Vintage Estes Shrike Build

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SCIGS30

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I will begin my next project today, looks like a straight forward build. This is an old kit but all the parts are usable minus the tape disk and rubber shock cord. The directions show 2 foam disks and my kit did not come those. Nothing like the smell of old paper, cardboard and balsa wood when opening a kit.
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Wow, what a great decal sheet. You gotta love the R2-D2 and C-3PO flyer that was included too. This should be a great build. Keep the pics coming. BTW, what would the foam disks have been for?
 
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beautiful looks like its gonna be a fun build. how bad are the die crushed parts?
 
One of the foam pads is glued to the top of the Nose Block and the other is glued to the bottom of the nose cone. The balsa fins are in great shape.
 
I have been real busy lately, but was able to break away and start building my Shrike. The Shrike was not as easy as I thought it would be. The shrouds were a pain in the $%^, I don't know if that is because they are old or thats just how they are. The fins were a little tricky getting them to fit tightly against the body tube and paper wrap. I also had to trim and sand the upper and lower fins to get a tight even fit. I am letting the Elmer's Glue All dry and will try to shoot a coat of primer on the rocket tomorrow. The nose cone was real rough, so I sanded it smooth and applied a few coats of Aerogloss sealer to make it smooth.
I am trying to figure out what color the 4th fin is. I see one all black fin, 2 white fins and the fin opposite the black fin is colored, but I don't know what.
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Nice work :):)

The Shrike has always been one of my favorites. I never had one but one of my friends did.
 
Great model and great looking kit! Wish I had one (when I had the chance).
Is the condition of the decal sheet still good? I know the original decals that
came with my vintage Centuri 1/100 scale Saturn - V were still excellent; none of the decals ripped nor came apart during application.
 
I have 2 coats of primer and one coat of Glossy white applied. I will be gone for the next few days and should be able finish this on Monday. I may be crazy, buy I sure like the balsa nose cones. The detail on the shrouds was filled in a little with the paint, but it is still visible to the naked eye. I did not line the fins up for the picture since the paint is still drying. Also I decided to make the gap between the fins visible since that is what is on the face card. The decals are in great shape, but I will still apply a couple of coats of liquid decal film.
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I finished the Shrike and will pull out my next vintage build. This was a fun little project even if the wraps were a pain in the *&**. The decals are in good shape and went on with little difficulty. The decal film seems a little thick and does not blend in well with the paint like most of the other decals I have used, could be they are just old. I hope to find a nice flying field in the near future so I can launch my builds.
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This really brings back memories. This was one of my favorites a long time ago. The job you did is absolutely fabulous. Great assembly, paint and decals. Good luck with the flights.
 
Very nice!! Bring'em on up to Lucerne this Sunday and show 'em off, and of course fly them. Nice big area that is perfect for the Shrike. :cool:
 
Very nice!! Bring'em on up to Lucerne this Sunday and show 'em off, and of course fly them. Nice big area that is perfect for the Shrike. :cool:

I work on the weekends, do they have launch dates during the week? That has been my issue here is S.California, all the clubs launch on weekends only. San Diego DART has launches on the first Thursday each month excl. summer and that's were I was flying. Mike at Dart was real nice in setting up that launch date for members that work on weekends.
 
SCIGS,

Nice job on the build and finishing! That thing looks great!

If you want to make your own foam discs to help cushion stuff in the payload bay, it is really pretty easy. Find a tubular object (rolled notebook paper will do if you can't find anything else; you can also usually find brass and aluminum tubing in a variety of diameters at your local hobby or hardware stores. Make or find a tube that is 5 to 10 percent bigger in diameter than your payload bay (in other words, just a teeny bit bigger so you cut foam plugs that are a little oversize). If you use rolled paper, keep it round and soak the edges with CA; after the CA cures, gently sand the edge to sharpen it. (Or, use a rat-tail metal file to sharpen the metal tubing on the inside, all the way around one end.) Use your cutter tube by gently turning it while you push it into some foam rubber.

Cut your foam plugs from a sheet 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick and you shoud have pretty good cushions for anything you load inside the payload bay. If that is not enough protection, cut another pair and slip them in on top of the first set of cushions. If you cut them slightly oversize in diameter, the friction fit should hold them in place.
 
I work on the weekends, do they have launch dates during the week? That has been my issue here is S.California, all the clubs launch on weekends only. San Diego DART has launches on the first Thursday each month excl. summer and that's were I was flying. Mike at Dart was real nice in setting up that launch date for members that work on weekends.

I don't think SCRA or ROC launch during the week. Bummer, I'd like to see your work. Check their websites, maybe you can plan a day in the future.
 
Lucerne Dry Lake bed is about 110 mile drive for me. I called San Bernardino County Fire and was told I do not need a permit for small rockets and that they don't issue permits if I launch at the dry lake. Is it getting too hot now to fly out there? For next spring I am looking at some launch sites near Vegas, since I go there a couple of times in the winter. San Diego DART is great, but just recently the FAA came down on them. Thanks to Mikes hard work DART is still able to launch but with special requirements. Looks like my next launch date in San Diego will be Aug 6th. Here is the FAA and DART, just to let you know how easy it is to fly rockets in San Diego. Scroll down to May 6th.
https://dartrocketry.wordpress.com/
 
Excellent work and wonderfull finish!!! :clap: The NC looks like it is made of plastic. To blend the decals I use two coats of Future. It is a little tricky but with practice it makes the rocket "very shinny" :)
 
Nice job. Especially the finish work.

Once you fly it, I hope you take this information and post a review on EMRR (along with the other one on there).

Nick
 
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