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Estes 2111 Mercury Atlas build
As an OOP kit, and a nice scale kit, I think this may appeal to YORFers.
As I go, I hope to also do a 1/100 build, a mod to an Atlas GATV, and a Gemini Titan at the same scale. Here's the obligatory parts overview.
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Charles McGonegal Ciderwright AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery Ad Astra Tabernamque! |
#2
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YA THINK ! That kit looks like it was bagged last week. Very nice. |
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Oh yeah , the Mercury Atlas is one of my favorites. I have been packing the same kit around for over a decade. Perhaps yours will inspire me to dig mine out.
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#4
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There's just a touch of browning/oxidation on the two 24mm motor mounts used for the fins. Otherwise it looks in good shape.
I used the body tube to size a mandrel, so I've been practicing winding my own body tubing of this size. I have trouble getting it off the mandrel, but I'm getting better. I'm using a water activated tape, so it shrinks as it dries, tightening on the mandrel. I'm thinking of doing plaster casts of the vacu-formed parts. My boy's school shop can do vacuforming. I'm thinking of moving the motor mount up to 29mm. Gives me more flexibility if I want to stage a BT60 Gemini Agena Target Vehicle off the top of the Atlas.
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Charles McGonegal Ciderwright AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery Ad Astra Tabernamque! |
#5
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Thanks for doing a build thread. I have one sitting on top of the basement fridge that I need to stop thinking of it as an investment and just build it.
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#6
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Dittos on that!
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Lee Reep NAR 55948 Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold! Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp |
#7
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Tonight's progress: building a new controller for my wife's muffle furnace.
We do bronze and silver casting.
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Charles McGonegal Ciderwright AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery Ad Astra Tabernamque! |
#8
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Alrighty. After adjusting the Control Period of the oven controller from 20sec (which spares relays) to 1 sec (for SSR), it works fine and I can make some rocket progress.
First decision- stay with 24mm mount. I won't put in an engine hook or motor block, which means I can use CTI motors without problems- plenty of options. First mod, upon researching other people's builds, I see that one issue is that this is a two chute kit. The transition/capsule has one, and the booster has one. The capsule chute goes with the nosecone at ejection, but what pushes out the booster chute? Especially in a 3.4" tube? I could use the trick of a blanket wrapping the booster chute, but attached to the nosecone to pull it out, but just in case, I'm adapting the stuffer tube to BT55, so there's room in the stuffer for the booster chute. So use some BT50 to BT55 centering rings to mark and cut the forward centering ring. The motor mount is actually a heavy wall variant, to the centering rings need some peeling. I use an emery board to scuff smooth surfaces as I go. Continue with the build. Did you know that if you flip the die side, it rotates the alignment index 90 degrees? Those BT50-BT55 centering rings help square things up, too. And new tube in place.
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Charles McGonegal Ciderwright AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery Ad Astra Tabernamque! Last edited by aeppel_cpm : 04-08-2017 at 10:08 PM. |
#9
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Attention then turns to the body tube.
Marking it was a bit of a challenge. I found my copy of the original template didn't quite wrap around. So I checked it against the original, and it matched. 101% on the printer fit better. The next challenge was long lines on a big soft tube. A doorframe didn't cut it, so I used the template to mark multiple spots and ran an Estes tube marking guide thru them. And a test fit. At this point, I need to go get some contact cement, so I'm calling it a night and pouring some Apple Brandy.
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Charles McGonegal Ciderwright AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery Ad Astra Tabernamque! |
#10
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Stiffener wrap is next. I didn't like how they suggest cutting it out, but didn't decide that until afterward. I think going in from the back side makes sense - which the text suggests for the other parts, though the pictures don't make it obvious. There's a small text error in the drawings - if you look at the marked lines, the one below the seam is mislabeled in the instructions.
Wrap on. Looks lovely. Oh. Wait. The instructions say to cut out the notches. TANJ ******, the wrap was supposed to go -below- the 4" mark, not above. <sigh> Wrap off. Clean up tube with paint thinner, remark lines. Apply new contact cement. Wrap on. Correctly positioned, but with a little lumpiness from the contact cement left on the back of the wrap. I was afraid the thinner might soften it too much, so I just touched up the edges and some gaps with cement and laid it back down. Time for bed. Note to self: read further ahead - looking at the pictures is insufficient.
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Charles McGonegal Ciderwright AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery Ad Astra Tabernamque! |
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