I know, I know ..... another Aero-Dart

Had this one in the build pile for a while now and figured I'd take advantage of having a little time off from work this week to build something. No build pics. Once I tore the bag open I just worked straight through and couldn't put it down. Took only part of a day to build with 5 minute epoxy and one day to prime and painted it today. Nothing else quite like building a quality SEMROC SLS kit!

The Aero-Dart that I remembered first seeing as a kid while flipping through the Centuri catalog at the Model Car Raceways hobby shop was the drawing in the Centuri catalog on the page referenced below (This image came from the Ninfinger site).

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/rockets.html

No decals were listed on Excelsior for this particular version so I contacted Sandman and he turned these around and shipped them less than a day ..... how's that for service? Wanting something different I also asked Sandman to print the EnerJet decals in white so he filled the remainder of the sheet with these. I know there isn't an EnerJet decal in the catalog image but I felt it had to have a "powered by EnerJet" decal. It just felt right .....
Although the photo image doesn't show it the finish is the Rustoleum black metallic with the flakes in it. Looks great outdoors.

I enjoyed the build so much I bought another SLS Aero-Dart kit from SEMROC to have on hand for when I get the urge to build another. I'm going fishing in the build pile again tomorrow .....

Attached Thumbnails

   

__________________
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

One can NEVER have too many Aero Darts, be it the '65, '69, or '72 Enerjet version which is my favorite.
ALL Aero Darts BY LAW should be required to have a large Enerjet decal !

Just don't try launching it on any vintage Mini-Max engines which were more than average cato prone when new, let alone now.

__________________
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 !

I finished my first Aero-Dart, a scratch-built, to look like the one behind Leroy Peister in the inside-back-cover photo in the 1971 catalog. That one got "shortened" and I gave it away; I have an SLS Aero-Dart waiting to replace it.

I have an actual original Aero-Dart I bought at an auction for $10.00. It was missing the parachute and instructions, but those can be had online!

I will probably finish it like snaquin's. Glossy black with orange trim.

Looks great! I love those catalog paint schemes... Well Done.

Nicely done Aero-Dart, Steve.

Those Mini-Max kits always did just mesmerize me as a kid. My very first rocket catalog of any kind was the 1971 Centuri catalog (the last to feature the MiniMax kits, but also introduced the 'new' Enerjet motors).

I remember looking at and reading the specifications on the tube sizes and weights for those kits, and to a nine year old, I thought they were huge. And that inside back cover shot of Lee Piester squatting down in that 'field' of Centuri models, especially that 'huge' Hustler behind him off to one side, well I just thought he must be the coolest company 'president' anywhere!

Alas, I never did buy any original MiniMax/Enerjet kits back then, but I have the Semroc Hustler that is structurally complete and the payload section and nosecone finished and painted. One day I'll get back to priming and painting the booster section. That too is another very nice Semroc SLS kit.

But back in those days, rockets the size of the Aero-Dart and the Hustler just seemed enormous. Gosh, I'd never believed back then the size of the 'models' we'd one day see at LDRS's that lay way ahead into the future.....

Looking at your photo I would have never guessed you had built AND finished that kit in just two days! Dang, I'm just a slow builder, no foolin'.


Earl

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

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Nicely done!

Those Centuri designs sure had nice lines and great roll patterns.

Still have one of my early 70's Centuri catalogs (sans cover now). Ahh, that was a great time to be a kid.

Greg

Good job and freakin' fast too!

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

Didn't those old kits of silk parachutes?

__________________
Scott D. Hansen
Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe - Your One Stop BAR Shoppe!
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Ye Olde Rocket Forum
WOOSH NAR Section #558

Yeah, I think most all those kits did feature silk chutes. They were multiple-gore chutes sewn together from segments of material, as compared to a 'flat plate' chute cut from a single piece of material. Gave them a truer hemispherical chute shape.

Earl

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

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Two days is a REASONABLE time to complete any building of a 3/4FNC rocket that is not High-Power.
That is a reasonable amount of time for simple high power builds as well.
Having it finished and ready to go in a little less than a week is what I would consider NORMAL.
That being said, I don't WASTE TIME on filling tube spirals or buffing paint to a show car finish on any SPORT builds.

__________________
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 !