Warped Plastic Fin

[John Galt]

A plastic fin on my Apogee Saturn V rocket warped.
How do I straighten it out?
Thanks for the help.

 

[John Galt]

I have to believe this would affect the flight.
The bend is worse than it appears in the picture.

 

[neil_w]

Any idea how that happened?

The only thing I could think would be to straighten it with heat, but I'm not sure exactly how to apply just enough heat to the fin and keeping it localized there so you don't melt the fairings.

 

[Antares JS]

Heat it up until it's soft, bend it back into shape, allow to cool and re-harden. This works great for gaming miniatures with bent spears and Apogee strap-on booster hooks. You probably want to carefully immerse only the affected part in hot water. This is the least likely to damage the finish and the surrounding area. Alternatively you can use a lighter, but that will probably damage the paint.

 

[John Galt]

Any idea how that happened?

The only thing I could think would be to straighten it with heat, but I'm not sure exactly how to apply just enough heat to the fin and keeping it localized there so you don't melt the fairings.

The fin was lying on the bed of my truck and I think the sun got to it.

 

[John Galt]

Heat it up until it's soft, bend it back into shape, allow to cool and re-harden. This works great for gaming miniatures with bent spears and Apogee strap-on booster hooks. You probably want to carefully immerse only the affected part in hot water. This is the least likely to damage the finish and the surrounding area. Alternatively you can use a lighter, but that will probably damage the paint.

Would a hair dryer on low work?

 

[Antares JS]

Would a hair dryer on low work?

Don't know, never tried it. I wouldn't because you risk accidentally heating and deforming the fairing.

 

[rcktnut]

I would try the lighter method or a lit candle (might get a bit of carbon deposit) as they are a more direct heat source. Just start out away from flame and bring the fin closer until pliable. With fingers on end of fin should be able to tell where heat column is and fin should be pliable well before fingers get hot enough to be uncomfortable.

 

[Pete.D]

Wrap the bottom of the rocket with a couple layers of aluminum foil, leaving only the bent fin sticking out. Then go at it with a hair drier or heat gun. Aluminum is really good at reflecting infra-red radiation, but really good at conducting: so wrap the outer layer loose, touching between layers as little as possible.

 

[MAK60]

Borrow a hair straightener from someone.

 

[Donnager]

The most gentle way I can think of is to get a wet washcloth (not dripping wet) and microwave it until its quite hot---you will need at least rubber gloves to pick it up. You may be able to warm the fin with this. Figuring out how to get the heat where you want it before the rag cools might be a trick. You'll have to be fast on the warming/straightening and slow on the waiting to see if you did any good.

Other than this, boiling water or a hair dryer would be where I'd suggest, but I'm impatient, and would probably (delicately) use a mini butane torch similar to how I warm heat shrink. With a little range and finesse, I don't think it would be too much problem.

Good luck.

 

[BABAR]

A plastic fin on my Apogee Saturn V rocket warped.
How do I straighten it out?
Thanks for the help.
View attachment 454474

Little late to the party, but you might contact Estes, they may replace it.