Model Rocket Building Blog

Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Build, Part 1, Parts
This is 3F/NC rocket a little like the old Estes Scrambler Egg Lofter. The original Scrambler was BT-60 based with a three engine cluster. Now with 24mm D engines, a cluster isn't necessary to give an egg a good ride. This rocket has an overall BT-65, 1.8" diameter body. There is no reducer from ...
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Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Build, Part 2, Engine Mount
This was a pre-production kit so some changes may have been made. I had to make some adjustments for the fin tabs to fit over the black engine hook retaining ring. I find it interesting how glue fillets are illustrated in the instructions. They don't mention smoothing out (and removing excess ...
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Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Build, Part 3, Engine Mount Reinforcement
Occasionally I see a forum post where a builder will upgrade the centering rings to plywood. These kit supplied card stock rings are certainly strong enough for 24mm engines. For those interested, I'll show how to make a much stronger engine mount. I wrapped a copy paper strip around the ...
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Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Build, Part 4, Nose Cone & Coupler
The instructions say to use a hobby knife to "cut the nose cone into two sections." I found the plastic thick and ended up using my old razor saw. The rough sawn edge ends up rougher than a blade cut. The edges were sanded with 220, then 400 grit. The eyelet was also very thick. It took a few ...
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Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Build, Part 5, Fin Shaping & L. Lug Placement
The instructions show rounding the leading edge of the fin. I like to use my sanding block for the initial shaping. The block prevents the corners from being rounded off. After the block is used, a piece of 400 grit is used to take down any high spots. On the right I'm checking for an even ...
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Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Build, Part 6, Fill & Shock Cord Mount
The body tube had a few inches of "secondary seam". This was depressed even more with a pencil point to give the CWF something more to grab onto.   More CWF and some more sanding. The TTW tab and root edges were masked off before getting a shot of filler/primer. This keeps the balsa ...
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Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Build, Part 7, Fin Gluing & NC Seam Fill
The fin tab width felt tight in the pre-cut slots. I made the slots a bit wider with a flat diamond file. The instructions show a lot of glue along the root edge. Right below the letter "G" and above the tab a line of glue is indicated. On the right is how I applied the glue, not as shown in the ...
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Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Build, Part 8, Decal Draw
The Green Eggs design does remind me of the old Estes Scrambler, especially the shape of the fins. I'm not a fan of the sticker decals, I'd rather draw up some old style but clean Scrambler decals. The Scrambler decals were whimsical with some relevant egg related puns, like the later Red Max ...
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Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Build, Part 10, Decal Wrap Fit
  Earlier I re-drew the Estes Scrambler (BT-60) decals to fit the larger diameter body tube of the Green Eggs model (BT-65). Corrections were made and the Scrambler decal is available to Patreon members. Email me at oddlrockets@bellsouth.net and ask for the Scrambler Decal PDF. Note ...
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Estes Green Eggs, #7301 Finished
  If you've been in the hobby for a while, you'll recognize the look of the old Scrambler. This is a big model, should get a good ride with 24mm D and composite E engines. EDIT: I didn't mention, another recommended engine (carrying an egg) is the C11-3. The upper picture shows the ...
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