Estes Mercury Redstone Building Log

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McTschegsn

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Good Morning all,

Yesterday it finally happened. Cut open the bag and off we went.
The instructions want you to build the capsule first, but I decided to start with the bottom part of the rocket.
The fins were cut out and glued together quickly, although I have to say that I've seen better laser parts. A lot of energy was probably put into this. I haven't seen such black unclean edges in a long time. A bit of sandpaper helps here quickly.

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When assembling the engine tube, I fortunately checked the length of the enclosed wire retainer beforehand, following an intuition, and lo and behold: the part is longer than the holders of air conditioning, whose engines I would like to fly. The original retainer was allowed to give way to the climate retainer:

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Another change I made concerns the attachment of the shockcord itself. I don't really like this folding story from Estes, so I designed the shock cord attachment so that I can swap it out if something happens. A tube runs parallel to the motor tube through both frames and I can attach the shock cord to the bottom of the rocket and change it if necessary. So that nothing tears out, the tube has been given an aluminum sleeve on each of the frames.
Admittedly, the flange is quite narrow, but that should be enough, especially since the motor is still sticking out.


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So much for the current status
 
Good thing you didn't start with the capsule. DEFINITELY use Chris M's instructions on capsule assembly! In particular he uses the Centuri (NOT the Estes) instructions on the tower. Glad I read about this on the forum, else I'd never have gotten my capsule together properly.
 
A little bit further:
The fins are sanded and filled for the first time before pore filler is applied.
This makes it a little easier to get a good surface afterwards:

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I put the capsule together (not glued) to check the fit. A little rework is required here as well. A plastic putty will do the rest and an engraving tool if details are lost.

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And this is how it looks put together so far. Unspectacular but I like it a lot:

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The fins are sanded and treated with pore filler for the first time.
A second time should be enough to get the parts reasonably smooth.

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I will then apply the final primer after assembly. It's a little easier to sand down in individual pieces.
The capsule is also glued together, waiting for putty after the glue dries.

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By the way. I don't know how this is usually done here, but if there are too many individual steps / pictures, please let me know.
 
The fins are now baby butt smooth if you can call it that and mounted on the fuselage tube.
I had to order new putty for the top. My plastic model days are a bit longer ago if you want to attach it to the material. When it dries up, filler becomes really hard :D


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By the way, yesterday we started putting together a Quest Mean Green just for fun
 
Slowly getting there...
The fins are glued and have their obligatory seam.

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The rocket doesn't really have that many outer skin details, the two outlets (I'll call it that) at the lower end of the rocket are still missing. If anyone knows the exact name: I'm happy to learn :)

The rescue tower is also slowly taking shape and is now slowly drying out.
Next up is the filling of the command module. The spatula is expected to come on Monday.

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Really enjoying your build thread here. Thanks for taking the time to document all your efforts.

The towers almost always get crunched on these at ground hit. Consider using 2 parachutes: (1) for the Capsule / Tower sub-ass'y. and (1) for the fuselage / fin can. Then you can size the chutes to get a ground hit speed that'll give the tower better odds of a damage free recovery.

:computer:
 
Really enjoying your build thread here. Thanks for taking the time to document all your efforts.

The towers almost always get crunched on these at ground hit. Consider using 2 parachutes: (1) for the Capsule / Tower sub-ass'y. and (1) for the fuselage / fin can. Then you can size the chutes to get a ground hit speed that'll give the tower better odds of a damage free recovery.

:computer:
Interesting. I never suffered that with mine in 8 flights or so. My tower got destroyed when the "rubber band" shock cord snapped the capsule back into the body and sent pieces flying everywhere at ejection. So my recommendation, if he hasn't already adopted that plan, is to use a Kevlar shock cord about the length of the stretched rubber cord. I tied the capsule about a foot or less from the parachute attachment to the cord. Then the booster hits first and the capsule gets slowed a bit more before impact. But I only fly in very calm conditions due to lack of space.

Two chutes works very well, also, though.
 
On my "towered" rockets, I always put a metal rod through the capsule, tower and into the Launch Escape Motor. I did the same for the Mercury Redstone/Atlas (no pictures). When painted the same color as the tower, it almost disappears.

There is enough plastic around the rod to not cause a serious problem with safety at least no more than the normal tower. I've had one take a dirt-nap several times and no issues.

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On my "towered" rockets, I always put a metal rod through the capsule, tower and into the Launch Escape Motor. I did the same for the Mercury Redstone/Atlas (no pictures). When painted the same color as the tower, it almost disappears.

There is enough plastic around the rod to not cause a serious problem with safety at least no more than the normal tower. I've had one take a dirt-nap several times and no issues.

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That's quite clever!
 
McT...I see you have painted your escape tower parts before glueing them together. I’ve always had trouble with the paint reacting with the plastic glues and the whole thing becoming a soggy mess. What glue are you intending on using?
 
Thanks for the replies.
@Raptor 2 I use plastic glue as I always do on my plastic models. I tend to scratch away the paint from the points where I apply glue so the plastic almost welds together. Works fine for me and gives a very good bond.

@Blast it Tom! : I will use Kevlar Shock Cord and some elastic band. So I think one chute will be fine. Just trying that out since this is my first scale rocket.
(Into Rocketry since May this year)
 
On my "towered" rockets, I always put a metal rod through the capsule, tower and into the Launch Escape Motor. I did the same for the Mercury Redstone/Atlas (no pictures). When painted the same color as the tower, it almost disappears.

There is enough plastic around the rod to not cause a serious problem with safety at least no more than the normal tower. I've had one take a dirt-nap several times and no issues.

View attachment 524336View attachment 524335
I've heard of people using a plastic rod to do the same thing... slightly less weight too.
 
McT...I see you have painted your escape tower parts before glueing them together. I’ve always had trouble with the paint reacting with the plastic glues and the whole thing becoming a soggy mess. What glue are you intending on using?
Use a tiny pointed brush or a toothpick to apply the glue. Never squirt excessive glue directly from the tube. :D
 
I am more afraid the outer fins come off on impact to be honest. The Tower seems to be sturdy when glued together though the metal rot thingy is quite a thing to think over.

I will use some kevlar shock cord as stated and some elastic band. Choosing the right length the Rocket body will touchdown first, then the capsule.
 
I've heard of people using a plastic rod to do the same thing... slightly less weight too.
One of the advantages of using a metal core inside a styrene tube is to add the weight. If you use reloadable motors or simply in the case of almost all Estes "towered" rockets, there is a need for additional nose weight to get CG/CP right. It is just an option.
 
But you have to watch the weight. Perhaps I fouled things up, but I added a stuffer tube/centering ring to mine to cut down on the volume needing to be pressurized by the ejection charge. So even using Quest D16's, mine seems to be prone to gravity turns, I suspect due to speed off the rod. I'm just using the "old standard" 1/8" x 36" long rod, so perhaps I need to go longer.

(As an aside, if I'd known about rail buttons when I started back into the sport, I wouldn't have launch lugs/rods at all!)
Use a tiny pointed brush or a toothpick to apply the glue. Never squirt excessive glue directly from the tube. :D

How did your upgraded build come out? Upgraded Estes Mercury Redstone (Just curious. I of all people know how incredible harried life can get sometimes.)
 
But you have to watch the weight. Perhaps I fouled things up, but I added a stuffer tube/centering ring to mine to cut down on the volume needing to be pressurized by the ejection charge. So even using Quest D16's, mine seems to be prone to gravity turns, I suspect due to speed off the rod. I'm just using the "old standard" 1/8" x 36" long rod, so perhaps I need to go longer.

(As an aside, if I'd known about rail buttons when I started back into the sport, I wouldn't have launch lugs/rods at all!)


How did your upgraded build come out? Upgraded Estes Mercury Redstone (Just curious. I of all people know how incredible harried life can get sometimes.)
It is in the paint pile along with about 60 others. :( I got to get off my toush, stop building, and do more painting. But first more flying.
 
Final spurt...
Today it was time for the rest of the decals and some plastic tape. Admittedly, the rescue tower doesn't fit very well (I'm used to something different from plastic models), but it came together quite well.
I cleared the adhesive surfaces of paint beforehand.

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Glued the tower

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And this is how it looks put together:

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A bit of fine work (touch ups and decal softener) and then the clear coat can be applied on Thursday :)

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Just got my hands on an Estes Redstone kit. If I take it slowly (i.e., make it a winter project), I *hope* to make it as nicely as yours, although not sure if I've got that kind of skill and/or patience. Like the "two parachutes" idea, but also think that the second chute should be attached to the tower somehow, with a thin thread on the outside leading into the body tube, so the capsule floats down blunt-end first, like the real thing. I might try to make mine tougher, which means heavier, so, I will likely make mine to accept 24mm motors and fly it with a "D". But, we will see.
 
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