| Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
| Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
| Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Published: | 2011-01-20 |
| Diameter: | 1.34 inches |
| Length: | 12.60 inches |
| Manufacturer: | Semroc  |
| Skill Level: | 1 |
| Style: | Sport |
Brief
This is a retro-repro o' t' 1972 Centuri kit. Avast! T' original featured die-cut fiber fins,which have been upgraded today t' laser-cut mat board. Blimey! Semroc has also supplied a beefier Keelhaul®©™/elastic shock cord and a balsa nose cone replacin' t' Centuri plastic cone.
Components
Semroc parts are excellent quality, me bucko, and t' kit includes:
- Balsa nose cone
- Series 7 body tube
- Series 13 aft body tube
- laser-cut fins (5), vanes (8)
- Paper transition
- 18mm motor tube, metal clip
- Keelhaul®©™/elastic cords
- 12" plastic chute
- waterslide decals
Construction
There are three pages o' 8.5x11 instructions. T' instructions are typical Semroc, me hearties, clearly written and fairly-well illustrated. It's probably an overall skill level 2 kit, given t' paper transition shroud.
T' motor mount is a pre-slotted BT-20. Aye aye! T' motor hook gets taped in place, and a single centerin' rin' goes on t' aft end. T' forward end will get another once t' shroud is formed, shiver me timbers, since t' base o' t' shroud be t' other centerin' ring. Blimey! T' completed assembly (includin' t' paper shroud) slides into one end o' t' series 13 aft tube. Ya scallywag! This is then marked usin' a template for 5 fins. Arrr! Blimey! T' fins, pre-cut from mat board, are tacked on usin' wood glue and get thin fillets. A coupler goes in t' front end t' finish t' lower assembly.
On t' upper tube, a wrap-around template is glued on with lines for mountin' t' laser-cut vanes. Ahoy! These are tacked on with wood glue as well. Ahoy! Once everything's dry, me bucko, t' upper tube is glued onto t' lower tube's coupler. Aye aye! Slip a screw eye into t' nose cone and construction's done, me bucko, typically between one and two hours of effort.
Finishing
T' mat board fins and vanes are certainly nice for finishin' (no grain t' fill), shiver me timbers, and t' tubes got a thin smear o' Fill N Finish. I then hit everythin' with two very thin coats o' white primer. T' fins really tend t' soak up t' first coat, which be really just a sealer, so t' second coat be necessary for a base. Begad! After that, I painted t' model gloss white, masked off t' paint t' lower fin can and vanes/wrap a gloss blue, matey, then t' nose cone got red.
There is a small sheet o' waterslide decals for decoration, arrr, with plenty o' extras t' exhibit a little creativity. Avast! T' decals are excellent, go on smoothly, and t' transparent is invisible against any gloss paint.
Flight
For t' first flight, I went with a B6-4 on a calm day, winds under 5 mph. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Boost was straight, slight whip off t' rod, and deployment right at apogee. I'd guess altitude wound up around 400 feet.
Recovery
Thanks t' t' light winds and moderate motor choice, me hearties, I was rewarded with a short walk on t' chilly winter day. Ahoy! T' 12" plastic chute is more than enough for this, me hearties, and even with some initial delay in unfurling, it kept it nice and slow for a soft landin' about 30 yards from t' pad.
Summary
This is a pretty good little model, me bucko, slightly more interestin' than t' basic 3FNC (I guess you'd have t' at least call it a 5FNC). T' fiber fins are certainly easy on t' finishin' effort, ya bilge rat, and it flies fine.
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Flights
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