[sreinmann]

Hi Rambler, so I took a look at my 1:144 rescale of the Dragon Capsule and I only used one of the discs labeled Capsule Support. I was able to get the rigidity and structure needed with just the one at that scale. So prior to placing the "top cones" I formed the side wall of the capsule into its truncated cone, inserted the Support Ring, and then bent the lower glue tabs down to seal against the ring. Then the heat shield covered the ring and glue tabs.

I think the black tabs you're speaking of, 8 of them, are part of the docking ring. Those would be bent to 90 deg but nothing glues to them.

As for the grid fins, I again took some creative license here. Since my rocket is shown pre-launch (or in flight/stowed) I did not use the inner former (blank piece) or back piece. Instead I rolled the straight black piece to form a ring with the black on the outside. This was glued to the inside of the "outer" part. I then folded back the sides (slightly rounded to meet the contour of the "aft" end). If you were to do this rocket in its landing/landed config, use the blank inner former and some card to increase the thickness slightly. Add the back piece to one side and then fold the sides of the outer piece around these. Again the ring adds dimension to the top. Hope these descriptions help.