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  #1  
Old 06-15-2020, 09:09 AM
timorley's Avatar
timorley timorley is offline
That 70's Rocketeer
 
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Location: Bright, Indiana
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Default Centuri T-Bird Rehab

I bought this already assembled and painted Centuri T-Bird off eBay, I've been starring at it sitting on a shelf for too long. It looks like originally it was all red, but it had a hard life from there, some of the fins have been broken off and poorly reglued with way too much glue and the fins were poorly painted gold. Well, overall, it just looks poorly. Looking inside the tubes I don't think this was ever launched. This version has the plastic nose cone, it's been damaged, but repairable.

Most of the fins for the 1st stage were already just hanging on by a thread, so I started there. At first I tried to sand the gold paint off. This was not working, the paint just quickly gummed up the sand paper. What really worked well was is using my hobby knife blade on edge and scrape the paint off, followed up with sanding. I recommend wearing a mask or go outside when doing this. I finished scraping the paint of the 1st and 2nd stage fins last night. One fin on the second stage is not an original and I will be replacing it, as it is way to thick at 1/8 inch. It was obvious it was not original and wrong, so I didn't both to scrape the paint from it. Have the 3rd stage fins to go. It's a slow process, but I think the results will be okay and I can bring life back to this neglected bird.

It is alway neat to be able to see the original factory printing on the balsa fins labeling the parts and the root.
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"You know, it, uh, won't fly unless somebody pushes the button." From the movie October Sky.

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  #2  
Old 06-15-2020, 11:35 AM
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5x7 5x7 is offline
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That is very cool!
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  #3  
Old 06-15-2020, 11:45 AM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Not much I like better than old rockets getting a new shot.
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  #4  
Old 06-15-2020, 04:53 PM
snaquin snaquin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timorley
It is alway neat to be able to see the original factory printing on the balsa fins labeling the parts and the root.
The printing on the fins under all that paint is really cool! Good job carefully removing that gold paint from the fins looks like that gold was laid on there pretty heavy.
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  #5  
Old 06-15-2020, 04:57 PM
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timorley timorley is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snaquin
The printing on the fins under all that paint is really cool! Good job carefully removing that gold paint from the fins looks like that gold was laid on there pretty heavy.

Thanks. Yes, the gold was thick and rough.
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Tim

"You know, it, uh, won't fly unless somebody pushes the button." From the movie October Sky.

I am SAM # 0167
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  #6  
Old 06-15-2020, 05:15 PM
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Earl Earl is offline
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I have always liked the T-Bird. It just screams classic Centuri design!

Hey, if you need original scans of the fins (or anything else from this kit) let me know. I can post them here.

Earl
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  #7  
Old 06-15-2020, 07:08 PM
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timorley timorley is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Earl
I have always liked the T-Bird. It just screams classic Centuri design!

Hey, if you need original scans of the fins (or anything else from this kit) let me know. I can post them here.

Earl

Thanks for the offer. I'm good, I have an unbuilt open bag KC-9 that still has the uncut fin sheets in it for all the stages. It's a bummer though the kit is incomplete, it's missing the 1st and 2nd stage body tubes with the factory installed motor mounts. But I do have enough original Centuri parts to complete it when and if I build it.
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Tim

"You know, it, uh, won't fly unless somebody pushes the button." From the movie October Sky.

I am SAM # 0167
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  #8  
Old 06-15-2020, 07:18 PM
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ghrocketman ghrocketman is offline
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This sounds like a neat project.
I normally don't bother with trying to fix someone else's mess construction, but this one is rare/old enough to be worthwhile.
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  #9  
Old 06-16-2020, 07:19 PM
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timorley timorley is offline
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Thank goodness disassembly is complete and all the gold paint is virtually gone. Here are the 2nd and 3rd stage fins along with the replacement 2nd stage fin.
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Tim

"You know, it, uh, won't fly unless somebody pushes the button." From the movie October Sky.

I am SAM # 0167
NAR 98303 Southwestern Ohio Rocketry Association (SORA) #624
https://www.rocketryohio.com
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  #10  
Old 06-18-2020, 11:46 AM
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timorley timorley is offline
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I have it reassembled. Not perfect, but I didn't have perfect expectations since I was already starting with imperfect materials. Overall I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

Before I had glued any of the fins on I did a test fit of motors in the mounts to check fit. Glad I did. This later specimen was after Centuri stopped pre installing the engine mounts, the thrust blocks in the 1st and 2nd stage were installed wrong. When assembled with engines, the stages would have lacked about 3/16 of an inch of fully going together. I carefully removed them and installed new ones in the correct position, all fits together nicely now.

For the fins, I started with the first stage and tried to get al the fins aligned and straight as I could. I let that cure overnight. The next day I assembled the 2nd stage, but before the 2nd stage had fully cured and was still a little pliable I clamped it together with the 1st stage so they matched as close as possible.

I have a decision to make on the decals. I could leave them intact and mask them off. Or I do have original Centuri decals to replace them.

As for paint scheme, don't know yet, thinking about the 1972 red with a mix of black and white fins, or just paint the whole thing red like the original builder.

Out of curiosity I checked and right now it weighs in at 2.5 ounces. 1967 catalog weight is 2.8 ounces and 1972 is 2.9 ounces. Still needs to get prepped for paint and painted though.
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Tim

"You know, it, uh, won't fly unless somebody pushes the button." From the movie October Sky.

I am SAM # 0167
NAR 98303 Southwestern Ohio Rocketry Association (SORA) #624
https://www.rocketryohio.com

Last edited by timorley : 06-18-2020 at 12:16 PM.
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