Well, now that the "fingernail clippings" for the aft ends of the motor spoof tube booster fairings are done, we can cut them out with a hobby knife and stack sand them to identical shape. Test fit them on the spoof tubes to ensure the curvature and depth are correct.

The antenna canister parts are dry and out of the clamps, and ready to be glued together.

After pre-curling the booster engine paper fairings, we test fit everything together to see exactly where everything's going to end up being put. The fairings can be slid forward or back a bit as needed, so we need to "mock up" everything into the positions that we want them to be in. I put an "S" on the "fingernail" and paper fairing going on the short balsa strip side (the "left" side of the rocket) and an "L" on the parts for the long strip side (the "right" side). This way I can custom fit the parts and ensure they mate up again when it's time to glue everything together. I had to do a little 'deepening' of the spoof tube notch in the "fingernails" with a half-moon microfile... and finished up with a bit of 220 sandpaper wrapped around a wood dowel.

Here's the finished bulkhead (fingernail) in place on the spoof tube... nearly a perfect fit!

Here's the test fit between the paper fairing skin, the fairing bulkhead, and the spoof tube... test fit EVERYTHING and see how it all fits together before you glue anything...

Later! OL JR

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