jetra2
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- Joined
- Jan 25, 2009
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I just finished building and painting my Super Big Bertha. This was a pristine kit that was yelling at me to build it Monday night. So I did.
It was an easy build, and the finishing was *gasp* EASY! This rocket is impressive in size, and for being my first Big Bertha of any size (ok, I did have a Baby Bertha...but that doesn't count), it is a great rocket.
I usedthis technique to fill the fins, and they turned out ok. I attached them with CyA, and filleted them with yellow glue (strength), Apogee's FIXIT clay (strength), and Fill n' Finish (looks). This gave it beautiful fillets that blend in quite well to the body!
Ok, now I'll describe to you the build process in pictures. This first picture is of the MMT inserted into the lower body tube, before attaching the other two CR's and the upper tube. At first, I thought this had to be a joke. As you'll notice in the pic, there is very little coupler tube sticking out! This wasn't a mistake on my part, but Estes supplies a 1" long coupler. I wasn't sure how to proceed, so I just kept following the instructions. As I would find out, you are to attach two more CR's to the MMT before you insert it in the upper tube. OK, so I did that. I let it dry, then sanded out the lower couple of inches of the upper tube to give the glue some bite, then inserted the lower tube assembly. As I would come to find out, it's actually very strong!
Time for pictures!
Jason