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  #1  
Old 04-16-2006, 04:53 AM
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Leo Leo is offline
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Smile Leo's Semroc Mars Lander Building Thread

I finally got my Semroc Mars Lander in the mail last week. Back in the mid eighties I had gotten 2 Estes Mars Landers from a distributor who sold Estes and Centuri products in Germany at that time. I was asked to build them for him and I enjoyed it very much. The Mars Lander is a great looking model rocket. To this day I could never figure out why I didn't have a kit of my own. Maybe it was due to the high price.

Original mint Estes Mars Lander Box with Semroc parts enclosed just for nostalgia reasons


Nonetheless, lets get back to the present.

Upon opening the kit you notice how well the components of the Semroc Mars Lander are made. The quality of the parts are first class and I'm looking forward to building this kit.

I have decided to build the Mars Lander exactly as it was designed with maybe one exception and that being how to mount the shock bands so that they can be replaced.

This thread is my step by step construction. I have kits that I started 20 years ago and are yet to be finished. I hope this build will be shorter

So lets begin

Step 3 and 4:

As described I sanded the balsa sheet on both sides and then removed all the fins from the sheet, afterwards carefully sanding each of the fin edges.



Step 5:

Finished the gear housing. Next step is to seal the inside and give it a white coat of paint.



You gotta love the smell of burnt balsa wood. It's making me all woozy
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Last edited by Leo : 04-17-2006 at 08:46 AM.
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  #2  
Old 04-16-2006, 09:02 AM
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Wow! You built it in one step! My instructions are a little more complex.

Looking foward to seeing the rest of it, Leo.
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  #3  
Old 04-17-2006, 08:51 AM
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Step 6:

Ready to be glued together.



I have made up my mind and will replace the shock bands with springs, the same way Sandman built his ML

Now to find some nice springs for the project.

Keep stopping by ...
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Old 04-17-2006, 09:46 AM
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Pyro Pro Pyro Pro is offline
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That looks very nice , keep working on it!

I've been holding off on building mine, but I think I'm just going to build it totally stock (I don't really want to change it around and accidently mess it up).

I might get another and try the 'spring mod'.

Keep up the good work


-David
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  #5  
Old 04-24-2006, 12:52 PM
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Leo Leo is offline
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continuing the build...

Steps 18:

4 identical clones Next thing to do is to give them a nice sealing and painting. The landing pads will come on later (missing in the picture).



Steps 20 - 23:

Here the engine mount parts layed out



and here the engine mount completed. Note position of the cap ring


Steps 24 - 26 and step 28:

Gluing on the gear housing spacers was easier than I had thought. The finish turned out perfectly

Assembling the decent stage bulkhead was one of the simpler steps (left in the picture)


Keep tuning in...
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Old 04-30-2006, 05:48 AM
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Steps 36 - 45:

Today I built all the shrouds.

Left to right are Ascent Module, Desent Stage Bulkhead, Command Module and Engine Nozzle.

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Old 04-30-2006, 09:39 AM
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Well, I have come into my first glitch while assembling the kit.

While testing the fitment of the Ascent Module and Command Module it wouldn't fit correctly.


Because I am very sure that all the parts where perfectly put together I went and measured the parts, in particular the forward bulkhead. It turns out that the hole is not perfectly centered and about 0.5 mm off. I removed some material from the opposite side to make the correction.


After making the modification I retested the fitment and it now matches perfectly.


There seems to be a small manufacturing error in the forward bulkhead.

Keep stopping by ...
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Old 05-25-2006, 10:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Leo
There seems to be a small manufacturing error in the forward bulkhead.

Thanks, Leo. There sure was! It is fixed now.
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Old 06-29-2006, 01:23 AM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Any further progress on this, Leo?
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Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper
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  #10  
Old 06-29-2006, 01:29 AM
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Leo Leo is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A Fish Named Wallyum
Any further progress on this, Leo?


Well, yes and no.

I'm still in the sanding and sealer phase and for the record, I hate this step

Good news is that I found perfect springs to replace the rubber bands. Will post a pic of the spring later.
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