So Lug...Whats in the box?

[Lugnut]

As promised, pics of the refugees in various states of disrepair.

 

[Lugnut]

pic 2

 

[Lugnut]

pic 3

BTW feel free to help ID these crates. I realize now that one of them is a Taurus (in need of a center tube, and putting the fins back on).

 

[Lugnut]

pic 4

 

[Lugnut]

pic 5

 

[Lugnut]

pic 6

box of stuff

 

[Lugnut]

pic 7

The Saturn 1B

 

[Lugnut]

pic 8

Saturn contents. Looking closely I see he had started punching out the small items, and putting together the fins. Guess what? One of the 8 fins is missing (traces and measurements later)! Aargh!

I have some work ahead of me, but I can appreciate that this kind of opportunity to work on this many old original rockets is quite rare.

Lugnut <counts blessings

 

[Lugnut]

Have since determined ID of some others

Swift glider (w/o pod) - not pictured, broken wing
Egg Crate (2 engine cluster version) - need to rebuild fins from scratch
Centaur - have booster stage, but no fins for main rocket
Astro 1 - missing the cone for it, I think.

Mark

 

[dtomko]

'scuse me while I put my tongue back in my mouth! There are two Vector V's, an MX-774, a Micron, a Gyroc, a couple others.
Even with the damage, that's quite a treasure trove! Looks like you'll need a few body tubes (try Semroc; they have the Centuri sizes). The Sat 1B looks great; you can make a replacement fin from sheet styrene. Wow. Much obliged for any measurements!
DT

 

[dtomko]

In addition to the Gyroc, also from Estes looks like the booster to an Apogee II and a mini Bertha missing a couple of fins.
DT

 

[jflis]

That Centuri Orion is a real find. I sold mine, still in the package, for over $470...

 

[JStarStar]

Seriously, you seem to have quite a collection of stuff. I think the Saturn IB will be fine as long as the molded plastic wraps are still in one piece, the intertank fairings, etc.

A Centuri Saturn IB with 98% original parts, in the original box, would bring you a pretty penny if you decided to sell it. The Estes version of the same kits go for a couple hundred bucks on E-bay when they pop up for sale.

For just one second on one of the other pics, I saw the big black plastic payload section and said, "Holy cow, it can't be a Cineroc, can it?" Guess not... lol.

A lot of the other rockets look in pretty flyable shape - a patched-up fin here and there, maybe a fresh coat of paint, you ought to have some of them back in the air.

If any of them still have the original shock cords, I'd preempively cut those out and install new ones. Rubber cords that have sat in a box for a decade or so are probably shot and stone-cold guaranteed to snap if you try to fly 'em.

 

[Lugnut]

Originally posted by dtomko
'scuse me while I put my tongue back in my mouth! There are two Vector V's, an MX-774, a Micron, a Gyroc, a couple others.
Even with the damage, that's quite a treasure trove! Looks like you'll need a few body tubes (try Semroc; they have the Centuri sizes). The Sat 1B looks great; you can make a replacement fin from sheet styrene. Wow. Much obliged for any measurements!
DT

OK Help me out here, which ones are the MX-774, Micron, and Gyroc?

Yeah, nothings going anywheres near a launch pad without new shock cords and attachment points. No, no Cineroc, thats the Egg-Crate

 

[dtomko]

OK, in picture 2, the Gyroc is orange-ish, laying down on the lower right. The MX-774 is in the rear left of the Egg Crate. It's white and black and missing the nose cone (it's a V-2 with bigger fins). The Apogee II booster (I think) is black and just in front of it. The Micron is on the left, yellow and orange, in front of the Space Shuttle. The tall one with black body, white payload section with roll pattern, and orange nose is, I think, an Arcon.
DT

 

[Lugnut]

OK, I found the copy of the Taurus plans on JimZ's site. What they don't show are dimensions. Any idea how I can get the correct length of the narrower middle section tube?

Any ideas on the blue and red one?(visible pics 2&3) It has a paper nozzle on the bottom (missing a fin).

BTW, Found the nose for the MX-774

 

[Lugnut]

Originally posted by jflis
That Centuri Orion is a real find. I sold mine, still in the package, for over $470...

Yeah, not sure if I'm going to fly that one. It has a spent motor that is absolutely fused to the engine tube (trying to extract w/o hurting the integrity of the rocket.. Plus, I can't imagine a C motor pushing that thing more than 350', can it? Shoulda been a cluster design, or a D

Mark

 

[dtomko]

On Jim Z's plans, there's a page with a picture of a caliper and ruler, usually it's the last file in the series of each plan. Click on that and you'll get a text file with dimensions. The mid BT is 5.75." BTW, go to the Taurus clone thread and there's a cleaned up scan of the decals.
DT

 

[sandman]

The gold one is a Quasar.

https://www.dars.org/jimz/kc-7.htm

 

[sandman]

Here is the dimensions for the Taurus from JimZ's

https://www.dars.org/jimz/centuri/kb-3.txt

 

[dtomko]

Any ideas on the blue and red one?(visible pics 2&3) It has a paper nozzle on the bottom (missing a fin).

That's a tough one. I thought it might be a Tomahawk. Does the paper nozzle extend out past the diameter of the BT? It looks like it does.
DT

 

[Lugnut]

^^^Yes, it does

I saw a pic of a Tomahawk in a catalog, and this ones too short, plus the fins on the one in the catalog might extend below the body tube.

The black one with all the fins on the left in pic1 had a label on it that said Ski-Flier. ??? Can't find a reference for that one.

 

[dtomko]

That's an Estes "Hi-Flier" It's still available, I think. I'm at a loss about the other one.
DT

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by Lugnut
Yeah, not sure if I'm going to fly that one. It has a spent motor that is absolutely fused to the engine tube (trying to extract w/o hurting the integrity of the rocket.. Plus, I can't imagine a C motor pushing that thing more than 350', can it? Shoulda been a cluster design, or a D

Mark

To free that up, use a pair of pliers to gently sqeeze the nozzel end to extract the nozzle (should crumble and fall out). Then find the seam in the paper on the *inside* of the engine casing. Peel up a little bit of this with your razor knife. Then glue a 1/4" wood dowel to this pulled up paper and "unroll" the engine casing from the inside out.

good luck!
jim

 

[Lugnut]

Originally posted by dtomko
That's an Estes "Hi-Flier" It's still available, I think. I'm at a loss about the other one.
DT

The Hi-Flier is the one we just built, my son wanted it in the pics =). The one with all the fins is a bit of a mystery. Might be a homebuilt one off.

Mark

 

[Lugnut]

Originally posted by jflis
To free that up, use a pair of pliers to gently sqeeze the nozzel end to extract the nozzle (should crumble and fall out). Then find the seam in the paper on the *inside* of the engine casing. Peel up a little bit of this with your razor knife. Then glue a 1/4" wood dowel to this pulled up paper and "unroll" the engine casing from the inside out.

good luck!
jim

Thanks I'll try that, sounds like a much more intuitive approach than mine <grin>

Mark

 

[Micromeister]

What a great BOX of STUFF Lugnut!
Most of us old time's would give an eyetooth for a couple of those models. MMX, flutter-by, Orion, Quazar to name just a few!

If you would I'd love to get the fin pattens, body dimensions and whatever info you can gleen from your flutter-by model. NO the plans for that one are NOT on Jim-Z

 

With those golden oldies, Lug is gonna be real popular around here...

"Gentlemen... Meet Lug" - Mad Martigan in the movie "Willow"

 

[Lugnut]

I'll add it to the list:
Dtomko - Saturn fin specs
Micromeister - Flutterby specs



First stage is reattaching obvious fins (mostly done), second is building out missing fins (mini-bertha, centaur, egg crate, the mystery red/blue ship). Then I need to go grab some Fill n Sand (or equivilent), small grit sand paper, primer, and then start researching the original paint schemes, and spend some bucks on replacement decals. Have to parse all this out over time with my allowance allotment

Oh yeah clear too. 'Future' eh? Have to see if the Mrs has a bottle I can make dissapear.

I'll try to post progress pictures as it comes along. I found a five inch section of the right size tube for the Taurus, and hace the wings on. What a cool looking rocket.

As the saying goes "This gives me a hobby..."

Mark

 

[Lugnut]

Originally posted by dtomko
On Jim Z's plans, there's a page with a picture of a caliper and ruler, usually it's the last file in the series of each plan. Click on that and you'll get a text file with dimensions. The mid BT is 5.75." BTW, go to the Taurus clone thread and there's a cleaned up scan of the decals.
DT

Missed this reply, thanks I hadn't clicked on those pictures before. Big help there.