Saturn V Fin Fairing

thingiverse

The fin fairings that came with the Estes Saturn V model rocket, while incredibly light, were also incredibly hard to cut without causing damage. I damaged the first one I cut out so I looked for replacements online. I found more vacuum formed ones available, but the consensus online was that they are too weak and get damaged upon landing. I found 3d printed ones for $20 each! I looked for 3d files to print my own, and the only one that was free did not include the ribbed texture and was not identical in dimensions to the part I was replacing. I bought a digital caliper from Harbor Freight, made some measurements, and dusted off my Google Sketchup skills and BAM (by BAM I mean several revisions and total rebuilds because a series of late-noticed fundamental flaws) here it is!