Estes Announces 1/45 Little Joe II !!!!

We have to reward Estes with lots of purchases. We've said that we wanted kits like this and they are delivering them. I plan to order a couple.

That was my very 1st Estes kit. Think I'll get one too!

James Duffy said:

Tower Hobbies is accepting orders at a price of $39.95:

https://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LNFSUH&P=G

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rocketguy101 said:

Yeah, I did that with the Mercury Redstone and ended up getting my order 6 months after everybody else was getting theirs from other sources

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OK I am giving Tower Hobbies a chance and placed an order. I see AC Supply and Hobbylinc now have the kits listed and I requested an email alert when they are available. Whoever gets them first gets my order!!! Looking back at the Mercury Redstone threads, it looks like AC Supply started delivering kits first and they have a great price!

If you can't wait............https://www.jonrocket.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_38_79&products_id=1177

BigRiJoe said:

If you can't wait............https://www.jonrocket.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_38_79&products_id=1177

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That is a 1/70th scale model...we are talking about 1/45th scale!!! It is a huge model. We're talking a 3.42 inch diameter vs. 2.217 inch diameter...

Looks like I need to polish another HobbyLobby 40% off coupon up...

I guess my 1/45th Centuri Little Joe II will stay in the box.

JumpJet said:

If you go with a cluster of motors in the center you would have to get ride of the 6 nozzles down there. Now since a BT-5 body tube just happens to fit inside each of the 6 nozzles, you could have a cluster of 6 mini engines with a 24mm core motor.

John Boren

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I love how your mind works....

(and this is a great tie-in to the "what do you do with A10-PT" thread )

Yeah, this is cool. Hobby Lobby here I come (in late December )!

Never had a chance to acquire a 1/45 Centuri Little Joe II, so I will be getting one of these for sure!

Nice, oh yes I will get one of these!


TA

Little Joe is one awesome looking rocket, a piece of ART really!!

Now we have to see if somebody could get mission points from the LJ II ripping to bits and the LES pulling the Apollo capsule to safety like this:

[video=youtube_share;AqeJzItldSQ]https://youtu.be/AqeJzItldSQ[/video]

That was neat....

Darn, that was worth the price of admission! The mission points thought would be awesome.

JumpJet said:

If you go with a cluster of motors in the center you would have to get ride of the 6 nozzles down there. Now since a BT-5 body tube just happens to fit inside each of the 6 nozzles, you could have a cluster of 6 mini engines with a 24mm core motor.


John Boren

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Seeing this late. Interesting! Before seeing this I was thinking about mounting the nozzles to a flat bulkhead with a 24mm coupler on the other side that would slide into the center motor hole. Then you would have static removable nozzles - kinda like the Estes Saturn V. This would allow me to use 18mms clustered around the outside. But I don't know if that's even possible. But with this info...I dunno...having the nozzles actually operational sounds like a cool idea. Of course, I'm not a competition guy. Not going for total scale accuracy, just cluster fun on an awesome model!!

JStarStar said:

Now we have to see if somebody could get mission points from the LJ II ripping to bits and the LES pulling the Apollo capsule to safety like this:

[video=youtube_share;AqeJzItldSQ]https://youtu.be/AqeJzItldSQ[/video]

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Kinda like creating an Estes CATO crossed with the LJ... Hmmmm

Until I read about it recently, I did not know the Little Joe II was solid fueled. An AT E18W, F24W or F35W would look so scale-like if flown in this kit.

Donaldsrockets said:

Until I read about it recently, I did not know the Little Joe II was solid fueled. An AT E18W, F24W or F35W would look so scale-like if flown in this kit.

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Or, if you're crazy like me, a CTI E31 with 6 A10s around the outside. Yes, it is totally possible.

JStarStar said:

Now we have to see if somebody could get mission points from the LJ II ripping to bits and the LES pulling the Apollo capsule to safety like this:

[video=youtube_share;AqeJzItldSQ]https://youtu.be/AqeJzItldSQ[/video]

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Wow that was cool!

Donaldsrockets said:

Until I read about it recently, I did not know the Little Joe II was solid fueled. An AT E18W, F24W or F35W would look so scale-like if flown in this kit.

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Yep! White Lightning is perfect! Going off topic, it's tough to make liquid fuel look realistic. Blue propellants work pretty well though. I also hate when they use a solid fuel plume for a liquid fueled rocket in movies, like the Sat V in Men In Black 2. I digress...

I’ve built a total of 6 of these models now in the past week for test flying and I just wanted to show one of the design features I incorporated into the model. One of the first steps in building this model is applying the vacuum formed wrap around the body tube. When it comes time to glue on the fins simply apply glue to the inside of the fins and place it over the raised areas on the wrap. All four fins will be perfectly aligned. If you look closely you can see the fins are two piece right down the center since for this photo I didn’t glue the halves together.

John Boren

Very nice!

That looks great. A very nice feature. The detail is awesome too.
Thank you!

I have the 1/100 version based on the CM from the currently OOP Sat V and Sat IB kits: maybe I'll call it the Little Bitty Joe.

I think I'll put the 1/45 version on my Christmas list. :wink:

Ever any thoughts of a Little Joe I using the Mercury capsule from the Mercury-Redstone?

Hobby Lobby is a good call.. they may have before ACS - ACS says LATE December (one of my Favorite Maria McKee songs)

This is begging to be a good xMas gift ..need before xMas !

Kenny

Ever any thoughts of a Little Joe I

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YES

John Boren

It has been about 40 years in coming! Great Job to Estes and staff, you have made hundreds if not 1000's of Born Again Rocketeers happy! Can't wait to get my hands this baby that is for sure and more than one to boot!

Not trying to be greedy, but what about making a run on this Estes 1/45 Scale Saturn 1B?
Sure would hate to have to clone that baby, that is for sure!

Thank you once again Estes and Staff!

Here is another post I notice on this kit, looks like the new box it will come in.
"Estes Announces 1/45 Scale Little Joe II Re-issue
by Kevin Johnson | Oct 6, 2015 | Rocketry, Uncategorized | 0 comments
One of the most sought after model rockets from the “golden era” of kit manufacture is getting a new version. The original Little Joe II version released by Centuri has long been the holy grail for many collectors.
Now Estes has created a new version with added detail that will sure to be a big seller. Set to release in late December, the new skill level 4 kit features molded plastic fins, vacuum formed plastic body wraps, detailed escape tower, plastic molded dummy nozzles, and a 25mm motor mount for D12 power.
The real Little Joe II was used during the Apollo program to test the escape rockets for the crew capsule.
Here are the photos released on https://www.estesrockets.com of the new kit:"

JumpJet said:

I’ve built a total of 6 of these models now in the past week for test flying and I just wanted to show one of the design features I incorporated into the model. One of the first steps in building this model is applying the vacuum formed wrap around the body tube. When it comes time to glue on the fins simply apply glue to the inside of the fins and place it over the raised areas on the wrap. All four fins will be perfectly aligned. If you look closely you can see the fins are two piece right down the center since for this photo I didn’t glue the halves together.

John Boren

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John,

You must be tired of building the same model 6 times. I'm retired with plenty of free time and would be happy to build one to offer you some customer feedback!