Centuri - Excalibur Gallery

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foamy

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I'm surprised there wasn't already a thread for these classics. Built from the excellent Semroc kit. This model goes together very easily. The No.8 Booster is in the works (which would make it an Excalibur II according to the Centuri catalogs).
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Welcome to the Centuri - Excalibur (KA-8 or #5008) Gallery on TRF.

This gallery showcases the Centuri Excalibur (KA-8 or #5008) and those rockets derived from it. Particularly appropriate in this thread are the following:

Centuri: Excalibur: KA-8 or #5008
Semroc: Excalibur: KV-43



as well as any upscales, downscales, clones, kitbashes or other derivative works. Even Goonies qualify!

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Centuri Excalibur (KA-8 or #5008) Basic Information.

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Centuri Engineering

Excalibur

KA-8 or #5008

Introduced: 1972
Final Year: 1980
Designer:

Type: Sport
Motor Mount: 1x18mm
Recovery: Parachute
Stages: 1
Length:
Diameter:
Span:
Weight:

Mfg. Description: More than 2 feet long, the EXCALIBUR is in a class of its own with the dynamic lines of real research rockets. Rapid assembly techniques include molded body reducer, plastic nose cone, engine lock, die-cut smooth-faced fibre fins and a minimum of tools required. Detailed assembly instructions include painting tips and customizing option to form upper section payload capsule. The custom decal sheet and bright reflective chrome trim finish off this lean bird...long on looks and performance. (Centuri 1972 Catalog)

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Centuri 1972 Catalog
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Centuri 1979 Catalog

centuri-excalibur-facecard.jpg


First post in this thread featuring this rocket.

See Also: LINKS
EMRR
RocketReviews
Mfg. Page


If you have any additional information on this rocket and/or catalog photos please let us know.
 
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Semroc Excalibur (KV-43) Basic Information.

semroc.gif
Semroc Astronautics

Excalibur

KV-43

Introduced: 2011
Final Year:
Designer:

Type: Sport
Motor Mount: 1x18mm
Recovery: Parachute
Stages: 1
Length: 26.0" (66.1 cm)
Diameter: 0.908" (2.3 cm)
Span: 5.2" (13.2 cm)
Weight: 1.3 oz (36.9 g)

Mfg. Description: 1972 Retro Repro (Semroc 2011 Web Ad)

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Semroc 2011 Web Ad

semroc-excalibur-facecard.jpg


First post in this thread featuring this rocket.

See Also: LINKS
EMRR
RocketReviews
Mfg. Page


If you have any additional information on this rocket and/or catalog photos please let us know.
 
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John, I think this thread is lost along with the Centuri Centaur thread as well.
 
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The Centuri Big Shot combo kit was one of my first, so while the Screaming Eagle may be more popular, lets not forget about the bigger gateway rocket of the pair, the venerable Excalibur. The modern Tandem X combo with the Crossfire ISX and Amazon kind of reminds me of that Big Shot kit from yesteryear. Anyway, I got the downscale bug and the cardstock bug, and I thought the only prescription is more downscale cardstocks! I could not find one for the Excalibur, so I thought I would try my hand at rolling my own. For now I just have a test run on regular copier paper, nothing fancy, just testing out the 60% scale for size for use with a mini engine. Finding good color pictures to copy for a cardstock PDF will be a challenge, as may have to take some artistic liberties to fill in the blanks. so, this is a work in progress, this is a very rough prototype, not intended for flight but for sizing only. I hope to get a chance to incorporate the online catalog images to try to make a printable template for a card stock model. The bottom tube is min dia is for a mini engine standard BT5, but the upper tube is a custom rolled size tube and the nose cone is just a simple cone shape for now. A balsa ogive would look better, not sure how to roll an ogive shape from paper.

The Semroc kit should be back in stock soon from eRockets, but until then I was able to find all the parts needed to make an original scale version. I thought it would be nice to have a full size version to go along with the mini-clone. I am working on a cardstock template and was trying to find a better image of the swooping colors shown on the box art work from this catalog picture. I was wondering if anyone has one of those boxes, or the original catalog, and could make a higher resolution scan.
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I might try to do this color block version in the downscale also, kind of a "Patriotic" color scheme, don't you think?
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I don't think this thread is indexed in the Centuri gallery sticky post.
 
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after doing the very rough prototype in copier paper, I decided to start my template and print on cardstock for another go. I am using a sea green color from the assorted pack. Still working on calibrating the width of my tube rectangle. I was a little off the first time, and made a correction, but am still a little off. I used the transition tool on the web for the reducer and nose cone. Would look better with a BT4 ogive nose rather than a paper straight cone. Getting the sizing fine tuned, then I will start on the artwork: color and decals. My photoshop template has a big yellow rectangle for the first tube wrap, then a red rectangle for the exterior wrap, I still have a little yellow showing, so I need to make another adjustment to the template. I am printing on 65-lb cardstock and made the fins from an 8-ply stack of the green paper.

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doing some experiments with the red/yellow color block scheme, and since this is a downscaled Excalibur, I thought of giving it a more appropriate name, borrowing from a famous blade once wielded by a Hobbit from Middle Earth: (although Sting would be a clever name for a Goony-Excalibur as well as for a mini-clone)

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I just got my Semroc parts from eRockets to build a full size Excalibur. I think I will start my own build thread for the full-size and mini-clone rather than hijack this Gallery thread, until I have some good glamour shots of the finished product.

Here is a first attempt at a Goony-style cardstock with 13mm engine mount
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--------- update---------
Here's the mini ~60% downscale made from cardstock, the bottom tube is sized for 13mm dia mini motors. Upper tube is rolled around a 7/16" dowel with a layer of wax paper, not quite the same size as a BT-4, but close, I rolled a paper transition and cone, so I am not sure if it would fit a standard BT-4 cone.
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now, I am going to have to do a Screaming Eagle to complete the kit...
 
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Here are a few pictures of the full size Excalibur 3, a gap-staged Excalibur with a Booster 8, with the mini downscale Sting Deux (with Booster 5)

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Detail of the VENT which is an actual vent for gap staging... I put them inline with the fins so that the smoke cloud will get hit by the fin and hopefully break it up and look more exciting than if they were interdigitated between fins.
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One observation about the scanned decal sheet, and the one that comes with the SEMROC kit, the blade does not have the thin white line in the middle, just a minor detail. I edited my scan of the red SEMROC decal sheet to print it black and added that line. You can see it clearly in the logo on the instruction sheet here
https://plans.rocketshoppe.com/centuri/cenKA-8/cenKA-8.htm
But the scan of the decal sheet kind of obscures it.

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I found an Amazon nose cone half-buried in my nearby field. It fit a wrapping paper tube perfectly. I raided the recycle bin for some paper towel and toilet paper rolls and made some cardstock parts for a 24 mm engine mount and transition. The boat-tail was just extra. I thought these would make for a fun upscale of the Excalibur, but since it was getting kind of long to fit in the car, I tried to come up with a custom twist-lock coupler, kind of like in the later version of the Mean Machine. I used a dowel in the lower tube and fashioned a coupler with a slot made from several layers of toilet-paper rolls for extra rigidity, and as a partial baffle. Doesn't look too pretty yet, but I plan to test fly it with at least some primer coat to make sure it works as planned before investing a lot of time in the final paint job.

I am thinking of calling this upscale version: MACHETE, and have an idea for the logo decal, similar to the mini STING version.
 
Sting, cardstock mini clone, 13mm.
Excalibur SEMROC Retro Repro of the Centuri kit, 18mm
Machete, paper Towel/wrapping paper upscale clone, 24mm, I did not have the gumption to try to reproduce the paint scheme of the others and went with the simpler, yet "challenging" scheme suggested in the original Centuri instruction sheet.

Here is the family of legendary blades, destined to cut holes in the clouds, and IN SPACE!

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Sliced a few holes in the sky today. Had a successful flight of the Excalibur 3 stager, all three stages recovered on the field, even though it weathervaned pretty well and went out of sight. The reflective metallic mylar streamer (that bird repellent stuff) really helped to spot the third stage across the field in the grass.

Upscale Machete had a great flight also, the custom twist-lock coupler held it together perfectly. I was going to fly the mini Sting part Deux today also, but I popped a fin off when I was prepping it, so it will fly another day.


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