Attack of the clones!!!

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kelltym88

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Well, yes I have been busy. The following picture is of several clones that I have finished. Some were kits, some scratch built. Let's see from right to left:

Vindicator, Goblin(first ever), Renegade,Photon Disruptor, Delta Star, Sky-Hi, and Laser-X (not quite finished).
 
Very nice but you better get them under cover. Someone might think you're having a rocketry tag sale!:D
 
Actually they're sittng on a contraption I just made today for when I go flying/launching. I'll post that in another thread. Back to the clones(the wife rented "Bend it like Beckham", it was actually very good).

The Goblin is from Rammakers, I think they're in Holland. The main tube came damaged, so I had to replace it. Otherwise a pretty straight forward build. It uses kevlar shock cord, a stitched nylon chute and laser cut CR's.


The Delta Star and Sky-Hi are from Rocket pad kits. The body tube marking guide was missing from the Delta Star and a stage coupler was missing from the Sky-Hi. Easily replaced, but I let them know(won them on ebay). They sent me a BT marking guide for Delta Star, but it was not the kind you wrap around the tube. It was a "static" display if you will, set the guide on a flat surface and mark the tube at the various points while holding the tube still. I just cut of about 1 1/2" of BT20 and cut a slit in it so it would act as tube coupler for the Sky-Hi. Those raelly weren't any big deals, but the decals on the Sky-Hi were not white but clear(didn't realize until after I cut them out and attamted to apply), and the black ones the ink ran when applying.


The Renegade was kit bashed sort of from a Mean Machine and help from Excelsior. I bought the decals for the Renegade and the instructions explained how to use parts from the MM. Also came with fin patterns. Here's a picture of my "real life" clone holding my Renegade.
 
The Vindicator and the Photon Disruptor were made totally from scratch. I downloaded the plans from Jim Z's. The Disruptor you all know about, you've seen his "Daddy" in the scratch build section. The Vindicator, though, I think really came out nice. Here's a couple pictures....

5a.jpg
 
The one thing that was really interesting was the paint scheme. It's kind of a layered look. Spray the bottom one color,only allowing the paint to cover just the bottom, and then do the same to the top. It's kind of hard to explain, so here's a picture.
 
I know you're gonna ask where I got the nose cone. I wittled it from a piece of driftwood I found out here at the beach:rolleyes: :D:rolleyes:














I'm just playin'. I got it from Moldin' Oldies. Mike there makes casts of Interceptor parts, which happens to be the same NC for the Vindicator. He sold me just the NC for $16, and I got 2. Here's the linkhttps://moldinoldies.rocketshoppe.com/interceptor_parts.htm
 
I saw that the Vindicator decals were aded to the Excelsior web page - I guess that was your doing? ;)

Very nice job! I've been meaning to do one of those too. Someday....

Did you go with 18mm (stock) or 24mm power?
 
Originally posted by Fore Check
I saw that the Vindicator decals were aded to the Excelsior web page - I guess that was your doing? ;)

Very nice job! I've been meaning to do one of those too. Someday....

Did you go with 18mm (stock) or 24mm power?


Yes, I guess that would be because of me. As for the MMT, I went with the 18mm. When I built it I was actually down in Mexico on vacation and I didn't have a standard 18mm MM. So what I did was take a 24mm tube and put CR around it, then took an 18mm tube and put CR around it. The 24mm MMT fit into the BT-55 BT and then I glued the 18mm MMT inside the 24 mm MMT. Does that make sense?
 
Here are a couple more pictures. The first one I thought was cool 'cause you can see the shadow on the grass.
 
Here's another shot of the bottom. I used Testors Desert Sand for the top and Tamiya Pearl Light Blue for the bottom. The pictures don't really do the color justice, it is a really nice color blue. That is what I wanted the Delta Star to look like.
 
It's on my "to build" list!

I have an original " blow molded" nose cone for the Vindicator that came on a crudely built Vindicator that I won on Ebay and decals from JimZ.

I always see them painted red I was wondering how the deasert beige/blue would look.

Nice job!

sandman
 
Man, those are some fine rockets!!

I always loved the old Renegade. When my brother hung his original in a tree two years ago, I was inspired to make a clone, and that was one of the real driving forces behind Excelsior Rocketry.

The Vindicator is just awesome!! Now I will need to add it to my ever growing project list......

You did a great job !! Will we be getting a fight report???? ;)

And another thing.... I have purchased rockets while on vacation, but I have not managed to convince my wife that I could BUILD them on vacation. That is a sweet deal!! :)

Phred
 
Phred, it was your decals on the Vindicator, Photon Disruptor, and Renegade that really made those kits come to life. Thanx for doing such a great job.

I plan on flying all those this weekend so a flight report will be following.


As for vacation, well I'm always up at the crack of dawn, and I knew I wasn't going to be reading the paper, so I just brought my stuff and in the morning with a cup of coffee went to work. Later in the day we'd go down to the beach and soak up the sun and drink beer and margaritas. It was a great vacation.


Oh I forgot to mention that the Laser-X is a Semroc kit. With all the fins needed for that sucker, the laser cut fins on that kit are a big plus.
 
<a href="https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10775">Send
in the Clones</a>. :D
 
They look GREAT-nice job! The only one I have from this group that is a real original is the Goblin-still in good shape! Yes- I am a BAR! On my first Rocketpad kit that I got back in I think Feb, the decals had problems, but they sent me a new one & it was ok. I have some later kits from them & the kits were much better! I saw that they said they were upgrading & I think they did, have an up comming review on EMRR that should make the next up date for a MEGA DRIFTER, This one was great!
What woud be cool would be to see a drag race of one of your colnes with an original, a cool idea but where do you find an original that offten!
Aron
 
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