Comrades,

I didn't want to highjack the other Little Joe II thread. I've attached pictures of a project I picked up on eBay at least six or seven years ago. Its a tower, a capsule, some dowels and two sheets of instructions. The instructions have no identifying information as to who produced this partial kit. I rediscovered it going through my rocket storage boxes recently (I only have three).

I'd like to know more about this kit, like who made it and are there any other instructions?

Attached Thumbnails

       

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NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

Could this possibly be a kit from the now defunct yet infamous "Sheri's Hot Rockets" ?

I think about 6 years ago is when she closed up shop and just moved to Hawaii or something like that, leaving paid orders unfulfilled as I recall.

The last I knew some reputable maker bought her assets, but never relaunched her line.

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

The last I knew Red Arrow Hobbies was carrying her line of kits.

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NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

GH,

I don't think it's one of Sheri's. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the "instructions" say it's for LOC 4" tubing in such a way as to imply you're doing it yourself. There are no fin or even body tube drawings. If it wasn't for the five color printing on one of the sheets, I would have said its a garage kit somebody put together.

The escape rocket is very nice with pre-drilled holes for the tower and the motor nozzles. The capsule itself is either heavy balsa or basswood and this one is very nicely primed. Somebody went to a lot of trouble. My guess is it dates from the mid-90's based on the fonts.

In any event, I bought some LOC tubing and armed with Rockets of the World, this might move on to the bench after the first of the year.

__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

That would be Red Arrow Hobbies, and they have at least partially relaunched the line...

As for the other, "Sheri-gate" won't soon be forgotten... (or shouldn't be!)

Later! OL JR

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The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

I steered WAY clear of her kits even though they were all over ebay for a while.
Steered clear when I heard the tubes were very rough, did not ship immediately upon order (built the kits up on THEIR schedule once an order arrived), lousy reviews, etc.

Most people involved in this hobby are GREAT, but there always will be a few rotten apples.
Their ebay ads seemed very 'marketing' heavy, with nobody I knew ever buying/building their kits.
The reviews I saw were all negative.

Not a surprise to me the way they folded with several getting screwed over.

Not a company many will miss one iota. The ones I miss are full-line Semroc, Hawk's Hobby, and Q-Modeling.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

Yeah... Everything you say is true...

Of course never being into HPR, I never had the desire or opportunity to buy and build one of her kits. I saw the molds she was still pulling castings of things like the Gemini capsule from for the Gemini Titan kit, and it was pathetic... half the details were worn slick smooth off from so much overuse; the mold should have been replaced but she was STILL sending kits out with nosecones made from it, despite the fact that half the capsule was devoid of details due to the wear... Dave at Red Arrow Hobbies had to have ENTIRELY NEW prototypes commissioned to make new molds. The tubes were typically "carpet tubes" from what I've heard-- heavy, thick walled, NO finish to the tube whatsoever-- fuzzy crap tubes. About the only REAL "value" in her kits IMHO were the machined aluminum "rocket nozzle" screw on motor casing retainers, which were very nice. I learned from Dave at RAH that Sheri was getting those basically in exchange for beer or beer money from a friend of her husband in Arizona, so essentially for free... he machined them for her according to whatever "arrangement" they had... When Sheri went through a very messy divorce with her ex-husband, that "arrangement" dried up, and she had NO way to continue producing the complete kits without the aluminum rocket nozzle motor retainers. She moved to Hawaii after her divorce, which is only about THE most expensive place in the US to live, and apparently dragged what was left of her kit-producing supplies with her out there. She was out of a lot of critical parts and either couldn't afford to reorder or hadn't reordered, and thus she was simply collecting money from unsuspecting people still ordering her kits and simply stiffing them... she spent the money and they got nothing. Once that situation had played itself out and her reputation was shot and that revenue stream dried up, she sold the remaining kit and kaboodle of what was left to Dave at Red Arrow Hobbies (which wasn't much from what I understand; the tubes and stuff she had he considered pretty worthless, as were most of the remaining parts). The main thing Dave got was the "name" (which personally I suggested he jettison as "damaged goods") and the rights to produce the kits/designs.

As they were (as Sheri sold them) they were at best "semi-scale" and were pretty low quality in terms of materials, as previously mentioned. The castings were not particularly detailed (even when pulled from molds that weren't worn out) and they were very heavy when built. Dave basically had to "re-engineer" the kits to be worth the money. He started with commissioning new super-detailed masters from which to pull molds to make production capsules and parts, and getting suppliers for new, higher quality tubes and parts. When we talked several years ago at the RAH location in Michigan, Dave was telling me the hardest part of the entire re-release of the SHR kits was going to be securing a new supplier to make the aluminum nozzle motor retainers-- at the time he told me that he'd checked with a number of local machinists capable of producing the turned aluminum nozzles, and that the ones he'd talked to quoted a price for the nozzles that would basically double the price of the kits (from what Sheri had been charging for them). I guess that he solved that problem since the kits are for sale again.

Anyway, that's the story as I got it straight from the source (Dave at RAH). Buying one of Dave's "New SHR" kits should be ENTIRELY different from the crappy kits from the OLD SHR...

Later! OL JR

__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Assuredly not an SHR product. Almost looks to be two different versions of the instructions since they seem to replicate function.

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NAR 91005
"The complexity of living is eminently favored to the simplicity of not."

Yes, to drag the thread back on topic-- agree totally-- NOT an SHR product.

Looks to be a cottage manufacturer...

Later! OL JR

__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Could it be a Kosrox Little Joe II?