Centuri Fun

[CenturiKid]

So...

I paint crummy rockets. That's not totally my fault, as I have a disability that makes it hard to hold my hands steady for painting . Normally, that's not too much of a problem with newer models that I fly a lot, but I hesitate to buld any of my vintage collection because I know that I won't be happy with the results.

Enter cardstock rocketry.

When I found this forum and the cardstock rocketry site, I was hooked. I built every plan I could find...which let me fly some nice classic designs without opening classic kits or painting. Which got me thinking....could I do this?!

I bought a copy of Corel Draw and began playing with it. Before long I had a handle on the basics and was able to make a BT-5 downscale of my very first rocket in 1986, the Estes Blazer. But what I really wanted to get into was Centuri downscales.

I found all my old models that I had brought home from the hobby store in the late 80s, many of them on the handlebars of my Huffy. After a bit of time and some computer magic, I came up with the fleet as pictured: From Left:

Twister
Hornet
Groove Tube
Jayhawk
Viking
Astro-1 (Thanks HCMBanjo!)

And on the Powr-Pad is the Screaming Eagle. Not shown (currently drying) is the Javelin, Nova and the Star Trooper.

Thanks to Eric T, Bob H, HCMBanjo and anyone else I'm forgetting for the inspiration, these are really fun to make

Also excuse my mess, the rocket cave is a bit dirty. In the background is a MRC Hornet downscale and a Estes Cold Power motor...

 

[GDJ]

Ooh.....a Screaming Eagle.....my first rocket.

I envy you.

 

[gpoehlein]

Ok - so give us some details here. Are these "purebred" card models (rolled the tubes, made the nose cone fron cardstock and so on) or are these wraps around regular body tubes with plastic nose cones. Or a combination of the two - plastic noses with rolled card tubes for example. Nice pic of the fleet, BTW. I've always been particularly fond of the Groove Tube - got the parts from Semroc and the decals from Excelsior to clone it, but I haven't found the time for the build yet.

 

[hcmbanjo]

I found all my old models that I had brought home from the hobby store in the late 80s, many of them on the handlebars of my Huffy. After a bit of time and some computer magic, I came up with the fleet as pictured: From Left:

Twister
Hornet
Groove Tube
Jayhawk
Viking
Astro-1 (Thanks HCMBanjo!)

Thanks to Eric T, Bob H, HCMBanjo and anyone else I'm forgetting for the inspiration, these are really fun to make
...

Hey - thanks for the thanks!
There's others along with Bob Harrington's carded models hosted at Wayne Hill's Rocketry Blog:
https://rocketry.wordpress.com/ultimate-paper-rocket-guide/paper-rocket-partial-builds/

If those reading haven't tried a carded model yet, what have you got to lose? (except a sheet or two of cardstock)

 

[SpaceAXEplorer]

Rocket-Roll Dude!!!!
Man, it's cool to be thought of as a positive inspiration. Thank you for the mention. My day is starting on a really postive note.
...and please post more details about what and how your'e Roll'n. I wanna know more-MORE-MORE!!!
Eric

 

[CenturiKid]

GP- didn't mean to leave you out of my thanks, I've followed your project paper for a long time and hope to build something from your parts soon.

OK, details. The ones shown above are all BT-5 wraps. I tried the tube rolling thing, and just couldn't get the hang of it. The BT-5 adds a bit of cost to the rocket, but I think the cost is justified with the better fit it gives. I use a standard launch lug and thrust rings from semroc. The nose cones are the "Quark" cones from the NC-5 pack. I fill them with clay just to be on the safe side of stability.

For the fins, I cut out all the covers and glue stick them to cereal box cardboard. I then cut them out and glue stick them together, creating a 4-ply fin. I square everything with a scissors after drying. This lets me use regular printer paper instead of cardstock.

The Grove Tube posed an interesting problem. On the real deal, there was a gap formed where the tube fins met the body tube, and you used that gap for the launch lug. I adopted the ASP "That Tube Rocket" style, which was to put glue on the launch lug, put it on a launch rod, and glue it to the inside of one of the tube fins.

The Screaming Eagle is the best flier of the fleet, just like its bigger brother. My real one has flown many times; its about as solid as a model rocket can get.

A friend of mine has a laser cutter and I'm working to "clone" the Powr-Pad out of acrylic, that way I don't have to worry about melting mine It won't be exact, but I'm hoping to get pretty close.

Once my phone charges I'll post pictures of the new additions I finished yesterday; the Javelin, Star Trooper, and an Enerjet Nike-Ram.

Just wait until you see what I have planned to fly off my electro-launch

P.S. what is the established rules for posting plans? I'm willing to share, but don't want any large corporations being angry with me.....

 

[SpaceAXEplorer]

P.S. what is the established rules for posting plans? I'm willing to share, but don't want any large corporations being angry with me.....

UM, yeah. That can be a slipery slope.
Public statement/my 2 cents:
Aside from legal copyrights laws and staying inside the envelope; I generally try not to put out for general release anything that someone else is doing/has done, even if it's a clone of an older model. Whether it's legal for me to actually do so so or not, it's a personal thing I choose to do to stay on the good side of fellow artists/designers.
Card model forums are a good place to start for coyright discussions. They can get hot and UGLY! Paper Models.com and Zealot hobby forums-card model sections are god places to start. There is also a Yahoo Space Paper Models group that this comes up fromt time to time. You have to be a member for the Yahoo group, which I am, and it is co-moderated by my friend Niels Jahn Knudsen-also an excellent card modeler. Joy Cohn is the other mod and a fine artist as well.
Clones have as of 2-3 years ago gotten to be too much of a iffy type issue for me. So, although I never like to say never, after long thought and discussions, the Buck Rogers Thunderfighter centuri type model I am doing, WILL BE THE LAST CLONE type anything I'll do.
That's all I'll say publicly. :gavel::2:
Eric

 

[gpoehlein]

This is why I didn't include logos and other art graphics in the Project Paper files. Lines and roll patterns should be safe, and I was doing "mix and match" components rather than complete rockets there.

A long way back (I think they're in the Archive), I did a series of BT-5 wrap rockets that were 13mm downscales of several classic Estes models (Alpha, Der Red Max, Cherokee D) as well as the Mosquito. I made it complete, including the Estes logo. Although Estes never said a thing, a couple of the other denizens here suggested that I remove that logo from any wraps I might draw and post. I decided to take that advice and have left off any official logos from the designs I post ever since. Of course, you can put them in your own models if you like, and no one will likely give you grief over it. Either make two versions (one with and one without) or make the graphic removable (easily done in a draw style program like Illustrator or Corel Draw). That's my take - colors and general graphics are fine, but leave off the custom graphics and logos.

 

[SpaceAXEplorer]

(To centuriKid)
I would love to see your work if you'd like to share!
Is there a place to download them from, or can you send them?
I sent a pm with my email addy.
Eric)