Model Rocket Building Blog
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I BackgroundThis 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 see the issue, CLICK HERE The semi scale Mercury Little Joe used the Mercury Redstone capsule now used ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 1, PartsIf 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 are the "wooden or plastic golf tees" used to simulate the four Recruit engine. I always thought ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 2, Capsule GluingAs 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 assembles much easier this way. Take it slow! DON'T USE TOO MUCH GLUE! Dip the brush, wipe ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 3, Capsule GluingLook 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 is in the base. Leave the rubber band on around the top. It'll take some coaxing and downward ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 4, TowerI'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 tower sides together, don't glue the low ends to the antenna housing as shown in the Estes ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 5, Tube CuttingThe 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 tube when cutting. Below that a wrap of tape gave a straight line around the tube. The engine mount ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 6, Nozzle Angle FixI 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 holes were punched, closer to the engine tube. The cover plate was glued onto the centering ring. After ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 7, WrapsTwo 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 over where the launch lug will be placed. This way, any seam joint won't show when the model is on ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 8, Primer Fins and Launch LugI 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 tube and fins got sprayed with primer/filler and sanded smooth. The paint was sanded away where the ...[Read More]
Enerjet News Mercury Little Joe Build, Part 9A, Black Fin?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 fin black on one side, you can't unsee it!" ______________________________________ Response from James ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 9, Mask and PaintNormally 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, paint the orange and mask it off. The silver color will go on second. The assembly already got an ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 10, Engine Mount Paint and Black DetailsThe 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 place after double checking the alignment with the mount dry fitted inside the body tube. There is a ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 11, Decal Trim TIPThis 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 orange stripes on the body and outside edges of the fins. I didn't want to mask and spray the model ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 12, Decal Trim and Shock CordThe 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 hardened up the overhanging decal for easier trimming with a new razor blade. The engine mount was glued ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 13, Body Decal & TrimRunning 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 model. I took a standard bold font and divided each letter with small white lines. Check out the "I" in ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, Part 14, Scale ColorsThe 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 Mercury capsule. According to the drawings found online by Peter McQuillan, the black capsule Little ...[Read More]
Enerjet News, Mercury Little Joe I, FinishedLook 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 have sealed the edge. Luckily it flattened out when the water dried. I did roll the raised area down ...[Read More]
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