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blackshire
05-11-2013, 07:10 AM
Hello All,

Having never had any of the MPC Miniroc kits (please see the attached images and the links below) when they were available, I have purchased duplicate parts (including custom nose cones) for the Miniroc kits from Semroc. (The Minirocs' 15 mm [0.590"] O.D. tubing is available from Quest and from the Euclid Spiral Paper Tube Company.) Since Sandman (Excelsior Rocketry) makes the MPC Minirocs decal set, Semroc could (if Carl and Sheryl thought it worthwhile, of course) offer the MPC Minirocs as xKits. Scans of their instructions are available online (I've included the links below). What do you all think? Would you be interested in buying these kits if they were available? I know I would! Also:

Below are links to both the illustrated catalog listings of these MPC/AVI Miniroc kits *and* to online scans of the plans, fin patterns, and decals for most of them. They are:

Super Star (a high-performance streamer-recovery rocket), Pipsqueak (a low-drag design), Taurus-1 (a scale-like, low-drag sounding rocket design with two optional simulated boosters [more on these boosters below]), Astrobee D (a scale model of the Aerojet-General sounding rocket), Delta Katt (a delta-winged boost-glider), and ASP-1 (a scale model of the Cooper Development sounding rocket), see: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/nostalgia/74avi07.html and http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/nostalgia/74avi08.html . Here below are links to scans of these kits' instructions, fin patterns, parts lists, and decals:

Super Star kit (plans, decal scan, and fin pattern): http://www.oldrocketplans.com/mpc/mpc3-0910/mpc3-0910.htm

Pipsqueak kit (parts list, decal scan, and fin pattern): http://www.oldrocketplans.com/mpc/mpc3-0915/mpc3-0915.htm and
http://www.oldrocketplans.com/mpc/mpc3-0915/03-0915.pdf

Taurus-1 kit (plans, decal scan, and fin pattern): http://www.oldrocketplans.com/mpc/mpc3-0920/mpc3-0920.htm

Delta Katt kit (plans, decal scan, and fin pattern): http://www.spacemodeling.org/JimZ/mpc0930.htm and http://www.oldrocketplans.com/mpc/mpc3-0930/mpc3-0930.htm As well:

Here are links to illustrated reviews of several MPC Miniroc kits (see: www.rocketreviews.com/mpc-taurus-1-john-lee-1114.html , www.rocketreviews.com/mpc-super-star-jeff-lane.html , and www.rocketreviews.com/mpc-delta-katt-fred-nardei.html ). Lastly, here is scale data on the Astrobee D (see: http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/astrobee.html ) and the ASP-1 (http://www.postwarv2.com/asp/drawings.html and http://www.postwarv2.com/asp/ ). Peter Alway's book "Rockets of the World" (which is available from NARTS, see: http://www.nar.org/NARTS/ ) also has scale data on the Astrobee D and the ASP-1. In addition:

It -might- be possible for them to make turned-dowel simulated boosters for the Taurus 1. In the MPC Taurus 1 kit, the two boosters were each made using a length of tubing (5 mm in diameter and 76 mm long), with a plastic nose cone and a plastic nozzle that were glued into the tube. Maybe the booster could be turned as a single piece? Below are the dimensions of the plastic booster nose cone and nozzle, and here (see: www.rocketreviews.com/mpc-taurus-1-john-lee-1114.html ) is how they look. Here are the booster nose cone and nozzle dimensions (many thanks to John Lee for all of the dimensions!):

Booster nose cone length: 9.34 mm (23/64")
Booster nozzle shoulder length (exposed): 3.4 mm (9/64")
Nozzle throat diameter: 2.71 mm (7/64")
Nozzle exit diameter: 3.78 mm
Nozzle length: 3.7 mm

I hope this information will be helpful.

blackshire
05-14-2013, 09:10 AM
As Shrox would say, "No one's liking the MPC Minirocs Semroc xKits idea..." :-) / :-(

Doug Sams
05-14-2013, 09:34 AM
As Shrox would say, "No one's liking the MPC Minirocs Semroc xKits idea..." :-) / :-(Well...when I originally read the post, my thinking was that there is already a demonstrated lack of interest in the product line. It has taken decades to sell off inventory left over after MPC got out of the rocket biz, so I can't help but wonder what kind of market there would be today. Would someone - ie, would Carl - want to put in the man hours to set up product pages and assemble the BOMs, then spend some capital to stock the parts in light of the poor track record of these kits?

I'm not saying the kits are totally without appeal, but knowing what I know of MPC, I'm skeptical if there's enough interest to justify the investment. And, given the cricket chirping in the background here, I suspect not ;)

Doug

.

jetlag
05-14-2013, 09:37 AM
I have several of these, but my fav by far is the little Taurus 1.
Have not built any, though, so I cannot comment on that .
They seem simple enough to clone...

Allen

blackshire
05-14-2013, 09:50 AM
Well...when I originally read the post, my thinking was that there is already a demonstrated lack of interest in the product line. It has taken decades to sell off inventory left over after MPC got out of the rocket biz, so I can't help but wonder what kind of market there would be today. Would someone - ie, would Carl - want to put in the man hours to set up product pages and assemble the BOMs, then spend some capital to stock the parts in light of the poor track record of these kits?

I'm not saying the kits are totally without appeal, but knowing what I know of MPC, I'm skeptical if there's enough interest to justify the investment. And, given the cricket chirping in the background here, I suspect not ;)

Doug

.I agree--that's why I suggested them as xKits (just parts in a bag, with the builder printing out the online [scanned] instructions from JimZ or Ye Old Rocket Shoppe and buying Sandman's duplicate MPC Minirocs decal sheet) rather than as full-blown "Repro-Retro" kits with printed instructions, decals, and the full packaging. Also:I have several of these, but my fav by far is the little Taurus 1.
Have not built any, though, so I cannot comment on that .
They seem simple enough to clone...

AllenHeartily agreed! The Taurus 1 is my favorite Miniroc kit--I'm looking forward to flying mine when it finally warms up here! Semroc has all of the parts for it (except the boosters, but they might be "turn-able" from dowel stock), the Super Star, and the Pipsqueak (which would fly high even on 1/4A3-3T motors--it would make an inexpensive bulk-packaged kit for schools and youth groups). The ASP-1 and Delta Katt would be fairly easy to add to the line (Semroc already makes the nose cone that they both use).

blackshire
05-17-2013, 09:53 PM
I have compiled a recommended ESTES motors list for the MPC Miniroc kits (please see below). The Estes 13 mm mini motors have the same impulses and delay times as many of the 13 mm MPC Minijet "A" motors, with one difference that gives the Estes mini motors a higher performance: The Estes mini motors are 1.75" long, while the MPC Minijet motors were 2.25" long and thus were slightly heavier, so the MPC Miniroc kits will fly higher on the equivalent Estes motors. Also:

Below are the recommended motors lists for these kits, with the MPC motors listed first, followed by the Estes motors. Two of the Miniroc kits set altitude records (also listed below; the records were given in their instructions sheets) of over 660 feet on MPC A3-4m motors (the same as the shorter & lighter Estes A3-4T motor), so imagine the improvements in their performance with the Estes A3-4T motor! [NOTE: I had to "re-construct" the MPC recommended motors lists for the Astrobee D and the Pipsqueak (going by their listed "dry masses" without motors installed) because I could find no recommended motor lists for them; I then matched them with Estes mini motors using the mini motor data given here (see: http://www.spaar.org/Downloads/Library/EstesEngineSpecs.pdf )]. <***ADDENDUM--I had forgotten the AVI Minirocs catalog on "Ye Olde Rocket Plans" [see: http://plans.rocketshoppe.com/pubs/AVI/catalogs/minirocs/aerove.pdf ]--the list below has been amended as per the catalog's motor list.***> Here are the MPC Minirocs recommended motors lists:

ASP-1 (MPC: 1/2A3-3m, 1/2A3-5m, A3-4m, A3-6m, B3-5m, B3-7m; ESTES: 1/2A3-4T, A3-4T, A10-3T) <ASP-1 weighs 17 grams w/o motor>

Astrobee D (MPC: 1/2A3-3m, A3-4m, B3-5m; ESTES: 1/2A3-4T, A3-4T, A10-3T) <Astrobee D weighs 16 grams w/o motor>

Delta Katt (MPC: 1/2A3-3m, A3-4m, B3-5m [on kit card--MPC Minirocs catalog says 1/2A3-1m, B3-3m]; ESTES: 1/2A3-2T, A3-4T, A10-3T) <Delta Katt glide weight is 5 grams>

Pipsqueak (MPC: 1/2A3-5M, A3-6M, B3-7M; ESTES: 1/4A3-3T, 1/2A3-4T) <Pipsqueak weighs 6 grams w/o motor>

Super Star (MPC: 1/2A3-3m, 1/2A3-5m, A3-4m, A3-6m, B3-5m, B3-7m; ESTES: 1/4A3-3T, 1/2A3-4T, A3-4T, A10-3T) [went to 662 feet on an A3-4M] <Super Star weighs 10 grams w/o motor>

Taurus-1 (MPC: 1/2A3-3m, A3-4m, B3-5m; ESTES: 1/4A3-3T, 1/2A3-4T, A3-4T, A10-3T) [went 668 feet on an A3-4M] <Taurus-1 weighs 11 grams w/o motor>

I hope this information will be helpful.

BEC
05-18-2013, 12:31 AM
Speaking of this Taurus-1.....Today, in my mail, was a box from Kevin Nickerson from Spencer NY containing an MPC Taurus-1 kit. This was a complete surprise to me. I am quite puzzled....

blackshire
05-19-2013, 01:33 AM
Speaking of this Taurus-1.....Today, in my mail, was a box from Kevin Nickerson from Spencer NY containing an MPC Taurus-1 kit. This was a complete surprise to me. I am quite puzzled....Unicorn magic...