Estes Orange Bullet #7295, Finished

Here you go - the Vern Estes designed prototype for the Astron Scout.
It turned out well, nice to see a balsa nose cone in an Estes kit again.
If you are into Model Rocket History, this could be a great addition to your fleet.

Estes Orange Bullet #7295, Part 7, Decals

Here's the little sheet of black water slide decals.








I don't know why the three black bands weren't wide enough to fill the areas between the fin fairings. I guess it was a good idea to fill the joint after all.








The Estes logo goes on the left side of all three fins.

I used a cutout template to be sure the position was consistent on all three fins.

Estes Orange Bullet #7295, Part 6, Fin Tip Weights

Set the nose "weights" on first without glue.
Notice there is a very small angle cut into one corner. This fits against the trailing edge of the fins.

There are two sides to the weight pieces. The laser cutting makes one side rounder than the other. I've marked the backs with pencil. The laser "rounded" side got the gray paint.

In the bottom picture, the back sides are getting a shot of "77" spray adhesive. White glue probably wouldn't stick well to the orange paint already on the fins.

I used a knife tip to position the weights. This allows me to set them down visually without my fingertips blocking the view.
Note the blade tip is stuck to the adhesive on the back, not piercing the side of the card stock.

Estes Orange Bullet #7295, Part 5, Ends & Edges

Here's the model glued together with the launch lug.

I didn't like the nose cone joint seam. I went back, filled then primer/filled it. Probably not needed as the black bar decal would cover most of it.

The fin weights were laser-cut from thick card stock.
TIP: I like to seal and "round" the edges with a smoothed, even bead of white glue.
Lay the bead on the edge, the picture on the right shows the glue bead after it is smoothed and even using the side of a finger tip. Let dry, it should give you a slightly rounded edge that won't de-laminate.

The first round of orange paint didn't give the shine I was looking for.
Some very light sanding and the second "wetter" coat brought up the gloss.

TIP: The final heavier "wet" coat of paint is tricky. It should be sprayed on thicker than a mist coat but not so much to cause a run.
Notice the painting wand - a dowel with an engine casing glued on the top. All models are sprayed horizontally to prevent runs and drips. After spraying keep it horizontal, slowly turning the dowel and rocket until the paint starts to "skin" over.

Estes Orange Bullet #7295, Part 4, Nose Cone

I did as much prepping as I could while the nose cone was being sent out.

The main body got a white undercoat and smooth sanding.







I probably should have waited, this involved more tight filling than I would have liked.

The nose cone filled and primed, slid on and the fairing centers marked.





I lightly sanded the filler/primer areas where the fairings would be glued. Slightly flattening the rib contact points helped close up the gaps on the sides.

Estes Orange Bullet #7295, Part 3, Fin Fairings

The fairings are glued on the body tube.
I used my aluminum angle to be sure they are on straight.

The side view shows a gap along the sides from the curvature of the tube.
Normally I would sand a curvature under a fairing like this, but the balsa is thin at 1/16". This will need some glue fillets in the gap.

I make a pencil mark on the rear contact point of the root edge. It gives me a visual point to line up against the bottom of the fairing.

Here's the fins and fairings in place, awaiting delivery of the nose cone.
Notice the fairings above the body tube top. These will glue to the slid in nose cone.

Estes Orange Bullet #7295, Part 2, Fin Fairings

The original fairings were called "Body Ribs". I don't know why they were part of the design, maybe to keep the nose cone on at ejection. The nose cone shoulder was short!

The fairings have a taper at the front.
The pictures show the before and after.






Draw a pencil line at the start (high side) of the taper, try not to sand off the line as is it shaped with a sanding block.

Set the fairings side by side and adjust the end thicknesses.

I went ahead and filled and primed the fairings.

It's be hard to fill after the fins are glued on.

Estes Orange Bullet #7295, Part 1, Parts

The back side of the face card tells the story. I would assume more "Designer Signature Series" kits are in the works.

Parts are good quality. Parts re few, typical of a small featherweight recovery model.

This was a pre-production kit, the nose cone was not yet supplied. I understand the balsa nose cones were turned by BMS.

Parts of interest:
At the top, the fin "weights". On this version, the weights are laser-cut card stock, not cut from lead sheet.

The original plan called for BFS-20 or 1/16" stock. The fins in the new kit are 3/32" thick, the fairings are 1/16". The center lines are lightly laser cut.

Estes Orange Bullet #7295, Background

In March of 2011, I did a post about finding the plans for the Estes Orange Bullet.
Here's the post from 2011 - CLICK HERE
Estes is releasing a new kit version of the Orange Bullet under the heading of the "Designer Signature Series".

From the kit face card:
"In 1961, Vern Estes, founder of Estes Industries, designed the Astron Scout, which was the first Estes model rocket packaged for sale as a complete kit.
The Orange Bullet was the prototype for the Astron Scout."

I mentioned in the blog post that the Estes Orange Bullet (1961) and the Centuri Lil' Hercules (1965) shared design elements. The trailing edges of the fins were wider than the root edge length and both models had weights on the fin tips. Lead or brass weights? More lead?
I assembled a Centuri Lil' Herc kit in the late 1970s. I remember gluing the washer weights on the fin tips thinking they were unsightly. You couldn't see the round weights in any of the catalog pictures. They were very noticeable on the finished model.
Here's a link to the Semroc Lil' Herc instructions: CLICK HERE