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Estes Bullpup #7000, Build Highlights Part 1, Fins, Decals & Shroud Lines
The Estes Bullpup has been built on the blog before. I'm building two for sale on Ebay. I was surprised by some of the changes in the kit contents. The fins are "pieced". You can see the second piece of wood at the rear of the fin. I was glad to see water slide decals! This is a newer issue of ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 1, Parts
I'm sure everybody has built one of these. I built a Bullpup when I got back into the hobby a few years back. My kit was a later version with the stick-on decals. Like most, I've always hated stick-ons. I bought another and did a kit-bash to make a convincing sport scale MX-774. This "kit" was ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 2, Fin Comparison
Here's the first older Bullpup build. Look close at the white paint on the fins. It's almost translucent, you can see the balsa grain through the paint. I was using the cheap $1.00 a can WalMart paint back then. For whatever reason, the launch lug wasn't painted. Check out how thick the stick-on ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 3, Instructions
This bag of parts didn't include the Estes instructions. Easy enough to find them at JimZs: HERE I also found a great Peter Alway drawing online. The small end of the tail cone isn't really round. From the Estes instructions: Take a look at the balsa grain direction in steps 3 and 6.
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 4, Plastic Parts Prep
Most every blow-molded nose cone will have a seam. This one was pretty clean and only needed the ridge sanded off with 400 grit. No filling was required. The back end lug was closed. Don't use a knife to remove the lug flash. It's too easy to cut through the lug. Use a small rat tail file to keep ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 5, Fin Gluing
I'll be installing the engine mount in after the fins are on. No real reason for this, I just glued the fins on first. With no engine hook on this model I won't have to center it between two fins or opposite the launch lug location. There were no instructions so I made a fin marking guide out of a ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 6, Engine Mount Glue and Alignment
The plastic tail cone is used to push the engine mount to the correct distance inside the body tube. Continue pushing the plastic tail cone until the shoulder seats against the body tube and remove it. From the top, I used a rounded end dowel to smooth out and remove excess glue from the fillet on ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 7, Primer and Sand
There's one disadvantage to using the Titebond Molding and Trim Glue. Enlarge the picture and look close at the leading edge tip and ends of the launch lugs. Even if you try to clean up the ends when smoothing the fillets, the TM&TG leaves small glue blobs. The middle of the fillets are ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 8, Primer and Paint Sand
After lightly sanding down the gray primer you can see the primer left in the gain pores. A light coat of gloss white followed. Hold the surfaces under a bright light and you can see some rough spots. Lightly sand these spots with 400 grit, dry. Don't wet sand yet, the paint cover isn't thick ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 9, Decals Information
The Estes instructions say to use the face card picture for decal placement. The problem is, it only shows   one side.  Viewing from the rear, we'll call this the right side - the nose cone facing to the right. I did a web search for pictures and came across the Jim Ball scale site: HERE ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Part 10, Decals
Here's the address for the Jim Ball Scale Website: http://www.rocketryonline.com/jimball/jimball/construction/pup/default.htm This are the decals ones I redrew and printed installed on my old Bullpup build. The "silver" bands on the home made decals were drawn a little long on purpose. To help line ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Nose Cone Lug Fix
An Email from Orlando R.O.C.K. President J. Brian Coyle:   Knowing you, you've probably already finished and flown the Bullpup a few times... ;) But today's post about the nose lug flash reminded me of a concern.  The Bullpup requires a bit of nose weight.  I don't like ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Comparison - Old and New
Here's my old Bullpup, refinished with new home printed water slide decals. The silver stripes (either side of the U.S. AIR FORCE) are more of a grey, no metallic shine at all. The red stripes should be closer to a dark orange, but that's just how my home print decals turned out.   ...
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Estes Bullpup Build Finished
  A classic Estes kit, everybody has one in the build pile. The model shown above is the rebuild of one of the first kits I built when getting back into the hobby. I wanted to refinish with opaque white paint and water slide decals. "Real" decals certainly look better than the kit ...
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Estes Bullpup #7000, Build Highlights Part 2, Nose Cone Eyelet & Engine Mount
    The nose cone "lug" is small and weak. As in the previous Bullpup build, the lug eyelet was cut off and a second hole drilled for the shock cord tie. You put two puts of clay into the nose cone. The instructions show it being tamped in place with a pencil. the hole was too ...
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Estes Bullpup #7000, Build Highlights Part 3, Tail Cone
Dry fit the tail cone - no glue yet. TIP: Turn the tail cone until you get an even spacing gap all the way between the engine mount tube and end of the tail cone. When it's even, mark the tail cone and tube as shown in the inset picture. Apply glue and turn the tail cone until the marks line ...
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Estes Bullpup #7000, Build Highlights Part 4, Tube CCA & Primer/Filler
You can get a evenly spaced CA reinforcement line around the end of a body tube. Apply with a Q-tip, use your middle finger around and on top of the tube edge for a depth guide. Some forum posts have mentioned that CA glue could help prevent a zipper. Kelvar is like a thin, steel cable. The ...
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Estes Bullpup #7000, Build Highlights Part 5, Selective Masking
I didn't get great white coverage on the small forward fins on the Bullpup. I didn't want to re-shoot the upper fins, the over spray would make a rough final gloss around the fins. I decided to mask down the root edges and only shoot the fin surfaces. This isn't a different color, the white ...
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Estes Bullpup #7000, Build Highlights Part 6, Decals
I couldn't see the launch lug on the face card picture. I have to wonder if Estes puts launch lugs on their catalog models. The launch lug might be in the way of the horizontal gray bands. You've also got to figure the position of the cradle marks, the orange squares on the silver bands. With ...
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Estes Bullpup #7000, Build Highlights Finished
    The Bullpup has been built on the blog before, this time I touched on some different highlights. On the lower left you can see the placement of the black and orange circle decals, probably a fill valve. I was very pleased to see Estes is including water slide decals with ...
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