Ye Olde Rocket Forum - View Single Post - How do you prepare your plastic nose cones?

I use hcmbanjo’s seam filling technique (Chris Michielssen). I read about it on his blog. You use medium CA and put a line of it down the seam. IMPORTANT: Sand it after maybe 90 minutes to a couple hours, before it turns rock hard. I’ve found a second application is usually required for model rocket sized nose cones. On a big nose cone with deeps seams, Ihave used 3. I sand with 220 after each application, taking it down to close to the surface. I switch to 320 to sand it flush with surface. I’ll lightly sand the whole nose cone. It is amazing that the seams absolutely disappear. This process is so much easier than using putty, which can chip out of the seam.

After sanding is done, I’ll wash the cone, let it dry, and hit it with a couple light coats of Tamiya Surface Primer. This primer has no fillers, so it won’t fill in any details that may exist, like canopy or panel lines. Tamiya recommends this product for plastic models, especially if you use their lacquer paints. I’ve used quite a few brands of paint, enamels and lacquers, over it. Great stuff.

Regarding the CA, Chris recommends Dollar Store CA. You get two bottles for a dollar. The little bottles are easy to hold while dispensig the CA along the seams. Two bottles lasts a long time. Here is a picture. I found this CA by tools, and not with other glues, at my Dollar Store.