Hello All,

The wealth of information that others have posted to this forum has helped me a great deal, and I would like to return the favor. (I'm not a junior rocketeer, having flown model rockets since 1969, but eventually I'll figure out how to change all of the settings.)

The Centuri Micron has always been one of my favorite model rocket kits, and recently I was delighted to discover that Semroc produces an improved-yet-still-the-same reproduction of this kit (as well as reproductions of several other classic rocket kits by Centuri and Estes).

Semroc's depiction of the Micron is the original version, which had a shorter (balsa) nose cone than the plastic nose cone that was used in the later version. The later version appears to have been first released around 1969, although the original "short balsa nose cone" version was illustrated in the color "group portrait" photographs in Centuri catalogs as late as 1971. Looking through online scans of those catalogs (the links are included below), I have found small photographs of two different multi-color decor schemes for the original-version Micron that were not depicted in the larger catalog illustration drawings. For comparison, I will first describe the more common Micron decor scheme.

The later version (as well as the last 2 - 3 years' worth of production runs of the original version) of the Micron had the decor scheme with which most model rocketeers are familiar: a black nose cone that "blended" into a black roll pattern decal on the upper body tube (the body tube was white overall), yellow or orange fins, and a thin two-color (black and silver) band decal around the body tube just above the fins (see: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/no...a/72cen018.html and http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/no...a/72cen012.html on the Ninfinger Productions web site). The front illustration in the Semroc Micron kit depicts this decor scheme, the only difference being the color of the nose cone, roll pattern, and band (shown as blue instead of black).

The Semroc Micron kit unfortunately does not have decals (but they are working on providing them in the future). There are, however, two completely different decor schemes that Centuri used for the original-version Micron, and they can easily be reproduced on the Semroc Micron using spray paint with simple masking.

One of them can be seen in the color "group portrait" photograph from the 1971 Centuri Catalog (see it here on Doug Holverson's "Centuri Memories" web site http://members.cox.net/retrojayrocket/history.html and on the Ninfinger Productions web site http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/ca...d/71dcen96.html ). The original-version Micron is in the lower left corner of the image, the second rocket up from the bottom (near the white IQSY Tomahawk). It has a red nose cone, a white body tube with a thin red longitudinal stripe, two white opposing fins, and two blue opposing fins. A slightly more complex version of this decor scheme from the 1969 Centuri catalog can be seen here http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/no...a/69cenp97.html on the Ninfinger Productions web site (the fourth rocket from the right in the front row). It looks the same as the 1971 catalog version, but it also has a thin red stripe running down the middle of each white fin, parallel to the leading edge.

I hope this information will be helpful.


-- Blackshire

Welcome, Blackshire! We really appreciate all your suggestions over the past several months. You will find that you are in good company at YORF with so many of us that cherish the first 50 years.

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Carl McLawhorn
NAR#4717 L2
semroc.com

Thanks for the tips, Blackshire!

The Centuri Micron reminds me of the Astron Mark. As I mentioned in another thread, I never knew very much about Centuri until Semroc, Ninfinger and this forum introduced their designs to me a couple of years ago. Now I want to build them all!

They may be old designs for some people, but they are all new to me!

Mark \\.

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SAM # 0011

Thank you both for the welcome! Anything else like this that I find, I will pass along for others (kit manufacturers as well as individual rocketeers) to use.

Carl, I think Mark II's comment above is worth taking to heart: to young rocketeers as well as to adult BARs who "missed" either company's kits for any reason, these classic kits *ARE* new! That's a point worth taking account of in marketing them. Due to their unusually high performance even on low-power motors, a term such as "timeless classic" (or something similar) would be appropriate to describe them in marketing literature. These are definitely NOT "doughty old designs" in performance! :-)

Mark II, there was a "kit-for-kit" rivalry between Centuri and Estes in the 1960s. The Micron was Centuri's answer to the Estes Mark, as the Centuri Lil' Hercules was to the Estes Streak and the Centuri Javelin was to the Estes Alpha (or perhaps to the Estes Sky Hook).

The great thing about both companies' earlier kits such as these is that (as G. Harry Stine pointed out in his "Handbook of Model Rocketry") they were/are all at or very near the optimum trade-off point between weight and drag. This is why they perform exceptionally well even on low-impulse "1/2A" and "A" motors (and on 13 mm mini motors in suitable adapter mounts).

This is good news in the current economic climate, because it means that we rocketeers (and youth groups who use model rocketry as a teaching aid) who fly these classic models can still fly them frequently using low-impulse (and thus low-cost) motors and still achieve fast, high, and crowd-pleasing flights. (In fact, Centuri did offer Micron bulk packs to schools, scouting groups, and summer camps, and they "played up" the low-cost-per-flight angle.)


-- Blackshire

Yes, I was aware of the intense Centuri-Estes rivalry back when I was flying model rockets in the late 1960's. I knew that Centuri existed and I knew that they had products that were of the same general type as those made by Estes, but I bought exclusively from EI in those years and never got around to seeing what Centuri actually had to offer in their catalogs. As I mentioned before, I really regret now that I never did that. At the time, my personal funds were so limited that I doubt that I would have been able to order anything from them anyway. I was always very pleased with the products from Estes Industries.

Someone on this forum mentioned awhile ago that the Centuri Astro-1 looked just like the Estes Alpha, but with a different side of the fin used as the root edge. That may be true to a large extent, but the Astro-1 was also a longer rocket. The Centuri Lil' Hercules reminds me more of Vern Estes' Orange Bullet design, which was the predecessor of the Astron Scout.

OTOH, in the pre-Damon days, Centuri never had anything that was similar to the Astron Scout or the Astron Sprite, and Estes never had anything that was equivalent to the Moonraker or The Point. Centuri also never had a product like the Camroc, and Estes never produced a dual glider like the Centuri Space Shuttle. (I believe that, much later on, Centuri was also the first to produce a successful and stable UFO design.) There were certainly several tit-for-tat products, but the two companies also struck out in different directions in exploring new product territories as well.

Mark \\.

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SAM # 0011

Although I knew about Centuri, our family mostly flew Estes kits. Our local hobby shop (Orange Blossom Hobbies in Miami) carried mostly Estes rockets, with just a few Centuri, MPC, Cox, and even (in the early 1970s) original Semroc kits. Their only motors were Estes motors.

I knew the Centuri kits from the catalogs they sold at the counter, but they only offered a few such as the Lil' Hercules, Astro-1, and Moonraker. With Centuri it wasn't just the kits, but also the style of everything they did that grabbed me. From the excellent space scene paste-ups in their catalogs to the quality of the drawings in their kit instructions to the little realistic touches such as the aluminized "spec plate" decals, everything they did evoked a feeling that you were on an "inside track to the future." There was also an element of mystery about them--for example, unlike Estes they never provided any photographs of the Centuri factory in their catalogs.

In addition to never developing aerial cameras or transmitters like Estes' "Transroc," Centuri also didn't retain their powerful Mini-Max or Enerjet "D" - "F" motors for very long, being limited to "A" - "C" motors for most of their time in business. I think those limitations forced them to become more creative with techniques (rear-ejection models, passport staging, ejection baffles, self-adhesive shock cord anchors), materials (fiber fins, extensive use of styrene plastic parts), and presentation (aluminized "spec plate" decals, catalog & instruction sheet artwork).


-- Black Shire

Hi Blackshire,
You mentioned that Centuri never had a picture of their factory facility in their catalogs. You're right, they didn't, but they did show an aerial photo of their "new factory" in one of their American Rocketeer newsletters. It might be on the Ninfinger site. Maybe in 1971 or 72.
Centuri didn't offer group tours like Estes did. They weren't really set up for it. The Centuri facility was in an industrial park. Not really well marked, just the Centuri name on the outside wall towards the right side "main" offices. I was lucky enough to get a "tour" from Larry Brown from the R&D department back in the early 1970s.
Estes, on the other hand, offered tours throughout the day. Not much trouble finding the place, the main building paralled the highway. You pretty much saw it all, except for the engine manufacturing buildings in the distance. You saw the mail department, kits bagged then boxed for shipping. It finished up with a Big Bertha launch at the rear of the building. Everyone would then exit through the retail store. I remember to the right side of the main building was the "Reserved for Vern Estes" parking sign.

Both facility tours were the highlight of our southwest trip in 1973.

Hans "Chris" Michielssen
www.howtobuildmodelrockets.20m.com

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Hans "Chris" Michielssen
Old/New NAR # 19086 SR

www.oddlrockets.com
www.modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com
http://www.nar.org/educational-reso...ing-techniques/
Your results may vary
"Nose cones roll, be careful with that."
Every spaceman needs a ray gun.
Look out - I'm the Meister Shyster!

Exactly -- both companies innovated furiously during their first decade as separate entities, but in different areas. They tremendously enriched the hobby by doing so. Other companies that were around at the time also made significant innovations. RDC introduced the Enerjet motors, for example, and Semroc, in producing the Hydra VII, contributed one of the most magnificent model rockets ever released in that (or any other) era.

Neither rear-ejection recovery nor richly illustrated catalogs and kit instructions were Centuri exclusives. I absolutely loved the pen and ink line illustrations that were used in the 1960's Estes Industries kit instructions, too. (See the attached PDF's for a couple of examples.) They were some of the finest examples of composition and technical clarity that I have ever seen in any technical documentation anywhere. That type of aesthetic is sorely missed now.

I never saw any model rocketry items in any retail outlets, hobby shops or otherwise, until sometime in the early '70's, a few years after I suspended my active involvement. I still get blown away whenever I see real kits hanging in a real hobby shop.

Mark \\.

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	Saturn 1B.pdf (326.3 KB, 90 views)
	Astron Sprite.pdf (322.9 KB, 87 views)

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SAM # 0011

Yes. Kind of graphic manifestation of slide rule and T-square era engineering wonkishness.

This style was still around when I started buying Estes stuff in 1970. The "design book" that came with my starter set, the MRN collection I bought around 1975, a choice few older kit instruction sheets . . . they were full of those illustrations.

I visited the Centuri plant in the mid-1970s.

I wrote a short article about it for LAUNCH magazine several years ago.

There was not much to see other than the Range Store.

Here are the pictures I took outside and inside of the facility.


Bob

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