I haven’t posted any updates on the DRT, mainly because there hasn’t been much of anything to update about. Partly that was because I was out of town for part of the week before last, and then apparently picked up a cold on the way home which did me in for a couple days last week.
Partly it’s because plastic.
Look at the DRT instructions and you’ll see Estes says to use tube cement to glue the plastic pieces. Look in the online forums and you’ll see everyone else says don’t. Not if you want your fins to stay on.
Call me old fashioned, but I want the fins to stay on.
You’ll also see various other recommendations, including some solid endorsements for Tenax 7R. The one thing I did on the DRT since my last report was to glue on the scale launch lug using 7R… and to have it fall off as soon as I touched it after it had dried.
Granted, I may have not done proper surface preparation. Okay, granted, I didn’t do any surface preparation. Sanding the fin can probably would be a good idea, both for cementing and for upcoming painting. Wiping it down with alcohol would be another good thing. Also, maybe doing a better job clamping the launch lug down would have helped.
Still, the joint failed so utterly I’m jittery about the 7R. Could it be it’s been reformulated and I don’t have the old good stuff? I have no idea.
Epoxy’s another thing I’ve seen recommended… but I’ve had epoxy fail on similar-feeling plastic before, so I’m nervous about that too.
Drilling holes for “glue rivets” is probably a good idea.
Good ideas, now, that’s what I need some of.
I’ll get back to you on this.
Rich's Rockets 