Now the anchoring tubes have dried overnight and I check the fit of the LES onto the BP capsule. The LES leg tips won't be glued on until the balsa is sealed and ready for primer. TBC

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__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

I'm back from Birmingham, AL and Erie, PA now and I've successfully joined the LES scaffold to the BP spacecraft. I inserted the leg tips of the LES scaffold into the small Plastruct tubes and then used a single strip of Scotch "orange core" painter's tape to keep the two assemblies together while I rotated the model and aligned the verticality(?) of the escape motor with a mini square, and then used Tenax7R on each leg. TBC

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__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

I'm "over the hump" and coming along nicely now. The LES, BP capsule, and booster are all primered now. Next I'll steel wool everythng and shoot the white enamel. TBC

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__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

Looks awesome! But, to nick a pick..Wasn't the real deal LES slightly canted and NOT perfectly vertical? Being slightly canted the LES,when activated, would pull the capsule away from the rockets flight trajectory...I know this isn't true scale..Just makin a comment..

__________________
Jon
SAM #0396
BAR 02/07
NAR 86940
KF4GUL
Aim high, fly straight!

The real LES had a tilt motor toward the top. It fired horizontally to take the capsule out of the path of the booster. I'll hunt up a pic and post it if I can find one.

Here ya go...

__________________
I love sanding.

Great photo. I'd love to go for a ride in that.............................................. ..........................NOT!

__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

Like this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A...ort_Test_-2.jpg

I thought for sure I had seen discussion saying the tower had an offset of 2 to 3 degrees..I guess not..lol...


jinx..

__________________
Jon
SAM #0396
BAR 02/07
NAR 86940
KF4GUL
Aim high, fly straight!

Thanks! At 1/70 scale the LES may actually BE at a slight cant--without me knowing it. I'd probably need an optical comparitor to be sure.

__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

It seems like it's taken forever (mainly because it HAS), but the hybrid build is now painted and ready for black details and decals. The black LES nozzles I'll paint by hand. I'll use black pinstriping for the details on the LES motor to make it resemble round A-001. It looks pretty good, but it's DANGED expensive to do it this way! TBC

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__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

Well, it's done--but it's not perfect. I had planned to do markings for round A-001 but the capsule and booster patterns for that BP round don't quite match--and it's too late to correct it non-invasively. I'll call this an "approximation" of A-001.

The NEXT one (if there is a next one) will be flawless.

I now throw myself at the mercy of the "Rivet Counters."

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__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078