Nike Smoke Fin Bevels

[WFWalby]

Have a 2.6" Nike with 3/32" FG Fins that I'd like to increase the thickness and put scale-like fin bevels on. But really can't visualize how to sand the taper for leading/trailing edges.
Suggestions?? Drawings/photos/videos work better for me than text-only descriptions.
Thanks
William

 

[DigBaddy]

Wasn't the main topic of this video from @JohnCoker , but I believe it covered the shaping.

 

[Rob Campbell]

A cheat would be to draw lines where the fins change angle with a fine sharpie. It presents the appearance of a beveled fin without the tricky sanding required to make an actual bevel. This may be good on a smaller model , like the one you're building.

 

[rocketguy101]

you could do built-up fins ... for LPR and MPR, wood core with a cardstock skin works great. For larger rockets, use plastic or fiberglass like G10

 

[JohnCoker]

Now-a-days it'll be a lot less work to 3D print the fins in two halves.

The only potential issue is weight; it's hard to beat composite structures with lightweight cores for strength and weight of large parts.

 

[bjphoenix]

you could do built-up fins ... for LPR and MPR, wood core with a cardstock skin

Can you still get 1/16" plywood? That might be another option.

And BTW I've seen Nike fins done 2 ways- with diamond shaped cross section and with flat section with bevels front and back. I've seen at least one of each in person at various museums and outside displays. The diamond shape was a Nike Ajax, the flat fins were on a sounding rocket booster. I could possibly find these in my old photos.

 

[OverTheTop]

There is a document in another thread with the Nike fin profiles, from the original specification document.
www.meatballrocketry.com/wp-content/gallery/scale_data/nike_data/nikefins.pdf
Courtesy of meatballrocketry.com

Another thread on this forum also:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/scale-nike-smoke-fin-dimensions.8174/

 

[bjphoenix]

There is a document in another thread with the Nike fin profiles, from the original specification document.

That's interesting- I assumed a Nike was a Nike, but looking at photos I see that Nike-Ajax was different from Nike Smoke and from things like Nike-Cajun.

 

[WFWalby]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. Have to ponder and maybe try a couple different methods on a scrap fin.
William

 

[hcmbanjo]

If you are looking to taper the kit supplied fins,
Here's links to some blog posts and an article I did for the Apogee POF Newsletter:

http://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2016/06/shaping-estes-nike-smoke-fins-part-1.htmlhttp://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2016/06/shaping-estes-nike-smoke-fins-part-2.htmlhttp://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2016/06/shaping-estes-nike-smoke-fins-part-3.htmlhttp://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2016/06/shaping-estes-nike-smoke-fins-part-4.html
And in the Apogee Peak of Flight newsletter:
https://www.apogeerockets.com/education/downloads/Newsletter357.pdf

 

[user 35280]

Contact Gord @sandman I believe he makes those.