I have successfully bought all the new kits Estes has to offer minus the Hyper Bat so I figure I should get started on building them before Estes releases new kits. The Payloader II is a Classic Series that is easy to build and straight forward. Once again this kit comes with the white body tube and blue engine mount tube. I don't know why Estes uses these since they are much flimsier than the brown tubes, oh well cant have everything.

Looks good.
Now get out the Aero Gloss Balsa Fillercoat and Sanding Sealer.

__________________
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, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

I know, I miss the smell of Aerogloss already but I started priming this bird this morning with no sealers. I will start on one of my vintage builds soon enough and will once again use Aerogloss. For these new kits I just want to get them built fast and move onto to the next one and I will honestly say priming only is much faster with the same results. I am also thinking about building one of my bulk pack Alpha kits and just using Aerogloss followed by a top coat, not primer just for old time sake. Man I really think the fumes from Aerogloss has done something to my brain.

Use Aero Gloss colored dope in Stearman Red, Swift White, and Jet Black for the Alpha too.

__________________
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, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

That was a little before my time, but I must say I have seen rockets built and finished like that and they look great. I first started building in 1979 at 8 years old and I was using Pactra Balsa sealer and spray paints.......think parents would let their kids use those products today? Of course that could not be any worse than family smoking in the house and restaurants back then. All I remember is that none of the rockets I ever seen back then looked as good as the catalog rockets. I think we are much better at producing catalog rockets now when compared to back then.

I started building in 1977 at age 7 with those same products.
Parents smoked in the house then and I still see nothing wrong with it now.
We burned LEADED fuel in our cars, NEVER wore seat belts in cars, No helmets on MX motorcycles, and CERTAINLY NO Helmets on bicycles, AND LIKED IT.
If a kid wore a helmet on a bike, that was akin to an open invitation asking for a real butt-kikking RIGHTFULLY so. No wimps, weenies, or mamby-pambys wanted nor allowed.
GySgt. R.Lee Ermey would be proud.
I remember smoking in the Post Office, grocery store, shopping malls, desk at work, etc. where it STILL SHOULD BE ALLOWED.
Those that don't like it can wear a gas mask as far as I'm concerned and I'm NOT joking.

__________________
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, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

I don't know what you're talking about. Helmets were cool.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

Do you still have that cool Batman helmet and raygun? If I had that Batman helmet I would wear it when I ride my Hog.

I have been busy at work so little effort has been put into my building. Once again for the finish I used the primer only to fill and seal the balsa. I sprayed 3 coats of primer on the rocket and then 30 min. later had to fill some of the small pin sized holes with filler. Then I let it dry for a day and sanded the primer back, this time I did not sand all the way down to the balsa even though in some spots the balsa showed. Then I spray 2 more coats of primer on the rocket and let it dry overnight. Then I sanded for the last time until everything was nice and smooth then shot the top coat. Tomorrow I will apply the decals. So far I am very satisfied with the primer method of filling, I cannot believe the results I am getting with less effort...only having to sand twice vs 6 times. Of course these last two builds have been simple builds so now I will have to try the primer method on my Estes Xarconian build, that will be the final test. I took some close up pictures of the balsa parts.

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How did you mask the body tube to paint the fins after you put a fillet on them? Because of the fillet, my paint separation lines are usually not that sharp. It looks as though you painted the fins before attaching them to the tube, but I noticed that the entire rocket was already built before the painting was done.