Skill Level 2? No, I don't think so. More like a Skill Level 4.
It's interesting to look up the Centuri Blackbird instructions at Jim Z's - http://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/cen5349.htm
This BT-50 based model looks to be a downsize of the earlier Centuri kit. The larger BT-60 Centuri version was using Estes parts at the time.
The kit parts were actually good quality.
The BT-50 tubes were the best I'd seen in quite a while.
The biggest downfall, the decals are peel and stick! Many of them are white so I won't be able to redraw and print decals at home.
The embossing on the card stock is faint - almost not there!
Some of the die cutting is off, more on that later.
I can already see how hard these will be to glue and form over the central BT-50 tube.
Yay! I'm glad whenever I see you building a model I've built, or am planning on building. I've built two of these.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how far you are on this build already, probably already finished, but I have some suggestions.
1. The engine mount should be glued into the main body tube BEFORE the paper coverings are glued on. Don't wait until the end like the instructions say - there's no reason to and the body tube will deform.
2. Have the nose cone in place when gluing on the paper coverings. They overlap the nose cone and butt up against a shoulder in the plastic. If the nose cone isn't in place it will be nearly impossible to accidentally get the paper in the correct place.
3. Throw the peel and stick graphics in the garbage and order a set of decals from http://excelsiorrocketry.com/ They make a very nice set and the end result will look a lot better than the stickers.
Hi Mushtang!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I appreciate the tips.
I am along in the build and have kept a D engine casing in place of the mount so the tube won't deform when gluing on the shroud skins.
The nose cone is also in place for gluing the top and bottom shrouds.
The top and bottom of the nose cone are two different curves. I got them close!
dlazarus6660 from YORF is sending me some water slide decals for it!
One of my favorites! My most recent one has 13mm mounts in the outboard tubes for A10-PT motors
ReplyDeleteHi Chris,
ReplyDeleteThe three engine cluster has crossed my mind, too.
My concern is getting all three to ignite at the same time. The outside engines are pretty far away from the centerline.
The file is gone.
ReplyDeleteCould you lease upload it again?
Thank you~@@
Hi SacaQue,
DeleteThe link is above in the blog post. Some of the documents on the Jim Z site were dark for a while. That may have fouled the old address I had posted over three years ago.
Thank you so much!
Deletehey Chris. Sorry to dig up such an old thread, I was wondering if you happened to keep a scan of the fin templates?
DeleteTo Anonymous,
DeleteSorry, I didn't scan the fin templates.