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Monday, January 25, 2016

Estes Little Joe II Kit Observations

It's going to be a bit before I assemble the new Estes Little Joe. I know there'll be plenty of build threads, JeffyJeep has already started his on TRF.

Two things I did notice opening the box -
When I picked up the kit box, things were sliding around inside. You could hear the body tube hitting the box ends. There is some extra room inside.



The plastic parts bags are different.
The Centuri capsule parts bag says "Made in the U.S.A."
The new raceway parts bag is from China.
The fins and nozzle pieces aren't marked with their origin.




I had hoped the parachute would be the 24" Saturn V style like in the Saturn V kit reissue.
This one is the standard (newer) Estes checkerboard. I'll give the shroud lines a test "tug" later on.
at

6 comments:

  1. Lee ReepJanuary 25, 2016 at 5:38 PM

    I received my kit today. Tower crossbrace had a snapped piece. I notified Estes that they may want to add some padding to the box, since the parts easily slide from end to end. I too will wait a bit before assembling, but it will be a fun project. I missed getting this kit as a kid, and I have always wanted one.

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    Replies
    1. Chris MichielssenJanuary 26, 2016 at 10:29 AM

      Hi Lee,
      One of my tower pieces was separated from the tree, not broken though.
      I also wanted the bigger LJII, I did have the smaller Centuri one.

      Delete
  2. LawrenceJanuary 26, 2016 at 5:54 AM

    Interesting, Chris. From your first foto at the top right, it looks like your Command Module was stuck in the body tube in exactly the same odd way the one in my kit was. I had a bit of a tussle getting it out without distorting the tube. (Kind of reminded me of getting the bag o' giblets out of a frozen chicken!)

    I wonder why they did that. There's *plenty* of extra space in the box.

    Otherwise, it looks like a great kit, nicely executed. I put it on my "Round Tuit" shelf....You'll probably get your build on here on the blog long before I start mine.

    Lee is not the only person who noticed a problem with Tower crossbraces breaking in transit. At least one reported in the forums. One hopes Estes will find a way to act on his helpful warning.

    Cheers!

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    Replies
    1. Chris MichielssenJanuary 26, 2016 at 10:31 AM

      Hi Lawrence,
      I would assume the nose is set in the body tube to keep the tube round. It can get jostled in shipping and slipped inside.

      Delete
  3. Lee ReepJanuary 26, 2016 at 2:44 PM

    I heard back from Mike Fritz at Estes. They will look at better packaging in the next production run, to eliminate all the rattling of parts.

    ReplyDelete