FAI Little Joe model almost done!

[jduffy]

All,

We're in the home stretch on our Little Joe model for the upcoming World Spacemodeling Championships! The attached photo shows a test fitting of the components that occurred late last night.

Still to go:

* Paint and decal work on capsule
* Staging electronics installation
* Matte coat on selected items
* Paint and installation of aft compartment detailing
* Motor nozzle fabrication and replication

To see the whole construction saga, visit:

https://www.rocket.aero/littlejoemodel.html

If the attachment fails, the test-fit photo can be seen at:

https://www.rocket.aero/fullstack1big.jpg

The project should be finished by the end of the week...

James

 

[lessgravity]

Gorgeous! Looks great already.
Good luck at the contest!

 

[Stymye]

stunning..good luck at the championships !

 

[SwingWing]

That's really something!! Cool!

 

[cjl]

Very, very nice, and good luck with the contests

 

[skippy-2]

Thanks James for the great presentation of this project. Your site has (to my mind) just the right depth of information on your model and background on the original rocket. Thanks for sharing

Oh, and good luck!!!!

 

[Sheri]

Very very nice!!!

 

[dwmzmm]

Looks super, James! How about, when you get back, getting with Sheri and maybe "talk things over" about releasing a kit...

BTW, are you going to give this model any test launches before
heading overseas?

 

[jduffy]

Originally posted by dwmzmm
Looks super, James! How about, when you get back, getting with Sheri and maybe "talk things over" about releasing a kit...

BTW, are you going to give this model any test launches before
heading overseas?

Thanks to everyone for the kind words! It's been quite an adventure. I'm looking forward to having my life back when I get back from Baikonur...

There's a slight possibility that this may appear in kit form some day, but don't hold your breath waiting for it, Dave. As obsessive as I am about the little fiddy bits, it's a bit of a long shot.

Frankly, there's nothing I've done in building this that's out of the reach of most competent modelers...there's just a WHOLE BUNCH of simple little tasks strung together! All of the little tricks are right out there in the open on my web page.

As for test flying this version of the model, there's no way in hell that's going to happen as it is absolutley irreplaceable at this point with the Championships only six weeks away. However, there's a boilerplate version that's been built side-by-side with this one, and I'll test fly it locally in the next week or so. (I had intended to fly it at NSL, but dual pressures of this project and my day gig squelched those plans.)

FYI, work continued on the project this evening as I painted the boilerplate capsule and began decal work on it. (A photo of the incremental change to the stack is attached.) It would be nice to have two capsules on hand in Kazakhstan, so a decision was made to go ahead and complete the boilerplate capsule to contest status. I'll also have a spare fin on hand, just in case.

Stay tuned,
James