I've gotten some more work done since the initial painting was started. It turns out that the amount of effort going in to finishing this rocket is more than I expected, but it will be more exciting to launch it again, knowing the effort that went in. The following pictures summarize the status.
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I used a piece of tape as a straight edge to mark out the triangles on the interior of the fins. |
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This is one example of the triangle drawn in place. |
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Here's what it looks like with the triangles masked off. It took a solid 4 hours of masking to prepare for spraying the black paint on the booster section alone. |
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Starting the black. |
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The black is completed on the booster section. |
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Masking the forward airframe tube ends. This is just to prevent the overspray from getting inside. |
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I masked the shoulder of the nose cone and used the eye-bolt inside to hang it for painting. |
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Black is complete on the nose cone. |
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Green on the upper airframe tube is complete. |
Next will be going around every masked line with a razor to lightly score the paint seams before unmasking. This allows the tape to tear away properly and reduces risk peeling or leaving a thick edge of paint.
After that will be orange on the forward tube, followed by black on the forward tube. Then the whole rocket should be ready for clear coat.