Estes Blue Origin New Shepard Build, Part 2, Engine Mount

The rings were very tight so I widened the inside diameter with some sandpaper.

This could have been a pre-production kit - there was an engine hook relief slot in one of the 20/60 centering rings. There is no engine hook on this mount.

The instructions don't mention it, but I set the upper ring a bit lower than the illustration showed. This allows a slightly larger glue fillet on both sides of the ring.

Don't apply a ring of glue for the lower ring. Press the ring up the tube (no glue yet) using the tail cone and inner retainer ring. 

If you are new to the retainer rings, there is an inside ridge that will stop the slide against the end of the BT-20 tube. Keep sliding up until you hit the ridge.   

Remove the retainer ring and tail cone.

While the instructions said to apply a ring of glue 1" from the rear, My lower ring spacing was a bit longer than 1". 

With the ring in position, now apply a glue fillet on each side of the lower ring.

An engine block is glued in even with the top of the engine mount tube.

Here's what the engine mount looks like, pretty simple.

The tail cone and screw retainer ring are not glued in place yet.

Estes Blue Origin New Shepard Build, Part 1, Parts

"Named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space, New Shepard is our reusable suborbital rocket system designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Kármán line – the internationally recognized boundary of space."

 

"The Blue Origin feather is a symbol of the perfection of flight. It represents freedom, exploration, mobility and progress. For thousands of years, we humans have been looking up at the birds and wondering what it would be like to fly. Now, we look up to the stars and pursue a bright future for all of us."

The builder's kit parts are clean. The model is BT-60 based.

Parts of interest:

Your Vision In Space Postcard

New print parachute

Half round Tail Cone

18mm Screw on motor retainer rings

3/32" thick laser cut balsa.

Here's a closeup of the new nose cone.

The windows and feather print are very clean with no fuzzy edges.

The shoulder seems long to me.

A new print parachute.

I assume this is the print pattern from the first launches. Recent launches have three blue and red chutes.

Estes Blue Origin New Shepard Build, Background

Late last May, I received two of the Blue Origin kits to build for Estes.

As the kit was going to be on sale in June, I started work on them right away.

Two weeks passed, the fins and tunnels were all in place. A few white coats were sprayed.

The kits were recalled! 

It seems there was a stability problem, probably with the heavier C6-5 motors.

Estes has released a updated kit. I haven't seen it yet, but I assume the fins are slightly larger and nose weight has been added.

So - the builds were put on hold - until I read where the kits are available again. I restarted, working on paint and final decals.

 

A postcard was included where you could 
"Draw, write or create your idea on how rockets will change humanity."

The postcards were to be flown in space and returned to the sender.

Knoxville Camping Trip

I spent the last week to and from Knoxville, Tennessee. My Sister was showing one of her champion Bulldogs at a specialty Bulldog Show at the Marriott Hotel.

Here's my leetle rig at the Forsythe, Georgia KOA after the first leg of 400 miles traveled.

At the welcome center in Tennessee I spotted a Manatee in the window condensation. If others see the Virgin Mary in a bank window, I can see a Manatee in cold glass.

Here's my Sister showing her Bulldog, Rooster.

This was a big show with 35 dogs in this single class. She didn't make the cut.

We were right on the edge of the 1982 World's Fair property.

The Sun Sphere was the symbol of that Fair.

In the Marriott was this "designer" Christmas tree. 

My Sister thought it looked like the Blob from the 1958 SciFi movie. She's being attacked!

I thought it looked more like a vertical Jello mold.

This was my only purchase on the trip.

After my first night in Georgia, I bought a small heater at WalMart. 

Temperatures were near freezing in Georgia and Tennessee.

After two cold nights I slept better in a warm camper.

Tomorrow I start the build of the new Estes

BLUE ORIGIN / NEW SHEPARD.

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Finished

This was a Skill Level 5 build. This has become one of my favorite designs.

I don't have a problem cutting tubes, it was all the paint pre-planning to be sure of full coverage that took time. The gun cardstock details required an extra effort.

The wing decals with some careful spacing. The bottom of the model got some of the extra decals. Your guess is as good as mine regarding positions.

The back end with all the launch lug nozzle details.

Wrap decals,

The "dots" and the tough canopy mask.

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Part 31, A Decal Fix & Grate Touch-up

There was a crack and break on one of the wing decals. 

There are so many extra decals, who knows where they go? There is no pictures of the underside of the model, so it's up to you!

I used a piece of an extra decal to fill the broken decal gap.

The top of the grates were gray. I'd rather have them painted white.

The gray tops will have to be glue sealed before painting. Otherwise, the paint will just be soaked in and the top will remain gray.

Some glue was wiped into the edge with a Q-tip and allowed to dry.

Gloss white was sprayed into a small cup and brushed over the top edge.

It took a few coats to get coverage.

It looks much better.

There is a rounded bump on either side of the nose cone.

I decided to transfer one of the extra black dots onto the flat front.

A small addition, but it does add some interest.

Camping Update

I'm at the KOA just North of Knoxville, Tennessee

I have Internet at the Campsite! Spotty, but I have Internet.

Whoo it's cold! Last night below freezing.

I have to find a small ceramic heater today.

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Part 30, Decals

Do some dry fits to get an idea of how the wrap decals fit.

The decal sheet has some dashed lines to show where to cut with scissors. Usually you cut inside the dashed lines.

I wanted to be sure the roll decal would have an overlap. The initial cut kept the dashed lines.

The wrap did overlap and the decal was cut out just inside and removing the dashed lines.

Do another dry fit of the wing decal to find out how much space will go in front of the decal at the leading edge of the wing.

Here's the other wrap decal below the silver painted vanes.

The first hatch decal goes beneath it. Three more hatch decals follow in line.

The tube decals are an interesting shape.

Cut them out without going into the tight corners. This keeps the narrow decal strong while doing the transfer onto the model.

Here's how the two tube decals fit - 

There is a gap between them around the top fin.

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Part 29, Gluing The Grates

The back of the grate was scraped where it will make glue contact with the front of the TTW lading edge.

For now, I only applied glue to that contact line.

The grates were positioned using long tweezers.

I didn't get contact all the way around the grate. Some clear drying white glue (not yellow wood glue) fillets were added to the outside curved joints.

Camping Trip - Nov. 21 - 26

I'm driving to - then camping in Knoxville, Tennessee. The farthest I've been in the Leetle Camper, shown here.

I'll be visiting my Sister. She is showing two of her FIVE Bulldogs. (Yep, Five Bulldogs!)

So, Blog posts might be spotty. I've got plenty of posts in draft form. If I find Wi-Fi, I'll send them out!

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Part 28, A Fix & Tail Cone Gluing

I rolled some masking tape around the inside of the tube before spraying the overall gloss white. I try to remove some of the stickiness by pressing and lifting the tape strips on my pants leg so it won't peel the inside layer of the tube.

Well,

Occasionally the less sticky tape will lift the inside layer.

I peeled out some of the inside layer from a scrap of BT-55.

This was glued into the tube and pressed in place. The tube is much stronger now.

The angles of the two tube wraps weren't the same, but the nose cone will fit will better.

The engine mount is slid in place, centering the hook on the bottom of the model.

Position the depth of the mount using the tail cone.

Do some tests fits before laying glue in the tube. In the end, the engine hook and tail cone slot have to line to line up and be centered under the model.

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Part 27, Fitting the Grates & Gluing the Inside Engine

I did a dry fit of the "grill" pieces.

Notice the small "V" tip on the left won't fit in the inside the joint of the two tubes. I had to cut down the tip.

The right side of the grill was pretty tight against the large tube inside wall.

The sides were sanded for a slip fit.

The front half of the inside engine was slid in place centering the vanes. Earlier I had shortened the tube and left the inside engine in two halves.

A fillet of glue was applied from the rear using a Q-tip.

Note some of the paint has been scraped off the leading edge of the TTW fin for gluing on the grill pieces.

Glue was applied to the inside the tube on the front half of the engine, already glued in place.

The coupler directed the rear half in place. It was turned until the lugs were in line.

The longer silver nose cone was glued in the front -

The remaining shorter nose cone was glued in the rear.

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Part 26, Silver Mask, Chrome Trim & Gun Gluing

I love a simple mask!

The vanes and area either side of the leading and trailing edges of the vanes is painted silver. 

Scotch Tape initial mask and masking tape outside those. Plastic bags covered the rest of the body.

I had already test fitted the chrome strip around the front of the gun tube.

Start and finish your wrap where the seam won't be seen, inside facing the fin leading edge.

The front of the gun was slid in place.

A Q-tip was used to apply a drop of glue. The Q-tip was then used to spread out an interior fillet and pick up any excess glue.

On the right is the finished wing tip gun.

The plastic nose cones were glued in using - 

Everybody say it out loud on the count of three - 

Beacon Fabri-Tac!

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Part 25, Gluing On Small Rudders & Launch Lug

Here's the instruction drawing showing the positioning of the underside rudders and launch lug. 

The small rudders are glued in the pencil line boxes drawn earlier.

The part J template is printed on 20 lb. paper, a little thin for a fin position tool. 

To stiffen it up, I glued the guide onto some cardstock with a glue stick.

TIP: If you carefully apply two thin glue contact lines -

You won't have to deal with launch lug fillets, that bubble when the fillet dries.

Keep the two glue lines close together so the pressed out glue won't be seen if it squeezes out when the lug is pressed in place.

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Part 24, Gluing On The Wings

I only applied wood glue to the tapered root edge of the TTW wing and the forward and rear wing tip root edges.

No glue on the center strip yet - 

That will be added afterwards at the BT-80 slot joints.

The right wing in place.

The tapered root edge is tucked between the inside tubes, the outside root edge tabs are in full contact with the large scalloped tube slot.

Now flue fillets can be applied to the outside tube slot joints. 

I didn't bother trying to fillet the inside joints. Those are too hard to reach.

Looking from the back -

If your TTW slots were cut accurately, the wing angle dihedral angles should the same.

The inside engine engine assembly is in place for the picture - no glue yet. 

Estes Odyssey #7235 Build, Part 23, Gluing The Rudder Fin

The top Rudder fin wasn't making contact with the inside tube. A close look showed me the BT-80 tube was a little out of round.

Wrapping a rubber band over the top of the rudder pressed things down and brought the root edge onto the inside tube.

Visually check the alignment before the glue sets up.

After the root edge glue dried, I added some slight root edge fillets applied and smoothed with a Q-tip.

Before the root edge of the wing fins were glued in, 

The inside surfaces between the tubes were roughed up using the sides of a round diamond file. This was just enough to rough up and remove some gloss white paint that got into the tight tube joint.