Estes Lunar Scout #7290 Build, Part 6, Gold Parts

Here's the gold parts on a piece of cardboard. They have already been spray painted gloss white.
The pieces are held down to masking tap with the sticky side up.

The landing pads needed some sanding after the first coat of gold.








On the red legs, the raised center cross was sanded to remove the paint for a better glue bond.

Here's a finished leg all red and gold parts glued together.

Estes Lunar Scout #7290 Build, Part 5, Fill, Primer & Paint

The engine mount tube seam was filled with CWF and sanded smooth. The red engine block seam was also filled.
TIP: Don't glue the red coupler in yet, it'll be painted gold later. No gluing it in now will save you from masking it off.

The red coupler was slipped in dry to get a shot of gray filler/primer.
This picture shows the tubes after sanding the filler/primer leaving some in the seams and low areas.





I had to spray the landing legs one side at a time.

The narrow root edges were taped off. Here two landing leg assemblies are joined by a single piece of tape.

The legs were stuck down to a scrap piece of cardboard for the red spray. Let dry, flip over and spray the other side.

The tail ring has a wrap seam on the inside and outside. Both seams could be seen on the finished model, so both were filled.


The ring got a follow-up spray of filler/primer and sanding.
After that, gloss white.

Estes Gemini Titan Details -WHAT?

For all the "kids" who complain about how hard rockets are to build and paint - 

Here's the detail painting directions from the original Estes Gemini Titan kit, #K-21 available from 1965-1973.

“Cut out the tracing patter. Cut out the two slots.

Cover the backside of the pattern with a soft lead pencil wherever lines or black areas of detail is to be traced. 

Saturate a “Q-Tip or other swab with lighter fluid and wipe quickly over all the pencil marks. This “sets” the graphite and removes loose particles that may otherwise smudge the base finish.

Wrap the tracing pattern around the lower of the body tube with the slots positioned over the launching lugs. 

Tape the side edges of the pattern together matching all lines. Use a straightedge where possible in tracing over all details. Remove the tracing pattern and be sure all details have been transferred to the body tube. Black enamel paint is recommended as it is less prone to leaving brush marks." 

So basically - It's a home-made carbon paper transfer. 

Rub soft pencil over the back of the printed sheet. The lighter fluid wipe is to remove excess pencil lead dust.

Wrap around the body tube with the black print side out and the pencil rub inside. Trace over the printed areas on the outside, (hopefully) transferring some of the rubbed pencil (on the underside) onto the body tube.

Remove the wrap. Then, hand paint all the squares and circles with black enamel paint. Hand paint?

I remember building this one in the mid 1970s. That lighter fluid wipe confused me. I didn't understand that the lighter fluid was to "set" the pencil rubs. I don't remember how I painted it. I only remember that only one of the two engines ignited. It turned over and nosed in.

The full instructions can be found at JimZs - CLICK HERE

Estes Lunar Scout #7290 Build, Part 4, Rounding Off The Edges

This is the three legs with the end cross pieces glued on. The legs are all to be painted gloss red.

I like to seal the edges with a small bead of white glue. Carefully lay a narrow bead of glue down the outside edges.
I won't be doing a glue bead on the inside girder lines. There is just too many edges to do. Most will only notice the outside surfaces.


While the glue line is still wet, roll a fingertip down the side of the bead to even it out.







After the glue dries, lightly sand smooth with 400 grit wrapped around a finger.

New Model Rocketry Podcast!

There's a new model rocket podcast - 
The Model Rocket Show #1 Pilot: CLICK HERE

Daniel (The Rocket N00b) is hosting.
"In our first episode, Daniel The Rocket N00b tells us his “origin story”… how he got into Model Rocketry, and gives an overview on what to expect on future episodes."
This is a branch of the The Rocketry Show, directed toward Low Power Model Rocketry.

Daniel is off to a great start - I'm looking forward to future episodes.

Estes Lunar Scout #7290 Build, Part 3, Laser Cut Details

This is a build for Estes so it has to match the face card illustration.
I'll have to prep all the parts and spray paint them before gluing it all together. This took some planning, the tube parts are white, the girder fins red and the small detail pieces are gold.

Take a close look at the center support rings. There are many hold down tics that should be cleaned up.

With the two center rings lined up, the round holes will slide down the launch rod and act as a launch lug.

I didn't want any tics to bind on the launch rod. These were removed with a small diamond file. All the others were carefully trimmed off with a sharp knife.

I dry fitted the landing leg cross pieces to check the fit of the  landing pads with the center "X" cut out. It took more trimming for a good fit. Don't glue this on until after painting.

The landing pads are two layers, the small circle covers up the "X" when glued onto the bottom. These pads are spray painted gold before gluing onto the red girder legs.

Estes Trident - First Baffled Ejection?

TRIVIA: The original (three side tubed) Estes Trident was probably the first model rocket that didn't require recovery wadding. The ejection gases were directed out into the three outside BT-5 tubes then back into the upper, central tube to eject the parachute. The Trident instructions say to use wadding -  I bet Estes never tried a Trident test launch without using it.
Remember cutting those narrow slots in the BT-5 tubes with a dull X-Acto blade? Ejection baffles have evolved since and are much simpler now.
The Semroc instructions say: "Apply a few sheets of recovery wadding in the top of the main body tube. Since the pods provide for an ejection baffled, recovery wadding may not be absolutely necessary". I doubt the recent Estes Explorer (based on the Trident design) would need it either - but you didn't hear that from me.

The original Estes Trident (with three ducted side tubes) was available from 1967 - 1974.
A revision called the Trident II (two ducted tubes) was sold from 1990 - 1991.
How can you still call it a TRI-dent with only two tubes?

To see the original Trident instructions, go to Jim Zs: CLICK HERE