Estes Mercury Redstone Rocket

Estes Mercury Redstone Rocket Kit (built) - Airplanes and RocketsEstes Mercury Redstone Rocket Kit (2) - Airplanes and RocketsEstes Mercury Redstone Rocket Kit (Liberty Bell capsule)) - Airplanes and RocketsEstes Mercury Redstone Rocket Kit (bottom) - Airplanes and RocketsOctober 14, 2016 Update: Yay, my Estes Mercury Redstone is finally complete! The kit was purchased on eBay sometime around 2011 and sat around until, according to the date I wrote on the instruction sheet, I began building it on January 12, 2014. The final coat of clear was sprayed on today, and that finishes the job.

The rocket would have been done a year ago except that for some reason I had a really bad experience when spraying the Rustoleum black paint. It wrinkled at the first attempt, so I painstakingly sanded it off, taped everything off again, and re-sprayed. The same thing happened again! At that point I blamed the paint because as always, I wiped the model's surfaces with Windex and alcohol just prior to spraying and was careful not to touch the cleaned areas. All the paint used had been purchased at Lowes within the previous month or so, and the date codes indicated well within the shelf life. I've painted many, many models of all sorts with enamel, lacquer, and dope, and never had anything like this occur. I sanded the black off for a second time, and then put the Mercury Redstone away until I could muster up the nerve to try again.

Fortunately, the third time was a charm. Using a new can of black paint (the other can was discarded), the black fin patterns were freshly taped off and sprayed. It turned out perfect - one of the cleanest set of lines I've ever produced.

Self-adhesive plastic black fins decals were provided, but I wanted it to look more authentic. I was originally going to paint the upper body checkerboard black and white patterns, but detailing the panel lines and lettering would have been more work that I was willing to put into it. The decals were used there and for the United States lettering. I did, however, hand-paint the white 'crack' in the Liberty Bell capsule. Two coats of semi-gloss clear were sprayed over everything both for protection and to seal the edges of the decals.

For now, it sits atop the antique oak secretary cabinet that I refinished many moons ago. Once the Saturn 1B rocket model is complete, I plane to build a display platform for all three to stand together.

Estes Mercury Redstone kit won on eBay (cover) - Airplanes and RocketsEstes Mercury Redstone kit won on eBay (parts)Original Page Content: Somewhere along the line, I owned an Estes Mercury Redstone model rocket. I distinctly remember building that red egress tower out of 1/16" wooden dowels. There was a lot of work involved; not as much, however, as the Estes Saturn V model required. I cannot recall what happened to my Estes Mercury Redstone, but I do not think I ever actually launched it. It probably got lost after I went into the U.S. Air Force (1978-1982).

Estes 1971 Model Rocketry Catalog - Pages 44 & 45 - Airplanes and RocketsTo the left are pages 44 and 45 out of the 1971 edition of the 1971 Estes Model Rocketry Catalog that featured the Saturn V and Saturn 1B models.

Estes Mercury Redstone building instructionsBuilding Instructions

Specification:

Price = $3.95 | Length = 23.5" (59.7 cm)

Body Diameter = 1.637" (41.6 mm)

Weight = 2.1 oz (60 grams)

On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard piloted a 15-minute suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft, which was launched atop the Mercury Redstone booster, to become the first American in space.

Here is the Estes Mercury Redstone model rocket that I purchased on eBay. As you can see in the picture to the right, this version of the kit has a lot of plastic parts, which surely will make it much simpler to build than the original one mentioned above.

Photo of launch of Mercury Redstone - Airplanes and RocketsPhoto of launch of Mercury Redstone - Airplanes and Rockets

Mercury Redstone Lifting off from Cape Canaveral    Mercury Redstone Rocket in Flight

 

Here is a list of my other rocket models.