Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 28, The Recovery Probe

When the face of a centering ring is exposed - 

I like to sand, seal, then re-sand the face.  

This rear ring face was sanded with 220 on a block,

then got a wood glue coat rubbed in,

Then more sanding with 220 and 400 grit.

The long 1/8" dowel is there to reinforce the thin walled BT-20.

The upper picture shows the glue line before the dowel was set down.

My dowel had a slight curve. I let the glue set up a bit before placing the dowel. The half dried glue helped hold the dowel to a straighter line. Fillets are going to be fun!

In the picture, this sealed ring face is facing down, against the long dowel.

The BT-50 parachute tube is slid down and butts up against the outside edge of the dowel. 

Apply a ring of glue inside the BT-50 and slide the tube down until it stops against the top end of the dowel.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 27, The Recovery Probe

When building my first Enterprise in the 1970s, I remember being disappointed by the recovery probe. It adds length for stability and area for packing the 18" parachute. It is a flight necessity but unsightly. 

I'm not going to fill the tube seams (it's 30" long!) but will fill the nose cone and plywood standoffs.

To make it less noticeable on the launcher, the recovery probe will be painted flat black.

The body tube marking guide matches up when wrapped around the tube.

A simple engine hook holds the probe to the Enterprise.

The upper probe tube is slotted to hold the upper bend of the hook.

The plywood hold-down piece had some chipping on both ends. These were glued down and sanded smooth.

The launch lug spirals and plywood grain was filled with CWF.

The plywood standoffs are glued onto the tube using pencil marks made earlier.

The launch lug was about 1/16" longer than its standoff. It was trimmed to fit.

Here's the completed low end.

The lug and hold down dowel were glued onto the standoffs.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 26, Ooops!

A comment by Naoto Kimura:

"Hrm... the probe end (i.e. the dowel) looks a tad long to me. 

I don't recall it projecting as far out when I built the model."

I thought the dowel seemed a bit long. Naoto is right!

I don't know why I cut the dowel long. I tend to follow dimensions in the instructions.

Measuring from the position of the plywood bulkhead - 

The dowel should have been 5 1/8" long. At the front the pencil mark shows that length.

The extra dowel length was cut off.

The front 1/2" was tapered but not to a needle point.

The first layer of the glue dot on the tip has been applied.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 25, The "Stand"

It's a nice gesture to include a cardstock display stand.

As is, it won't fit together. The cut slots (or slits) are too thin to slide together the thick cardstock.

With a sharp knife and straightedge, 

The slots were widened.

320 grit sandpaper was folded and the slot sanded until I got a better slip fit.

Here's the finished, assembled stand.

Plain, but functional.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 24, Forming & Gluing The Rectangles

The rectangles are flat, the tube is round.

On the left, notice the right and left sides don't contact the tube.

On the right is a much better fit.

Curve the rectangles by pressure forming them around a dowel or around the Sharpie barrel shown here. 

The picture on the right shows the slight curvature

The intercoolers and rectangles are glued on the engines.

All are centered on their pencil lines at 7/32" from the rear of the tube.

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 23, Intercooler Assembly

The dowels were fitted to each individual cardstock piece.

Previously, the fitted pairs were marked 1, 2, 3 & 4.

When gluing, sight down the two pieces and adjust to center.

The filler/primer gluing areas were scraped for better adhesion.
 

Estes USS Enterprise #1275, Part 22, Rectangle Detail Prep

Here's the back of the die-cut cardstock piece.

Note the crimping. This side will be glued down.

A before and after sanding with 400 grit on a block.

Any raised edges are rolled over with a burnisher to flatten the top.

The edges get a smoothed bead of glue to seal them.

After the glue dries, sand the sides with 400 grit.

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.