Semroc Sam 3 Build, Part 9, Paint Plan

I did some searching and found a few pictures of the Russian Sam-3.

It's always interesting to see an actual missile and the design compromises made to produce a sport scale model.








This looks to be the inspiration behind the Semroc kit paint scheme.
This is a smaller model and masking will be a chore.








These missiles with the upper red band are much more interesting. I'm going with this, or something close to it!
With the additional decals it should be a good look.

Enerjet News Mercury Little Joe Build, Part 9A, Black Fin?

Apparently one fin on the Little Joe I is orange on one side and black on the other!
Here's a conversation from TRF:

Originally Posted by Peter Alway 
"Funny how once you've seen that fin black on one side, you can't unsee it!"
______________________________________

Response from James Duffy:
"Tell me about it. I'm off to the hobby shop this afternoon for more black lacquer.

Here's what Peter is referring to: After building Little Joe models for the past decade and a half, Peter gently pointed out that one side of the orange fin is actually black. After staring at still and motion photography of this thing for sixteen years I had never noticed this major detail, simply assuming that this side of the fin was in deep shadow. Fortunately the modular construction of the model will allow the fin to be removed and repainted easily.

Never underestimate the power of a second set of eyes deployed in any situation."

James
________________________________________________________________________

My response:
"James, I'm following this build closely! Impressive work.

What? one side of the orange fin is black? All this time I thought it was one orange fin, orange on both sides.
I'm building the Enerjet News Little Joe right now.
http://oldrocketplans.com/pubs/Enerj...enerjet173.htm

I know their scale data isn't really correct, I'm just building it like plan using the Estes re-issue capsule and tower.
With the black capsule it's closer to the LJ5, LJ5A and LJ5B versions without the orange on the body.
The orange fin is glued on, mine will stay orange on both sides.
It'll end up a sorta look alike semi scale flier."

Hans "Chris" Michielssen

Old/New NAR # 19086 SR

NARAM Live Scale Pics Posted

The Scale turn-in pictures have been posted at the NARAM Live website:
CLICK HERE

Estes Paveway III Build, Part 9A Upper Tube Length?

That upper BT-20 tube seems longer than the one shown  on the face card picture.

I tried to take a picture of the upper assembly at the same angel as the face card photo.

It was reduced until the lower (BT-60) body tube was about the same diameter. This was overlayed onto the face card picture.

It looks like it is twice the length it should be!

The paint scheme profile picture also shows it to be shorter.

Now the questions - 

Was the supplied tube longer for stability reasons?

The BT-20 is the same length as the supplied motor mount tube. Was this done just for kitting convenience?

Which length is closer to scale? Does it really matter?

From a quick Internet search, here's the GBU-24 Paveway I, II and III.
This kit is based on the third bomb at the bottom.
The upper tube is shorter than the one supplied in the kit.

A rough guess shows the tube is about twice the length of the upper fin root edge. I'll probably end up cutting the tube.



After looking at side views of the model I ended up cutting only 1/2" off the upper tube.
One wrap of masking tape was used as a cutting guide. An old casing was slipped in to provide something to cut against.

It's a small change but does look closer to the face card and above pics.

Field Guide To American Spacecraft Website

If you ever wanted to see rockets in person visit this site to find out where they are -
http://www.americanspacecraft.com/pages/aaindex/home1.html

The website was produced by James H. Gerard.
You'll find addresses to the museums and some photos of the rockets on display.

Estes Thor Agena Build Part 26 The Real Thor Agena B

Brian Coyle and Chas Russell sent me some great pictures of the Thor Agena B.
These pictures give a better idea of what the back end looked like.

The nozzle is a bell shape, not the straight edged shroud in the Estes kit.
The horizontal bands have a raised "bead". The flat bands (2 and 3 from the bottom) are flat and thicker bands like on the Estes cardstock shroud print.




Here's a side view of the turbine exhaust.
The low angled side (lower left) looks to a a straight cut and not a curve like shown in the instructions.

And, the vernier housing.
It's a much more complex shape than what I've made.

The turbine exhaust and nozzle look to be more of a aluminum color than silver.
The instructions have you paint the small nozzles black.