Vintage Estes 1345 Dragon Ship 7 Build

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SCIGS30

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I think I will bite the bullet and build the Dragon to go with the Excalibur, should be a fun challenging vintage build, out of the bag. More old parts and decals.

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I think I will bite the bullet and build the Dragon to go with the Excalibur, should be a fun challenging vintage build, out of the bag. More old parts and decals.

Absolutely! If you have one you have to build the other LOL!

If you Give those old decals a fresh coat of Krylon 1305 UV resistant clear without letting it run under the original clear, they should be usable.

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MM 373b_MM Excalibur & DragonShip-7 Side-Rear_04-18-11.JPG
 
It has been awhile, a busy month at work has kept me away from building. I finally had some spare time to work on the rocket and here she is already for paint. I built the rocket out of the bag as always, brushed on 3 coats of balsa sealer and added the fillets. I also added the old clump of clay to the nose, it was still useable. This kit does not look like much but it is a builders kit and comes with a lot of wood to seal. Also I added the pencil lines like the directions say so I can add the rivet decals after she is painted. Also this kit has a fin on the bottom that mush be added before flight and it just slips over a smaller balsa fin.

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It has been awhile, a busy month at work has kept me away from building. I finally had some spare time to work on the rocket and here she is already for paint. I built the rocket out of the bag as always, brushed on 3 coats of balsa sealer and added the fillets. I also added the old clump of clay to the nose, it was still useable. This kit does not look like much but it is a builders kit and comes with a lot of wood to seal. Also I added the pencil lines like the directions say so I can add the rivet decals after she is painted. Also this kit has a fin on the bottom that mush be added before flight and it just slips over a smaller balsa fin.

Me has an idea... Leave out the core MMT and fly on 8xA3-4T...

If the tubes are smaller than 1/2" an 8 Micromaxx cluster would be pretty neat...
 
A vintage build will fly like a vintage rocket, no 8xA3-4T engine here:) Well this was my last day off and I have her all painted ready for decals and a little more black paint near the gun mount and inside the gun tubes is needed. Unfortunately I will be busy the next few days and don't know when I will have time to apply the decals. I painted her gloss paint first so the decals will not silver. Once the decals are dry I will spray Testors Dullcote like the directions say so the rivet decals stand out better. So I would not cover up the pencil indentations I did not use primer and sure enough the under bright light I can see the lines where the rivet decals are going to be placed, man Estes was smart in their instructions. Of course I think one could blindly add the rivet decals without the lines, but I pretty much always follow the directions. The removable fin attaches pretty tight after the final coat of paint was applied, I don't see it falling off during flight. I think after this build I will have to keep my builds to simpler models until I can free up some time. No filler was used once again just plain old Balsa Sealer for a grain free finish and white glue fillets for a smooth transistion for the balsa.

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Uhg, Stuck at work another week, no working on this rocket.
 
Been busy but I finally finished up the build, the decals took forever. Applying old decals can be a challenge and do not go on as well as newer decals, but sure looks vintage with old decals. I followed Estes directions and the pre scribed rivet lines really helped in applying the decals. The decals kept breaking, but they still went on. After the decals were all dried I sprayed Testors dullcote for a finish.
 

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Been busy but I finally finished up the build, the decals took forever. Applying old decals can be a challenge and do not go on as well as newer decals, but sure looks vintage with old decals. I followed Estes directions and the pre scribed rivet lines really helped in applying the decals. The decals kept breaking, but they still went on. After the decals were all dried I sprayed Testors dullcote for a finish.

Two beautifully crafted builds!
 
Beautiful work!
Because of these pictures I've added these two to my future build list!
 
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