I built the 70s tower, it was made of wood sticks to be cut from a sheet, it was difficult to cut and glue. I got it to work, to me the plastic one was a breath of fresh air air. I built 2, and they look pretty good. 👍
I really enjoy reading these comments...the "new" class of hobbiests have zero clue of what hard or difficult is ....i had the privilege of building this way back in the early 1970's(yep..im that old)when everything was hand cut...the fins had to be hand cut and the dowel rod for the Launch escape tower was all hand cut and assembled...the nose cone was a spun block of balsa that needed finishing....so todays rocketeers have so easy they dont have a clue...but...im glad you did get this version assembled and flown...from the other video it looks like the flight was perfect ...anyway...keep building 👍👍
The QC on the tower parts is a problem. The nubs and dimples don’t precisely line up. If they did it would be quite simple. It is not possible to get a perfect outcome. Estes needs to retool the molds. You can get it good enough. Another issue is if you paint the capsule black and then glue on the tower, the plastic cement dissolves the black paint a little. It takes extreme precision to touch up. This is the exact same tower and capsule on the Little Joe 1. You have to sand down one segment, quite a bit, to get all three to fit on the ring. The fins on mine are different from these shown in the video. They are longer from top to bottom and the extension tabs are quite a bit shorter laterally and don’t stick out as far from the centerline. The fins shown at 0:01 don’t seem the same as those shown at 1:15, maybe a lens artifact? You can cut out a few spare extension tabs to keep on hand for repairs, I expect they might break off! It’s an easier build and paint than the 1/100 Saturn V. And worth it if you were alive to witness that era.
Now I know why I never finished this first attempt circa 1968 or 1969. I thought I would come back to this in my old age, but from everything I have seen and read, Estes in the last 50 years has made no effort to make construction of this a more realistic reality for us non skilled modeling types. A beautiful rocket when getting it finished. I will pass on this one.
a little tip for ya when building the tower.....assemble it backwards....start from the top and build down.....you will say for less swear words....trust me.
Will give that a try. I’m just starting mine. Been out of the hobby for over 40 years and starting back up. Opened uo capsule and decided to check RUclips 1st. 😏
Don't feel bad I took 4 kits to make one perfect display and a decent one to launch. The tower design is trash, and I think they intentionally make the capsule segments too big so you have to shave them down to go together properly.
I built the 70s tower, it was made of wood sticks to be cut from a sheet, it was difficult to cut and glue. I got it to work, to me the plastic one was a breath of fresh air air. I built 2, and they look pretty good. 👍
I really enjoy reading these comments...the "new" class of hobbiests have zero clue of what hard or difficult is ....i had the privilege of building this way back in the early 1970's(yep..im that old)when everything was hand cut...the fins had to be hand cut and the dowel rod for the Launch escape tower was all hand cut and assembled...the nose cone was a spun block of balsa that needed finishing....so todays rocketeers have so easy they dont have a clue...but...im glad you did get this version assembled and flown...from the other video it looks like the flight was perfect ...anyway...keep building 👍👍
The QC on the tower parts is a problem. The nubs and dimples don’t precisely line up. If they did it would be quite simple. It is not possible to get a perfect outcome. Estes needs to retool the molds. You can get it good enough. Another issue is if you paint the capsule black and then glue on the tower, the plastic cement dissolves the black paint a little. It takes extreme precision to touch up. This is the exact same tower and capsule on the Little Joe 1. You have to sand down one segment, quite a bit, to get all three to fit on the ring. The fins on mine are different from these shown in the video. They are longer from top to bottom and the extension tabs are quite a bit shorter laterally and don’t stick out as far from the centerline. The fins shown at 0:01 don’t seem the same as those shown at 1:15, maybe a lens artifact? You can cut out a few spare extension tabs to keep on hand for repairs, I expect they might break off! It’s an easier build and paint than the 1/100 Saturn V. And worth it if you were alive to witness that era.
Yes!!! 100% correct!
Now I know why I never finished this first attempt circa 1968 or 1969. I thought I would come back to this in my old age, but from everything I have seen and read, Estes in the last 50 years has made no effort to make construction of this a more realistic reality for us non skilled modeling types. A beautiful rocket when getting it finished. I will pass on this one.
Definitely worth a pass. The tower is supremely frustrating to build.
a little tip for ya when building the tower.....assemble it backwards....start from the top and build down.....you will say for less swear words....trust me.
Will give that a try. I’m just starting mine. Been out of the hobby for over 40 years and starting back up. Opened uo capsule and decided to check RUclips 1st. 😏
Don't feel bad I took 4 kits to make one perfect display and a decent one to launch. The tower design is trash, and I think they intentionally make the capsule segments too big so you have to shave them down to go together properly.