I am buildin' up an Ebay find. Ya scallywag! This is a 1/5 scale model o' t' Jay Hawk Supersonic target drone o' t' 1960's and 1970's. It is about t' same size as t' current Mad Cow Jay Hawk kit, me bucko, 2.5 in dia. Avast, me proud beauty! body tube for t' Estes vs. Avast! 2.6 in dia. Arrr! for t' Mad Cow.

As can usually be expected with an open EBay buy, parts were missing. Blimey! I ended up havin' t' re-cut all t' centerin' rings, because t' originals were nay included. Aye aye! I also had t' re-cut t' rudder fins, also missing. T' me good fortune, thar was a lot o' wasted space on t' win' sheets. Ahoy! I moved t' "ailerons" t' a different spot, and cut 2 pieces o' rudder from each existin' sheet, matey, still leavin' enough balsa t' re-cut t' ailerons also. Thank goodness for YORP, which has t' instructions, me hearties, fins, and decals all scanned in a pdf file.(http://www.oldrocketplans.com/estes/est2085/est2085.pdf) Other than that, it is what you might normally expect from 20 year old parts. T' glassine has yellowed, as has t' nose cone. T' vacuum formed parts still look good. And t' existin' balsa be still straight.

T' instructions start by havin' you make t' aft boat tail. Begad! It is a simple paper transition glued t' itself. Ya scallywag! It was also one o' t' pieces nay included in t' EBay parts, shiver me timbers, so I ended up havin' t' cut out a replacement from some poster board I had layin' around. I double layered it for makin' a even seam on t' outside, and a slight increase in strength.

Next comes some minor upgrades. Bein' as all t' existin' centerin' rings were missing, I needed t' make new ones. This was accomplished by drawin' them up with Autodesk's design program 123D Beta 9. Autodesk does nay support this anymore, me bucko, but it be t' most versatile 2 and 3D design program I have found for t' freeness o' it. After the drawin' was done, I took t' design (converted into a PDF file on a flash drive) t' me local FabLab t' use their laser cutter. Wonderful tool, made parts that were perfect t' first time.

I also made a retainer rin' t' help hold t' engine hooks in place. This used t' be t' 24mm aft centerin' ring, which I repurposed. Aye aye! I decided t' upgrade t' a 29mm motor mount.

Next, I dry fit everythin' together t' see if it still looked right. Arrr!

Next we move on t' gluin' it all together.

Well, now that t' holidays are over, ya bilge rat, it is time t' add more entry's t' this build. We left off with dry fittin' all t' motor mount pieces together. Ahoy! Next came gluin' it up. Avast! I used Gorilla brand wood glue. Begad! I only plan on launchin' this on a 29mm G engine at t' most, so I figured with 2 plywood centerin' rings backed up by 2 Bristol board centerin' rings, arrr, I believe I have plenty o' surface area t' grip to.

Next we need t' attach a shock cord anchor t' this beast. Avast, me proud beauty! I used 1/16 galvanized braded steel cable from me local Lowe's hardware store, secured with a couple compression fittings. Avast, me proud beauty! T' cable was covered with electrical heat shrink tubin' t' prevent t' cable from snaggin' on me shock cord or parachute.

T' base o' t' anchor has a piece o' 3/16 dowel wrapped in about 8 layers o' aluminum foil tape t' spread out t' ejection forces on t' centerin' ring. Ahoy! T' dowel is secured with a little more aluminum tape.

All that's left is t' glue on t' aft boat tail, then glue it into t' body tube.

T' aft tail cone has a few ripples from where t' rubber bands held it together while t' glue dried. I will be fillin' all that with some wood filler and sandin' it smooth.

Ok, I admit it. Over t' holiday's I did some work and forgot t' take pictures. Well, blow me down! I ended up almost completely workin' t' fins t' completion before takin' any pictures. Begad!

This would be t' Rudders, ailerons, and main wings. As you may notice, t' wings are 4 different pieces o' wood. Well, blow me down! T' "thru t' wall" tabs are from t' fin sheet, lockin' into t' motor mount assy. Avast, me proud beauty! T' leadin' edge is a piece o' model airplane trailin' edge stock, which t' instructions have t' matin' surface sanded t' make it "arrow" shaped. Begad! This way, thar be an equal bevel on top and bottom o' t' win' when it is glued on.

Next are t' Rudders. Avast! These are 2 piece assembly's. Begad! Glued together at t' root edge, and beveled at t' leadin' and trailin' edges t' a 45 degree angle. I found t' easiest way t' get t' 45 degree angle was t' stack t' fins together with a 1 material thickness space on t' leadin' edge, matey, then sand a surface across t' exposed edges till smooth. T' leadin' edge is easier than t' trailin' edge because o' t' included angle on t' trailin' edge.

And t' ailerons. Arrr! Kind o' small, and difficult t' contour correctly.

These ailerons have t' wrong profile on them. Aye aye! They were too short t' properly bevel t' leadin' edge t' a 60 degree angle. Begad! That same shortness prevented me from bevelin' t' trailin' edge at an even taper from t' front bevel t' t' trailin' edge. My solution be t' re-sand t' leadin' edges t' a sharper angle, assemble t' ailerons t' t' wings, then sand t' trailin' edges t' a finer taper.

T' first picture here is o' a detail on t' outer edge o' t' wing. Aye aye! It is simply a match stick glued into t' factory cut edge. Ya scallywag! It's purpose is t' hold he aileron in place while t' fin is bein' assembled. Avast! T' only other gluin' surface for t' aileron be t' aft tail cone, because o' t' sharpness o' t' aileron's leadin' edge. Avast! I plan on laminatin' t' entire win' assembly with paper and epoxy for strength next. Arrr!

Just a couple pictures o' t' main win' assy. Aye aye! I used a little thin CA t' tack t' rudders t' t' end o' t' wings, then some epoxy mixed with microballoons t' fillet the  joint. Next, laminatin' t' wings with paper and epoxy for strength.

a little bit o' detail from t' fins. Avast, me proud beauty! One has been sanded, matey, t' other has not.

Wings / fins are now epoxied  to t' main body tube. T' fillet's need some touch up sanding, as do t' tips o' t' rudders.

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Finally got back t' buildin' this. I glued t' bottom blow molded equipment trough t' t' main body. I'm still debatin' with myself if I want t' add fillet's t' smooth out t' bottom edge o' this decoration.

This nose cone takes a bit o' work t' put together for this model. It has antennae t' glue t' it, ya bilge rat, t' leadin' edge o' t' equipment Bay, arrr, and t' two elevators that t' original missile had. Avast! I started by gluin' t' antennas on t' it.

Next, I glued on t' forward end o' t' equipment Bay with thin CA glue.

And lastly we go on t' elevators. These were two piece Affairs that needed t' be glued together before they were attached t' t' nose cone. Due t' every other review that I had seen showin' that these elevators were a weak point o' t' nose, they are completely filled with West systems epoxy for gluin' onto t' tabs that they hold on to. Even t' inside o' t' tabs was filled with epoxy.

All that's left now is t' smooth everythin' out in prep for primer.

well I didn't take any pictures betwixt primer and paint. Sorry about that for those o' you have been watching. Ahoy! All in all t' paint turned out pretty good this time. 

I also decided t' redraw all t' decals. T' scans provided by T' Olde Rocket Plans took up a lot o' space on a 8.5x11 sheet o' paper.

well well this entry is finally done. Blimey! It's taken me t' longest o' any model t' build this Jayhawk. Avast! This is a primary reason I don't do scale models because they do nay fascinate me. So here are some pictures t' show it is complete.