PhlAsh
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- May 9, 2011
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I've been asked to do a build thread on the EXA rocket by Klima. When Raketenmodellbau Klima GmbH in Emersacker was built in 2004-5, the 'cornerstone' of the structure was added - a 10m tall Red Rocket called the EXA Air Missile. Its upper third protrudes from the top of the structure while the middle third makes up the corner of the building and the rest is inside and serves as the focal point of their Sales Floor. This model is about a 1:16 (3/4" = 1' 0") scale model of that structure.
The box art shows the building, the model and the parts breakdown, along with a lot of text (in German, with which I am only vaguely familiar).
The box is deceptively thin...
but, upon opening, reveal a bounty of craftmanship.
The four centering rings and four fin cores are made out of 1/8" foamcore. The motormount tube is suitable for 24mm motors. it is 2-3/4" long and is consistent with the thick-walled Estes BT-50. A thinner Custom Rocketry-style motor hook is provided. I'll probably scrap it and use an Estes 24mm retainer or just friction-fit my motors. A motor block is also provided. I'll give that to the daughter and let her find something crafty to do with it.
The stuffing tube is 15-1/8" long with a 0.99"ID and a 1.02"OD. A heavy tube, 7-1/8" long with a 0.8"ID and 0.97"OD, serves as the shoulder for the nosecone.
The parachute is plastic (old school) Estes-Style 15" (flat to flat) hexagonal tie-it-yourself chute. I'll probably swap out a nylon chute, who knows...?
The selling point(s) of the kit are the two vacu-form sheets. One contains the two halves of the body and two halves of the nose cone. the other contains eight nicely rounded fin halves. These are a far cry from the vacu-formed components of the old Estes Space Shuttle stack, the Starship Enterprise, TIE Fighter or Klingon Battlecruiser. At 0.04" thick, I think these are as heavy as the Maxi-Brute Honest John fins from the late 70s.
The instructions consist of one sheet (in English, thankfully) and two sheets of b/w photos. Apogee, from whom my wife acquired the kit, classifies this as a Level 5. While I don't think it's as intense as the Estes Shuttle on any of the 3' Saturn kits, I'll still take my time on it - not only for the difficulty level but also because I have a number of other projects in various stages already.
The box art shows the building, the model and the parts breakdown, along with a lot of text (in German, with which I am only vaguely familiar).
The box is deceptively thin...
but, upon opening, reveal a bounty of craftmanship.
The four centering rings and four fin cores are made out of 1/8" foamcore. The motormount tube is suitable for 24mm motors. it is 2-3/4" long and is consistent with the thick-walled Estes BT-50. A thinner Custom Rocketry-style motor hook is provided. I'll probably scrap it and use an Estes 24mm retainer or just friction-fit my motors. A motor block is also provided. I'll give that to the daughter and let her find something crafty to do with it.
The stuffing tube is 15-1/8" long with a 0.99"ID and a 1.02"OD. A heavy tube, 7-1/8" long with a 0.8"ID and 0.97"OD, serves as the shoulder for the nosecone.
The parachute is plastic (old school) Estes-Style 15" (flat to flat) hexagonal tie-it-yourself chute. I'll probably swap out a nylon chute, who knows...?
The selling point(s) of the kit are the two vacu-form sheets. One contains the two halves of the body and two halves of the nose cone. the other contains eight nicely rounded fin halves. These are a far cry from the vacu-formed components of the old Estes Space Shuttle stack, the Starship Enterprise, TIE Fighter or Klingon Battlecruiser. At 0.04" thick, I think these are as heavy as the Maxi-Brute Honest John fins from the late 70s.
The instructions consist of one sheet (in English, thankfully) and two sheets of b/w photos. Apogee, from whom my wife acquired the kit, classifies this as a Level 5. While I don't think it's as intense as the Estes Shuttle on any of the 3' Saturn kits, I'll still take my time on it - not only for the difficulty level but also because I have a number of other projects in various stages already.