All Rocketry Blogs

 Rocketry Product: Estes - Dragon Ship 7 {Kit} (1345) [1980-1981]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Dragon Ship 7 #1345, Part 16, Decal Fix (2018-06-18)

The decals were printed small and the top wrap didn't go completely around the body tube. A strip of paper was wrapped around the body tube to get the circumference. That length was used to get the ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Dragon Ship 7 #1345, Part 17, Almost Finished (2018-06-20)

My California trip threw a wrench in my build and blog post schedule. Here's where the Dragon Ship 7 is right now. That bottom "hook" fin is being sprayed gray. The instructions don't say anything ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Dragon Ship 7 #1345, Part 18, Back To It! Fins and Guns (2018-06-25)

Before masking off the removable fin root edge, the raw edge balsa got a "sealant" wipe of medium CA glue and very light sanding. The bottom removable fin had the curved root edge masked off for the ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Dragon Ship 7 #1345, Part 19, Engine Mount and Nose Cone Paint (2018-06-27)

I took a longer than normal dowel to apply a glue bead for the engine mount gluing. Towards the bottom of the dowel is a pencil mark for a glue depth gauge. From the rear, the engine mount is glued ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Dragon Ship 7 #1345, Part 20, Fin Decals, Fin Fit and Parachute (2018-06-28)

The removable fin was slipped on to align the rivot decal lines with the other fins. I used a dry strip to check the angles so they were consistent with the other fins and straight out from the ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Dragon Ship 7 #1345, Part 21, Nose Weight (2018-06-29)

Here's an example of what can happen when trying to research a complex clone build -  I knew there was clay weight added to the nose cone, but didn't know how much the kit clay weighed. I went ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Dragon Ship 7 #1345, Finished (2018-07-01)

This was an involved build. Fin patterns and decals were redrawn. (I can send out fin patterns and canopy PDF but the decals are not available.) The decals took over 7 1/2 hours to apply! The ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: TOP TEN BUILDS for 2018, Part 2 (2018-12-31)

There's a two-way tie for fifth position in the countdown. (I can't take all this excitement!) 5. Estes CITATION PATRIOT You gotta love a big, dumb rocket! Okay, not really dumb. This reissue ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Decal PDFs For Patreon Support Members (2020-08-13)

Here's a list of the Print at Home PDF decals  available to  Patreon Supporters: PATREON DECAL PDFs ESTES Estes Green Eggs Scrambler K-37, #1237 Decal .pdf Makes the Estes Green Eggs kit ... [Read More]