Introducing the Berthas

[paul.nortness]

I just finished building my first Big Bertha. I enjoyed it so much I decided to run out and pick up a Baby Bertha also. The Big Bertha I purchased was the newer bagging with the retro style decals. I thought they were pretty cool so I asked Gordy at Excelsior if he could make up some matching ones for the Baby.

The decals turned out great. Gordy did a great job, I ended up ordering decals for the Big Bertha as the newer "retro" decals were a little off. The font was a tad different and it is orange and black instead of red and orange like the old 80's version. I enjoyed building these so much, I intend on cloning a Mini Bertha and Super Big Bertha and perhaps building a second Big Bertha but with either a 3x18mm cluster of a single 24mm mount.....and of course have Gordy make some decals to match!

 

[SacEsq]

Very Nice

 

[Scotty Dog]

COOL! Nice Job!
Who ,what, is Bertha anyways???

 

[paul.nortness]

Whoever Bertha is....I'm going to go out on a limb and guess they are Big....and maybe a Baby?

 

[GrossApproximator]

I like my Big Bertha. I like yours more

 

[gdjsky01]

Nice work!!

:clap::clap::clap::clap:

Yep Gordy does great work.

 

[JPVegh]

COOL! Nice Job!
Who ,what, is Bertha anyways???

Bertha Butt, one of the Butt sisters. Uh oh, here come da troglodyte.


Both rockets are very cool, too bad Estes didn't follow suit with the Baby Bertha as you have.

 

[Fred22]

Bertha Butt, one of the Butt sisters. Uh oh, here come da troglodyte.

I did not know we had cave dwellers here. Nice rocket by the way
Cheers
fred

 

[Scotty Dog]

Bertha Butt, one of the Butt sisters. Uh oh, here come da troglodyte.


Both rockets are very cool, too bad Estes didn't follow suit with the Baby Bertha as you have.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bertha_(howitzer))

 

[JPVegh]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bertha_(howitzer))

Jawohl! Bertha was one big gun!

 

[paul.nortness]

Holy Smokes!

Bertha was a BFG!

 

[UrbanKnight]

You know, if you scroll up just enough to hide the handrail, it looks like a rather big upscale!

 

[Woody's Workshop]

Big Bertha, a pair of those are 1 big pair of GUNS!

 

[JPVegh]

You know, if you scroll up just enough to hide the handrail, it looks like a rather big upscale!

Ha! So it does.

 

[PhlAsh]

One of our club members just completed 'Behemoth Bertha'. I think he said it was 76" long, so a 4x upscale). He went with the black livery rather than the retro look.

 

[T-Rex]

Bertha Butt, one of the Butt sisters. Uh oh, here come da troglodyte.

I thought I was the only one on the planet who remembers Bertha and the Troglodytes

 

[Woody's Workshop]

I've had a Big Bertha for years in the all black model when it first came out.
I did it pearl black from testors w/ clear coat. Looks awesome in the sun light.
I did a baby bertha last year in all gloss black, skipped the white parts.
Late last year I did a upscale of the baby bertha to BT-80, it awaits paint in the spring. I'll have decals made up with Mega Baby Bertha. Probably do an all black paint job in high gloss as well on that one.
Also did a big bertha from scratch with a Patriot nose cone and 24mm EM and another stock from scratch with the rounded nose cone with 24mm EM.
Both are waiting on spring for paint as well.
Not sure color scheme I'll use on these yet, time will tell.
Love the Bertha's, the way they fly. Big Bertha has been around for a very long time!

 

[JStarStar]

I thought I was the only one on the planet who remembers Bertha and the Troglodytes

I like Bertha Butt and I cannot lie, you troglodytes can deny ... :y:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlRXQEA0yj0&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL554A142AB75816EA

 

[JPVegh]

I thought I was the only one on the planet who remembers Bertha and the Troglodytes

Haha! I've got Troglodyte and Bertha Butt Boogie on my 'songs from my youth' playlist.

 

[JMZawodny]

Here are my berthas. The first was a 5.5" diameter version built from LOC tubing. My current project a 466% upscale made of 7.5" Blue Tube.

 

[Fishhead]

You know, if you scroll up just enough to hide the handrail, it looks like a rather big upscale!

And if you leave it as it is and run across the room, it looks like a little tiny downscale. :wink:

 

[TopRamen]

I love the Retro look.

 

[foamy]

snip... perhaps building a second Big Bertha but with either a 3x18mm cluster of a single 24mm mount.....and of course have Gordy make some decals to match!

A clustered 'Bertha would be a Ranger ('63 catalog), which gave birth to the Big Bertha and all the other 'Bertha's. Semroc now produces them as a Retro-Repro.

https://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KV-83

I just finished building a Semroc Vega today (needs paint), which was Semroc's ('69) answer to the Big Bertha—they're very similar except for the Vega's pointy nose. Centuri's Centurion and Quest's Big Betty were all designed to fill the same niche—to be the Big Bertha of their product line. Mr. Estes hit a home run with that one.

I've built the first three and will build a 'Betty at some point down the line—just to have each manufacturer's offering. I like this sort of rocket. Who doesn't?

Don't forget to put them in the Gallery. The Big Bertha Gallery is one of, if not the, biggest gallery going. It's fun to see all the builds and paint schemes and your two are nice examples.

 

[Fred Garvin]

I likes me some Bertha's....I've only got one, a Big Bertha in the retro color scheme like yours.....plan to build more with mods...

Bertha's are like the Max's...great rockets, fun to build, reliable and rock steady flights, easily modded....you can't just have one....

 

[JPVegh]

Here are my berthas. The first was a 5.5" diameter version built from LOC tubing. My current project a 466% upscale made of 7.5" Blue Tube.
View attachment 141508
View attachment 141507

Now that's what I'm talking about!!!

 

[blueapplepaste]

Awesome looking Berthas! I'm really digging the retro look to both of them. I really need to build a big bertha one of these days. I have one of the baby berthas that has a ton of flights on it. She just keeps on going!

 

[jqavins]

When I had an interest in Rocketry in the mid 70s (at about 12 years old) my parents got me a kit - a Big Bertha - and I screwed it up so bad that I never tried again until about five years ago. I haven't faced my demon and built a Bertha yet; it'd probably be good for my long-term mental health.
BIG BIG BIG BIG BIIIIG BERTHAAAAA!!

 

[BeerorKid]

That is just fricking adorable. Those tiny Bertha's are a hoot to fly.

 

[Nathan]

I built a Big Bertha when I was a kid, probably 1968. I launched mice in it. If they survived the rocket trip then they got fed to my boa constrictor.

 

[jqavins]

...paint,sand,paint,sand,paint,sand,paint,sand...

Amen, brother!