Awesome Kits Thread.

The counterpunch thread to disappointing kits thread... Add your thoughts and kit choices.

Wildman BlackHawk 29. Very easy to assemble, reliable toughness, sleek looks, and flies nicely on H to I motors. Nice instructions. Nice fin guides.
Wildman SAAB RB-05A Sport. A unique stubby scale kit that was an adventure to build without an instruction manual. 3/32" fins and overall built like a tank to survive a mile fall. Great flyer with a pound of lead in nose. Likes 38/480 casings, takes up to 38/720 without modifications. Chute packing is entertaining due to length. Always gets funky comments for L-1 certification due to rarity. Good intro to scale. (I like the challenge of it).

I love the Mercury Hijacker. It was my first true MPR rocket. Lots of nice features. Plywood TTW fins, ejection baffle, nylon chute.

https://mercury-rockets.com/Hijacker_Model_Rocket.html

How do you define it- awesome kits ?
1 - By ease of build .
2 - Performance ?
3 - Favorite rocket
4- Best Flyer / most used
Lol -
Love Everything that has flown and come home -
Estes Argent , very under rated btw. MC 23B Hawk ,
but the Mega Mosquito and my Estes Magician are always go to's as far as fun flights.
Yeah , I have not broken my 38mm cherry yet- I have one, just have not flown it. Im sure my list will change.

On the LPR front, I'll start with the one that Dr. Wogz used as his basis for the Disappointing Kits thread: The Estes Quinstar. Really clever design, fun to assemble, easy to finish, and a great fun flyer.

I also really enjoy my Odd'l Cyclone. It's a fun little build with just enough balsa work to be interesting, and performs exactly as advertised.

I enjoyed Tim's Saturn V and 1b contributions. Very easy to assemble and painting was straight forward. The one gripe I have concerns the fin shrouds being too fragile. I have a second one still in the box. I'll have to think about this area before building it.

Semroc Trident. Great quality parts, went together well, looks awesome, and flies pretty well too. Some of Carl and Sheryl's finest work. As an aside, I started that kit one night, and after stopping for the evening I logged onto to TRF. First thing I saw was a post that Carl had passed away.

Art Applewhite X-fire 18. Great kit, easy build, unique/crowd-pleasing flight, and very tough.

Estes leviathan. I fly it just about every outing. Classic design.
Estes StormCaster. Sleek, simple, punchy (but non-stock paint job & no stickers!)
Estes Andromeda. My sister got it fr me for Christmas back in, oh, '82, '83.. fun build with a neato futeristic design..
Fliskit 'Nell'. a good solid, challenging build. Took time and thought to build it.
Binder Design Stealth Jr. Loved that rocket. Loved the paint job I gave it. It was my 2nd MPR / HPR kit ever..
Flistkit Nantucket Sound. A light house, fun build, way too much fun coming up with patterns for the body wrap..
Flistkit ACME Spritfire. Lotsa fun cutting non-90° tubes! Always got a few weird looks! Especially when I was doing a 'let's talk rocket sceince' for grade 1-5 students
Estes Sidewinder flew like dirt, but I put a lot into it to finish it & make it look good..

Andy Greene said:

How do you define it- awesome kits ?

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I'd rather leave it open ended as possible since people always have their own opinions rather than limit the discussion. LPR through L-3 what did you guys/gals enjoy?

Anything from MADCOW! Good prices and quality materials and straight forward instructions

My only kit rocket is the Madcow 2.6" Arcas I got my L2 on. It always flies well and took repair nicely after a hard landing.

My favorite kits are the
Dr. Zooch Saturn V (llke the old Estes small Saturn V but a much better build, no clear fins and flys with the nozzles on!)
Sirius 18mm Interogator (sleak design, great detail and lots of decals)
BMS 3" Diam. School rocket (best value in rocketry today, a sturdy workhorse)

neil_w said:

On the LPR front, I'll start with the one that Dr. Wogz used as his basis for the Disappointing Kits thread: The Estes Quinstar. Really clever design, fun to assemble, easy to finish, and a great fun flyer.

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+1 to this. A nice departure from 3FNC designs. Just be prepared to make a lot of glue fillets for structural strength.

Easy... The Estes Cineroc/Omega...



The first motion picture camera made commercially available for the model rocket community. Classic lines, "Out Of Sight Decals" and a Super 8 mm camera in one package. Mike Dorffler was at his prime.

Estes Patriot (the missile.) One of the few LPR nFNC kits I regularly fly.

On a slightly more complicated note, the Estes Alien Invader. Looks daunting but not actually too hard, great scifi look, can't go wrong.

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AfterBurners said:

Anything from MADCOW! Good prices and quality materials and straight forward instructions

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Not to be the first to pooh-pooh in this thread, but while Madcow are awesome kits, but their quality isn't necessarily the best. I've had to get replacement fins for one rocket (Seawolf - 1/4" major warping, and while the replacement was free, I did have to pay shipping). The 4" patriot (cardboard version) fins were somewhat border line with some curvature. They used to only list the recommended CG point in their instructions, no CP indication, so that lead to some confusion & uncertainty. Some would argue that a 3rd CR is needed in some of their kits with a long motor tube. (And at least a "Madcow" sticker would be nice!)

I have 5 Madcow kits.. Love them all. They've come a long way!! They have probabably the best selection & variety out there.. They're the 'big boys Estes' kits!

LithosphereRocketry said:

Estes Patriot (the missile.) One of the few LPR nFNC kits I regularly fly.

On a slightly more complicated note, the Estes Alien Invader. Looks daunting but not actually too hard, great scifi look, can't go wrong.

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Ben, I have a few too [Patriot], and yes, also love them. Lets plan a drag race next launch!

dr wogz said:

Ben, I have a few too [Patriot], and yes, also love them. Lets plan a drag race next launch!

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You're on! C6-3?

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Estes Photon Disruptor
Centuri Hummingbird

Love them at all scales.

(And I'll second the Quinstar)

qquake2k said:

I wanted a Cineroc soooooo bad when it first came out. Never could afford one. I did have an Omega, though. Lost the sustainer on its first flight. It never came down, just drifted out of sight.

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The CinerocDV project is nearing completion. Boyce Aerospace Hobbies has sent me a proof of concept (it arrived in Ohio, and now is on it's way to China), along with the files needed to print my own (freely available by emailing Alex for them). We're still in need of a design for the 808 camera sled, but compared to the parts he's already reproduced, I think that'll be child's play.

Semroc's Omega (KV-64) is a close (but not exact (slightly enlarged (TTW) fins, Kevlar shock cord, smaller parachute) reproduction of the Estes (K-52/1252) kit. It could be modified into an improved clone (TTW fins, redshifted) with very little work. Tango Papa has decals for the Omega, along with the body tube decal that was seen in the catalogs (but never shipped with), and a camera body (white) Cineroc decal. Likely the most difficult piece to reproduce will be the camera body (which I'm cannibalizing an Estes D-Region Tomahawk for)

This is a dangerous thread.

It's giving me too many ideas.

Anyone worked on a wildman punisher? Thinking of picking up a 3"

Thanks

Some of my favorites:

Binder Design Galaxy - I love the retro look, the conical bell retainer and unique NC setup make it a standout among 3FNC rockets.

PML Tiny Pterodactyl - I like (contrary to many) the QT construction and piston ejection.

NCR/Estes Interceptor G - Still one of the best looking kits out there after twenty years...


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Mind you while my first pick is the Omega, I have to compliment the work of the fine people at Estes, eRockets/Semroc, Binder Design, Aerotech, Apogee. I'm sure that there's a lot of other fine kits from other manufacturers, but I have yet to get a chance to build them yet. If anyone wants to send me a sample, I'd love to give it a go. :wink:

More of an LPR guy....

Estes Explorer Aquarius, Interceptor, Saturn V & IB, Strike Fighter, Trident
Sunward Gravity Rider
Squirrel Works Police Box
Sirius Interrogator
Pemberton Kraken
Odd'l Pigasus
Rocketarium Rebel John, Terraformer
Quest (Semroc) Laser X
Fliskit Long Overdue, ACME Spitfire
Shrox Icarus
And probably a lot others once I build them......

LithosphereRocketry said:

You're on! C6-3?

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C6-5 or 7.. I have a few Patriots. I'll bring the set, and we'll have a mass launch!

Normzilla said:

Anyone worked on a wildman punisher? Thinking of picking up a 3"

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Not yet. There was a build thread on TRF and people were really pleased with flights from 38s to 54s 6xl with a lot of "drag race" smirks. Kit looked typical Wildman quality and had beveled fins.

Anything from NewWay. The kits are unique, square-tubed, very reasonably priced low-power models. Lots of really nice, thoughtful, inclusions in the kit to make them fun to build.

My personal favorite is the Squareos.

Normzilla said:

This is a dangerous thread.

It's giving me too many ideas.

Anyone worked on a wildman punisher? Thinking of picking up a 3"

Thanks

Click to expand...

The Wildman 3” punisher is my favorite.
Can fly it on a large variety of motors, very compact because of the head-end deployment.


The Wildman Punisher Super Sport is another favorite of mine because it can fly on anything from a G to J motor so it makes it a nice rocket to fly even at non HP launches. It has the same head-end deployment as the 3” Punisher.




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My Estes PSII Nike Smoke has really been an excellent combination of looks, kit completeness/value, parts quality, ease of assembly, ease of flight prep, light weight, tough, and good performance. I have put a lot of motors through mine.

Flyfalcons said:

My Estes PSII Nike Smoke has really been an excellent combination of looks, kit completeness/value, parts quality, ease of assembly, ease of flight prep, light weight, tough, and good performance. I have put a lot of motors through mine.

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I love the PSII Nike, and I have two more sitting in my build pile.

For me, the best kit I have built so far is the MAC Performance 4" ARCAS. The quality of the components is impressive, and the fit and fair of everything is just great. I was so impressed with it that I decided to order MAC components to build my first large scratch built bird instead of using G12 fiberglass. Cheaper and lighter all around!