Saturday, June 10, 2017
Estes Apollo Little Joe II, Background
Here's the Little Joe I remembered wanting. The BIG 1/45 Scale Little Joe II from the 1969 Centuri catalog. To see the catalog, CLICK HERE
But $12.95? All I could afford was the smaller 1/100th scale Little Joe II.
The fin fairings and some trim was vacuum formed. They were lightweight but fragile, much like the Centuri Saturn V fins and fairings incorporated into the Estes re-issue Saturn V kits.
The "metalized" wrap was pre-installed at the factory.
To see the original Centuri instructions: CLICK HERE
The body and capsule came down separately on two 24" parachutes. A three engine cluster. The recommended engines included three A8-3s!
The Estes reissue capsule and tower used the molds from the original Centuri kit.
According to the Vol. 3, #1 issue of the Centuri American Rocketeer, Centuri used some scale data from Al Kirchner's 1/30 scale model.
To see that issue, CLICK HERE
I'll be using a lot of construction tips from from the TRF builds of James Duffy and George Gassaway: CLICK HERE
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I greatly anticipate following this build!
ReplyDeleteSee my latest blog entry.
Cheers.
Hi Ed,
DeleteI just checked your blog entry. Sad to see the second flight was the last one. The Centuri original was a much harder build than the Estes re-issue. My two engine Estes Gemini Titan only had one engine light and it hit the ground hard! First and only flight.
Hurts even more when its a nice looking scaler....
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