A recent addition to my fleet, the Semroc SPEV is a great little (big!) rocket. The SPEV officially stands for "Space Exploration Vehicle" however rumour has it that it's really a "Spare Parts Elimination Venture"... Either way, this is a rocket that you will either love or hate! A retro-repo kit originally released by Estes in 1972 and looks every bit the vintage.
The number of parts that Semroc have packed into their customary plastic bag is impressive -
3 different sizes of body tube
2 transitions
Stubby little nosecone
Laser cut fins
Decals, Recovery & Engine mount
The original mounting position for the parachute is in the first (largest) section of body tube directly below the lower transition. I decided to drill out the centre of the transition and put the parachute in the middle section of body tube. I figure that this will do two things - It puts the parachute furthe away from the hot ejection gasses and I will be able to use less wadding.
I have flown it twice on C6-5's and very happy with the performance.
Painted up as per the illustration (or as best as I can figure since they only show one side of the rocket!!). The results are a very NASA-esque looking rocket that stands a little over 2" tall :)
I had been looking for a good solid 38mm workhorse to use with my 38mm EX motor, and the Little Dog by Performance Hobbies seemed to fit the bill. Fiberglass from top to bottom, this really is an outstanding kit.
I have heard horror stories about people dealing with Performance Hobbies (products taking a long time to ship - or not at all) and it was recommended that I order through one of the listed dealers, which I did. I placed my order with Liberty Launch Systems (Rockets Magazine) and had a response back with a quote for postage within a day. I paid my money and received a conformation almost straight away. The kit shipped direct from Performance Hobbies and, despite the fact that it left the USA on December 19th - right in the middle of what I would expect to be the Christmas rush of post, it only took 6 days to arrive here in Australia - landing on my desk on December 24th.
I am absolutely blown away by the speed of service provided by both Liberty Launch Systems and Performance Hobbies - despite the negatives I had heard, I would not hesitate in recommending you look at the range of kits available. The quality was the first thing that really impressed me - the body tubes are amazing - very strong, smooth and straight. The fin slots are pre-cut and dead straight.
The Little Dog is a bare-bones kit - it don't come with any build instructions, recovery etc. but standard HPR build techniques apply.
The Little Dog will fly on G - J motors and the Rocksim file is available online.
I am planning on building in a Missle Works mini RRC2 to deal with apogee drogue and main paracute deployment.
This kit is well suited to both L1 and L2 flights and I'm looking forward to working on this during the year.
The only decision left now is what colour to paint it?!
Well, this is the season of the jolly fat man and pretty wrapped gifts! And what better gift to receive than one that blasts 1000's of feet into the air on a column of smoke :)
Suburban Rocketry has just started stocking the Binder Design range of High Power rockets. Christmas eve my Excel arrived!
Standing just over 1.2m tall and 4" diameter, this is one big rocket.
The bag contains:
3 plywood fins
Centering rings and bulkhead
Quick links and eye bolts
Tubular Nylon shock cord
Rail Buttons
30" Parachute
4" Airframe & Payload bay
Big-Ass plastic ogive nosecone
Vinyl decal
pages and pages of instructions
The quality of the parts is fantastic, however a pre-slotted airframe would have been a nice touch (I believe that this is a feature of Binder's Premium kits) and will fly on anythig from G - I motors.
I'm still deciding on if I should glass the airframe (I think the work is worth it). It will add to the weight a little, but the rocket will be much more durable for the work.
This seems like a great kit and well suited to doing your L1.
Is it a bird? Is it a... Oh.. Wait.. Yeah.. It's a bird - sort of. It's the Ballistic Chicken!!
This brave little bird has now put in three flights on an Estes B6-4. With a nice heavy beak, it reaches a respectable altitude.
Flown a couple of weeks ago at an MMRG day, everyone got a laugh :)
After it's last flight, a small 'ding' appeared in the top of one of the fins. A bit of filler and a quick spray will have this looking like new (I'm just glad that I saved some of the custom-mixed paint I used!!)
I know, I know... The Duces wild is supposed to be everyone's first cluster - and that's why I didn't want one :P
36" of BT60, pointy nosecone on the top and a rounded 'bertha' nosecone on the bottom. Two motors are mounted in the out-board pods with ejection charge venting through a small piece of BT05 - recovery via a 24" home-made mylar parachute that pops out the top. Video - watch it!
The Big Nuke (2.8" airframe) is a super flyer. One of my biggest scratch-built rockets so far.
Performed well on Estes D & E black powder motors, but it really zips on an Aerotech SU E. Unfortunately, the second flight on the Aerotech motor saw a nice big zipper after a bonus long delay :'(
I'll get around to fixing it some time - it's too good not to try!!
I've wanted a V-2 kit for some time now and recently found a good range of different scales on the Aerospace Speciality Products website. I purchased the 13mm kit - the smallest they offer. Here's the blurb from their website:
The V - 2 ("Vengeance Weapon 2") is perhaps the most famous, and certainly the most infamous, rocket ever built. Designed by Werner von Braun for the Nazi war effort during WWII, the V - 2 was the world's first large liquid-fueled rocket. Originally designated the A - 4, thousands were built by prisoners during the early 1940s. After the war, many captured V - 2s were flown by the U.S. as well as the Soviet Union. Despite its' horrific inception as a weapon of destruction, the V - 2 was the forerunner of all the large liquid-fuel rockets which were to follow.
At just 7 3/4" tall, this model is true to scale and features a balsa boattail, balsa nose cone and laser-cut basswood fins. Flies on mini A motors.
I have started work on a Type 30 kit released by 'The Launch Pad'. One of the more unusual aspects of this kit is the paper nose cone extension to give it the proper profile.
The kit includes a Mylar parachute and additional balsa for the detail - small 'launch guides' are positioned near the nose cone.
The rocket still needs more work. The final shaping on the nose cone, a little filler between the two lengths of BT80 tube and it will be ready to paint.
Rocketry 
