- Joined
- Apr 20, 2020
- Messages
- 393
- Reaction score
- 261
Hi everybody,
A quick background to this build; as covid regulations fluctuated in my state I invited sister and nieces to a small park for a launch day. She made the comment of doing a space camp with the kids since at this point they have no summer camps, and hopefully in the fall we can have some launch days. Between my nieces and nephews there are 8 kids ranging from 2 up through 15 who as far as I know have never built anything like this. I'll be detailing this from the view of myself and my son (who is 3) doing this together.
Because of COVID and 'supervising' their builds remotely I'm also going to send this thread link to my family, feel free to add in any good tips or tricks along the way.
P.S. Stop worrying mom, I'll be using the hobby knife and super glue. The kid will be doing the wood glue and stickers.
Anyway, lets dive in!
Maker's Dozen kit pack
As stated all the kits have equal size but very different shaped fins, different noses, and different sticker packs. Siblings will definitely not have clones of each other and get unique looks but the same essential build. I thought the packaging was pretty cool in the fact that you cant tell which are which until opened, only the nose and common parts are seen.
On open the kit has got everything we expect
Sorry for the blur. I've seen kits in the past that say white or wood glue, and I'm happy they chose to say wood glue here. I personally can't stand using white glue on a rocket. In a pinch I guess it can work, but otherwise go wood glue.
They also say plastic cement which I think is good, this will be used exclusively for the nosecone. However, and I may start an argument here (see above comment), I don't have plastic cement on hand and opted for superglue.
Yes, how hypocritical of me...
For the moment we have only gone through the fin shaping and motor mount assembly (up to step 4) and then the kid took a nap. A quick note for now:
Step 2 mentions the fin shaping and sealing all at one time, I'd stress the fact that the sanding sealer is optional especially on a skill level 1 kit but I love that they included it. For the patient kids (not a 3 year old) it will give a really high quality look and feel if they put the time into it. Though for a first rocket seems unnecessary.
They show in the picture but don't spell it out that the sandpaper for shaping should be on a flat hard surface. Don't freehand sand the fins or they can easily end up uneven.
A quick background to this build; as covid regulations fluctuated in my state I invited sister and nieces to a small park for a launch day. She made the comment of doing a space camp with the kids since at this point they have no summer camps, and hopefully in the fall we can have some launch days. Between my nieces and nephews there are 8 kids ranging from 2 up through 15 who as far as I know have never built anything like this. I'll be detailing this from the view of myself and my son (who is 3) doing this together.
Because of COVID and 'supervising' their builds remotely I'm also going to send this thread link to my family, feel free to add in any good tips or tricks along the way.
P.S. Stop worrying mom, I'll be using the hobby knife and super glue. The kid will be doing the wood glue and stickers.
Anyway, lets dive in!
Maker's Dozen kit pack
As stated all the kits have equal size but very different shaped fins, different noses, and different sticker packs. Siblings will definitely not have clones of each other and get unique looks but the same essential build. I thought the packaging was pretty cool in the fact that you cant tell which are which until opened, only the nose and common parts are seen.
On open the kit has got everything we expect
Sorry for the blur. I've seen kits in the past that say white or wood glue, and I'm happy they chose to say wood glue here. I personally can't stand using white glue on a rocket. In a pinch I guess it can work, but otherwise go wood glue.
They also say plastic cement which I think is good, this will be used exclusively for the nosecone. However, and I may start an argument here (see above comment), I don't have plastic cement on hand and opted for superglue.
Yes, how hypocritical of me...
For the moment we have only gone through the fin shaping and motor mount assembly (up to step 4) and then the kid took a nap. A quick note for now:
Step 2 mentions the fin shaping and sealing all at one time, I'd stress the fact that the sanding sealer is optional especially on a skill level 1 kit but I love that they included it. For the patient kids (not a 3 year old) it will give a really high quality look and feel if they put the time into it. Though for a first rocket seems unnecessary.
They show in the picture but don't spell it out that the sandpaper for shaping should be on a flat hard surface. Don't freehand sand the fins or they can easily end up uneven.