Friday, December 9, 2016

STM-12 Kitbash? Maybe Not!!!



EDIT: I did this post before I had a chance to see the STM-12 kit parts. As it turns out, it isn't a good candidate for an AMRAAM kitbash.
Sure it looks a bit like the AMRAAM, but the STM-12 kit only has three fins! The AMRAAM has four.
The STM-12 body tubes are already slotted for three fins. You'd have to buy new BT-60 body tubes - and maybe a shorter nose cone so . . . forget I ever brought it up!
Unless . . . you wanted to build a sorta' scale three finned AMRAAM.

The Estes STM-12 is on clearance right now on the Estes website for $6.99: CLICK HERE
I like the looks of the STM-12 but it could be kit bashed into an sport scale AAMRAM pretty easily.


Here's the Peter Alway scale data I found after a search:
Let's see -
The STM-12 body tube is a BT-60 at 1.637" diameter.
The AAMRAM is 7" diameter.
Divide 7" by 1.637" to get a 4.27 scale factor.
Simply divide all the measurements in the Alway drawing by 4.27 to get the build sizes needed.

Divide 144.25 by 4.27, the model will be 33.78" tall.
The STM-12 kit is 44.4" tall so you could use the tubes supplied in the kit. (No, you can't use the kit tubes)
New fins might have to be cut out, the trailing edges of the STM-12 fins aren't flat. (You could cut scale fins from the kit supplied balsa)
That nose cone looks long, but for a sport scale model it'll be close enough.
Those blue bands could be done with a strip of Monokote trim. Decals look to be all black, so home decal printing is easy.
With the forward fins, the OOP Estes AAMRAM kit had two pats of clay to go into the nose cone. THE STM-12 kit doesn't require any clay.
A little time with a calculator and you'd be good to go! Sure there would be some cutting and adjustments. but for $6.99 it's a good start for a semi-scale rocket!

Before you order the STM-12 kit on clearance, bear in mind many bagged kits have had malformed body tubes. The kits are bagged up in China. The tubes are packed tight in bags that are too small.

1 comment:

  1. I ended up with a couple of STM-12s (just what does that stand for any way?) And I think a shortened version with a mil-style paint scheme would look pretty good. Though I doubt I'll use the the face card scheme regardless, reminds me of some kind of faux Native American decor!

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