I don't do a lot of scale builds but I have recently seen couple peoples work on here and it made me want to try my hand at another scale build. For this I grabbed the Estes Little Joe I.
I won't go over all of the parts included but it is impressive. If you are a model builder and have a lot of patients and the skills to modify stuff to make it fit then you will enjoy this kit. If you are the kind of person that just wants to glue on some fins and be done or expect things to fit together the first time this kit isn't for you.
Here are the parts included.
The build starts with the tower and this is the first piece that requires fitting. The first two pieces to go together are the top of the capsule. These two pieces fit without any issues and go together with a satisfying snap.
Next comes the tower. This consists of the top of the capsule that you just assembled as well as the three tower pieces.
When test fitting it becomes obvious that these parts don't fit together very well. As you can see from the pic. The lower part of the tower where it attaches to the top of the capsule is pushed out as the pointed tips that sick out are too long. Yes they do fit in the hole but they are about 1/64th too wide.
The solution to this is to sand down the tips so they don't stick out as far. I sanded about have of the thickness away. Forgive the pic with the crude lines. I neglected to get a pic after I sanded the piece down but this will give you an idea of how far I sanded it back.
From that point the rest of the tower went together pretty well. You do need to bend and hold the pieces together while the glue sets up. My tower piece were warped so yours might be better.
Best advise I can give here is to glue one piece on, let it completely cure then do the next. You cannot assemble this thing all at once as it will move around and make a mess.
Next I assembled the upper sections per the instructions. These all fit together nicely without any issues. Just a little force to snap them together.
Time to install the upper piece to the tower. The instructions tell you to install the jets before attaching the top to the tower. I don't recommend this as you will not be able to get the top seated if you install the jets first.
And here is the completed tower. I did go back and add some additional glue using a small push pin to get the glue exactly where I wanted it.
Now it's time for the capsule. This seems simple enough. A base and three side to the capsule. First, look at the outside of the capsule. There capsule door is split between two pieces you so need to ensure they are assembled correctly.
Test fitting and sanding the sides of the capsule is required. They pieces are far too wide to go together without some work. After about 10 mins of sanding I finally got them to fit into the groove in the base and line up. The instructions tell you to glue them into the base then go inside the capsule and apply glue along the seams. To do this you are going to need a stick or a junk paint brush as you cannot get the tube of glue inside.
After much sanding, fitting and a bunch of colorful language, I called it a night. This will be a nice rocket when completed but I'm constantly reminded that Estes is not a model company. Tonight we start on the motor mount.
I won't go over all of the parts included but it is impressive. If you are a model builder and have a lot of patients and the skills to modify stuff to make it fit then you will enjoy this kit. If you are the kind of person that just wants to glue on some fins and be done or expect things to fit together the first time this kit isn't for you.
Here are the parts included.
The build starts with the tower and this is the first piece that requires fitting. The first two pieces to go together are the top of the capsule. These two pieces fit without any issues and go together with a satisfying snap.
Next comes the tower. This consists of the top of the capsule that you just assembled as well as the three tower pieces.
When test fitting it becomes obvious that these parts don't fit together very well. As you can see from the pic. The lower part of the tower where it attaches to the top of the capsule is pushed out as the pointed tips that sick out are too long. Yes they do fit in the hole but they are about 1/64th too wide.
The solution to this is to sand down the tips so they don't stick out as far. I sanded about have of the thickness away. Forgive the pic with the crude lines. I neglected to get a pic after I sanded the piece down but this will give you an idea of how far I sanded it back.
From that point the rest of the tower went together pretty well. You do need to bend and hold the pieces together while the glue sets up. My tower piece were warped so yours might be better.
Best advise I can give here is to glue one piece on, let it completely cure then do the next. You cannot assemble this thing all at once as it will move around and make a mess.
Next I assembled the upper sections per the instructions. These all fit together nicely without any issues. Just a little force to snap them together.
Time to install the upper piece to the tower. The instructions tell you to install the jets before attaching the top to the tower. I don't recommend this as you will not be able to get the top seated if you install the jets first.
And here is the completed tower. I did go back and add some additional glue using a small push pin to get the glue exactly where I wanted it.
Now it's time for the capsule. This seems simple enough. A base and three side to the capsule. First, look at the outside of the capsule. There capsule door is split between two pieces you so need to ensure they are assembled correctly.
Test fitting and sanding the sides of the capsule is required. They pieces are far too wide to go together without some work. After about 10 mins of sanding I finally got them to fit into the groove in the base and line up. The instructions tell you to glue them into the base then go inside the capsule and apply glue along the seams. To do this you are going to need a stick or a junk paint brush as you cannot get the tube of glue inside.
After much sanding, fitting and a bunch of colorful language, I called it a night. This will be a nice rocket when completed but I'm constantly reminded that Estes is not a model company. Tonight we start on the motor mount.
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