Thanks Andy. That's great coming from you.
I had some great inspiration.
I dont think I've had a rocket that gave me as much trouble.
First, I had the body tube on the floor, standing on end...and the garage leaked...and the BT just happened to be standing in the only low spot.
It dried out fine (not deep water, but enough...)
Then, second, I sprayed the tube with the "Universal Bonding Primer" and it blistered, so I tried filling the tube spirals with some cheap sh!t Dollar Tree filler. Well, that stuff sands like partially dried boogers. It didn't really "sand", it just rolled into hundreds of balls and clogged the sand paper. I pitched that tube and ordered a new one from Estes.
From here out, things went okay...for a while.
The nosecone sanded and painted beautifully. Then I dropped it. At least I dropped it on carpet (thin, no padding carpet, but not the concrete floor.)
The new BT took real filler great, primed great, painted great...then I realized I was using flat white instead of gloss. It took the clear just fine. My checkerboard was about 1/16" short, so I moved that gap into the fin line.
No major problems with the fins, just one overly curious gnat.
Installing the MMT went fine.
The fins went on like butter...a week later when I looked at them, they are not perpendicular, like a +, they are more of a sideways X, not perpendicular, but actually a symmetrical capital X, laying on its side like Skywalker's X-wing. You'd never know it unless you looked at it on end.
Once it was finished and pics taken, I put it on the "gun rack" with the Prowler and High Flyer XL, and yep, the magnetic hooks on the wall were not up to the task and they all three came down. There are now four hooks holding the rack to the wall.
I think that covers it. I'm kinda scared to fly it now with all its been through.
Jon