Okay, I had an Estes Mercury Redstone rocket kit that has been hanging around about 10-12 years now. I kept it in the closet with some other model rockets but for some reason this one didn't store well. When I took it out of the bag, the body tube was a bit flattened, especially down where the fin cutouts were. I set that aside for later and started building the capsule and the tower. I also ordered a E engine kit from Apogee and put that together, and I am using kevlar cord for recovery instead of the el cheapo stretchy cord that came with the rocket.
I now have decided that the body tube is not useable, it won't conform back to it's original shape, and on the fin side, it's just too dinged up to use it. So, I stopped by a hobby shop today hoping to find a new tube. No dice, the BT is 2 inches but he didn't have one, and couldn't find one, even on his Estes ordering site. Maybe some other manufacturer would have had it, I really don't know, but I just went ahead and bought a new Redstone kit that they had. It was the same price there that I saw it at Hobby Lobby for, and I guess I now have some spare replacement parts if I ever need them.
Maybe I should have said before, that I've built one of these before. It was quite a while back, and I didn't even bother covering the body tube spirals and painting it, I just attached the fins since the BT was white. On the old kit, it had a plastic engine mount, 18mm, which always seemed puny to me, which explains why I opted for the higher powered engine mount. But, the differences between the old kit and the new one I bought today are striking. First, the BT is one piece now. Second, the engine mount is a real one, not the plastic one that added more weight to the end product. And, the fins are balsa, not plastic, and don't have fin slots to go into. So, I'll be doing some sanding, and likely paper covering the fins as well.
Questions. First, what do you use to cover the body tube spirals before sanding and painting it? Second, although the rocket doesn't come with nose cone clay, how much clay should I put into the capsule body, since I'm upgrading to a D/E engine mount? Lastly, will using an E engine in this rocket be too much for it, especially since there are no fin slots? I'm seriously considering using my old Redstone capsule, which had most of the tower torn off of it from a previous launch. I think the tower is just too delicate to survive the torque involved in the more powerful engines, and subsequent parachute landings. I intend to use the capsule with the tower as display, but build it out where I could launch it if I decided to.
Thanks in advance for your responses.
I now have decided that the body tube is not useable, it won't conform back to it's original shape, and on the fin side, it's just too dinged up to use it. So, I stopped by a hobby shop today hoping to find a new tube. No dice, the BT is 2 inches but he didn't have one, and couldn't find one, even on his Estes ordering site. Maybe some other manufacturer would have had it, I really don't know, but I just went ahead and bought a new Redstone kit that they had. It was the same price there that I saw it at Hobby Lobby for, and I guess I now have some spare replacement parts if I ever need them.
Maybe I should have said before, that I've built one of these before. It was quite a while back, and I didn't even bother covering the body tube spirals and painting it, I just attached the fins since the BT was white. On the old kit, it had a plastic engine mount, 18mm, which always seemed puny to me, which explains why I opted for the higher powered engine mount. But, the differences between the old kit and the new one I bought today are striking. First, the BT is one piece now. Second, the engine mount is a real one, not the plastic one that added more weight to the end product. And, the fins are balsa, not plastic, and don't have fin slots to go into. So, I'll be doing some sanding, and likely paper covering the fins as well.
Questions. First, what do you use to cover the body tube spirals before sanding and painting it? Second, although the rocket doesn't come with nose cone clay, how much clay should I put into the capsule body, since I'm upgrading to a D/E engine mount? Lastly, will using an E engine in this rocket be too much for it, especially since there are no fin slots? I'm seriously considering using my old Redstone capsule, which had most of the tower torn off of it from a previous launch. I think the tower is just too delicate to survive the torque involved in the more powerful engines, and subsequent parachute landings. I intend to use the capsule with the tower as display, but build it out where I could launch it if I decided to.
Thanks in advance for your responses.
