT is dedication to the craft. Or insane. One of those two.For the record, I fill in spirals with sandable primer, not Elmer's CWF. This is because I'm usually building a BT-20 rocket and CWF doesn't easily fill in the very narrow spirals. I also sand the primer with 400, 600 and 1,500 grit sandpaper. 220? What am I trying to do, turn a 2x4 into a toothpick?
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