Estes Mini Arcas, #2441, Part 1, Parts

Here's a newer one from Estes.

A larger BT-55 Arcas kit was produced by Estes from 1972-1973.

This "mini" motor version is BT-20 based with streamer recovery.

Parts are of good quality.

The streamer is 2" x 24" chrome Mylar.

To see the instructions: CLICK HERE

The balsa sheet is 1/16" thick.

The small laser cut pieces are the fin supports. They are tiny!

Only one cardstock shroud is supplied. 

More on that later - 

What Does This Have To Do With Rocketry?

It doesn't have much to do with rockets!

Still, a fascinating look at a pedal car restoration.

You think some rocket repairs are complicated?

Worth a watch - CLICK HERE

I'm Camping!

Sorry, no posts for the next three days - 

I'll be camping (with Dakota) at the Lake Manatee State Park in Bradenton, FL.

Posts should be back to normal this Saturday . . .

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Finished

Classic and clean, a favorite from my teen years.

No masking, just paint it gloss white.

The decals don't overpower the design.

Mentioned earlier,

The fin decals were borrowed from the Interceptor kit.

The mid section with the USAF logo decals.

The temporary nose cone - 

A BNC-50AR is on order through erockets.biz.

Note the tiny nozzle decals.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 11, Tiny Thruster Decals

If you've ever tried to position those tiny camera targets in the Estes Saturn V kit, you'll wish they provided a few extras. These little decals magically disappear after you think they are in position. You'll find them sticking to a finger or in your lap!

This is one reason why I draw up and print more decals than I need. Some extras are used for "soak" time testing. Others are duplicated when I think there could be a problem.

There is two sets of four thruster ovals on the Shark decal PDF.

The instructions say to draw the thrusters with ink. I wanted a cleaner, consistent shape than what could be drawn by hand.

The thruster decals are small!

Use tweezers to hold them. Don't let the decals sink to the bottom of the soaking water. Float them on the surface as they soak.

After the decal set in and dries, 

apply some Future clear acrylic using a Q-tip.

I ended up using all eight decals to get four properly placed.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 10, Low Position Decals

The red, white and blue fin decals go on both sides of one fin. Check the fin decal in relation to the tunnel positions in the instructions.

 

Trim the top and bottom of the fin decals close to the ink. You don't want clear border extending beyond the rounded fin edge.

The "ARMED" decals are set above the top of the fins. Do your best to visually center them between the fins.

The black roll pattern wrap is set above the upper ARMED decal. Wet the body tube before setting the decal down. You'll want a slippery surface to allow movement when lining up both ends of the decal.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 9, Smooth Fillet Areas?

Occasionally I've been asked how I get smooth fillets. "Fine Sanding!" 

After the first white undercoats, closely examine the reflection of your fillet areas under a bright light.

   

Even though you've carefully smoothed a glue fillet, there will be streaks and lumps.

Wood glue actually sands pretty easily using 400 (or finer) grit. Try to sand just the raised glue. You'll end up with something like what is shown at the left.

The area between the tunnel and small forward fins was tight and difficult to smooth out with sandpaper.

Here's what that looked like after sanding the undercoat and glue lumps.

Another white undercoat follows.

Check under sunlight and the areas around the fillets should be smoother. You might need yet another undercoat and very light sanding before the final "wet" gloss coat.

On the left is a good example of smooth fillets.

The same area around the tunnel is much better.

No masking, just an overall gloss white.

Ready for decals!

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 8, Engine Mount & Fin Gluing

Set the engine mount and Kevlar line alongside the lower, longer tube.

The BT-20 engine tube is even with the bottom of the BT-50 main body.

This gives you an idea how long the Kevlar line should be, a little shorter than the top of the BT-50.

Tie a overhand loop knot (shown on the right) for the elastic shock cord attachment.

I used epoxy to glue the mount in, allowing me some positioning time.

Here's the BT-50 tube with the filler/primer scraped off where the fins will be glued. The scraping is a little shorter than the length of the leading edge.

The low fins are glued even with the end of the body tube.

On the forward fins and thrusters, I used a wrap of masking tape as an low alignment line at the corner of the trailing edges.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 7, Fin Grain Fill

I first cut the thrusters from balsa -

Then I realized the would be a pain to fill and sand being so small. I cut a second set out of basswood.

Two step fill process:

1. The fins, tunnel. thrusters and launch lug got a brushed coat of CWF, then fine sanding with 400 grit.

2. After sanding down all the CWF, all were stuck down to some cardboard for a shot of filler/primer. 

The body tube seams and nose cone got the same two step fill.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 6, Fins & Decals

The original kit fins were die cut. I don't know why the guidance thrusters weren't cut. Maybe they were too small?

The way they are set on the sheet, it would be difficult to cut all four with an even height. On my redraw (below) they are cut from a long strip.

Note the forward fins were cut with the grain running parallel to the trailing edge, not the leading edge. In my pattern draw below, the fins are rotated for the correct grain direction.

Even as cut with the wrong grain direction, the forward fins aren't subject to any real stress.

The USAF red, white and blue fin decal uses the same design (or close to) the Interceptor fins.

This decal and fin pattern is available as a PDF (home decal prints) only for Patreon subscribers. 

Email me at: oddlrockets@bellsouth.net 

and ask for the Shark PDF.

I added thruster decal dots. The instructions say "Ink in black thruster nozzles". I made them oval decals that go on the lower face of the thrusters.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 5, Raceway or Tunnel

On the Shark, the raceway is cut to 6.25" long. On the Stiletto kit, the raceway tunnel was 7 3/4" long. I'll cut mine to 6.25" out of basswood.

The Shark instructions showed a long rectangle, rounded on both ends. The upper edges stay square.

You might find it easier to judge the end shape by viewing the underside as you sand. The picture on the right shows the underside.

 

After the side ends are shaped,

The tips are tapered. 

On the right is the finished tunnel.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 4, D.I.Y. Nose Block (Coupler)

The coupler was cut to 1 1/4" long. The original kit nose block was 1" long. I feel better having a longer, more stable sliding joint.

I decided to make the coupler bulkhead wall out of 3/32" basswood.

The BT-50 coupler was set down onto the basswood and the interior diameter traced with a sharp pencil.

Two circles were cut out.

The sides were sanded to a circle.

Both were glued cross grained.

A inside reinforcement bar was cut and glued to the top face.

A pilot hole was carefully drilled before the screw eye was turned into the basswood. 

The bulkhead was glued into the coupler, recessed to allow for a glue fillet.

More glue was applied inside from the top using a Q-tip.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 3, Engine Mount

The 20/50 rings were notched for the engine hook and Kevlar line.

The lower ring is on the left. I highlighted the notch with pencil.

The upper ring is on the right. Note the Kevlar notch directly opposite the engine hook  notch.

The instructions would have you position the upper ring above the top bend of the engine hook. I position the upper ring lower, over the top of the hook end making a stronger mount.

The Kevlar line is set directly opposite the engine hook.

The loose end of the Kevlar line is pressed into the upper ring glue fillet.

1/16" diameter heat shrink tubing is slid down the Kevlar and rests against the top of the ring.

Hit the heat shrink tube with a heat gun, shrinking it around the Kevlar.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 2, Parts

The parts: This will be a spare parts build.

I re-drew the water slide decals. The original #1111 kit had stickers.

3/32" thick balsa

12" parachute, shroud lines will be replaced with #10 embroidery thread

I used heavy walled BT-50s, a 9.5" and 4" lengths

The original nose block (coupler) was 1" long. I'll make it a bit longer at 1.25"

Elastic shock cord, heat shrink tubing to protect the Kevlar line

A standard 20/50 engine mount, engine hook not shown

The nose cone is a "place holder" until I can get the proper BNC-50AR balsa cone.

Laminated kraft sticks (tongue depressors) were to be used for the tunnel and guidance thrusters. I ended up cutting those from 3/32" basswood.

Estes Shark #1111, Build, Part 1, Background

In the early 1970s, Damon bought out Vashon (Freon propelled "cold power" rockets) 

and production moved to Estes in Penrose, CO. CLICK HERE

Initially, the Vashon line remained unchanged. 

In 1973, Estes started producing their own branded Freon propelled  kits, the "Cold power Convertible" line. CLICK HERE

All six designs were BT-50 based. The initial kits included RP-100 (freon based liquid propellant), a simple wooden based launcher and a conversion kit. I don't remember my kit including the launcher and conversion kit.

I bought and built the Shark, my favorite of the six choices. I launched it using the Freon motor. It seemed to be the equivalent of a B6-4.

You had to be careful with these - cold weather could effect the performance of the self-refrigerant fuel. After two anemic launches, I converted it to 18mm black powder using a 20/50 adapter.

Here's the back view of an unopened Shark kit, picture courtesy of launchlabrocketry.com.

On the right side is the black plastic hand held launch button, cable and nozzle release.

Ejection was provided by a compressed spring, held in place during boost while the motor was pressurized. On display, the extended spring made the rocket look like a broken toy.

In 1976, the cold power rocket line was reduced to the three kits shown at the top of this post. The original aluminum bodied Vashon "Valkyrie" models were gone. The Freon propellant was contributing to ozone layer depletion and global warming

In  the 1977 catalog, some original cold power convertible designs were reintroduced with 20/50 black powder motor mounts. The Scamp and Teros were back in the "NEW" kit lineup.

A close reissue of the Shark appeared as the Stiletto in 1979 (Kit #1323) using a plastic nose cone and display nozzle (type PNC-50BB) The original Shark had four fins, the Stilletto has three. This kit run lasted through 1983. My build will be a combination of the two.

Some Estes Kit Font Names?

I was fortunate to work in a print shop as a graphic artist doing paste-up. I also spent too many hours setting headlines on a VGC Photo Typositor. 

When redrawing some kit decals I've had to search online for fonts. A few specific fonts show up again and again in many Estes kits.

I can assume that Estes had a limited number of fonts and reused them many times. My hometown printshop had 35 different fonts to choose from.

For any builder looking to do home print decals,

here's some of the fonts Estes used in their kits:

These few kits listed certainly are not all the fonts Estes used.

Oldest kit decals probably used a generic "Futura" font.

Some logo names were hand drawn, like the Goblin or Citation Patriot.

You can download most fonts for free online - Just look for websites with names like "1001 Free Fonts".

Estes Time Warp Build, #7321, Finished

The model is taller than you would expect.

The upper payload section could be used for an altimeter. I used some masking tape on the nose cone shoulder for a tight friction fit.

The yellow adapter was glued into the white BT-50 using Fabri-tac.

If you are trying to match the face card paint, the fin mask is difficult.

Overall, the finished look is very good. 

Estes Time Warp Build, #7321, Part 16, Lower Decals

These two wiring and instrument decals go between two fins. There is no third decal on the launch lug side.

The "shield" decals go on each fin.

There are six CAUTION decals, each going on the rear of the BT-5 motor tubes.

The engine mount was finally glued in using epoxy. The slower dry gave me some time time to insure movement and alignment.

 

The marked masking tape was my depth and fin alignment line.