Silverleaf
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2003
- Messages
- 1,127
- Reaction score
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After winning this item on Ebay, I spent thr better part of 4 days putting it together, and now that I'm done, a review of the kit seemed like a good idea.
The Package :
Exellent photo on the front, and all parts were in immaculate condition. All tubes were clean with the sustainer tube lower section having pre-slotted fins. Molded plastic pieces were flash-free, and were very detailed - with the exception of the tower assembly.
The Instructions :
While the layout was clean and concise, as soon as I saw them, my heart sank lower than low. Estes has completely eliminated all written instructions while making it a straight image assembly, AND more importantly, I felt shortchanged in regards to my normal model rocketry experience.
Comeone guys, you remember this - ( for those of you that read the instructions before throwing it together - you know who you are ) sitting down and reading each step, and referring to the parts, tests fitting and basically getting into the rocket before it was even assembled. Heck, looking at the Star Trek kit makes me pine, because the detail alone in the instructions make this kit a blast to build.
They did the job adequately, BUT there was a cheapness that I felt overall.
The Assembly :
Very smooth throughout, with the two sustainer tubes fitting properly and an excellent large coupler - which solidified the two together. The plastic 2 part fins easily fit together, and were tight fitting from the getgo.
The motor mount was a unique design - for an Estes that is, since it incorporated a normal motor mount ( for a B or C motor ), which then slid into 2 plastic retainers. One on top, and one which made up the bottom of the rocket. 4 small plastic runners - which were the ' tracks " for the fins were then glued on, and the whole assembly smoothly slid into the sustainer.
The fins slid into the fin canister smoothly, and showed a tight and clean fit.
The Liberty Bell 7 capsule was pristine, and when I used liquid Tenax 7R glue, or Micro-Weld to attach them, it was one of the best and seamless fits I've ever had - especially for a flying rocket. Extreme rivet detail is seen throughout the capsule - which adds a ton of realism.
My only complaint was the lack of detail on the tower, and IF you refer back to the original Estes MR, you will see that the company decided to really take some short cuts - gone was the tower base - it was a solid molded part that simply glued around the antenna array.
Decals :
This in my estimation was the worst thing I've seen in model rocketry in a long time.
They decided to make the decals peel-offs, which did aid in ease of finishing the rocket. Yes, this also aided in finishing because I could simply unpeel the " wrap " as I was applying it around the sustainer if I was off on alignment - which did happen the first time. Ok - thats a good thing...
BUT what bothered me was I had to trim each decal just inside a dotted line, which made the decals on the fins not fit properly. I needed to touch up every area of the decals on the fins, which wasn't hard, but just a pain.
Unlike a normal water-soluable decal these decals keep their air bubbles intact, so you ned to use a larger needle, OR make a small slit with a sharp exacto knife to extract the air.
If you use a product like Micro-Sol or Poly S to attach the normal water decal, you can simply add more solution to rewet or move if needed. By popping the bubble, rewetting and smoothing with a brush - well, it's the only way to get a seemless, smooth decal in this writer's opinion.
I also had to cut out all 4 fin slots after applying the bottom wrap, which while not a pain, would make a young modeler a bit squeamish - so adult supervision for the exacto is the norm.
Finishing / recovery:
Simple white, black, and red are required to finish the Redstone, with at least 4 coats of matte clearcote to seal and give the rocket some depth.
I've never been a fan of the two parachute method for the Redstone, simply because you have to have a string attached to the tower - outside the rocket on launch, so that the 12 inch parachute will balance the capsule and tower properly on ejection.
But the 18 and 12 inch parachutes will work. My only other complaint - the big purple 18 inch parachute looks great, yet they included that nasty orange 12 incher - make them both the same color I say.
Tower Detail
I added wiring to each of the struts at the base of the tower, and included a white hose between each strut at the base for extra detail. It was fairly simple to do, and added just that extra bit of realism. I need to get my camera fixed, then I'll post a pic of it.
Motor recommended is a B6-4 ( first flight ), C6-3 OR C6-5
Overall :
While the kit was solid in design, had great detail on the capsule, and included through the fin construction, I did find the instructions and decals to be a real turn off for me. Thats sad too, since I'm a scale freak. Yes, I would purchase this model again, but I would try to find some way to circumvent the decals and add more detail to the tower assembly.
Yes, I'm one of those guys that years later looks at my directions and says..yeah, that was fun..hmm, now where is that tubing - shoot, I need another capsule...
I do recommend this kit for the rocketeer looking for a weekend project, or as a way to introduce a child to the hobby. This kit is a Skill level 2 project.
Thanks,
R.S. Barker ( Silverleaf )
The Package :
Exellent photo on the front, and all parts were in immaculate condition. All tubes were clean with the sustainer tube lower section having pre-slotted fins. Molded plastic pieces were flash-free, and were very detailed - with the exception of the tower assembly.
The Instructions :
While the layout was clean and concise, as soon as I saw them, my heart sank lower than low. Estes has completely eliminated all written instructions while making it a straight image assembly, AND more importantly, I felt shortchanged in regards to my normal model rocketry experience.
Comeone guys, you remember this - ( for those of you that read the instructions before throwing it together - you know who you are ) sitting down and reading each step, and referring to the parts, tests fitting and basically getting into the rocket before it was even assembled. Heck, looking at the Star Trek kit makes me pine, because the detail alone in the instructions make this kit a blast to build.
They did the job adequately, BUT there was a cheapness that I felt overall.
The Assembly :
Very smooth throughout, with the two sustainer tubes fitting properly and an excellent large coupler - which solidified the two together. The plastic 2 part fins easily fit together, and were tight fitting from the getgo.
The motor mount was a unique design - for an Estes that is, since it incorporated a normal motor mount ( for a B or C motor ), which then slid into 2 plastic retainers. One on top, and one which made up the bottom of the rocket. 4 small plastic runners - which were the ' tracks " for the fins were then glued on, and the whole assembly smoothly slid into the sustainer.
The fins slid into the fin canister smoothly, and showed a tight and clean fit.
The Liberty Bell 7 capsule was pristine, and when I used liquid Tenax 7R glue, or Micro-Weld to attach them, it was one of the best and seamless fits I've ever had - especially for a flying rocket. Extreme rivet detail is seen throughout the capsule - which adds a ton of realism.
My only complaint was the lack of detail on the tower, and IF you refer back to the original Estes MR, you will see that the company decided to really take some short cuts - gone was the tower base - it was a solid molded part that simply glued around the antenna array.
Decals :
This in my estimation was the worst thing I've seen in model rocketry in a long time.
They decided to make the decals peel-offs, which did aid in ease of finishing the rocket. Yes, this also aided in finishing because I could simply unpeel the " wrap " as I was applying it around the sustainer if I was off on alignment - which did happen the first time. Ok - thats a good thing...
BUT what bothered me was I had to trim each decal just inside a dotted line, which made the decals on the fins not fit properly. I needed to touch up every area of the decals on the fins, which wasn't hard, but just a pain.
Unlike a normal water-soluable decal these decals keep their air bubbles intact, so you ned to use a larger needle, OR make a small slit with a sharp exacto knife to extract the air.
If you use a product like Micro-Sol or Poly S to attach the normal water decal, you can simply add more solution to rewet or move if needed. By popping the bubble, rewetting and smoothing with a brush - well, it's the only way to get a seemless, smooth decal in this writer's opinion.
I also had to cut out all 4 fin slots after applying the bottom wrap, which while not a pain, would make a young modeler a bit squeamish - so adult supervision for the exacto is the norm.
Finishing / recovery:
Simple white, black, and red are required to finish the Redstone, with at least 4 coats of matte clearcote to seal and give the rocket some depth.
I've never been a fan of the two parachute method for the Redstone, simply because you have to have a string attached to the tower - outside the rocket on launch, so that the 12 inch parachute will balance the capsule and tower properly on ejection.
But the 18 and 12 inch parachutes will work. My only other complaint - the big purple 18 inch parachute looks great, yet they included that nasty orange 12 incher - make them both the same color I say.
Tower Detail
I added wiring to each of the struts at the base of the tower, and included a white hose between each strut at the base for extra detail. It was fairly simple to do, and added just that extra bit of realism. I need to get my camera fixed, then I'll post a pic of it.
Motor recommended is a B6-4 ( first flight ), C6-3 OR C6-5
Overall :
While the kit was solid in design, had great detail on the capsule, and included through the fin construction, I did find the instructions and decals to be a real turn off for me. Thats sad too, since I'm a scale freak. Yes, I would purchase this model again, but I would try to find some way to circumvent the decals and add more detail to the tower assembly.
Yes, I'm one of those guys that years later looks at my directions and says..yeah, that was fun..hmm, now where is that tubing - shoot, I need another capsule...
I do recommend this kit for the rocketeer looking for a weekend project, or as a way to introduce a child to the hobby. This kit is a Skill level 2 project.
Thanks,
R.S. Barker ( Silverleaf )
