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Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Semroc (Centuri) Excalibur KV-43 Background

According to the Semroc website -
The first version of the Excalibur was introduced in the 1972 Centuri catalog -


The Semroc website says it had streamer recovery, but it did use a 12" parachute.
In 1973, a booster was added, this kit variation was renamed the Excalibur 2.
The Excalibur single stage was on sale up to 1980. The two-stage version was sold until 1981.
The blue and black paint scheme above was never that interesting to me, except for the chrome wrap that Centuri included in some kits at that time.

There's a second paint scheme that is difficult to figure out. It's in the Centuri Rocket Times newspaper print catalogs that started in 1975: CLICK HERE 
There was still another catalog model that was white, green and black - not my favorite. 




Here's the decor I'll try to duplicate. It first showed up in the BIG SHOT starter set in the 1980 Centuri catalog.

TRIVIA: The Excalibur used fiber fins or as Centuri called them - "Fibre", the British spelling of "Fiber". These were die-cut from the same thick card material used for centering rings.
Die-cutting left you with rounded off edges on one side, the other side had squared edges. The Semroc Retro Repo kit I'll be assembling has laser cut fiber fins.

2 comments:

  1. Just got this on sale, always wanted it as a kid. Drooled over that rocket times page back then.

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  2. This is going to be a nice looking one! I did mine in the all white with red nose cone. Wanted to do one of the fins in red or florescent red, but didn't.

    Sincerely,
    J.W.

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