Ye Olde Rocket Forum - View Single Post - "Friendship 7" 50th Anniversary Dr. Zooch Mercury Atlas build...

Here's the completed tower rocket motor and legs removed from the jig dowel... we'll get back to this part of the build in a minute...

Next, while the glue is drying on the tower legs, we can get the ribbed mylar from the kit to do the corrugated band around the booster section of the Atlas...

We cut two pieces from it 1-1/8 inches "tall" by the distance around the circumference of the main BT-60 body tube, between the two booster engine fairings on the sides of the rocket... the wrap has to be custom fitted for each side, holding the mylar in place and gently 'creasing' it with a fingernail or pencil to give a cutting line. Remove the mylar and cut it to the proper circumference, test fit it, and then cut the proper "slant" into it to make it trapezoidal shape, since the fairings are slightly conical...

Next apply a decent layer of white glue to the area where the corrugated mylar wraps will go, and put them in place, ensuring they're positioned properly... clean up any excess glue and make sure the wraps are firmly seated against the tube (but don't crush them!)

While the wraps dry on the booster, we can go back to work on the tower... Now, the instructions call for CA... I don't have much luck with CA and the stuff has a lot of drawbacks, ESPECIALLY because it tends to make paper transparent and do nasty things, which is NOT what you want to happen to your beautiful new Friendship 7 capsule! SO, I elected to use double-glue joints using white glue, since the wood is being bonded to the paper "antenna canister" on top of the capsule... Apply a thin, fairly broad (considering the size of the spot you're gluing is about maybe 1/8 inch in diameter!) spot on the antenna canister... put three of these glue spots on the canister evenly spaced around the canister... there are little red 'hash marks' to assist you in placing the tower legs on the antenna can, but of course I didn't think about them aligning the leg with the window (as on the real Mercury escape tower) when I glued the antenna can onto the capsule-- I instead focused on lining all the seams up so they're "on back" out of sight... No biggie-- the marks are off by half, so I just colored over them with a pencil to hide them (which is what you use to color all the exposed paper edges of the capsule build anyway) and then put the glue spots evenly spaced between them... Then I applied and spread a miniscule dob of glue to each tower leg, and let it dry... make sure it's evenly spread, and when it thickens up, invert the tower with the legs up in the air, so the glue "sags" toward the rocket motor just a tiny bit-- this will make a tighter fit since the antenna can is actually conical in shape and not cylindrical... Once this first part of the double-glue joint is dry, apply a second THIN layer of glue to the legs, and then carefully install the tower legs on the capsule... BE SURE you "clock" the tower properly with one leg aligned with the window, and that the seams on the motor can should align roughly with the capsule wrap seams and be hidden if you put everything together right... Keep the tower leg ends up about halfway up the sides of the antenna can, or perhaps just a touch less... DO NOT push the tower down until the legs are against the top of the capsule itself! (We'll install small inverted "V" leg ends in this spot later!) The double-glue joints REALLY help you with this step, because basically you can press the tower legs against the antenna can and hold them for about 30 seconds, and the tower will stay put... Turn the capsule slowly between your fingers with it resting on the tabletop, while watching the top of the tower-- it shouldn't wobble or look crooked... the glue is still soft enough for some gentle alignment. Once you're satisfied that it's straight, set it aside to dry. If you REALLY want precise alignment of the tower, once the glue had dried about five minutes, put the capsule in a piece of scrap BT-50 and roll it on the table-- any tower misalignment will be readily visible, and more 'gentle persuasion' can usually coax the tower into near-perfect alignment... (something you cannot do with CA once it 'locks up')...

Later! OL JR