I bought the Starlight Rockets Bomarc and buyer's remorse is the rule of the day. It should be a reasonably close copy of the Estes Bomarc - same diameter tube, and it is ADVERTISED online AND on the package as 23" long (the Estes kit was 23.5", I think). OK - different nose cone, 0.5" difference, no big deal, right?

Wrong.

Turns out the main tube, rather than being a standard 18" length, is just 13.5" long. For those of you keeping score, that's 25% too short for the scale (or 25% too short to be a reasonably close copy)! The actual kit length comes in around 19". The ramjet tubes are shorter too - but by 25%? Oh no, that would be too consistent. They are 6" long rather than 6.5" on the original - and the difference is probably mooted by the fact the ramjet noses look a simdge longer than the Estes ones (I have an original, built, in my collection). So, even if the cones were the exact right length, it would mean you are putting ramjets that are 8% too short on a rocket 25% too short. (BTW, Starlight just emailed and said the tubes should be 4.5" - which would be 31% smaller than Estes...). Needless to say, it all looks wonky and terribly, terribly wrong. Naturally, I didn't figure out how broken it was until I had the wing and tail glued on - way too late to use an 18" tube and maybe salvage the whole mess.

One last insult - the finishing instructions are carbon copies from Estes - so none of the dimensions will work on a rocket that is 25% too short.

I'm trashing the model and salvaging what I can for parts. If you want a "Goony Bomarc," then this is the kit for you. If the fins, wing, and tail are the right size (probably not....) maybe you could make it into something reasonable.

Buyer beware.

Oh, wow. Bummer!

I don’t understand why some people/companies would even market such shortcomings as a viable ‘product’. I don’t know what goes through their mind to come to the conclusion “Yes, this is ready to market for sale”.

Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Well said! This was clearly rushed to market. I was prepared for differences with the Estes kit. The original had a vacuum-formed piece on the "spine." The Starlight kit used balsa to build up the spine. No biggie, and I actually appreciate the challenge! Starlight also omitted the pitot tubes (?) on the wings and horizontal stabilizers. Again - no biggie, and an opportunity for the builder to grab some toothpicks and customize their model. But the basic dimensions? No. You can't skimp on that. It just feels cheap.

Another issue is using a copy of the Estes instructions. Unless they got permission from Estes (highly unlikely!) it just looks unprofessional, in my opinion. (Not to mention possible copyright infringements.)

__________________
Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

Bob has this to say about the Bomarc on his blog:

https://www.starlightrockets.com/po...truction-errors

__________________
-Wolfram v. Kiparski
NAR 28643 - TRA 15520
MTMA Section #606 President

Sounds like a total junker of a kit to me.

__________________
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, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Even the blog is wrong. As I said, he emailed (after the blog post) and said the nacelle tubes should be 4.5" long. Make up your mind!

That posting about kit errors is full of typos and grammatical errors. Maybe I am being too picky, but I doubted any chance of that kit getting the details correctly identified and fixed, after reading that.

__________________
Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

You are exactly right....I read that and thought it was not putting forward a very good image of his/their company. I don't know him/them, and they may be very nice, wonderful people. But, there certainly seems to be issues with the quality aspect of what they do.

Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

You are NOT being "TOO PICKY" . . . If you BUY a BOMARC, you should GET a BOMARC !

I just contacted the company and offered them REAL Scale Data . . . GRATIS !


Let's see if they take their business and their Customers seriously enough to "do the right thing", fix the errors, and to respond, publicly, here on the Forum !

Dave F.

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