Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 21, Intercooler Prep

Note - The front side of the cardstock intercooler piece is shorter than the rear.

The die cutting process has buckled the the centers of the intercooler pieces.

I filled the depressions with CWF and sanding. Here the pieces are taped down for a shot of filler/primer.

After sanding the filler primer.

In this picture, the front is to the left side.

There are small die-cut inconsistencies in the length of the inside cuts. All four dowels were cut to fit each individual intercooler piece.

The pairs were pencil marked 1, 2 3 & 4.

The dowels also got a shot of filler/primer and sanding.

Note the tall overhang of the front end cardstock.

This was trimmed down to fit the diameter height of the dowel.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 20, Engine Mount

The engine mount assembly is pretty standard.

The kit didn't include an engine block. I installed one using a Q-tip to apply a glue ring from the top. The block was slid in until it rested in the glue, against the upper bend of the hook.

The "recovery probe" assembly is held by a second engine hook that clips into a slit in the engine mount tube. A slit is made at the bottom of the glued in coupler.

This upper hook is not glued in. I'm checking the slit and position of the hook.

Here's the finished mount.

A bead of glue was applied to the upper bend slit of the tube.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 19, The Radar Dish

A hole is made in the radar dish center to fit over the sharpened dowel.

Start the hole by spinning a blade tip in the center.

Enlarge the hole using a small rat tail diamond file. By using a file to open it up, you'll end up with a rounder hole.

Careful, it's easy to make the hole too big. File a little and check the fit. 

Glue the dish using liquid plastic cement.

The "ball" at the end of the dowel tip is a drop of white glue. You might have to build up the diameter of the ball using a few applications of glue.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 18, Fixing The Vacu Form Cracks

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

   

Wood glue fillets were used to fill the joint gaps.

Here's a picture from a previous post showing the cracks that started in a thin plastic area. 

The same method is used to fill the recessed mold lines in nose cones.

Squeeze out a drop of medium super glue on scrap cardboard. Dip a toothpick in the drop and drag the tip across the crack.

It may take a few applications to build up and fill the gap.  

After it dries, sand with 400 grit.

It's better but could still show a faint separation later after paint.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 17, The Homing Beacon

The homing beacon is cut off the vacu-form sheet the same way the larger pieces were.

Ball point pen outline, then scoring the edge.

Break away the sides by cutting and cracking off angled wedges.

The sides are a little rough after the first cuts.

Sand the bottom flat until the edge starts to roll off.

The finished beacon wasn't perfectly round.

The instructions say to sand down the overlap seam 3/8" wide, 1/8" from the rear. The pencil marks show how wide that marking is - too long.

On the left, the overlap ridge is removed to fit the actual diameter of the beacon.

On the right, the fitted and glued on beacon.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 16, The Hull Pylon

The internal pylon assembly was set inside one side of the secondary hull. A pencil line was traced around the bulkhead.

Contact cement was applied on one side at the pencil bulkhead line and at the pylon doubler contact areas.

Repeat for the other side.

Before allowing the pieces to touch - carefully align. 

The pylon assembly was pressed in place.

Be sure to check that the slots line up at the back.

The secondary hull assembly.

Two small hairline cracks occurred on the forward end of the hull. The cracks formed where the plastic was the thinnest. 

I'll fix this in a later post.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 15, The Hull Pylon

The doublers are glued on each side of the hull pylon.

Do your best to center the doublers

 -

 

Here's how they lined up.

I lined up the doublers using the retainer ring recess at the top. That left the front and rear of the doublers short against the center piece.

Rounding the front and rear did clean up the short side pieces.

For a better fit against the motor mount tube, a curve was sanded into the top of the laminate pieces. Otherwise, there would be gaps on both sides when glued up.

The bulkhead piece was very loose around the back notch of the central pylon piece.

A cardstock strip shim was glued on the inside for a tighter fit.

Launch! R.O.A.R., Christmas, FL, November 22, 2025

Still hot, still humid in November! Winds were low, though - 

Dakota the Blue Merle Sheltie was quiet, laying in the shade under my car.

First launch of the Semroc/Centuri EXCALIBUR with a B6-4.

Arrow straight (obviously due to the six fibre fins) to an estimated 400'.

No damage when picked up.

First flight of the Centuri SKYLAB clone.

A C5-3 got the heavy model up to nearly 400'.

The model was rigged for horizontal recovery but the chute lines got tangled at ejection. 

One solar panel fin and one side booster broke off on landing. Looks like an easy, clean repair.

Alex Baker launched two of his Odd'l Rockets Fighter Fleet series, the F-16 and a Blue Angels decorated F-16. 

For a size comparison,

My FlisKits MMX SATURN V was pictured next to Mark Ferrarro's Apogee 1/70 scale Saturn V.

Mark's was about the best Saturn V flight I've seen using a G76-4 motor.

My Micro Saturn was unstable! Probably got to 8 feet in that loop. Ejection on the ground and closest to the pad.

Another first flight - 

Finally launched the Estes LTV SCOUT with the recommended C6-5.

Boost was labored but true. Altitude was probably about 400'. 

I set the build up with two chutes instead of the single one in the kit.

Both ejected and opened. At landing, two of the small fins popped off and were found nearby.

A favorite - The Excelsior Decals HONEST GOON.

It's a bulky, heavy bird but always comes through.

With the C6-5 altitude was around 425'. 

Full chute and no damage.

Five up, five recovered. Four broken fins, all repairable.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 14, Secondary Hull Brace Slot Cutting

I put off cutting the brace slots in the secondary hull. I wanted to practice on cutting the tube slots first.

Draw a pencil line a bit smaller than the brace width. Square on the front, round on the back. 

Use the tip of the knife to make the square corners.

Note the blade is turned up to make the lower corner cut first. 

The long sides are cut.

Leave the rounded back end for last.



I used a round diamond file to extend the width and round the back.

Finish up with a flat file for the sides.

Here's a good friction fit of the brace in the slot.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 13, Pylon Brace Gluing

A quick update after my dog Dakota's first camping trip - 

She did great! Lots of new smells on the hiking trails. Met a few people and slept through the night on her dog bed from home. 

Didn't bark once - until she got home.

    

The instruction drawing shows the interior brace contacting the tube at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions.

My brace position ended up lower inside the tube.

You can see some glue reflection inside.

I used a glue bead on a Q-tip to reach inside and apply fillets.

The corner of a CD case was used to check the right angle of the pylon brace on the tube.

I'm Camping!

 

No posts?

I'm camping with my dog Dakota!

I'll be gone from Tuesday November 18 through the 20th.

Things should resume on November 21.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 12, Gluing The Support Ring

The contact cement capsules have dried out and aren't useable. I bought some new contact cement at Home Depot.

If you've never used contact cement before - 

You apply the glue to both parts and let it dry. When the dried glue touches the other glued part, it grabs and holds strong.

There is a good reason why it is called "contact" cement.

The support ring is centered in the bottom hull half and the perimeter is traced with pencil. Center and trace the ring on the upper and lower hull halves.

A ring of contact cement is brushed on the pencil line.

Contact cement is applied to the edge of the support ring and allowed to dry.

Center the ring inside the pencil line and press into the hull.

Here the lower edge of the support ring is set and glued in place.

Apply contact cement to the upper edge of the support ring and inside the pencil line in the upper half.

Fit, press and join the two hull halves together adhering the support ring in place. 

Held up to a light you can see the ring inside the round hull.

Run liquid plastic cement inside the overlapping joint.

Dip and push the brush into the seam as best as you can.

An Earlier Vostok Build Part 2 -

 
This is the "Build To Fly, Build To Display" MPC Vostok.

To see the bog build: CLICK HERE

The finished model weight with no engine is 4.27 oz.! 4 oz. is the maximum weight for a C6 engine. I should have waited for the C5-3 with an 8 oz. max. weight. 

The box advertised a C9-3 engine, I don't think MPC ever produced it. The picture to the left shows what happened!

(Picture by Roger Smith.)

An Earlier Soyuz Build Part 1 -

With the debut of the new Estes Soyuz kit - 

I remembered an earlier Dr. Zooch Soyuz build. There was no plastic parts, just balsa, body tubes and rolled cardstock. The cardstock "witches hats" at the top of the strap on boosters took a few tries to get right. You even had to build the interstage trusses with dowels! 

The model is BT-50 based and uses 18mm motors.

 

Before I started this build blog, I posted builds on The Rocketry Forum.

This one goes back to 2009. 

Dr. Zooch Soyuz

CLICK HERE

http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=5213

New Estes Kit -

https://estesrockets.com/pages/soyuz

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 11, Pylon Brace Fit

The pylon brace fit was very loose. 

No amount of glue fillets will fix this.

On the left: A strip of 110 lb. cardstock was slipped into the slot, folded over and glued to the face of the brace. 

On the right: Look close to see the white cardstock shims in place. The fit is much tighter. 

Another dry fit of the pylons. 

The braces are inside locking the pylons in position.