On a recent visit to ERockets I picked up a classic. I saw the Golden Scout and remembered building the Estes version back when I was a kid and had to have it. Since I don't see build thread on here for this kit I figured I'd do one. This is a small kit so this will be a quick build. Probably have a total of three hours in it so far as there was some time waiting for primers and fillers to dry.
Semroc Golden Scout. Instructions are very clear and simple to follow.
Below we see all of the components. A very nicely finished balsa nose cone, Main body tube, three thick balsa fins, 1/8" launch lug, engine hook and a fabric cover to go over the engine hook to hold it in place.
Step one of this build is straight forward. Glue the nose cone into the body tube. The body tube comes pre-marked for the fins and three vent holes are punched into the tube. To begin I lightly sanded the inside of the tube for better adhesion. Next I coated the bottom side of the nose cone with a couple of coats of TB thick and quick to give the cone a little protection from the ejection.
Next a ring of glue was spread around the inside of the tube and a little around the base of the nose cone then they were joined and held for about 60 secs for the glue to set.
Next was the motor hook. This runs down the outside of the tube and gets inserted into a small hole in the upper part of the body tube. When looking at the motor hook there is a short and a long end. The long end goes into the body tube. I used a couple of drops of insta-cure CA to hold the clip in place against the body temporarily.
The fabric cover was attached using BSI 15 min epoxy. Figured this would give a better bond and be easier to smooth out.
Below we see the hook attached and covered with fabric. Next it was time to do the fins. While the epoxy was drying I rounded the leading edge of the fins. The instructions tell you to round the outer edge as well but I chose to leave them square. One additional step was to sand a bevel into the root edge of the fin. The thickness of the material would otherwise not allow the fin to sit flush with the tube. TO do this i wrapped a piece of 240 grit around the tube then gave the root edge a couple of quick passes to get the correct contour.
The outer layer of the tube was removed where the fin attaches.
The fins were then attached with TBII and left to completely dry before the next one was attached. Due to the pre-marked tube and the thickness of the materials this is a very easy process.
I recalled that my old Estes kit came with gauze to strengthen the attachment points due to the tumble recovery. I didn't really care for the finish that the gauze leaves so I decided to go with papering the joints and the fins. I finally found a use for those IPass renewal notices that the fine state of Illinois sends out. They are printed on heavy paper so I papered the attachment points and the entire fin for a little extra strength. Once the glue was dry I coated the entire rocket in a very thin coat of finishing epoxy and let that cure over night.
At this point it is not pretty but that will change.
After letting the epoxy cure I hit the Scout with two coats of SEM high build primer and let that cure in the 100F sun we had. Next I used finishing putty to fill in any grain in the balsa and low spots on the rocket. Sanded with 240 then 400 grit.
Today will be a final coat of primer, a light sanding then the color coats. If all goes well I can fly this on on Saturday.
Semroc Golden Scout. Instructions are very clear and simple to follow.
Below we see all of the components. A very nicely finished balsa nose cone, Main body tube, three thick balsa fins, 1/8" launch lug, engine hook and a fabric cover to go over the engine hook to hold it in place.
Step one of this build is straight forward. Glue the nose cone into the body tube. The body tube comes pre-marked for the fins and three vent holes are punched into the tube. To begin I lightly sanded the inside of the tube for better adhesion. Next I coated the bottom side of the nose cone with a couple of coats of TB thick and quick to give the cone a little protection from the ejection.
Next a ring of glue was spread around the inside of the tube and a little around the base of the nose cone then they were joined and held for about 60 secs for the glue to set.
Next was the motor hook. This runs down the outside of the tube and gets inserted into a small hole in the upper part of the body tube. When looking at the motor hook there is a short and a long end. The long end goes into the body tube. I used a couple of drops of insta-cure CA to hold the clip in place against the body temporarily.
The fabric cover was attached using BSI 15 min epoxy. Figured this would give a better bond and be easier to smooth out.
Below we see the hook attached and covered with fabric. Next it was time to do the fins. While the epoxy was drying I rounded the leading edge of the fins. The instructions tell you to round the outer edge as well but I chose to leave them square. One additional step was to sand a bevel into the root edge of the fin. The thickness of the material would otherwise not allow the fin to sit flush with the tube. TO do this i wrapped a piece of 240 grit around the tube then gave the root edge a couple of quick passes to get the correct contour.
The outer layer of the tube was removed where the fin attaches.
The fins were then attached with TBII and left to completely dry before the next one was attached. Due to the pre-marked tube and the thickness of the materials this is a very easy process.
I recalled that my old Estes kit came with gauze to strengthen the attachment points due to the tumble recovery. I didn't really care for the finish that the gauze leaves so I decided to go with papering the joints and the fins. I finally found a use for those IPass renewal notices that the fine state of Illinois sends out. They are printed on heavy paper so I papered the attachment points and the entire fin for a little extra strength. Once the glue was dry I coated the entire rocket in a very thin coat of finishing epoxy and let that cure over night.
At this point it is not pretty but that will change.
After letting the epoxy cure I hit the Scout with two coats of SEM high build primer and let that cure in the 100F sun we had. Next I used finishing putty to fill in any grain in the balsa and low spots on the rocket. Sanded with 240 then 400 grit.
Today will be a final coat of primer, a light sanding then the color coats. If all goes well I can fly this on on Saturday.
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