Almost every time my paint was tacky after so long was either too thick of coats, or I used Enamel. Also I’m sure you know, you can spray enamel on top of Lacquer, but Not Lacquer on top of Enamel. I stay away from Enamel anyway. Any "usual" store brand or Krylon is good enough….

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ENGINE COSTS ARE " OUT OF SIGHT " .....

Rainy weather has kept me indoors this weekend so I was able to put some time on the TB1.
The motor mount tube has been cut down to it's finished length.
Various bits of wood bracing that I had let run long during assembly were trimmed back,
and the ramjet tubes have been flush cut.
Paper board covers were attached over the tubes.
A small shroud and extra long launch lug were fabricated.

After the glue dries I'll cut the lug to length and then remove the small section between the
ramjet assembly and the body tube.
This was the easiest solution I could think of to keep two separate internally mounted lugs perfectly aligned.
I found some lexan scrap in the garage and will use it to make some fin samples.

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Soon to be first off the bench for the 2023 season is my take on the Optima.
I've had this one on the build list ever since I picked up a few Black Friday Executioner kits.
I tried a new technique for the fin construction this time. Balsa covered with kraft paper and capped with basswood.
The caps should provide some protection as I'm always shredding the balsa leading edges on the foliage.
Fins are mounted through the wall and sandwiched between the rings.
Engine hook is homemade from flat spring steel and is E engine capable.

The stuffer tube is long and features an external coupler.
A seven inch length of epoxy lined scrap tubing was installed ahead of the engine block for flame resistance.
All my BT-80 plywood rings have 29mm holes, so I made a new one and attached a steel cable for the shock cord mount.
Fully assembled and 45" long, it weighs in at a trim 8 ounces.

I found some holographic orange glitter vinyl to use on the fins and I still have to make the 'Optima' text decal.
Paint application started a few days ago.
More pics to follow pending dry times, sanding and recoats.

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Paint progress photos.
Colors are Matte Ink Blue and Harvest Gold.
The nose only appears gold in the photo. In daylight it looks like stainless steel.

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I did an Optima a few years back and used scrap pieces of BT-80 to get to the proscribed length. It's a real hodge-podge of tubing, but still flies well. It came out looking nice from ten feet, mostly because I invested an insane amount of money in red and silver Mylar tape. (Come to think of it, I need to think of some more projects that need red and silver Mylar tape.) I used a version of your color scheme on one of my kinda-MRI birds. Very 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

That Blue/Gold scheme looks really nice.

__________________
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 !

It took longer than I care to admit, but the Optima is now flight ready.
Enjoy!

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Yesterday was my small window of sunshine to get the Optima photographed and resized to post.
It's been raining here for days, and it's raining again today.
I had other stuff going on over the weekend so it was pretty much 'post & run', but now that I have some time there are a few more things I wanted to add to this thread concerning the build.

Bill and GH - Thanks for the compliments on my choice of colors for this model.
JeffyJeep - Thanks for posting the Optima instructions with all the tubing lengths penciled in.

If anyone is interested in using glitter vinyl for one of their projects I found a good selection of it here:
https://craftcuttersupply.com/colle...-glitter-orange

Also, If anyone wants to know how I make those large vinyl airframe decals using just an X-Acto I would be happy to detail the process for you step by step in a new thread.

I got my BBZ back together after that impressive prang last October.
A faulty D12 with no ejection charge was the culprit.
Most of the construction happened last fall, but I just got around to finishing it this week.

The nose took the brunt of the impact and required scrap blocks of balsa to fill in the missing bits.
Some careful whittling and a little filler brought it back to nearly new condition.
My patented twist lock nose retention system was trashed, so a new one was fabricated.
I saved the nose block and coupler and replaced the shredded tubes with new BT-60's.
Tubing spirals were filled and four coats of wetsanded Krylon Patriot Blue applied.

While apart, the launch lugs were removed and 1/16" stand-offs were added to move the rod away from the paint.
The toasty shock cord was changed out and a length of steel cable added to keep it further away from the heat.
The stuffer tube was already lined with JB Weld, so I gave it the chimney sweep with a 12 ga. bore brush.
Surprising how much carbon built up in there after all these years.

Decals were printed on label stock, cut out and clear coated.
The fin was reattached, and the whole thing covered in a fresh coat of gloss white.
Reassembly was a cinch.
The blue half is attached with three #6 sheet metal screws into basswood blocking on the inside of the coupler.
This rocket is probably the most flown model in the fleet. More than 50 flights since 2008.
Amazing that it survived for so long without the need for major repairs.

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Winter build season has arrived and it's time to get back to those neglected projects.
My TB1 build had stalled until I could get the fins figured out.
I wanted to make them from lexan scrap, but it proved too thick.
Other plastic choices just weren't flexible enough to resist breakage.
The answer was right in front of me on the bench. A stack of expired plastic cards.
I keep them around because they're great for spreading filler or glue.

I selected a few auto club cards because they don't have embossed numbers like credit cards.
A cardboard pattern, heat gun, and some duckbill vice grips and I was in business.
They'll work great and I have plenty of spares just in case.
Small ribs were attached at the mounting points to keep the angles correctly located.

Now I just need to make some wings.
This model needs all the help it can get in the stability department, so I will attach them extended.
If it doesn't sky write and returns without snapping them off, then I can go to paint and decals.
Otherwise I'll have to model them in the retracted position as shown on episode lift offs.

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