Clear fins. Glue first or last?

[aeppel_cpm]

I need to attach the clear (lexan) fins for my current project, but I can't decide on the order.

Glue first. Mask around them. Or paint first (with masking strips for gluing later) and glue last.

Is there a consensus best practice?

[ghrocketman]

I would glue first to ensure good filleting/attachment to the base material.
Then mask-off and paint.

[aeppel_cpm]

That seems like good reasoning, GH. I'll go that way.

I'm a teensy be concerned about the masking adhesive on the lexan. But mainly because I haven't tried it before.

[ghrocketman]

I'm confident that masking tape adhesive will do nothing to Lexan, but just to be sure, test the tape on a scrap piece of the fin material for a couple hours.
Regardless of that, remove the masking tape as soon as possible after painting.

[aeppel_cpm]

I tried the mask tape on the lexan last night when I put down some narrow epoxy fillets.

I've seen that done in high power build threads, but not tried it myself before. I'm usually a little sloppy with epoxy. But the masked result sure looks sharp.

The tape (blue 3M) left a tiny trace on the lexan, but that looks like it will rub or wash off fine.

Onward!

[jetlag]

Mineral spirits should remove all traces of the adhesive without clouding or otherwise damaging the lexan. Turpentine is the same thing.
Give it a try on a test piece if you want to be sure.
Allen

[aeppel_cpm]

Thanks for the tips.

[Gus]

That seems like good reasoning, GH.

Wow, that's a sentence I never thought I'd see on YORF! ;)

But in this case I completely agree. :)

[aeppel_cpm]

I had a great deal of fun writing it.

Now that I'm a couple more steps on with my build, I came across a reason to NOT glue first. At least in this instance.

Some of the fins are TTW with nearby pod holding lugs. Putting on the decals is going to be interesting.

[ghrocketman]

Thanks a lot, Steve.
Usually my rocketry posts provide logical advice/solutions when I'm able to supply them.

I'm not in the PSEUDO 'free for all' section much anymore for reasons I choose to not elaborate upon.