Model Rocket Building Blog
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 1 PartsOn to the next rocket in the build pile - The Semroc LITTLE JOE II I built and flew the Estes kit in the early 1970s, this version seems very close, except for all the laser cut balsa and thick card stock parts. We'll make the booster first, then tackle the (nose cone) capsule and tower. The 1/70 ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 2 Engine MountNothing out of the ordinary here. A standard engine mount, the centering rings fit perfectly. I use black electrical tape instead of masking tape to hold the engine hook in place. If you've ever opened up an old rocket, you would see how masking tape can deteriorate over time. This takes us up to ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 3 FinsSorry, I wasn't able to get online yesterday to do blog entries. Once again, AT&T Internet was down. Last month it was down for a day. Two strikes for AT&T, one more and they are OUT! Back to the Little Joe: The yellow clay will roll up and go into the BT -3 escape tower tube above the ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Part 4 FinsIn step 9 you cease the fin cover down it's center line . Some vendors will direct you to cut halfway through the stock with a sharp knife. I've never found that necessary and you run the risk of cutting all the way through the card stock. Here I've used the backside of a single edged razor blade. ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 5 FinsHere's the ribs glued into one side of the fin cover. The instructions are right - use just a little glue to set the ribs in place. Too much and it could distort the other side of the cardstock surface. Click on the picture for an enlarged view and you can see I tapered the ends for a wedge fit. I ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 6 FinsOkay - everything was going well up until now . I was only happy with the way one fin out of four turned out. I was careful not to use much glue to attach the internal balsa ribs, but I still had distortion. I wasn't too excited about all the edge and joint filling I was faced with. So, I took the ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 7 Body WrapsI built a little out of order from the instructions. The wraps actually should have been put on before the fins were made. While the instructions say to use glue to attach the wraps to the body tube, I use spray adhesive so I have a little more time to set them down straight. In the picture you ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 9 Engine Mount InstallThe tube is marked for the fins by placing the body tube on top of a marking guide. You are told to mark the fin lines between two of the corrugations. I found it hard to do this. I ended up just marking the tube as best I could. Notice the fin alignment line is continued over the edge of the body ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 10 Pre-PaintThe fins were glued on and fillets applied. I tried to pre-plan the fin alignment lines, one was drawn on the lower wrap seam to partially cover it up. To center the launch lug on the upper wrap: The upper wrap was marked at the center of it's width with a small pencil tick mark. The launch lug ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Paint and DecalsThe lower body was painted using WalMart Colorplace Aluminum. It's one of the better, cheap paints, around $1.00 a can. Remember those extra trim decals I printed up awhile back? Click HERE for an example of how to make them. The instructions say: Paint a black band 5/16" wide at the bottom of the ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Part 11 Apollo Capsule KitThe 1/70 Scale Apollo capsule kit is included in the Little Joe kit bag. This brings back memories from the time I tackled the Estes Saturn 1B in the mid 1970s! I hope to do a better job of it this time.[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe Build Part 11 Capsule PartsHere's all the capsule and tower parts. And, a close up of the unusual pieces. The two balsa ends of the escape tower motor unit are one piece and are cut apart. You aren't told to cut them apart in the instructions, but the illustrations in Step 2 show them as two pieces. The Command Module nose ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 12 Command ModuleOne of the more unusual parts is the large ring on the laser cut sheet. You can see how thick the outside cut seems to be. The two slots under the ring are the diameter guides for the tower dowels. There outside ring is actually three cut three times. The outside ring is cut entirely through the ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II build Part 13 Command ModuleThe shroud has been formed the large ring edge tapered. Here's a top view of the assembled parts up to step 7. The escape tower motor unit (Step 2) isn't glued together yet, clay nose weight will go into the BT-3H tube. The fit of the large tapered ring on the shroud was perfect.[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 13 TowerIn Step 8, two of the four 1/12" diameter dowels are sanded down to .058 diameter. The other two are sanded to a new diameter of .041. On the laser cut card stock sheet there are "feeler gauges" to help you get to the final diameter. The gauges are shown below the ring in the first picture of Post ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 14 TowerTake a close look at the Semroc tower pattern. With a pencil and straightedge I've extended the cut lines past what was printed on the pattern. This makes cutting the dowel length and angles easier. You can't see the cut lines if the dowel is sitting on top of them. Keep track of how many pieces ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 15 TowerThe best recommendation I can give you on the tower is to take the extra few moments to get the strut end angles correct. It's a fine line here - you want a slight friction fit between the two outside (thicker) legs but not so tight to cause them to bow out. You should use waxed paper under the ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Part 16 TowerHere's the tower sides, all four glued together. One thing I learned after the tower sides were glued - every other "Z" diagonal brace side should be reversed as shown in this drawing. (Click on the drawing for an enlargement) The "Z"s on my tower all face the same direction. Most people wouldn't ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 17 TowerThe Semroc instructions have you glue the tower onto the Command Module capsule before the V strut assemblies are in place. I found it easier to glue them in place now. Looking ahead, I wanted to spray paint the tower and get all the dowels and glue joints smooth before gluing it to the capsule. I ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Build Part 18 TowerNo doubt about it, the tower is a tough build! The outside four sides weren't hard to glue up, but the inside V strut assembly took too much effort. Earlier, the O ring (in the middle) was split and half was used on either side of the V struts. I did my best to line it up, but there is still a ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Part 19 Tower NozzlesIn Step 18, the four escape motor nozzles are made. The shape of the nozzles on the shroud sheet look strange. That "S" shaped wavy inside line gives you the correct angle when gluing underneath the tail cone in the escape tower motor unit. While the instructions don't tell you, the nozzle paper ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Part 20 Paint PlanI couldn't quite understand the Semroc painting instructions. I went over to JimZs site for the Estes Little Joe painting information: http://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/estes/k-30.pdf Scroll down to page 4. Enlarge the screen capture at the right: I plan to paint the pieces separately (from the ...[Read More]
Little Joe II Part 21 Tower and VanesI have to back track a little here - In Step 14, you set the lower end of the tower jig on the top of the capsule. Using a dowel, you make "half-holes" by pressing the dowel into the balsa. You have one shot at getting this right, be sure the jig is level! Throughout the capsule construction, you ...[Read More]
Little Joe II Part 22 Tower PaintingI mentioned earlier that the tower would be painted in sub assembles and then glued together. Understand when building this way, you do compromise some strength of the tower by gluing after painting. I marked the back end of the skirt for the glue points of the tower sides. I had ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe Part 23 Capsule PaintBefore the capsule was painted silver, I pushed small squares of masking tape in the half-circle indentations made earlier. This will keep the paint out and give just a little more gluing area. The tower was set into the indentations. I ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe II Part 24 TowerThe black tower skirt took a lot of adjustments to get straight. Like I did before on the tower bottom, four different 90 degree turns were checked to find the best upright position BT-3 escape tower motor unit. You can see I marked the best location with small masking tape strips. One leg of the ...[Read More]
Semroc Little Joe FINISHED!A long, but rewarding build. Not my best work, but certainly better than my first Estes Little Joe build in the mid 1970s. One day soon I'll have the courage to fly it. For now, it's a display model. I didn't cover the gluing of the escape nozzles. I made a small pool of thick ...[Read More]
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