Sheri's Mercury Redstone

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Steven

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Hello, I'm new here and a fifty three year old BAR. I do have some physical and mental conditions that make it difficult to go outside. Having said that, I have a few oldies that are built and ready to fly. All Estes: Little Joe II, Mercury Redstone, Venus Probe, re-release of the Long Tom, The Mean Machine, SR-71, The Dude and the Starship Enterprise.

In addition, I've also built the Apogee Saturn 1-b and Saturn V as well. I've just recently acquired the Mercury Redstone from Sheri's Hot Rockets. I first noticed there was an improvement made in the parts used for the construction of the tower. They are made of carbon fiber.

You also have the option of using the plastic/styrene parts that come with the kit. Well, I'll leave off on this note and say it was not easy to come on and talk so much. But thanks to anyone who reads this just the same.

Best regards,
Steven.
 
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Let them fly . There would be people in your area to help do that if you need
 
Welcome Steven, you have built some of the kits on my dreamed of list. I hope your rockets get to fly, but regardless that must be some collection to behold. If you get a chance and are willing to post a picture of some of your fleet, I'm sure many here would love to see them.
 
That bit about the carbon fiber is interesting. I built one and had the tower shear on every flight. I finally rebuilt it with brass rods and that held up. I'd be interested in hearing how the CF does. I might try that for the SHR Little Joe II still sitting in the box.
 
I got the kit out and I'm looking at it as I write. I'm having one of those empty feeling days. I need to help myself here. I'll figure something out. Some of the simplest things can be monumental as an undertaking. It's an easy build, straight forward, not as much work on fin finishing IMO.

The capsule needs to be cleaned up a tad. I will use a good primer to cover the tube spirals. The ring used for the lower tower section is no longer made of plywood but resin, nice touch. So here I sit with epoxy, two centering rings, one 3/4 x 3/4 x 1/4 plywood block and an eye bolt with a blind nut.
 
Centering Rings.jpg So, these are the two plywood centering rings along with the plywood block for the blind nut and eye bolt.
 
Welcome to the board. The hobby is broad enought to entertain those with many goals. Some people like to slap rockets together as quickly as possible and fly them regardless of how they look. Others spend hours and hours making them look perfect and putting them on the shelf never to launch them. And then there are all the people in between. They are all doing it correctly in my opinion. The hobby is yours to do with as you please. If yours never fly then so be it. Enjoy.
 
Welcome to the board. The hobby is broad enought to entertain those with many goals. Some people like to slap rockets together as quickly as possible and fly them regardless of how they look. Others spend hours and hours making them look perfect and putting them on the shelf never to launch them. And then there are all the people in between. They are all doing it correctly in my opinion. The hobby is yours to do with as you please. If yours never fly then so be it. Enjoy.

Actually, I was just being sarcastic with the centering rings being a work of craftsmanship.:facepalm:
 
Welcome Steven. You should come meet some of the other Seattle area guys up at 60 Acres sometime.

It's a large park that can hold large rockets really nicely. I've seen a guy do an L1 cert there and push 2500
 
Redmond. We've got a guy coming up from Federal Way so it shouldn't be too bad a drive for you.
 
Yeah, I found it. Not too bad. So, do folks just go whenever, or do they at times round themselves up for a gathering?
 
IMG_0001_2.jpgIMG_0002_1.jpg

Seeing ahead of time this step was going to require some fitting work prior to gluing the rings into the BT as the instructions say, I found the fit of the CR's to be quite tight. This necessitated sanding the ID of the CR and a bit of the engine tube for a more comfortable fit. :)
 
Fair bit of sanding on one particular CR who's fit is pretty tight inside the BT. So I just use strong language and listen to "Sonne" by Rammstein.
 
In reading further, I found the stuffer tube is considerably shorter than the older version they depict on the plans and instructions. I'll bet this is for more room in the recovery compartment. Though if one did not read the instructions through, you would have epoxied the CR with the eye bolt attached six inches from the end of the top, as the instructions say rather than "11-3/4" as the new configuration stands.

Here comes the sun.
 
In reading further, I found the stuffer tube is considerably shorter than the older version they depict on the plans and instructions. I'll bet this is for more room in the recovery compartment. Though if one did not read the instructions through, you would have epoxied the CR with the eye bolt attached six inches from the end of the top, as the instructions say rather than "11-3/4" as the new configuration stands.

Here comes the sun.

That's good to know! The single biggest problem I have with flying mine is cramming the recovery gear in. The fragile LES tower was easy to solve in comparison.
 
IMG_0004_1.jpg

Okay, now a 1/4" hole. Well, the splintering was from me using harsh language during sanding. Taught it a lesson.:facepalm:
 
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IMG_0005_1.jpg

A shoddy shot of the outlines made by the fin template supplied by the manufacturer. Eight in total.
 
Well, I'll leave off on this note and say it was not easy to come on and talk so much. But thanks to anyone who reads this just the same.
Best regards,
Steven.

Thank you for sharing, Steven! Old, young, rich, poor and everything in between...we're all united and equal here in our love of rocketry. Now launch that beautiful fleet you've built and post *those* pictures.
 
Thank you for sharing, Steven! Old, young, rich, poor and everything in between...we're all united and equal here in our love of rocketry. Now launch that beautiful fleet you've built and post *those* pictures.

Thank you Viperfixr. I may be running out of time weather wise. Though I can at least wrangle up some pics of what I've got languishing in the darkness.
 
Had something go on earlier with wanting to pass out, heavy breathing and barely able to walk. I feel better though it's like I've gone several rounds with Tyson. I'll see how I'll do tomorrow. :horse:
 
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The styrene veneer fins now have the required symmetrical edge. This was done by simply scoring along a predetermined edge from a pattern.
 
IMG_0002_3.jpg

Here, I have cut away the fin section of the styrene veneer only. The plywood core will remain intact.
 
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