Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 Mercury Redstone

[jmmome]

Finally finished the painting of this 1/12 scale Mercury Redstone. 6" dia. Blue Tube construction & almost 8 feet tall. Boyce Aerospace 3D-printed capsule/ escape tower. Stickershock lettering.

Took a little liberty as to the positioning of "UNITED STATES" relative to the fin positioning. Didn't realize that the rectangular 3/8" thick plywood piece at the tip of each 1/2" plywood fin was an air rudder, as the Redstone didn't have a nozzle that gimballed. On the real deal, there were also carbon jet vanes in the exhaust path, ala the V2.

Maybe a November launch at Three Oaks, MI or South Charleston, OH.

 

[user 35280]

Finally finished the painting of this 1/12 scale Mercury Redstone. 6" dia. Blue Tube construction & almost 8 feet tall. Boyce Aerospace 3D-printed capsule/ escape tower. Stickershock lettering.

Took a little liberty as to the positioning of "UNITED STATES" relative to the fin positioning. Didn't realize that the rectangular 3/8" thick plywood piece at the tip of each 1/2" plywood fin was an air rudder, as the Redstone didn't have a nozzle that gimballed. On the real deal, there were also carbon jet vanes in the exhaust path, ala the V2.

Maybe a November launch at Three Oaks, MI or South Charleston, OH.

Works of Art!

 

[SILVERFOX]

Beautiful build! Best of luck with safe launch and recovery.

 

[jmmome]

Thanks to all. I'm bringing the capsule section down on it's own BIG chute- at about a 60 degree angle so that the edge of the base hits the ground first. Hoping to keep the escape tower in one piece upon landing. If not, I'll epoxy it back together, or buy another 3D-printed tower section from Boyce.

This is the way the rocket looked for about a year, until I got my butt in gear and started working on the actual construction.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

Thanks to all. I'm bringing the capsule section down on it's own BIG chute- at about a 60 degree angle so that the edge of the base hits the ground first. Hoping to keep the escape tower in one piece upon landing. If not, I'll epoxy it back together, or buy another 3D-printed tower section from Boyce.

This is the way the rocket looked for about a year, until I got my butt in gear and started working on the actual construction.

I know that feeling! But you're on your way now! (I keep asking my wife, "Aren't we retired now...?")
Here's to calm skies and successful flights!

 

[David Schwantz]

To the OP, very nice rockets. BUT your shop is way to clean

 

[GalantVR41062]

We visited the Kennedy Space Center and were able to see the real deals. I did notice the carbon jet vanes under the nozzle. This close up is from a Juno 1.

 

[Handeman]

If you get the chance, visit the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, New Hampshire. Both of those people were from New Hampshire. They have an amazing center, and there's lots of hardware including Shepard's Navy jet, Gemini capsule, and full Gemini-Redstone rocket.
One of the very interesting things I saw was all the newspaper front pages announcing achievements and events involving these two. The pages also included a lot of other events that happened at the same time that I remember. I spent way too much time on those!

 

[maddmaxx11]

Nice work! Make sure to take a video of the launch and post it here. Would love to see it.