SpaceShipOne

For my next project I decided to build the Ansari X Prize winning SpaceshipOne, a Skill level kit 2, #2191 (from 2004), reported to go 400’ on C6-3.  I paid $16.99 in 2004 and had it sitting on my shelf.  I actually got to stand next to the real SpaceShipOne and it's mother ship on July 30, 2005 at the Oshkosh experimental aircraft fly in; SpaceShipOne and it’s mother ship were on their way to Washington DC to their permanent home in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.

Estes had a couple of versions of the SpaceShipOne, including a Ready To Fly version, a foam body version and my version with a short body tube, plastic nose cone and tail section you have to saw apart, and lots of balsa fins and stickers.

While building this kit, I had some issues with the plastic cement used to retain the engine mount causing the rear boat tail to collapse, so I tried to fill the surface with wood putty and sand.  I ended up priming, sanding, and painting the whole rocket white.  The Estes instructions just said, "Detail it like shown on the package", but I found some close ups from the Smithsonian site to help decide where to paint the red trim.  I then taped off the wings, leaving the front edges exposed to paint with red spray enamel.  This took a LOT of tape.  I mistakenly used the wrong Frog tape ("delicate surfaces"), which led to a lot of bleed through so I had to tape red areas and respray with white.

My biggest problem in finishing the kit was the stickers they gave me as decals.  Most of them stuck for a few minutes (for the pictures below!) then started to peel off.  I don't know if this is because of the age of the kit, the type of surface used (it was worse on the plastic nose cone) or just the nature of this type of decals on curved surfaces.  I need to try a spray adhesive.

I'll try using a spray adhesive and/or coat the rocket with a clear enamel before launching so I don't lose all those stickers.  Stay tuned for an eventual launch!