I watched with complete amazement as the Original Estes Andromeda recently on Feebay went skyrocketing to $137 dollars plus. Mind boggling.... So after a rummage through the old extra parts boxes in the garage and my old original kit instructions from 1978 onward I was on my way to building my third Andromeda, my first two having been built somewhere in the eighties back when I was a simple boy with a dream...
I did actually buy a few of the stubby BT-50 cones for just such a project a few years back but otherwise most everything else was just laying about in my extras stuff. I had a couple unused 18" BT-20 tubes, a nice long BT-50 for the bigger section, reactor BT and Ram tubes, and some old Estes die cut adapter ring card sections I could use for the rings as well as plenty of 1/8 dowel stock. I spent today cutting the tubes to size and cutting out the fins and sanding them. Now to assemble the motor mount section and get the rings in place. I find I rarely follow the order of the original Estes instructions on most any rocket. I do generally stick to the over all order of motor mount first, then fins, then lug(s), detail pieces, etc. The main fins were cut out in halves, then glued together over some wax paper using Titebond II and a steel ruler for the root edges to sit on and line up against. Thanks to Mark again at Stickershock I'm slowly rebuilding a fleet of old favorite rockets I had when I was a teen, the Andromeda decals are already here waiting to go on. Next post I hope to have the bottom section complete with all fins in place.
I did actually buy a few of the stubby BT-50 cones for just such a project a few years back but otherwise most everything else was just laying about in my extras stuff. I had a couple unused 18" BT-20 tubes, a nice long BT-50 for the bigger section, reactor BT and Ram tubes, and some old Estes die cut adapter ring card sections I could use for the rings as well as plenty of 1/8 dowel stock. I spent today cutting the tubes to size and cutting out the fins and sanding them. Now to assemble the motor mount section and get the rings in place. I find I rarely follow the order of the original Estes instructions on most any rocket. I do generally stick to the over all order of motor mount first, then fins, then lug(s), detail pieces, etc. The main fins were cut out in halves, then glued together over some wax paper using Titebond II and a steel ruler for the root edges to sit on and line up against. Thanks to Mark again at Stickershock I'm slowly rebuilding a fleet of old favorite rockets I had when I was a teen, the Andromeda decals are already here waiting to go on. Next post I hope to have the bottom section complete with all fins in place.