Estes Attack Craft Orion #1374 Clone by NewWay Build Thread.

[Back_at_it]

I've been on a NewWay kit building kick the pack couple of weeks and picked up one of their clone re-releases of the Estes Attack Craft Orion. I was happy to see this clone available as I have wanted to build one for a very long time. I want to say I was somewhere around 9 or 10 yrs. old when I built the original and as so many people do, I built it wrong with all the fins edges lined up at the rear. My angles were all over the place and it just looked bad but the kit flew well. Like so many things from my childhood it was eventually lost or thrown away.

NewWay's re-release is a nice complete kit and like all of their kits it comes with extras like swabs for applying glue, Sand paper, paper ruler etc. I was happy to see a copy of the original instructions included as well as the fin alignment guide. The decals included look great as well and in my experience are a slightly thicker material than what Estes used back in the day. The kit includes the nose cone from the SciFi nose cone pack. It's not an exact duplicate of the original but in my opinion it looks better as it has additional details.



Here is everything that is included in the kit.



Stating the build with the motor mount. The kit included a motor clip but I'm leaving it out as I don't care to look at them so for this portion of the build I need the front and rear centering rings, the motor block and the motor tube. The instructions tell you to install the top ring flush with the end of the tube and the rear ring one inch from the rear. Since I'm not running a motor spring, I marked the tube at the 3/8" mark and installed the rear ring at that point. This will make sense in a later step.



In the next step, I added a small cut out to the upper ring as I will be using Kevlar for the shock cord on this build and it will be attached to the motor mount. The motor block was installed at this time as well and was set flush with the upper end of the tube.



Next was adding the Kevlar Shock cord. The cord was wrapped around the motor tube just below the upper ring and routed through the small cutout. A fillet of wood glue was placed around the cord at this point.
Once dry, heat shrink tubing was added to the first few inches of the Kevlar for some additional protection from the ejection.



With the glue dry it was time to insert the motor mount. Additional fillets were added around the rings and the shock cord was routed down through the motor tube to keep it out of the way during assembly.



When thinking about this build, I decided that I wanted the motor tube to extend beyond the end of the body tube by 3/8 of an inch. This was taken into account when placing the rear ring on the motor mount. The motor tube was installed into the main body tube until the edge of the lower ring was flush with the tube leaving 3/8 of an inch of the motor tube exposed. This will move the CG rearward so this kit will probably need nose weight to get the CG corrected.



The tube was stood up and left to dry over night. I'm going to begin building the fins this evening so I'll be back tomorrow with an update.

 

[Back_at_it]

More progress on this one. This is actually a pretty easy kit to build as the bulk of the assembly is done in pieces. There will only be two fins to attach to the actual body tube.

Starting with the main wing and stabilizer. These are attached with the trailing edges lined up and at a 90 degree angle. Sorry, I forgot to grab a pic of these after assembly.



After letting those dry completely, I added the inner extensions. This is where I made the mistake back when I was a kid. I have also seen a number of builds where others have made the same mistake. The inner extensions are attached 1/4" up from the trailing edge of the wing and are angled down. The kit includes a template to set the angle. I found it helpful to cut a second fin guide then use that as a jig for assembly.

In these next couple of pics, the wings have been completely assembled. I'm doing fillets with epoxy and will be coating the wings and tail in thinned epoxy for some additional strength. These wings extend well below the bottom of the rocket and will be the first thing to hit the ground so they need all the help they can get. I plan to do the bulk of the finishing on the wings before attaching them to the body as they are easier to handle at this point.

 

[Back_at_it]

Got both wings coated in T-88 epoxy and set them out in the sun to cure for a few hours yesterday. After they were cured I sanded the epoxy with 400 grit to knock down some of the fibers that stood up.

I then attached the first wing using a drop of thick CA. at the top and middle of the root edge of the fin. The outer layer of the tube was removed where the fin attached for better adhesion. Once the CA was cured, I went back with more T-88 and added a fillet top and bottom.

 

[Back_at_it]

Second wing was attached in the same method as the first. Couple of drops of CA to get it stuck to the tube then went back with epoxy for the fillet.

Going to do one more fillet on all the joints then it's off to primer.

 

[Back_at_it]

I did need to make one more change in the build. The original instructions call for the launch lug to be attached under the wing at the joint where the main wing angles down. I initially attached the lug in this location but when I inserted the nose cone I realized that the launch rod would hit the side of the nose cone. I'm not sure if the reproduction nose cone is wider than the original but the lug wouldn't work in the stock location. Simple fix was to move the lug to the body tube and build a small stand off as shown.



Fillets were then complete on all of the joints and the nose cone fitted. Here we have our first look at the completed assembly. Heading out for primer in a few minutes.

 

[Back_at_it]

First coat of primer and filler completed. Shot on SEM high build and a very thin layer of DAP brand wood filler applied. Everything was sanded down with 400 grit to the point where you see it now. Going to shoot on one more coat of primer and knock down a couple of rough areas before paint.

I've decided that I'm not going with the standard white paint scheme. While it looks ok, I feel like it's a bit boring and I have too many white rockets already.

 

[Back_at_it]

Since the last update I shot on one coat of SEM primer in white then sanded that back with 600 grit and took it a step further and went 800 on the wings and tail since they are large flat surfaces.

I decided I didn't want another white rocket so I went with a BEHR spray paint I found called Lunar Surface. It's basically a really light gray with a hint of blue in it.

I'll be doing so hand painting of some details over the next couple of days but here is where we are at the moment.

 

[Back_at_it]

Alright, it's been a few days and the paint on this one is cured. I was able to get the decals added last night and it's getting pretty close to finished. I do want to add some detail on the nosecone to fill in the guns and add the blue stripe around the edges. That blue stripe is not included in the decals so it will need to be vinyl.

With the changes I made to the motor placement the additional filler on the fins, I decided to add a 1/2oz on nose weight to this one for good measure. The original kit flew ok without but with my changes I figured it was a good call.

 

[BABAR]

That’s a beaut.

The nose cone accents are outstanding!

 

[Back_at_it]

Final details added. Painted the back of the gun ports and added the blue stripe around the nose.

Calling this one complete.

 

[Bruiser]

Came out really nice!

-Bob

 

[billpr]

Alright, it's been a few days and the paint on this one is cured. I was able to get the decals added last night and it's getting pretty close to finished. I do want to add some detail on the nosecone to fill in the guns and add the blue stripe around the edges. That blue stripe is not included in the decals so it will need to be vinyl.

With the changes I made to the motor placement the additional filler on the fins, I decided to add a 1/2oz on nose weight to this one for good measure. The original kit flew ok without but with my changes I figured it was a good call.

View attachment 663481View attachment 663482View attachment 663483

Awesome build. I have two of the nosecones. Might build two with different colors.

 

[BABAR]

Final details added. Painted the back of the gun ports and added the blue stripe around the nose.

Calling this one complete.

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And a joy forever!

 

[Stewman]

That's a nice build. I like the color combination, and great accents.

 

[Rocket-Fan]

Great job

 

[ep29030]

Nice work. Like the added blue stripe.

 

[ep29030]

First coat of primer and filler completed. Shot on SEM high build and a very thin layer of DAP brand wood filler applied. Everything was sanded down with 400 grit to the point where you see it now. Going to shoot on one more coat of primer and knock down a couple of rough areas before paint.

I've decided that I'm not going with the standard white paint scheme. While it looks ok, I feel like it's a bit boring and I have too many white rockets already.

Sanding off the primer is alot of work, but that is where the magic happens.