Now that I have finished sanding and sealing the fins, its time to see how they look on the Patriot. The slotted fuselage makes alignment really easy and I used two part epoxy for the initial mounting followed by fillets of epoxy mixed with some micro balloons. Once this mixture has cured the fins are rock solid with no gaps or spaces between the root edge and the body tube. I then started laying down two base coats of Krylon gloss white and let everything dry overnight.
[IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]After the paint had dried, I noticed one or two imperfections in the fin fillets and applied more epoxy to smooth things out. Now, its time to focus on the conduits.

Let me preface this post by saying that one of the pictures is out of sequence but I think the reader can get the idea nonetheless. I cut and sanded the balsa strips used for the two conduits on the main body tube of the Patriot. As per the instructions, I wrapped some medium grit sand paper around the body tube and ran the conduit strip across it until the strip conformed to the contour of the body tube. This takes some patience and you need to be sure that you are applying even pressure along the conduit as you sand it across the tube/paper. I then glued the conduit pieces to the main body tube using carpenter's glue, applied a weight or two and set it aside to cure.
[IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]Once the conduit had dried, I applied drywall mud to the seams and to the sides in order to fill the gaps between the conduit and the main body tube. The drywall paste dries fast and sands easily and did a nice job of improving the overall look of the conduit. I also applied the drywall compound to the seams between the upper and lower body tubes before applying the white base coat.

thanks