Spiral filling?

[mkmilion]

I recently have purchased a Gemini DC and have never seen such deep spirals on the BTs. Does anyone have some suggestions about how I could go about filling them? I was leaning towards Elmer's Wood Filler.

 

[sandman]

Elmer's filler is what most people use.

Try filling the spirals before you build the rocket...might be easier.

sandman

 

[Ryan S.]

you can also you body filler (Bondo)

I read somewhere that filling the spirals can add to the strength off a tube

 

[wwattles]

I used Elmers on my Gemini, and it worked well.

Note: if you want to paint it to match the packaging, you'll need to paint your fins before you attach them. Why? Because Estes only gives you 4 decals to cover 4 fins (8 fin faces). So you can either make your own using a scanner, a color printer and clear label paper, or you can just paint them using the old mask-and paint technique.

My 2 cents.
(if I keep giving out 2 cents here and there, I'm gonna be in the poorhouse soon!)

WW

 

[jflis]

ok, wwattles...

just noticed your sig...

...yer gonna *have* to start a thread on that "backwards deuce"....

 

[wwattles]

Jim,

The thread is already out there, but you probably didn't recognize it. Here's the link... forward mounted cluster
The idea is to put a pair of mounts forward (which will look almost like canards at first glance) that will have plugged 18mm tubes canted outwards like a Deuce's Wild. Aft will be a single 24mm mount which will power the ejection charge. Recovery package will be in in the middle of the rocket, like the Tres.

Power to the igniters will go up through a shielded conduit inside the rocket and have a port on either side, right below the canted forward mounts. Igniters will basically be loosely held in place with friction and spring pressure from the ignition wires themselves, so they blow out when the engine fires. And of course, they have to combine angularly to have less forward thrust than the 24mm aft or else they'll rip the front off at ignition and my creation will be very short-lived.

I haven't started construction on it yet, since my current projects are to get this Tres and Spitfire done for my launch tomorrow morning.

WW

 

[jflis]

coo, thanx. I just posted there.

 

[flying_silverad]

Normally, I use the Elmers filler in the tube...squirt a little on the tube and with a wet finger (I keep a little bowl of water and a paper towel near the work) and start smearing the goo adjusting the consistency as I go. Then let dry and sand. You can usually do a body tube that size in about an hour if drying enviroment is good. humidity in the summer is a killer so sometimes I just let it sit overnight.