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Sport Rocketry / Scale Models / Little Joe
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I Background (2016-08-01)
This Enerjet Newsletter goes back to 1973. There was some news on Enerjet products but most of the issue dealt with semi-scale models. A Thor Delta and Mercury Little Joe models were featured. To ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 1, Parts (2016-08-02)If this looks familiar, it's the parts from the Estes Mercury Redstone kit! Everything on the left side will be used, the decals and fins are saved for another build. The only thing not shown above ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 2, Capsule Gluing (2016-08-04)As mentioned in the Estes Liberty Bell build, don't build the capsule and tower as shown in the current Estes instructions. Here's how the older Centuri instructions got it done. It's easier and ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 3, Capsule Gluing (2016-08-05)Look close at the capsule base shoulder. That raised ring at the bottom of the three piece capsule sides should be the same width all the way around. The sides will be glued from the inside after it ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 4, Tower (2016-08-07)I'm not going into to much detail on the tower assembly. this has been covered before in the Estes Mercury Redstone Liberty Bell build and in the Centuri instructions posted a few days ago. Glue two ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 5, Tube Cutting (2016-08-09)The lower end of the tube is cut away in trapazoid scallops. The wrap around body template fit well, the lower cuts were traced. I made a coupler out of some leftover tube. This will support the ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 6, Nozzle Angle Fix (2016-08-10)I had to make a new cover plate for the rear centering ring. Two layers of 110 lb. card stock were glued together with a glue stick. The ring was traced and cut just the center hole cut out. New ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 7, Wraps (2016-08-11)Two card stock wraps are added to simulate sheet metal wraps. That's what the instructions say anyway. Strips were cut and rolled around the body tube. The start and finish of the wraps were started ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 8, Primer Fins and Launch Lug (2016-08-11)I won't be covering how to shape the wedged fins in this build. I've written about that many times before. Sanding a wedge shape isn't hard to do with time and a good sanding block. Both the body ... [Read More]
Enerjet News Mercury Little Joe Build, Part 9A, Black Fin? (2016-08-12)Apparently one fin on the Little Joe I is orange on one side and black on the other! Here's a conversation from TRF: Originally Posted by Peter Alway "Funny how once you've seen that ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 9, Mask and Paint (2016-08-12)Normally you'd paint the base color (silver) then mask and paint the secondary colors. TIP: Setting masking tape set over metallic paints can mar the silver. I'll have to do the reverse on this one, ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 10, Engine Mount Paint and Black Details (2016-08-15)The centering ring edges were masked off. The back end of the engine mount was sprayed with the Rusto 2X silver Aluminum. The nozzles were painted black off the model. These were finally glued in ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 11, Decal Trim TIP (2016-08-16)This is not my idea. I saw it on a forum a few years back. I would give name credit if I knew who came up with it. It is a great, simple technique for some trim colors. There are ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 12, Decal Trim and Shock Cord (2016-08-17)The trailing ends of the decal strip didn't adhere as well as I would have liked. A little Pledge with Future Shine was brushed under the edges and pressed down. The dried Pledge acrylic also ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 13, Body Decal & Trim (2016-08-18)Running down the main body is the strangest looking stencil work I've ever seen. This stencil lines aren't shown in the Enerjet News plan. You'll find it in internet searches or the James Duffy ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 14, Scale Colors (2016-08-19)The inset drawing is from the Centuri Enerjet News plan. It shows their Little Joe I with the Red-Orange vertical bars on either side of the UNITED STATES. Their semi-scale model uses the black ... [Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Finished (2016-08-20)Look above the orange stripe and you'll see a raised bubble on the card stock wrap. When setting the orange decal some water got under the edge of the card stock wrap. You'd think the paint would ... [Read More]
New Estes Scale Offering - (2018-06-21)I had a feeling this one was coming up! Hey, that capsule should be black . . . From the Estes Facebook page: "Product Development Director, Mike Fritz, loads a production model of the NEW Little ... [Read More]
Estes Little Joe I Coming Soon! (2018-09-18)On YORF, "The Mole" was the first to find and post the latest "Coming Soon" announcement from Estes - It's always interesting to see the parts laid out! To see the catalog listing, CLICK HERE ... [Read More]
Estes Mercury Little I Unboxing (2018-10-06)James Duffy opens up the new Estes Little Joe I kit on YouTube: You'll see all the parts right out of the bag plus videos of the real test launches. To view the video: CLICK HERE James also ... [Read More]
Mercury Little Joe Black Fin? (2019-08-25)In 2003 I ordered a DVD from Mike Dorffler. It was full of scale information and pictures of the Mercury Little Joe. I had always wanted to build this as a scale model but was never able to get ... [Read More]
TOP TEN BUILDS for 2019 (2020-01-01)An end of the year tradition - This annual list puts some of the blog builds in order from least favorite (10) to the best (1). These are the models and events that were rocketry high points ... [Read More]
Which Glues for LPR Building? TIPS (2020-05-02)On TRF. Alan R wrote: I think the most asked glue question is: "What is the best glue". The answer to that is "The one that works" I only do low power stuff, short list: Paper to paper - white ... [Read More]
Estes Wolverine Downscale "HOW TO" Pt.1 (2010-09-23)UPCOMING PROJECT - I've been away from home for the past three days and have been posting some Little Joe II steps that have been saved earlier. Until I get back home tonight, here's something I've ... [Read More]
Saturn Towers (2011-06-21)I've built a lot of towers over the years. For comparison, here's the Saturn towers from various kits. On the upper left is the BT-20 based Dr. Zooch Saturn V tower. It's really a silhouette tower, ... [Read More]
My Older Build Threads on TRF (2011-12-23)Before I started this blog, I posted some of my Dr. Zooch builds on The Rocketry Forum. Here's the links to the Zooch build threads: Dr. Zooch Soyuz http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread. ... [Read More]
Semroc SPEV Build Part 1 Parts (2013-09-13)The original Estes S.P.E.V. was said to be a S pare P arts E limination V ehicle. The facecard called it a SP ace E xploration V ehicle. You can see the profile of the (then discontinued) Thor ... [Read More]
Semroc SPEV Finished (2013-09-23)Lots of memories building this one. I built an Estes SPEV in 1972. Looking at it now it's easy to see the Thor Agena B and Little Joe parts being utilized. It's not a ... [Read More]
John Boren's Navaho Cruise Missile (2014-07-31)There's a good reason why John Boren works in R&D at Estes. If you haven't followed the Navaho build thread on YORF you should check it out - CLICK HERE John's scale entry at NARAM 56 ... [Read More]
Shaping Nike Style Fins TIP (2014-12-22)Gordon (Sandman on TRF and www.excelsiorrocketry.com) drew up how he forms the diamond taper on Nike Fins. The original post is HERE s croll down to post #41 The original PDF (at the right) ... [Read More]
Semroc Orders Log-In (2015-02-23)I was able to log into the Semroc website and looked at my old orders. I got back into the hobby in 2006. Below are the first kits I ordered, in order. It's easy to see I was re-living my teen years ... [Read More]
The Shelf Queens (2015-03-26)In a comment, Jim asked to see some other models in the fleet. Here's the Shelf Queens, the models that don't fly! (Yes, they are in a kitchen cabinet. I'm single and ... [Read More]
The Most Difficult Kit - Ever! Part A (2015-04-14)An email asked - What was the most difficult kit to build? For me it was the Estes Mercury Redstone, Kit #K-41. To see the instructions, go to JimZs - CLICK HERE "Although it requires care and ... [Read More]
Estes (Centuri) Little Joe II !!! (2015-10-02)Just added to the Estes Coming Soon page - This is based on the older Centuri Little Joe II, the BIG one. It'll use the D12-3 engine instead of a cluster. CLICK HERE to see the Estes webpage. ... [Read More]
James Duffy's Little Joe (2016-08-04)If you want to see how to really build a Mercury Little Joe, CLICK HERE James Duffy knows this rocket and how to put it all together! Two spare capsules to boot! In the TRF thread check for every ... [Read More]
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]
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