Wednesday, April 15, 2015

The Most Difficult Kit - Ever! Part B



From those dowel sticks you made three sides for the complete tower.
The long side piece is only about 2" long.









After the tower was glued on you cut slits into the top of the capsule.
Glue in the cross member and touch up the paint.



If you want to see how it used to be done, get the Dr. Zooch BT-60 based Mercury Redstone. It's the same size of the Estes kit and the capsule print detail is much better.
You still make a tower from supplied (actual) dowels.
The fins are only two pieces - whew!



Why did I pick the Estes Mercury Redstone as the most difficult kit?
You couldn't make a decent looking model with the supplied parts.
The tower was very hard to construct with the pressed wood  "dowels".
The multi-piece fin grain couldn't be filled unless it was done before gluing it all together.
The capsule print wasn't clear.
A close second for a tough build would have to be the Estes Saturn 1B.
The 1B fins were card stock over a balsa frame and would be smooth when finished.
The Apollo escape tower was made with actual dowels. All the fine details could be constructed and looked pretty good when finished.
It was a bear to mask and finish though.

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