Finally acquired a Estes LTV scout kit and during the process of building and attaching the conduit strips, I noticed that they sit up higher and are not as wide as the molded plastic conduit. Have others who have built this in the past handled this? Did you sand and mold the wood to the same size and or putty to blend? See attached pics.

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Austin TX

I did basically the putty and blend method on mine. Yep, that miss match was a bit of a pain as I recall.

Earl

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Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

+1 to what Earl stated above.
I remember the mis-match being relatively GIGANTIC.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, AGITATION, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, AGGRAVATION, INSTIGATION, NUISANCE-ACTION, and HAVOC !

When I built mine I ditched the split dowel conduit and redid it with Plastruct or Evergreen half-round plastic stock. I remember sanding down the flat side of the stock until it matched the profile of the conduit of the plastic transitions.

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Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

I like Jeffy's answer better than using the junk wood supplied.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, AGITATION, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, AGGRAVATION, INSTIGATION, NUISANCE-ACTION, and HAVOC !

Ugh. Keeping in mind that it's been almost 50 years since I build mine, I recall that I replaced the wooden conduits with styrene plastruct rods. I believe I sawed them in half on a scroll saw, then a lot of sanding to match the contour.

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KE7FIZ
Nike Historical Society

I'll amplify my comments here to say that before the putty and blend part, there was a great deal of bottom sanding on the supplied wood stock and even some sanding around the upper part to get it, overall, to be more of a match to the molded plastic parts. Tedious as I recall.

Earl

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Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Another case in point for using Plastruct for conduits:

Today I conduitated the upper stage of my Estes BB XII. I ditched the balsa strips and replaced them with .187" half round Plastruct styrene strips. The Plastruct wasn't quite long enough to do it one piece, but the two pieces butted up nicely and the seam (at the arrow) will be invisible after painting.

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__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

Thank you for the BBXII conduit suggestion, JeffyJeep. I have a kit on the way from Chris Rocket Supplies. Could not pass it up at $63. Will have to check my Plastruc stash or (darn) make a hobby shop run.
A friend sent me 3D printed fins for the first two stages. Might actually get it built. Darn.

Chas

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Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"

It?s a tough build. I?ve been working on mine for months because I keep stopping. ?The Vixen? had to shape the balsa fins for me because I suck mightily at it.

__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078