Both bombs painted.

Finally have both bombs finished off. After playing around with various masking techniques, I decided to make the proper sized hole in a bit of heavy chip-board I had. I taped a few “fingers” on the back so I could hold in it in place, and sprayed away. Worked pretty well.

The paint is Testor’s Model Master olive drab and yellow. Then then have a complete coat of flat clear. Hopefully that will keep the paint on for a few drops.

The arming fuses are in place and the little propellers even spin. I know they won’t survive the first drop, but I have a screw in place to quickly change to new ones.

One note I did find on the bombs: they just under an inch too long. Should have done the work before hand, but I’ll just go with them and see what happens. They won’t bump into the ailerons or flaps, so no worries there.

Did a bit of work today.

 

It’s taken a few days, but I have the first bomb just about finished. Sanding, filling, priming, sanding again, and painting 2 colors – it takes a bit of time…

Anyway, here’s just about the finished result. The arming prop should spin, but the aluminum mount is not attached yet. I am waiting on the bomb pylons to arrive from Aerotech before I can finish it. I’m not sure where the mounting posts should go.

I also ended up putting in about an ounce of lead shot, in the nose, held in with 30 minute epoxy.

Everything will get a coating of matte clear finish after the mounts are attached. I’m already starting on the other one, as you can see the fins for it in the background.

Close-up of the fins.

 

Here’s a closeup of the fins. I used JB weld to make the fin assembly first. Then after they were dry, I tested them by throwing them as hard as I could into the air, then into the ground – both on grass and the driveway. No initial problems.

Of course, with my luck the fins should burst apart on my first drop in competition!

Fins on.

Here’s the mostly assembled bomb. The “case” is fiberglass from Yellow. Everything else is mine and I’m pretty happy with it. The nose cone is a turned aluminum piece that will be attached after painting.

Fins for the bombs.

 

After looking at what was provided for fins, I decided to ditch them and make up my own. These are cut from aluminum sheet (rough cuts here). These will be made the way the originals were – 4 matching parts which fit together to make the completed fin assembly.

Yellow provided heavy card-stock fins which would have lasted about 1 drop, if that.