Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Finished

This wasn't quite the same as my old Centuri 1/100 scale Little Joe II. The Centuri Joe had well defined corrugations on self adhesive chrome.
It did capture the small kit size. This Estes re-mix uses 13mm engines.

Here's a comparison of the two models I put together. On the left is the Estes partial kit with the corrugated wrap.
On the right is my copy, without the corrugation. If you ask me, not much difference at this size!

If you have a spare 1/100 scale Estes Apollo capsule and tower kit and some BT-58 tubing, you could build a baby Joe. I have the wraps, fin pattern and decals on a PDF available to Patreon members.
Email me at: oddlrockets@bellsouth.net and request the Estes 1/100th scale Little Joe II.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 19, New Better Decals

I'm making two Little Joe IIs, so decals were drawn up earlier for the second build.
These were sneaked in while I was putting together some F-104 kits. I hate to waste decal paper.





The old decals peeled off easily. I hadn't done any clear coats.








The capsule decals seemed to adhere better. I had to remove them with masking tape.








Here's the replacement decals.
Good adhesion with no cloudy edges.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 18, Old Decals, Uh Oh!

The original decals were in the partial kit purchased on Ebay.

Usually I'll try an Estes logo decal first, or a decal I wouldn't use on the model anyway. This way I can test the soak time and how well it transfers onto the model. There was no extra decal on the sheet, even the kit name didn't have a clear coat on it.

Holding the decal sheet up to the light, I could see there was a wide overhang of the clear coat. I cut the escape rocket decal close to the black ink and tried to soak and transfer the clear edge.The clear strip broke up!

I rarely use Microscale decal film but it can come in handy. This adds an additional layer of clear coat to an older, brittle decal sheet.
It seems expensive for the little bottle. I wonder if it is just re-packaged Future acrylic floor finish.

I applied a coat of the decal film onto the decal sheet with a foam brush.

Using my big Estes Little Joe for decal placement, I set the UNITED STATES down the body. The bottom of the second T in STATES Lines up with the bottom of the mid wrap strip.

Notice the clear areas on the decal seems foggy.







Turns out the decals didn't stick!
When they dried they turned up on the edges. I know, I should use the Microscale Setting solution. Well, I don't have any.
I'll have to draw and print up my own decals.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 17, Silver Paint & Upper Wrap

The raised edge on the wraps made for an easy mask of the silver

The self adhesive upper wrap was pretty old, who knows if it will still stick.

The border edges are cut off. Peel the backing off the excess and test that for adhesion.
The peel and stick wrap was still good!

When applying a wrap like this, I like to keep the backing on and peel it off as I go around the tube.
Leaving the backing on keeps dirt and oils off the body tube and wrap.






I expected a slight overlap at the seam.

What I didn't realize was the wrap didn't reach the top of the tube!
Oh well, not a big deal.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 16, Fin Gluing

The fins are glued on even with the end of the body. There will be a step gap where the fin goes on top of the lowest wrap.
The instructions are concerned with very slight fillets. A minimal fillet probably won't fill that gap.

While holding the fin in place, the root edge was traced and cut with a new knife blade.

The wrap was removed for a smooth root edge surface.

Here's how the fin fits after removing a small section of the bottom band wrap. Much better!








The entire model is sprayed gloss white before masking for the silver.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 15, Trim and Fin Fillets

The tunnel covers go on last.
These are very small. To apply the glue, I held them down using the tip of my knife.l They were picked up with tweezers and pressed in place on the body.

Here's how they look in place. Fins are next.

I hope all that black ink (placement lines) will be covered by the silver paint!

Looking ahead -
The instructions saw to use a toothpick to apply  the glue fillets. Huh? I would assume the fillets are at a minimum, keeping the root edge joint sharp.

I'll probably do one application of yellow glue fillets, not Titebond M&TG. They'll dry, shrink and be small enough.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 14, Body Wraps and Trim Strips

The corrugated wrap goes around the low end of the tube, the bottom edge even with the end of the tube.
When I got to the end the edges were burnished with the back end of a Sharpie barrel. I didn't want to burnish over the entire wrap, just the ends that tend to peel up. Any pressure would also flatten out the very subtle embossing. The ends don't match up, the gap will be covered by a card stock tunnel.




The wide bottom strip is even with the end of the tube. I used my sanding block to help even up the edge.

A couple of the cover strips are very thin. Cut carefully - the thin strips can move around under the straight edge.






It won't take much glue to adhere the thin strips. Remove any excess before applying so you'll have less glue squeezing out when the strip is pressed onto the body.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 13, Kevlar and Wrap

The engine mount has already been glued into the body tube. I probably should have tied the Kevlar loop, fitted to the BT-5 engine mount tube.

To do it after the fact,
The Kevlar I'm using has started to unravel. Some glue was applied on the last inch and a half. Twist the Kevlar as you rub the glue into the fiber winds. This stiffens the line and allows you to tie it and feed the loose end through the interior tube.

I couldn't tie the tube loop with the mount already glued in so it was tied around a scrap piece of BT-5. Tie it fairly tight but give the loop a little slack so the engine hook can have movement.

The loose end is fed through the tube and the loop fitted around the short extension of the engine mount tube. Long tweezers can help fit the loop.

The corrugated wrap is slightly formed in the palm of my hand with a 1/2" diameter dowel. Concentrate on the ends so they curve and meet at the tube joint.

Make two small tape loops with the adhesive side out. You don't want it too sticky, it could peel up a layer of paper when it's pulled off.
Before setting on the finish, corrugated side, press and peel off your pant leg a few times to reduce the adhesive.
Set the tape loops on the outside surface of the wrap, one on each side.



Set the wrap, printed side down on scrap cardboard for a shot of adhesive. The tape holds the wrap down close to the backing board preventing any spray from getting under and on the finished side.
I use the 3M 77 adhesive spray.
The 3M 45 is too light a tack, the 90 formula is too strong.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 12, Tower Assembly

The long escape rocket is glued into the tower skirt.
The fit of the pin was very tight. I sanded down the bulb on the end slightly.

Here's the finished tower, ready for a coat of gloss white.
You probably don't have to paint it, but after sanding off the capsule details you'll want a smoother surface for the decals to stick.

A screw eye is set into the capsule base disk.
The hole is small and required a much smaller than standard screw eye. I picked up these size 8 screw eyes at Home Depot.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 11, Tower Assembly

The instructions say to sand and even up the sides of the smaller tower sides. It takes very few passes with sandpaper before the sides get to be too small.
Sand a little and check, sand and check again.








Gluing in the sides is easier when there is a slight friction fit.

I pressed the sides in place and then brushed a little liquid cement over the joints.




On every Saturn V tower I've assembled, the internal "O" ring has been too small.

I build up the outside diameter by gluing and wrapping a thin strip of paper around it. Two complete wraps should help the fit.







Even with the wraps there wasn't contact on the one side.
Oh well - it's stronger than it would be otherwise.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 10, Tower Assembly

You might be better off only cutting off the escape tower nozzles as you need them. Cut one off, glue in place. They are very small and easy to lose.

TIP: Liquid plastic cement should be used for the capsule and tower assembly. This is the liquid cement in a bottle with a screw cap and attached brush. Because of regulations, new formula plastic tube cement will not glue and hold the plastic pieces together.

This picture was from the first capsule I assembled. I cut all the nozzles free at the start.

I found it easier to use tweezers to hold the nozzles. These tweezers had notches cut into the inside ends for a better grip. Liquid plastic cement was used.
Pick up a nozzle, brush on a bit of cement and position the nozzle in the notch with the tweezers.

Here's a closeup showing the notch and nozzle fit.

Try to get the nozzles to follow the diagonal line of the skirt as shown on the right.




Some masking tape was rolled over sticky side out and set on the work table to hold the tower skirt steady.
The two longer tower sides are glued into the "V" notches in the tower skirt.

After this dries it is flipped over and set into the holes on the top of the capsule.

Hold the tower steady and brush liquid cement over the tower legs through the holes on the inside of the capsule.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 9, Capsule and Tower Prep

Some of the same prep and assembly shown here can be used if you are assembling the Estes Saturn V kit.
On the Saturn V, don't cut off the umbilical, smooth the capsule or remove the escape rocket tunnels. The Little Joe II test vehicle had smooth capsule surfaces.

Here's all the capsule and tower parts. Two tower sides were already broken off the plastic "tree".
Luckily the four small escape tower nozzles were all there. On the last Saturn V I built, one of the nozzles was free of the tree and loose in the bag. They are tiny and very easy to lose.

The umbilical connector and capsule details are removed. The original small Centuri Little Joe II had capsule surfaces that were smooth. This kit uses the Estes capsule version.

Use very small chip cuts, go slow.

After sanding the conical surface flat, a small bit of plastic still holds the umbilical overhang. This was cut off with a knife.

All the other surface details are sanded off. Don't go near the raised tower support holes.
Finish and polish with very fine sandpaper.

The small, long tunnel lines are also removed from the escape rocket. Carve almost to surface then sand smooth and polish.







There was some molding flash on the tower sides and the nozzle housing. Remove the flash before gluing the assembly together.

Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 8, Corrugation Try!

As I occasionally do, I was building two rockets.
The partial kit from Ebay had just the printed upper wrap, corrugated wrap, decals and instructions.
I had a single corrugated wrap and thought I'd make another one for the second build.




I drew up the lower wrap, the one that will get the corrugations.

I couldn't find corrugated sheets anywhere! But, I did find this embossing board at Hobby Lobby. Retail was $19.99, but I had a 40% off coupon.
A bit expensive for a "one-off" but I could also use it on the embossed wraps in the Semroc Saturn 1B I recently bought. One of the wraps wasn't well defined.

I lightly taped the printed sheet in place. The ridges are spaced at 1/8" intervals, too wide for this size model.
A "bone" folder embossing tool is drawn down the long lines.

After the first set of 1/8" lines were finished, the sheet was slid over 1/16" centered between the ridges I just made.

The second set of embossed lines gave me ridges spaced at 1/16".

To see what it would look like, the embossed sheet was sprayed with silver paint and rolled around the body tube.

I didn't like the results so the idea was scrapped! The ridge depths weren't consistent. Oh well, you never know until you try!

The second Little Joe II will just have a smooth silver surface.