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Tip 63 o' 75
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Repairin' a Rocket That Has Broken into Two Pieces

I received t' Tour De Deuce's on 7/2/04 and was happy t' try t' put them in t' air on 7/4/04. We had calm evenin' and so me son and I rushed out t' our local field which had been hayed and set up. Begad! I decided I would just get goin' with one o' t' Deuce's (later t' learn it was DW#2). Ahoy! I loaded it up with two Quest C6-5's and set up. Blimey! Upon ignition, arrr, which me son pushed t' button for, matey, only one motor lit and it came off t' pad about 10 feet turned at a 30 degree angle downward and flew into t' ground. Avast, me proud beauty! T' ejection separated t' rocket from t' nose cone and thar she lay. Avast! Broken in two!

 

Upon impact t' DW#2 broke through at a stress point just above t' fin-can. T' rocket had already been repaired "above" this break, matey, as thar be a coupler that appeared t' run t' within inches o' t' top o' t' body tube. Also below this point is where t' motor coupler was. Avast, me proud beauty! A BT60 Coupler be glued in place and t' tube was pushed back t' where it met t' fin-can. T' loosened fin was lifted so that CA could be put under it and then clamped t' dry in place. Aye aye! T' tube joint was then soaked in CA t' harden t' paper tube. Aye aye! Everythin' was then ground with a Dremel and 100 Grit paper t' take off t' high edges. Ahoy! It be then re-CA soaked. Avast, me proud beauty! A very thin epoxy coats was placed over t' existin' fin fillet t' secure up that crack.
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Bondo Glazin' compound was added. Aye aye! I went ahead and fixed a couple o' t' fin wounds while I was at it. Avast! T' glazin' be sanded down t' a minimum simply t' allow t' proper filling. I kept t' sand t' only t' fin-can and blue area.
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Plasti-Kote Fillin' Primer was then used t' further level/smooth things out. Well, blow me down! You can see how I protected t' upper section. T' tape was above where I sprays so that it didn't make a definite line. I then feathered it out. Workin' around t' motor tube was a bit tough, but this side really needed some work. Arrr! This took about 4 coats o' primer t' take out as many flaws as I could. Ya scallywag! My focus be on t' tube break. I didn't focus too much on t' fins, arrr, but did clean up a couple o' t' dents. Ahoy! T' primer be sanded back with 400 grit so that as little primer was left as possible.
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I then coated t' fin-can and damaged area with Krylon White primer (it had looked like it was originally done this way and I didn't want grey primer t' change t' final color). Begad! I then target sprayed t' yellow-fins. I also did a very light spray o' t' upper body/nose cone t' "freshen it up". I masked off t' yellow sections and sprayed t' blue t' finalize t' repair. Begad! Blimey! T' rocket looks good.
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Finished

Contributed by Nick Esselman

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