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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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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 |
#2
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That is very cool!
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#3
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Not much I like better than old rockets getting a new shot.
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Bill Eichelberger NAR 79563 http://wallyum.blogspot.com/ I miss being SAM 0058 Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper |
#4
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Quote:
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Steve Naquin TRA# 677 L2 NAR# 85518 L2 SAM# 0052 🚀 In Construction: Der Blue Maxx/Minie-Magg 5.5” & Vander-Burn MDRM Clone w/Stickershock23 Custom Decals 🚀 In Paint & Detail: USR Banshee 🚀 In Build Queue: Estes Doorknob w/Vander-Burn Rocketry Upgrade Kit [Sport Decor], Semroc Centurion-F, Semroc Egg Crate 🚀 In Repair: SLS Lil’ Hustler, SLS Aero-Dart 1969 Trim 🚀 Stay Tuned For Fall 2021 Launch Dates |
#5
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Quote:
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 NAR 98303 Southwestern Ohio Rocketry Association (SORA) #624 https://www.rocketryohio.com |
#6
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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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Earl L. Cagle, Jr. NAR# 29523 TRA# 962 SAM# 73 Owner/Producer Point 39 Productions Rocket-Brained Since 1970 |
#7
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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 NAR 98303 Southwestern Ohio Rocketry Association (SORA) #624 https://www.rocketryohio.com |
#8
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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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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 ! |
#9
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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 |
#10
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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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