Papering fins

The Thrifty Rocketeer continues...

 A short entry today.

 Some rocketeers swear by filling spirals.  Others insist that you seal your fins and wood. Still others  speak highly of papering your fins.
Say what?

 The term "papering your fins" refers to gluing down paper over the surface of a wooden fin, to create a smooth, even surface, suitable for painting.  It's for those people who value appearance more than expediency... not that there's anything wrong with that...

 For years, I have ignored the topic, preferring to use diluted wood glue as a sealant for my balsa fins. I've already described this technique before, and I still prefer it.

 But about a month ago I bought an Estes kit on impulse, just because it had big fins. They were prominent, and easily accessible. In short, perfect candidates for trying my hand at papering.

 I read up on people's techniques, and most said "Just use a sheet of typing or copy paper, and slather it on with glue."  (Slather? Really?)  While others recommended using wood putty or wood filler, spread with a credit card and then sanding vigorously until the perfect surface was achieved.

 I don't know about you, but I NEVER can achieve a blemish-free surface when using wood filler.  But it has it's uses and times.

 Half of those recommending glue suggested wood glue, and half suggested white school glue.  I decided since the rocket had three large fins, I would try a different technique on each fin.

 I started with white school glue, spreading it over both sides of the first fin in a smooth, even coat... one side at a time. Then I pressed a folded tent of copy paper (traced and trimmed down to approximate the size of the fin) with a credit card as a squeegee.   This worked fairly well, but the white glue quickly penetrated the paper, and it began to wrinkle. A little smoothing work with the credit card squeezed the last of the glue out, but I was afraid I would tear the paper.

 The second fin was similar to the first, except I used yellow Elmer's glue full strength, and again, spread it out over the fin to an even coat before applying the paper "tent". The paper laid down well, and I quickly smoothed the surface with the credit card. It laid down well.

 In fact, I was so pleased with this, that I abandoned the third technique and just stuck with the yellow glue instead of the school glue.

 Now two or three foot notes here:

  1. The school glue had been recommended due to its water content, and easy of sliding and repositioning before it grabbed and dried.  That was the appeal.  I didn't see it.
  2. The yellow glue grabbed pretty quickly, but I didn't have any need to slide it around.
  3. If you try this technique, choose a credit card you don't care about. This didn't impact mine, but if you're about to pay for a pizza delivery with that card, you probably don't want to be using it as a glue squeegee.
  4. Want a great card?  Try a subway gift card... or similar store credit card. They worked well.  You can pick some of these style cards at many fast food stores, free...they have no cash value on them until after you spend some cash on them, or load them up. If you don't, you can palm one  ask for one, and just walk away with it take it with you.
Well, that's the tip for today. Use a store credit card as your squeegee.

Oh, you want to know how the fins tuned out?
Unremarkable.  Each of the three fins is pretty much identical to the others. The surface isn't spectacular, but it is smooth and paintable.  But then, they were before I started as well.

So the jury is still out.
Comments? Let me know.

Until then, keep your glue capped, and save your balsa scraps cause you never know when you will be needing them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The End of the Line

Image
 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Well, for years, the state of the model rocket industry relied upon plans and patterns that were photocopied or printed out, and then applied to standard sheets of balsa to be cut out. Eventually, the various parts for various sized rockets were packaged in groups or blister packs, and sold at hobby shops across the nation.  The emphasis was on home brew or building a rocket to specifications and plans. Eventually, entire kits were pre-packaged, with all the parts that one would need.  And then, laser cut shapes, fins or parts were already pre-cut, doing away with the need for most of the patterns and tracing. So what happened to all those bags and bister packs of parts of rockets?  That is, a baggie of various nose cones... or connectors... or transitions or more ?   Many of  those packages remain at your local mom and pop hobby store, just waiting for someone to come in and buy some of their pegboard stock.  And the number and frequency of the
Read more

sleeping with the enemy

Image
 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... First thing I did when they put in a Hobby Lobby in my smaller metropolitan town, 40 miles away, was to grab an application to work there.  Now I know what you're thinking... "How could you?  Who would want to work for that conservative corporation?".. as my daughter would say.  And you'd be partially right. I saved the application and took note of the mailing address. Within the first month or so, most of the initial buying frenzy was over, having sold out of some things, but not everything.   But it seemed nothing new was getting restocked. So, I got on my word processor and wrote a letter to the store management, THANKING them for bringing the store to our isolated metro area. I pointed out that many of the items had sold through completely, and how much we had appreciated their stocking rockets. Then I also encouraged them to restock and consider expanding the display, pointing to the fact that as rocketeers grow older, the
Read more

Death of a Hobby

Image
 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... No, this is not a column about how Model Rocketry is a dying hobby.  It's actually about another sister hobby that sometimes overlaps into Rocketry. I'm talking about Amateur Radio. Just this last weekend, our local Ham Radio club held a "swap meet" which is commonly called a Hamfest.  These gatherings to buy and sell used equipment, parts and visit old friends typically happen just once a year and in the absence of the late Radio Shack, is one of the only places to find parts and electronic elements. There is also testing held to advance to higher licenses. The admission varies depending on the club, their overhead, expense of renting the hall or venue, and the number of tables that they can sell to area vendors who will drive across state with their wares to set up for the half day show. It's not uncommon for amateur radio operators to drive across state to attend, pay admission and get a single entry into the door prize
Read more