Bob's Builds 2015
 

Like several others have done, I am going to create my own thread to discuss/show the models I have been building.

I usually have no idea what I will decide to build so follow along and enjoy!

Back in December 2009 I was feeling a bit nostalgic and wanted to build clones of some Estes kits from the late 1970s-early 1980s.

I decided on three models and ordered the parts from Semroc. I also placed an order with Excelsior Rocketry/Sandman/Gordy for decals for these three models.

In February of this year I deceided it was about time I built these three models. :o

First up was an Estes Cobra 1500 (Kit # 1294).

I built the kit stock except for the location where the recovery system ejects from the model.
The Cobra 1500 is 59" tall which makes it difficult to transport in my car. I decided to have the model come apart at the paint line between two of the BT-55 tubes (Yellow/White).

The model went together well and looked pretty good after being painted. I took out the Excelsior decal sheet and began to apply the decals.

I soon realized that the sheet only had decals for two of the four fins. I contacted Gordy and he sent out a sheet of fin decals only. Unfortunately this additional sheet only had decals for one side of the fins. I again contacted Gordy and he sent me another sheet of fin decals with which I was able to finish the model.

I want to give a big customer service kudo to Excelsior Rocketry who sent out both these additional decal sheets at no charge to me. That's good customer service. :)

I have flown the Cobra 1500 once on an Estes C6-3 motor for a good flight.

Continuing with my building of long tall rockets was a clone of the Estes Blue Bird Zero (Kit # 1335).

This version has the 18mm motor mount. No modifications or alterations to the original design and decals by Excelsior Rocketry.

I haven't had the opportunity to fly it yet.

The thrid of my nostalgic rocket models was the Estes Renegade model (Kit # 1271).

I built an original kit of this model in 1985 and still fly it. I consider it one of my 'go to' models when I feel the need for a little 'Mighty D12' power. :D

That thirty-year old kit has seen many flights. Everything from C11s to D12s BP motors and E15 and E30 AP motors. When I was at AeroTech this Renegade model was used as the test model for the molded case E15 and E30 motors.

In the 1990s I bought my first rocket altimeter, an Adept Rocketry ALTIM1C Altimeter. I built a BT-60 payload section to replace the stock kit nose cone and flew the Renegade many times in that configuration.

With all this flying the Renegade became really beat-up and worn. I had to re-glue all of the fins at one time or another due to rough landings.

I retired the model and packed it away. One day when going through a box of rocket stuff (That's always a fun thing to do) I discovered the original kit nose cone for the Renegade. After going through a few other boxes I found the Renegade kit and decided to put it back into commission. Out went the payload section and the original nose cone was re-attached.

This Renegade has been flying off-and-on for the past ten years. I really liked the looks of this kit so it became the third of the three clone models I built. It is a stock build with decals from Gordy. I used Tamiya Bright Red (TS-49) spray paint for the upper section of the model and i really like it. I've used this color Tamiya paint on several of my other models and it really is quite striking.

No flights yet.

Here's a picture of my Renegade clone and another picture of the clone with my original Renegade.

Here's a picture of all three of my clones (Blue Bird Zero, Cobra 1500, Renegade).

Those were fun builds.

Nice builds!
80's kits is where I'm at too, so I'll be watching ;)

Thank you very much.

My taste in rocket building tends to be eclectic. ;)

When I attend a major launch (NARAM, NSL) I try to build a few rockets to specifically fly at that event.

For NARAM-55 two years ago in Ohio I wanted to build a new rocket or two for that event. I was limited in my choices as I had to ship any rockets I wanted to fly and the flying field had some restrictions on it.

I was expecting/hoping to see Bill Stine at NARAM-55 (We used to work together) and there was a small chance/hope that my friend Scott Branche might also attend.

Scott had designed several rockets for Quest so I decided to build one of the 'Advanced Rocketry' kits released by Quest. I settled on the Mean Green model.

It was a fast build and I had to finish and ship it a week before NARAM-55 to make sure it arrived in time. It did and I flew it successfully at the event. Neither Bill or Scott attended NARAM-55.

The following year, at NARAM-56 in Colorado, I brought along the Mean Green to fly. Bill Stine was at NARAM-56 and he talked to me about flying a demo using my Mean Green model and one of the new AeroTech 24mm F44-8W motors.

I said sure and loaded up the Mean Green with an F44-8W motor.

To say that the Mean Green took off was an understatement. I was using my Canon EOS-20D to film the flight. I had the camera in burst mode which meant the camera took pictures at a rate of five pictures a second. I had one picture of the smoke from the igniter/starter and the next picture just showing a smoke trail. I don't know how high it went but it was up there. The parachute deployed and the model started to drift out of the range. I lost sight of it and never saw it come down.

I bought another Mean Green kit after NARAM-56 and decided to build it to fly at NARAM-57 this July. I used a thicker walled and longer motor mount tube which incorporated an ejection baffle. An Estes 24mm motor retainer was used instead of the kit supplied motor hook.

The 'new' Mean Green is now ready to go but it won't be flying on any F44s again. I plan a nice recoverable D12 flight at NARAM-57.

Good stuff! I always like your builds and it's good that you've started a thread for them. You may want to re-post your Centuri Aero Darts, etc. I know I wouldn't mind.

Very Nice clones.
I had problematic ejection on 18mm motors with my original Cobra 1500 in the 80's.
Always thought it should have a "stuffer tube" or ejection at the lower joint like your modification.
I replaced the standard mount with a 15" long Bt-50 (24mm) mount and no longer had ejection issues.