Finishing

Finishin' was slightly more involved than construction because o' t' amount o' body tube spiral and balsa grain t' cover, but surfaces were large enough t' allow for broad swipes while sanding, shiver me timbers, so it all worked out well. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty!  When all o' t' glue fillets were dry, arrr, I sprayed t' entire rocket with Valspar primer t' toughen it up a little before t' Fill & Finish. Well, blow me down! Ahoy!  Once t' primer was dry, I sanded everythin' lightly t' remove any burrs that resulted from t' dryin' primer, me hearties, then brushed on t' first coat o' thinned Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler.  I've found that t' best way t' work with this is t' fill a cup with water, ya bilge rat, arrr, dip t' brush in t' water, then smear it around in t' wood filler.  Once t' bristles have picked up enough filler, I then paint it on t' fins, me bucko, nose cone and tube spirals and wait for it t' dry. Avast! Ya scallywag!  Once dry, t' filler is sanded off and t' process repeated until your fins are glass smooth, or you run out o' patience, shiver me timbers, (which is what usually happens t' me.)  Once up t' me standards, me hearties, t' rocket be reprimed, then t' body was sprayed with Testors Racin' Orange, matey, a fancily named flourescent orange with a nice pop. Ya scallywag!  This paint works best when sprayed over white primer and in multiple light coats. Blimey!  More finicky than t' flourescent orange I usually use, but t' results were very nice.  T' nose cone was painted Testors gloss black, arrr, as was t' stripe down t' one fin. Arrr! Blimey!  This caused a bit o' a problem when it ran badly.  (Forgot that I wasn't paintin' with Valspar.)  T' run looked pretty horrible, arrr, matey, arrr, and as usual, matey, I got disgusted and lost interest in t' project.  Just before NARAM 55 I decided t' see if I could save t' project, and t' me surprise, me hearties, I did.  T' offendin' runs were sanded away, arrr, matey, arrr, and I again used t' Testors gloss black, this time takin' care t' do it in light coats.  It turned out very nice.

Decals were more o' an issue. Arrr!  I've tried before with t' decal scan at JimZ and filed, but in t' meantime I won an auction for a set o' Screamer instructions and a decal. Ya scallywag!  I tried scannin' me version and workin' on it and was more successful.  I broke it down into sections as I be most interested in t' wrap and Mini Brute "bug", but I also printed off t' black stripe that sits just above t' fins on t' body tube. Ya scallywag! Arrr!  I did t' upscale by measurin' t' wrap from t' original decal, then figured what length it would have t' be t' fit around a BT-70. Well, blow me down!  Not t' most elegant method, but it worked. Aye aye!  To be sure I had t' upscale right, arrr, I printed t' wrap off on plain paper and checked it for fit. Avast! Well, me bucko, blow me down!  Once I had that sized right, I upscaled t' original scan by that number, then isolated t' decals separately and put them in place usin' Print Shop. Avast, me proud beauty!