The way the model was engineered was interesting but required some extra primer and sealing steps.
If you were to just punch out the pieces, glue it together and paint, you'd end up with many rough, bulged edges.
I picked up two of these on Ebay for a very reasonable price.
In the mid to late 1970s, many Centuri kits had die-cut card stock fins instead of balsa. These two had LOTS of layered card stock.
Centuri called the Marauder fins "baffled, multi-layer" wings.
Making a model like this out of balsa would have been difficult. Thick card stock construction solved many problems.
Here's all the parts.
There are four sheets of die-cut card stock in three different thicknesses.
The LONG blow molded nose cone. By 1979, Centuri was steering away from the two part molded nose cones.
The shock cord mount is just a small piece of card stock, maybe too small.
The clay nose weight is hard but still usable.
One of the two ST-7 missile launcher tubes was a dark purple color. Held up to a light it was almost translucent. I've never seen a body tube like this before.
In the second picture is the "Super" decal sheet. It's not really super, it's about 1 1/2" x 4".
Hey Chris~ Really looking forward to watching this build. I picked up a couple of these not long ago (probably from the same seller you got yours from) mainly because they were among the few NOS Centuri kits available at a price I was willing to pay and that are also interesting models.
ReplyDeleteI built that even more unique dual-hulled companion on the catalog page you show above, though that was in the early 90s when Estes was selling it under a different name. (I remember watching that old ca. 1979-80 "Buck Rogers" TV series during the original run but wasn't enthused.) On the Dual Hull, I took my time, followed the instrux carefully, test-fit everything before gluing, and it came out well. But yes, it required/requires an enormous amount of seam filling, etc. That's where I got hung up: 20+ years later, it's in a box in the closet waiting to be finished.
BTW, the Draconian Marauder uses the Centuri PNC-89, very common on late Centuri kits (and one of my favorite cone shapes). But I digress! On to Part 2! ~Lawrence
Hi Lawrence,
DeleteYeah, it was an interesting build with LOTS of seam filling and cleaning up the card stock edges.
I'd like to try the Starfighter if I could find it at a reasonable price.
The Marauder is finished and already prepped for flight.
I liked the original Buck Rogers movie that came out before the TV series. Erin Gray was about the only reason for watching the TV show.
Agree on the "Erin Gray Caveat"! {:-)
ReplyDeleteI actually remember seeing 1930s serial with Buster Crabbe on Sunday mornings on WGN in the late 1970s. They ran it in alternation with the earlier Flash Gordon serial starring.....Buster Crabbe! Apparently, he also guest starred on a ep of the 1979/80 series. ~Lawrence
Hi Lawrence,
DeleteI met Buster Crabbe at Knott's Berry Farm when I worked there in 1979. I asked for an autograph. He said: "Aren't you a little young to know who I am?" I told him it was for my Mother.
He probably didn't like my answer, but my Mother appreciated the autograph.
I built this kit out of the bag with no mods and only used white glue, finished with red primer. I didn't think it looked too rough built out of the bag, but I'm sure yours is going to look great.
ReplyDeletehttp://rocketshoppe.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12446&page=1&pp=10
Hi David,
DeleteI checked out the link, your build looks great!
Who knows, the die-cut blades might have been dull by the time my kit was made up. There was too many pressure crimped edges on the bottom layer of the wing and rudder piece.
David: Nice build! In all my combing of the YORF archives, that thread somehow eluded me.
ReplyDeleteChris: If Buster Crabbe didn't know it before he encountered you, he did afterward - Fame is a double-edged sword! {:-)
Both: you guys are getting me inspired to break open one of those Marauder kits in my voluminous unbuilt pile. Funny thing is, I love these complex kits, even though I'm not a huge fan of sci-fi (I don't dislike it or anything like that - just never been a fanatic). I'm thinking it's because they let you pursue scale model construction standards without the constraint of not deviating from the prototype. Or something.... Cheers, ~Lawrence
What an interesting looking kit. I was not aware that there were NOS kits from that time available. Especially the Sci-Fi types of kits, which I would have thought would have been snapped up by collectors. I'm going to be following this build. It looks great.
ReplyDelete