All Rocketry Blogs

 Rocketry Product: Estes - Leviathan {Kit} (9700) [2012-2017]

Rocket N00b: 2016 Rocketry To-Do List (2016-01-02)

I walked into the Rocket Room today, and it hit me that I hadn't touched anything in there in maybe a week or more. The sun was streaming in through the windows, and it looks like my girlfriend ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Building a Leviathan (2016-10-27)

I bought a Leviathan almost a year ago while they were on clearance at Estes. I really don't need another 4FNC mid-power rocket in the fleet so it has just been gathering dust. However, I am having ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Leviathan progress and a snag (2016-10-28)

Here is the progress to date - the motor mount and coupler is bonded and the fins are dry fit. Looks like plenty of room for a bunch of 18mm mounts, right? Well, not so much with the Estes retainer ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: The Leviathan is in a planned hold (2016-11-02)

The fins are on and here it is stacked up. Note the old nose cone happens to be the color shown in the Estes suggested paint scheme. Except for the yellow tip, of course. The planned hold will allow ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Painting woes (2016-11-06)

I had decided to paint the entire Leviathan a gunmetal gray to match the nose cone. Hopefully I can find some holographic trim locally. There's a place that carries it but they seem no not stock it ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Painting woes, part 2 (2016-11-06)

Just a quick update after I left the aforementioned paint jobs to dry for three hours. The graphic metallic on the nose cone looked better after it dried. There are a few spots that were darker and ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Painting woes, part 3 (2016-11-07)

Notwithstanding the wind and any differences between the metallic graphite and other Testors paint, It appears that the majority of the problem is me. That's not surprising. Anyway, the good news is ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Painting woes, part 4...and a decision for the future (2016-11-08)

I am continuing to paint the Leviathan's body. With all that's going on, including a cold snap tomorrow, it will be a while. I have a template for the orange fin but won't cut them until it is time ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Leviathan, unexpected progress and, yes, ongoing woes (2016-11-11)

First, the progress. I had more free time and better weather than I had originally anticipated and the paint step is pretty much done. I also threw in the towel and installed the rear ring and motor ... [Read More]

Rocket Dungeon: Leviathan - stick a fork in it (2016-11-14)

The Leviathan is done and the finish quality is my standard "good from 10 feet". The subtle tone differences seem to be more evident on camera than in the flesh and the orange sparkles look great ... [Read More]

Rocket N00b: Messing Around with Glue - Strength, Flexibility, Et Cetera (2018-05-21)

After my little experiment to find out the water weight of white and yellow glue - weight which would be lost as the rocket dried - I got curious about some other properties of adhesives used in ... [Read More]

Model Rocket Building: Hand Painted Estes Leviathan (2014-07-01)

    From YORF, Here's a Leviathan by Kimble29   Estes Leviathan built and FINALLY painted "Took forever to paint this thing. Lots of different reasons but I finally ... [Read More]

Rocket N00b: Has the Leviathan Gone Extinct? (2015-08-02)

The Estes Leviathan, a very popular mid power rocket, seems to have disappeared completely from he Estes website. It was on sale, along with a lot of other rockets, all of July. The July sale ... [Read More]

Rocket N00b: Current Projects #2 (2016-08-19)

I haven't posted anything on this blog in about two weeks. Apologies to my regular readers, particularly if you've been waiting for the most recent installment of the Rocket Camp series of posts. I ... [Read More]

Rocket N00b: K'Tesh! A Chat with Jim Parsons, OpenRocket Wizard - The Model Rocket Show (2020-05-11)

Jim Parsons' OpenRocket sim of the Estes Cineroc and Omega The latest episode of The Model Rocket Show podcast is up, and I'm talking with Jim Parsons. You may know Jim by the username K'Tesh on The ... [Read More]