You might just be wondering why I should devote an entire build post to a mere, lowly launch lug.
If this were a build of a standard, run-of-the-mill model rocket, that would be a valid point. After all, there is not much you can really say about a little paper tube glued to a bigger paper tube.
But this is the world of Steampunk.
Every single part and sub-assembly of a model rocket constructed in this genre becomes a distinctive decorative design element in its own right.
Even something as mundane and purely functional as a launch lug.
So here is my rendition of the 'little paper tube' done up in Grand Victorian style.
I scrawled out a sketch of what the lugs will look like:
The stock Protostar kit supplies a single 2 inch length of 3/16" launch lug that the instructions say to cut in half, but the Steampunk version needs a little more than this, so I had to raid my parts stash for an additional pair of 2 inch lugs.
The first order of business is to apply some CWF to fill the spiral seams on the parts. I don't want the ship's launch lugs to look like big cardboard mailing tubes!
A 3/16" dowel is useful for holding the lugs during sanding.
The two lugs will each be 40mm in length, so 10mm needs to be carefully cut off. This is done by inserting the dowel as a support and making the cut with a hobby knife. Several rolling rotations of the lug while making light cuts will result in a clean separation.
The 10mm pieces of lug will serve as mounting bands as shown in the diagram above. Two additional 10mm lengths need to be cut from the third remaining launch lug.Next, the four short pieces get a lengthwise cut, again using the dowel as a backing support.
These smaller lugs are then glued on the ends of the main launch lugs making sure the cut edges are in line.
Here is a shot of one of the completed launch lug assemblies.
