Model Rocket Building Blog
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, BackgroundHere's yet another kit version of the Little Joe II. I first saw a "Littler" 1/100th scale Little Joe II in the 1971 catalog. The page to the left was from the 1972 Centuri catalog. Many agree this was the best catalog ever produced. To see it: CLICK HERE At that time I couldn't afford the BIG ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 1, Ebay Partial KitI bought a partial kit on Ebay. The only things I received were the instructions, decals, "embossed" body wraps and fin pattern on the back of the face card. The seller was very clear, I understood what I was bidding on. I couldn't simply order these parts or reproduce them at home. No standard ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 2, PartsHere's the parts I assembled for the clone. The body tube is a BT-58 from ERockets.biz. The balsa is simply a strip of 3/32" stock and will be sanded to the taper shape. The capsule and tower pack is currently available from Estes. This is the same parts used in their 1/100 Saturn V kit. The ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 3, Capsule and Tower ComparisonKit history is sometimes confusing. The current Estes Mercury Redstone is really the old Centuri kit. The vacu-form wraps and fin fairings on the Estes Saturn V came from the Centuri Saturn V kit. I didn't know where the current 1/100th capsule and tower came from. This 1/100th Estes Little Joe II ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 4, DIY Centering RingsYou can't simply order 5/58 centering rings from Balsa Machining Service. I'll have to cut these out from mat board, about .050" thick With a thin mechanical pencil, trace around a BT-5 and the BT-58 tube. Be sure the BT-5 is well centered inside the BT-588 circle. It might take a few tries to get ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 5, DIY Centering RingsIf you have good, sharp scissors you can cut the outside of the rings with them. Here I cut right down the pencil line. I want a bit of a border so the rings can be sanded to fit the BT-58 tube. As usual, I made two extras and will pick the best of the four. All the rings were slipped over a BT-5. ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 6, Engine MountHere's the engine mount illustration from the instruction sheet. You are told to wiggle a knife blade in the upper ring slot to slip the shock cord through. The end of the shock cord is knotted and pulled up against the upper centering ring. I didn't take a picture of the finished engine mount, ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 7, Fin ShapingThe fin template was on the back of the face card. I didn't want to cut it out so the side edge lines were extended beyond the pattern with a ruler. The balsa fin strip was set over the template and pencil lines drawn using the extended edge lines. I did my standard fin edge marking. CA glue was ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 8, Corrugation Try!As I occasionally do, I was building two rockets. The partial kit from Ebay had just the printed upper wrap, corrugated wrap, decals and instructions. I had a single corrugated wrap and thought I'd make another one for the second build. I drew up the lower wrap, the one that will get the ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 9, Capsule and Tower PrepSome of the same prep and assembly shown here can be used if you are assembling the Estes Saturn V kit. On the Saturn V, don't cut off the umbilical, smooth the capsule or remove the escape rocket tunnels. The Little Joe II test vehicle had smooth capsule surfaces. Here's all the capsule and tower ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 10, Tower AssemblyYou might be better off only cutting off the escape tower nozzles as you need them. Cut one off, glue in place. They are very small and easy to lose. TIP: Liquid plastic cement should be used for the capsule and tower assembly. This is the liquid cement in a bottle with a screw cap and attached ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 11, Tower AssemblyThe instructions say to sand and even up the sides of the smaller tower sides. It takes very few passes with sandpaper before the sides get to be too small. Sand a little and check, sand and check again. Gluing in the sides is easier when there is a slight friction fit. I pressed the sides in ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 12, Tower AssemblyThe long escape rocket is glued into the tower skirt. The fit of the pin was very tight. I sanded down the bulb on the end slightly. Here's the finished tower, ready for a coat of gloss white. You probably don't have to paint it, but after sanding off the capsule details you'll want a smoother ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 13, Kevlar and WrapThe engine mount has already been glued into the body tube. I probably should have tied the Kevlar loop, fitted to the BT-5 engine mount tube. To do it after the fact, The Kevlar I'm using has started to unravel. Some glue was applied on the last inch and a half. Twist the Kevlar as you rub the ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 15, Trim and Fin FilletsThe tunnel covers go on last. These are very small. To apply the glue, I held them down using the tip of my knife.l They were picked up with tweezers and pressed in place on the body. Here's how they look in place. Fins are next. I hope all that black ink (placement lines) will be covered by the ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 14, Body Wraps and Trim StripsThe corrugated wrap goes around the low end of the tube, the bottom edge even with the end of the tube. When I got to the end the edges were burnished with the back end of a Sharpie barrel. I didn't want to burnish over the entire wrap, just the ends that tend to peel up. Any pressure would also ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 16, Fin GluingThe fins are glued on even with the end of the body. There will be a step gap where the fin goes on top of the lowest wrap. The instructions are concerned with very slight fillets. A minimal fillet probably won't fill that gap. While holding the fin in place, the root edge was traced and cut with ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 18, Old Decals, Uh Oh!The original decals were in the partial kit purchased on Ebay. Usually I'll try an Estes logo decal first, or a decal I wouldn't use on the model anyway. This way I can test the soak time and how well it transfers onto the model. There was no extra decal on the sheet, even the kit name didn't have ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 17, Silver Paint & Upper WrapThe raised edge on the wraps made for an easy mask of the silver The self adhesive upper wrap was pretty old, who knows if it will still stick. The border edges are cut off. Peel the backing off the excess and test that for adhesion. The peel and stick wrap was still good! When applying a wrap ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, FinishedThis wasn't quite the same as my old Centuri 1/100 scale Little Joe II. The Centuri Joe had well defined corrugations on self adhesive chrome. It did capture the small kit size. This Estes re-mix uses 13mm engines. Here's a comparison of the two models I put together. On the left is the Estes ...[Read More]
Estes Little Joe II (Small) Build, Part 19, New Better DecalsI'm making two Little Joe IIs, so decals were drawn up earlier for the second build. These were sneaked in while I was putting together some F-104 kits. I hate to waster decal paper. The old decals peeled off easily. I hadn't done any clear coats. The capsule decals seemed to adhere better. I had ...[Read More]
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