I could have gone the extra and ordered some Centuri ST tubes but this was really a spare parts/spare kit clone. More blog readers could build this model using the more easier to find Estes "BT" tubing.
The Vector V kit used two ST-7 tubes, one 3" and the upper 6" tube joined by a 1" long coupler.
SMART DESIGN FEATURE - Why two BT-20 tubes? The coupler doubled as an engine block. No sliding the engine block (into some glue already in the tube) from the bottom!
The parts of interest:Five heavy cardstock fins, I cut mine from framing mat board
Double walled "nested" super shroud (upgrade from the original kit single wall reducer)
The 1" long BT-20 coupler
2.3" long launch lug, as tall as the lower BT-55 tube
Basswood strip for the seven detail "vanes"
Some current Estes kits use two lengths of BT-20 and a coupler that way....the one that comes immediately to mind is the Sterling Silver (Epic II at Hobby Lobby) two-stager.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bernard,
DeleteI steer away from BT-20 kits so I haven't seen the most recent small diameter Estes offerings. I believe Centuri was the first to use this coupler/engine block idea.
I remember the coupler-as-engine-block as a standard feature of Centuri rockets; I built them exclusively the first two or so years I flew rockets, and the first time I remember ever shoving an engine block up into a tube with an expended engine casing, it was an Estes rocket.
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