Thanks to kuririn for bringing this thread back up. I see I posted intentions of putting some pictures in this thread almost eight years ago (post #9 above). Well, here we go. First - a shot of the 1970 catalog page, which is the first catalog the K-31 Star Blazer appeared in. Then two shots of my two models.
I’m sure the older of my two models dates back to before 1970, as the K number would have it be in the 1969 catalog (if not 1968) based on others that
are there. I’m sure I got mine as a “free with a $5 order” kit. Guessing it was 1969, I would have been 14 in October of that year. I must have really messed up cutting out the fin patterns since they are rather larger than they should be. I’m sure I flew that model at least once, but I can’t recall how many times. The “15” on the fin means, I think, that it was the 15th rocket I built.
The model on the right is a clone from Semroc parts built some time early in my BAR period (and before the 2012 post above). It’s set up for a T motor and has a motor clip. It’s also painted with rattle can paint rather than dope. For some reason the Semroc laser-cut fins were from 3/32 inch balsa while my original has 1/16th. A quick look at the instructions on JimZ (
https://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/estes/estk-31.pdf) show BFS-20 fin stock, or 1/16 inch thick material.
Those instructions also show the slit-in-the-body-tube shock cord mount rather than a tri-fold (which was introduced in the K-25 Alpha) and my original model is done that way as you can see in the belly shot (third picture).
I got a little better at carving the canopy on the second try, but I really should try again. Decals for both probably came from the Gold Mine Special decal set. I had a part of my original one and Excelsior also reprinted it. I don’t recall which source was used for the newer (probably some time in 2011) model.
For some reason I didn’t use the full LL-2A launch lug on either one. Details, details.
The catalog page gives a weight of 1 ounce. Just for fun I weighed them both when setting up for the picture. The old one is less than 0.6 ounce and the newer one is under 0.8 ounce, even with the thick centering rings, motor tube, motor hook and the heavier finish.
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