I’ve been working on the display nozzles. That might seem like it wouldn’t take much time: just glue them together, assemble the base (to which you attach the nozzles, which is then inserted in the bottom of the rocket), and paint. Well, the base was a bit snug inside the bottom of the rocket, so it was time to sand it down. I then wanted to ensure the base didn’t fray, so I applied a light coating of thin CyA, which, as expected, required a bit more sanding. I’ve finally masked off the nozzle attach posts and sockets, and once the weather clears I’ll prime and paint.

I’m also distracted by an interesting scratch-built two-stage rocket, unrelated to the Saturn, that’s required some engaging engineering solutions. (See the October 18 entry, The Joys of Tools for one example, and there’ve been numerous others.) That rocket, called Krystal, is now mostly assembled and in primer. It needs some sanding of the primer (especially the booster fins and the interstage transition, which will be tricky—for which reasons you’ll have to await a future posting), then painting. Painting won’t be trivial: dark red body (booster and sustainer), gold fins and interstage, white interstage vent fairings and nose cones, gold pods.