Estes Alpha Build

The second model I started while waiting on Little Joe II parts was my Estes Alpha. I had one of the newer kits which contained the decals, plastic nose and modified fins but I wanted to do an original "K-25" version of the Alpha that I first built in the 70s. The Alpha was actually the first rocket I ever successfully built. The Centuri Micron was the first rocket I ever bought but I never actually built it.

The balsa nose cone and original fins are available from SEMROC, so I ordered those and tossed the ones that came with the kit into the spare parts bin along with the decal sheet.



The very first Alpha's from the 60s and very early 70s had a couple of different paint schemes. Some had military decals, one was just a white body with red nose cone. I always liked the iconic version (pictured above) that made it's debut in the 1973 catalog and lasted until 1982 when Estes started providing a decal in the kit.

As with all "fbt" kits (that's fins & body tube) the first step I do is to fill the balsa parts starting with the fins. I've been using Elmers wood filler for this and am getting used to it so that now I can usually get it done in 1 thickly applied coat. Getting the consistency right seems to be the key and just takes some practice.

I filled the nose in the same way as the fins. One thing I've noticed with balsa nose cones is that they often stick out at the top of shoulder and in order to have a smooth joint between body tube and nose, I have to sand down the nose ever so slightly.

Body tube spirals filled. This step is probably not that necessary given that I'm using a thick high build primer, but I do it anyway. I hate tube spiral lines!

Fins get attached. I use 5 min epoxy to tack on the fins because I get that adjustment time I like to get them lined up perfectly straight.

I also used 5 min epoxy for the fillets here but this may be the last rocket I do this for as I've discovered I really like doing fillets with an epoxy clay such as "Fix It" available from Apogee Components.

A couple of thick coats of high build, sandable, automotive primer gets rid of the last traces of tube spiral lines and any wood grain that may have survived the filling process.

I painted the nose cone kind of an "Apple Red" and gave the body and fins the base color of gloss white.

Here is the completed model after the black trim has been added. The black trim took two attempts. On the first attempt, I failed to rough up the gloss surface and then let the paint dry too long before removing the masking tape. As a result, the paint lifted along the edges with the tape, leaving behind a ragged looking paint line. So I had to strip off all of the paint and start over. I had considered using a decal for the stripe at that point but thought I would give it one more try using some tips I got from a friend at our local club meeting.

1.) Mask such that your paint line is on the top layer of masking and can be removed first while the paint is still wet.
2.) Rough the surface of the gloss white base coat.
3.) When removing the masking tape pull it back on itself so that the edge of the tape will "cut" the paint as it is removed.

The results were much better the 2nd time!

Here is another view of the completed kit...