Brief:

T' Estes 2019 Titan III E is a 1/73rd scale model o' t' mid 1970's vintage Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) launch vehicle. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! T' Titan III E - basically a Titan III with a Centaur upper stage - had a relatively short service life with only seven launched. Begad! However its historical significance was considerable, shiver me timbers, as it was used t' launch t' two Helios solar exploration missions, t' Vikin' I & II Mars Lander missions, and t' Voyager I & II missions t' t' outer planets. Aye aye! Arrr! Estes discontinued this kit in 1993, me bucko, matey, me hearties, although nice kits show up on eBay on a regular basis (and usually sell for a reasonable price).

Construction:

I purchased me Titan III E kits from Stefano at Sierra Fox in Italy (no, matey, he doesn't have any more). Begad! Arrr! It seems Estes experienced somethin' o' a resurgence in the 1990s, producin' several fine skill level 3 and 4 kits, me hearties, matey, includin' t' Titan III E. Well, blow me down! T' kit comes in a nice box, arrr, with full color photos o' both t' model and t' real thing. Begad! Ya scallywag!

T' kit includes:-

• Three BT-60 size main body tubes
• A BT-70 body tube (for t' Centaur payload section)
• A BT-50 engine mount tube and two BT-50 'fin mount' tubes
• Two fin unit body tubes (that slip-fit inside a BT-50)
• Two BT-5 'catalyst tank'detail tubes. Blimey! Ahoy!
• Two blow molded plastic booster nose cone and nozzle pieces
• A blow molded plastic Centaur payload nose cone and adapter piece
• Four balsa catalyst tank cones
• Three sets o' die-cut centerin' rings
• A sheet o' pre-cut balsa fins
• Two sheets o' decals
• A plastic 18" parachute, an engine hook, arrr, and various detail pieces. Ahoy! Blimey!

All t' parts were o' typically good Estes quality, and arrived in good condition, me bucko, with t' exception o' one decal sheet (more on that later).

T' instructions are very good and nicely detailed. Avast, me proud beauty! Construction was relatively simple and straight forward (especially considerin' this is a skill level 4 kit). T' 'core' rocket, strap on boosters, shiver me timbers, matey, and catalyst tanks are assembled and painted as separate assemblies before bein' joined together durin' final assembly o' t' rocket. Thin strips o' maskin' tape are used to provide paint-free 'glue joint' areas on t' various components. Avast! Likewise, arrr, the 'install before flight' fin units are assembled and painted as separate units. One shortcomin' with t' kit is that it lacks an engine block (only t' engine hook prevents forward movement o' t' engine). Avast, me proud beauty! I thought that rather sporty for 24mm engines, me bucko, shiver me timbers, so I added a proper engine block.

Finishing:

T' separate assembly o' t' various components made paintin' reasonably easy. I used some Elmer's Filler (thinned slightly with water) t' fill t' body tube seams. For t' balsa components I started with a coatin' o' Elmer's Filler (again thinned slightly), then after sandin' I followed up with a couple coats of sandin' sealer, which combined t' give a nice smooth finish (yes, I know the fins are only for flight, me bucko, but I still want them t' look good). I followed up with a couple coats o' primer, shiver me timbers, and then t' color coat(s). Arrr! Begad! Blimey! There are two sheets of decals - one back, t' other gold. Begad! Ahoy! Blimey! This is where I ran into a problem - the decals from t' gold sheet simply refused t' properly adhere t' t' rocket. However, it should be noted that I have also built a second .display only" Titan III E and t' decals were fine, ya bilge rat, so I suspect t' decals on me first Titan were damaged, possibly by improper storage.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:

I really like this rocket, and it's flown numerous times. Blimey! Blimey! Estes recommends a D12-3 or a D12-5. T' 3 second delay is typically a little early, me bucko, me hearties, while t' 5 second delay is past apogee, ya bilge rat, but both work quite acceptably with flights in the 400 foot range. I've also flown it with AeroTech E18-4W and E11-3J reloads. Ya scallywag! Blimey! The three-tube profile gives t' rocket a very distinctive and impressive appearance in-flight. T' necessary flight fins do distract somewhat (clear plastic would definitely be an improvement), but t' overall affect is quite striking.

Recovery:

In addition t' addin' an engine block, me hearties, I made one other change t' t' stock kit, me hearties, ya bilge rat, replacin' t' stock 18" plastic parachute with a similarly sized nylon 'chute. T' 18" chute is a little marginal for this rocket - t' fin units have often suffered landin' damage. Blimey! However I prefer usin' nylon parachutes whenever practical, arrr, and a larger than 18" nylon chute would be a tight fit in t' BT-60 main body tube. One other change I should have made was t' add a Keelhaul®©™® shock cord durin' initial construction. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! Sure enough, after several flights the stock elastic shock cord broke (on an E11-3J, arrr, so it be well up there). Fortunately t' lower section went into a backwards 'glide', matey, and it landed in tall grass which cushioned it's landin' sufficiently t' prevent significant damage (although findin' it in t' tall grass be a bit o' a challenge). However t' parachute, with only t' mass o' t' nose/payload section, matey, matey, drifted well down wind and was quite fortunate t' find it (after an exhaustin' search through heavy underbrush). Ahoy! Blimey! My Titan III E is now equipped with a proper Keelhaul®©™® shock cord. Blimey!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a great rocket - both a nice scale representation o' a historically significant booster and an impressive flyer. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! It does suffer from t' typical Estes shortcomings o' marginal recovery components, but those are easily corrected. Ahoy! Blimey! T' bad Estes can't be bothered t' keep producin' some o' these fine skill level 3 and 4 rocket kits.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5