I finally caved and picked up a Quest Minotaur about six weeks ago. I figured I’d get to building it “eventually”, but it charmed me with its shapely, aerodynamic wiles. Just finished it up yesterday and hope to fly it this weekend. Overall I’m really happy with my build…. I only hope that things hold up on the flying end. I’ll probably christen it with a D12, then move up to an E26.
It was a pretty stock build, only I scrapped the thin cardstock “washers” that connect the nozzles to the boosters in favor of thrust rings that provide superior contact surfaces. The extra weight should be negligible and I like the way it lets the nozzles be more recessed. I also trimmed a sliver off the fins’ lower edge, just to help the shape seem a bit less “clunky”. Again, I don’t think it should change the aerodynamics in any significant way. I popped a bit of nose weight in just to be safe.
On the finishing side, I wanted to stick with the Delta blue scheme, but I changed up markings a bit with more inspiration from the Delta IIs. Of course it’s all just an excuse to throw a shark’s mouth on the rocket ‘cause EVERY bird is cooler with a shark’s mouth! I kept about 60% of the kit graphics and filled in with my own. I scanned the original “stickers” and converted everything to waterslide. I used Monokote for some finishing touches.