The finish on the fiberglassed body tubes was not very good. The tape wrap had a tendency to push tape to certain areas, resulting in a rippled finish. I spent several hours sanding these ripples out and the tubes are quite nice now.
The ends of this tube and a little in the middle have been sanded. The light spots show the sanded parts.
The sanded aft tube compared to the un-sanded upper tube.
Next, I marked where the fins would be glued to the tube, using a paper wrap.
I used a combination of styrene sheets and wood stock to space the fins up exactly the right height on a flat counter. I then tacked them in place with thin CA glue.
Next, I did 2 layers of tip-to-tip fiberglass on the fins and body tube.
After the tip-to-tip fiberglass, I did fillets on the fins. I used 5 minute epoxy mixed with milled fiberglass particles to strengthen the joints.
Next, I will sand the fiberglass and fillets smooth and do 1 or 2 more layers of tip-to-tip fiberglass to further strengthen the fin joints.
As always, nice work.
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