All Rocketry Blogs

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I Background (2016-08-01)

This Enerjet Newsletter goes back to 1973. There was some news on Enerjet products but most of the issue dealt with semi-scale models. A Thor Delta and Mercury Little Joe models were featured. To ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 1, Parts (2016-08-02)

If this looks familiar, it's the parts from the Estes Mercury Redstone kit! Everything on the left side will be used, the decals and fins are saved for another build. The only thing not shown above ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 2, Capsule Gluing (2016-08-04)

As mentioned in the Estes Liberty Bell build, don't build the capsule and tower as shown in the current Estes instructions. Here's how the older Centuri instructions got it done. It's easier and ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 3, Capsule Gluing (2016-08-05)

Look close at the capsule base shoulder. That raised ring at the bottom of the three piece capsule sides should be the same width all the way around. The sides will be glued from the inside after it ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 4, Tower (2016-08-07)

I'm not going into to much detail on the tower assembly. this has been covered before in the Estes Mercury Redstone Liberty Bell build and in the Centuri instructions posted a few days ago. Glue two ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 5, Tube Cutting (2016-08-09)

The lower end of the tube is cut away in trapazoid scallops. The wrap around body template fit well, the lower cuts were traced. I made a coupler out of some leftover tube. This will support the ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 6, Nozzle Angle Fix (2016-08-10)

I had to make a new cover plate for the rear centering ring. Two layers of 110 lb. card stock were glued together with a glue stick. The ring was traced and cut just the center hole cut out. New ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 7, Wraps (2016-08-11)

Two card stock wraps are added to simulate sheet metal wraps. That's what the instructions say anyway. Strips were cut and rolled around the body tube. The start and finish of the wraps were started ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 8, Primer Fins and Launch Lug (2016-08-11)

I won't be covering how to shape the wedged fins in this build. I've written about that many times before. Sanding a wedge shape isn't hard to do with time and a good sanding block. Both the body ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News Mercury Little Joe Build, Part 9A, Black Fin? (2016-08-12)

Apparently one fin on the Little Joe I is orange on one side and black on the other! Here's a conversation from TRF: Originally Posted by  Peter Alway   "Funny how once you've seen that ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 9, Mask and Paint (2016-08-12)

Normally you'd paint the base color (silver) then mask and paint the secondary colors. TIP: Setting masking tape set over metallic paints can mar the silver. I'll have to do the reverse on this one, ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 10, Engine Mount Paint and Black Details (2016-08-15)

The centering ring edges were masked off. The back end of the engine mount was sprayed with the Rusto 2X silver Aluminum. The nozzles were painted black off the model. These were finally glued in ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 11, Decal Trim TIP (2016-08-16)

This is not my idea. I saw it on a forum a few years back. I would give name credit if I knew who came up with it.  It is a  great,  simple technique for some trim colors. There are ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 12, Decal Trim and Shock Cord (2016-08-17)

The trailing ends of the decal strip didn't adhere as well as I would have liked. A little Pledge with Future Shine was brushed under the edges and pressed down. The dried Pledge acrylic also ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 13, Body Decal & Trim (2016-08-18)

Running down the main body is the strangest looking stencil work I've ever seen. This stencil lines aren't shown in the Enerjet News plan. You'll find it in internet searches or the James Duffy ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 14, Scale Colors (2016-08-19)

The inset drawing is from the Centuri Enerjet News plan. It shows their Little Joe I with the Red-Orange vertical bars on either side of the UNITED STATES. Their semi-scale model uses the black ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Finished (2016-08-20)

Look above the orange stripe and you'll see a raised bubble on the card stock wrap. When setting the orange decal some water got under the edge of the card stock wrap. You'd think the paint would ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: New Estes Scale Offering - (2018-06-21)

I had a feeling this one was coming up! Hey, that capsule should be black . . . From the Estes Facebook page: "Product Development Director, Mike Fritz, loads a production model of the NEW Little ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Little Joe I Coming Soon! (2018-09-18)

On YORF, "The Mole" was the first to find and post the latest "Coming Soon" announcement from Estes - It's always interesting to see the parts laid out! To see the catalog listing, CLICK HERE ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Mercury Little I Unboxing (2018-10-06)

James Duffy opens up the new Estes Little Joe I kit on YouTube: You'll see all the parts right out of the bag plus videos of the real test launches. To view the video: CLICK HERE James also ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Mercury Little Joe Black Fin? (2019-08-25)

In 2003 I ordered a DVD from Mike Dorffler. It was full of scale information and pictures of the Mercury Little Joe. I had always wanted to build this as a scale model but was never able to get ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: TOP TEN BUILDS for 2019 (2020-01-01)

An end of the year tradition -  This annual list puts some of the blog builds in order from least favorite (10) to the best (1). These are the models and events that were rocketry high points ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Which Glues for LPR Building? TIPS (2020-05-02)

On TRF. Alan R wrote: I think the most asked glue question is: "What is the best glue". The answer to that is "The one that works" I only do low power stuff, short list: Paper to paper - white ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Aerospace Modeling Links (2009-12-23)

{The length of my sidebar has started to bug me.  To rectify said bugging, I'm moving this list from a Blogger links-list gadget in the sidebar to this post.  I'll add a link to the post ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes Wolverine Downscale "HOW TO" Pt.1 (2010-09-23)

UPCOMING PROJECT - I've been away from home for the past three days and have been posting some Little Joe II steps that have been saved earlier. Until I get back home tonight, here's something I've ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Already antsy to launch, building is in the doldrums (2010-09-25)

A mere week after ESL-148, I'm already itching to launch.  My October launches are still up in the air and the prospects of missing them is fueling the itch.  I have NARHAMS and then Red ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Little Joe II dowel sanding (2010-10-01)

Woohoo, sanding the dowels wasn't that bad.  I used a different method than Chris did .  I have not doubt that my dowels have some flattened spots but I'm sure they are close enough!  ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Little Joe II - thoughts on the paint scheme (updated, already) (2010-10-01)

Looking quickly on-line, I basically see 2 variants - one with the bottom 2/3 or so silver and the top section/capsule white (excluding trim items), and one with the whole body silver and a white ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Little Joe II - tower construction has begun! (updated) (2010-10-03)

So far so good.  I cut all the dowels required for the main struts.  I carefully laid them out in order off to the side.  The kit includes template guides as shown in the ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Hobby Lobby report (2010-10-05)

I went by the Hobby Lobby in Columbia, MD today.  They stocked Estes motors from 1/2A through E9 and a small number of kits.  Fewer kits than I expected, but more than Michael's ever ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Little Joe II - stick a fork in it (2010-10-07)

Well, here it is in probably its best view.  I am not really happy with it but, it is what it is.  The white is Krylon white, the silver is Rusoleum Titanium Metalflake, the black trim ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Little Joe II - pre-flight landing damage (stupid rocket tricks #16 & #17) (2010-10-12)

This model in jinxed.  I think I mentioned that I dropped the LJ II twice during construction.  That number is up to four.  Event number three (and SRT #16) was the capsule only. ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Rocket launch probabilities (2010-10-15)

I was looking forward to this weekend's NARAMS launch but it looks like life has gotten in the way.  P L =0. I also feel bad for the rest of the club because the weather report is saying the ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: A Little Joe II for those who hate to build towers (2010-10-18)

Under a General Dynamics/NASA proposal, the Little Joe II/Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) would have boosted an Apollo LEM to close to 200,000' where the descent engines could be tested in near ... [Read More]

High Power Rocketry: Videos by 40390576 (2010-12-11)

Some of the best rocketry and space videos on Youtube must be those hosted by 40390576. Sadly this youtuber does not allow embedding of videos, so here are some of my favorites in link form: Saturn ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Paper rocket conversion resource update (2010-12-12)

I just found out about the Paper Modelers Forum . Although rockets make up a small subset of the content and the only flying models are probably of the stomp variety, this should be a great resource ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Mega Review: Scale Paper (2011-01-20)

This post presents four scale paper kit conversions.  A couple fly great, one OK, and one was mainly a curiosity. Mercury Redstone ( Delta-7 Studios ) Little Joe I (Cards in Space) ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Reviews: Two scratch stand-off scale models (2011-01-29)

The Little Joe I is stand-off and the Talos is quasi-scale (i.e. even less accurate). Little Joe I This is a very stand-off scale model of the Little Joe I. It is 2.6" in diameter, has a 29mm mount, ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Countin' my chickens before they hatch FLY (2011-03-18)

The literal count is one, one Ballistic Chicken. But what I was getting at in the title is that I have laid out and prepped my rockets for tomorrow; and I even built a couple of reloads.  Last ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Launch Report 2011-01 (2011-03-20)

Location: Price, MD ( MDRA ESL-154) Weather: partly cloudy, low 50's, wind 0 - 5 MPH Total flights: Today - 11; YTD - 11 Total motors: Today - 21; YTD - 21 I left very early under the light of the ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Saturn Towers (2011-06-21)

I've built a lot of towers over the years. For comparison, here's the Saturn towers from various kits. On the upper left is the BT-20 based Dr. Zooch Saturn V tower. It's really a silhouette tower, ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Launch Report 2011-4 (2011-08-07)

Location: GSFC Visitors Center ( NARHAMS ) Weather: clear, mid 90s, wind 0-5 MPH Total flights: Today - 10; YTD - 38 Total motors: Today - 10; YTD - 50 This is the first time I have attended one of ... [Read More]

XPRS 2011: Gumby and Little Joey I (2011-08-20)

Member : Jamie Clay Club : AeroPAC Motors : Cluster of 4 F-40s with one central I Avionics : Perfectflite MAWD Project description : Like Mercury Joe, LJ1 recovers in three components - booster, ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Convair Little Joe II (2011-11-11)

Convair Little Joe II , a photo by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives on Flickr. The SDASM just uploaded a ton of space and rocket scans. Navigate forward and backwards(mostly)from the ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: My Older Build Threads on TRF (2011-12-23)

Before I started this blog, I posted some of my Dr. Zooch builds on The Rocketry Forum. Here's the links to the Zooch build threads: Dr. Zooch Soyuz http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread. ... [Read More]

High Power Rocketry: Project Mercury 1st Quarterly Report Oct-Dec 1959 (2012-04-09)

"The first Project Mercury quarterly report covers testing of Mercury spacecraft aerodynamics using models fired by a gun (at over 10,000 mph) and in wind tunnels (mach 14), escape tower tests in ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Little Joe Rocket Testing (2012-06-13)

Little Joe Rocket Testing , a photo by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives on Flickr. [Read More]

Meatball Rocketry: George's Little Joe II Pages (2012-09-10)

If you’ve never visited George Gassaway’s site, be sure to check it out.  There is a ton of useful and interesting stuff there including his award-winning Space Shuttle project, as ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Semroc SPEV Build Part 1 Parts (2013-09-13)

The original Estes S.P.E.V. was said to be a S pare P arts E limination V ehicle. The facecard called it a SP ace E xploration V ehicle. You can see the profile of the (then discontinued) Thor ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Semroc SPEV Finished (2013-09-23)

  Lots of memories building this one.  I built an Estes SPEV in 1972. Looking at it now it's easy to see the Thor Agena B and Little Joe parts being utilized. It's not a ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: My flyable fleet (2013-10-10)

After seeing ~1/10 of Dave Bucher's huge fleet on Facebook, I thought I'd snapshot mine, which consists of a paltry 233 birds. First sort criteria is a column that's not showing, breaking the list ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: John Boren's Navaho Cruise Missile (2014-07-31)

There's a good reason why John Boren works in R&D at Estes. If you haven't followed the Navaho build thread on YORF you should check it out -  CLICK HERE John's scale entry at NARAM 56 ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Shaping Nike Style Fins TIP (2014-12-22)

Gordon (Sandman on TRF and www.excelsiorrocketry.com) drew up how he forms the diamond taper on Nike Fins. The original post is HERE   s croll down to post #41 The original PDF (at the right) ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Semroc Orders Log-In (2015-02-23)

I was able to log into the Semroc website and looked at my old orders. I got back into the hobby in 2006. Below are the first kits I ordered, in order. It's easy to see I was re-living my teen years ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: A whole lotta Little Joe scale diagrams (2015-03-12)

Cliff Steenhoff has been compiling an impressive set of rocket/space sphotos in his Flickr stream. Today, he posted a lot of diagrams of the Little Joe I and II rockets. These appear to cover all of ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: The Shelf Queens (2015-03-26)

  In a comment, Jim asked to see some other models in the fleet.   Here's the Shelf Queens, the models that don't fly! (Yes, they are in a kitchen cabinet. I'm single and ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: The Most Difficult Kit - Ever! Part A (2015-04-14)

An email asked - What was the most difficult kit to build? For me it was the Estes Mercury Redstone, Kit #K-41. To see the instructions, go to JimZs - CLICK HERE "Although it requires care and ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Estes (Centuri) Little Joe II !!! (2015-10-02)

Just added to the Estes Coming Soon page -  This is based on the older Centuri Little Joe II, the BIG one. It'll use the D12-3 engine instead of a cluster. CLICK HERE to see the Estes webpage. ... [Read More]

Rocketeer's Corner: Miscellany... (2015-10-04)

The weather has positively sucked the past several days - dreary, dismal, and wet. Our Fall seasons are normally very nice, but this one has started out poorly. The forecast shows some potentially ... [Read More]

Rich's Rockets: A couple of things I just noticed (2016-02-12)

A couple of things I just noticed: On the Estes web site there is a Little Joe II plastic parts set: http://www.estesrockets.com/rockets…astic-parts-set and a Mercury Redstone capsule plastic ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: James Duffy's Little Joe (2016-08-04)

If you want to see how to really build a Mercury Little Joe, CLICK HERE James Duffy knows this rocket and how to put it all together! Two spare capsules to boot! In the TRF thread check for every ... [Read More]

Rocketeer's Corner: A special club meeting... (2016-08-07)

On Thursday evenings from mid-March to mid-October, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center hosts a biergarten dinner in the Davidson Center underneath the giant Saturn V - A perfect combination of beer, ... [Read More]

Blast From The Past: Now...Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program.... (2018-12-04)

This past weekend, the BlastFromThePast shop became fully operational again. An intensive 'Shock and Awe' barrage of medications launched at that nasty cough has started showi ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Decal PDFs For Patreon Support Members (2020-08-13)

Here's a list of the Print at Home PDF decals  available to  Patreon Supporters: PATREON DECAL PDFs ESTES Estes Green Eggs Scrambler K-37, #1237 Decal .pdf Makes the Estes Green Eggs kit ... [Read More]

Rocket N00b: A Conversation with James Duffy - Scale Modeling, FAI Competition, and More (2020-09-07)

  James Duffy on the cover of Sport Rocketry Magazine, published by the NAR. Episode 6 of The Model Rocket Show podcast is up, and I really loved this conversation. I chatted with James Duffy ... [Read More]