To get this thread going I decided to start with the capsule.

Here the layout of contents:


Step 2

I glued the nose cone and tail cone to the body tube:

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Leo

My rocket fleet and more @ Leo's Leisure Site and on YouTube - My latest project: ALTDuino

I've been afraid to open mine.

I have a pretty good idea how many parts are involved in that kit.

I have visions of cutting open the box and the parts exploding out all over the shop.

I can't imagine how Carl got all the parts into that teeny tiny box!

Anyway, I decided to wait a bit on mine. I have to get something going on the Nike Hercules first then the Little Joe II.

I have a bunch of Apollo Capsules to do first.

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"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

Everyone, Carl,

I have hit the first snag already

There seems to be a problem with the shroud. I have cut it exactly as per instructions however it seems to be to short. If I were to over lap and glue it as suggested I will never ever be able to move in over the nose cone.

Hope the picture shows what I mean:


I'm going to stop construction right here until I get confirmation and we have a solution.

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Leo

My rocket fleet and more @ Leo's Leisure Site and on YouTube - My latest project: ALTDuino

Leo,

This type of shroud requires very precise tolerances. What I did on mine was to make copies of the shroud and experiment (my printer can change it in 1% incraments).

The other alternative is to just make the shroud and try to "carefully" adjust the nose cone shoulder with an emery board.

Once you do get it solved it is a lot easier to paint the nose cone before the shroud is glued on.

I know it's hard but you are dealing with some pretty tiny parts so be patient.

Mine shown is the original size...not changed at all. What I wound up doing was recutting the shroud so that the "line" for the top curves was just removed.

That effectively reduced the radius just enough for it to fit on mine.

Did that make any sense???

Attached Thumbnails

 

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"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

Sandman,

so you can also confirm that something is not right.

The difference is several millimeters and I don't plan on cutting up the shroud or taking so much balsa off the nose cone.

Maybe the nose cone is too large?

I hope Carl has a solution without having to do surgery to the kit.

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Leo

My rocket fleet and more @ Leo's Leisure Site and on YouTube - My latest project: ALTDuino

Leo,

As Sandman said, getting the correct fit on shrouds is not always easy. A nose cone that is .015" oversized will make the difference in the shroud sliding or not sliding over the cone. Lightly sand the shoulder that the shroud slides over. Cutting the line off the top of the shroud will make a few thousandths difference but cutting too much will make the shoud too short.

Estes apparently had the same problem since their original shroud was 1/16" shorter than our redesigned shroud. There are some close tolerances required to get everything to fit properly.

If the sanding doesn't work, I will send you another set of parts (cone and shroud).

Thanks for writing this build thread; it looks good.

Sheryl

The shroud on my LJ II fits. However, I didn't think I'd ever get those dowels sanded down to the right size!


I cut and glued the shroud together, then very lightly sanded the upper part of the shroud opening until it slipped into position on the balsa cone snugly, without deforming.

Ok, first off I cut the shroud under the black lines and then placed it over the shoulder again. As you can see it didn't help very much. I dare not cut any more away from the shroud.

As you can see in the picture the "overlap" is still visible. I would need to remove 1.5mm from the balsa shoulder.

I curious to know what dimensions other have on their nose cone.

Mine is 32.65mm:


I have the feeling my nose cone turned out too big

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Leo

My rocket fleet and more @ Leo's Leisure Site and on YouTube - My latest project: ALTDuino

[QUOTE I have the feeling my nose cone turned out too big [/QUOTE]

Yes, it looks like it to me too.

OK, since you are in Germany and a long ways from SEMROC let's see if we can fix it.

Glue the shroud together...or better yet make another copy of it and use the copy.

Glue the "new" shroud together, I'm sure the shroud is correct, let's assume the nose cone is off.

Place the glued shroud "squarly" onto the nose cone.

Now with a fine tipped pencil (not a pen!) scribe around the top edge of the shroud.

Using an emery board carefully and slowly (it won't take long) sand just under the pencil line making a new shoulder.

Better to take too little off than too much!

Leave extra wood and work to the line.

Try that and let us know.

This is fixable!

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"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

I just had a better idea to try!!!

Do you have any BT-55 body tube?

The I.D. of a BT-55 is just a hair bigger than the correct size.

With the BT-55 "SQUARLEY" over the cone make a rotary motion and some slight downward pressure on the cone and make a slight impression in the balsa (very slight...just enough to see a line!)

Now take the glued shroud and try the fit but!!!! with the shoud upside down. This is just to check the fit!

Do you see what I'm trying to say?

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/