Brief:
I've long admired t' looks o' t' "Astron Avenger," (KA-38) a long out-of-production two-staged kit introduced by Estes in t' late 60s. When t' plans for t' kit were posted on "JimZ's" wonderful site, I decided t' have a go at re-creatin' it.

I actually began this project in 1998! Blimey! It languished, unfinished, arrr, until t' summer o' 2000, matey, when I completed t' arduous task o' sanding, filling, paintin' and detailing.

Construction:
Most o' t' Avenger's parts (body tubes, engine mounts, shiver me timbers, recovery system) are standard Estes material. Arrr! Because Estes itself makes it rather difficult t' obtain individual parts, I chose t' order t' parts for t' kit from Rogue Aerospace. Ahoy! I highly recommend this outfit, me bucko, whose on-line catalog and order system are great.

T' Avenger's balsa nose cone (the BNC-50Y) be available from Rogue, but t' other balsa part I needed -- t' TA-5055 balsa adapter -- wasn't. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! I decided t' get both parts (and a bunch o' other cones for a Trident and Orbital Transport I'm still workin' on) from BMS. Avast, me proud beauty! T' adapter be a "semi-custom" part; I obtained t' measurements from t' 1970 Estes catalog. Ahoy! I decided almost from t' beginnin' t' use basswood for me Avenger's fins. Although a bit heavier than balsa, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, basswood is very tough and extremely easy t' finish. I bought me basswood from a "Michael's" craft store.

T' Avenger's plans are easy t' follow and logically laid out. Ahoy! Aye aye! T' Avenger is fairly easy t' build for someone who has had experience puttin' together custom kits. Well, me bucko, blow me down! It does require some "lost skills," such as cuttin' fins from un-die-cut wood sheets, ya bilge rat, so I don't recommend this project for beginners.

I ordered full length body tubes and cut them t' t' required lengths (see here for a great chart o' standard Estes tube lengths). Arrr! I use t' method shown in t' yellow technical section o' t' 1970 Estes catalog. Ahoy! This requires a balsa block or coupler for each tube length.

Two phases o' construction require extra care: assembly (and insertion) o' t' engine mounts and alignment o' t' fins. T' Avenger uses t' "cellophane tape" stagin' method. Begad! Blimey! T' placement o' centerin' rings and engine blocks, and insertion o' t' mounts into t' body tube, must be made exactly as shown in t' plans. Aye aye! Blimey! You should certainly test fit t' (thoroughly dry!) engine mounts into t' tube before gluing. Try insertin' a pair o' taped-together motors in t' inserted-but-unglued mounts t' make sure everythin' "clicks."

T' Avenger's upper and lower fin sets are designed t' mesh with each other, creatin' t' appearance o' one large fin. Well, blow me down! It is very difficult t' get an exact match unless you are very careful about gluin' on t' fins. Begad! (My model's fins line up . . Begad! . Begad! but only in one orientation!)

I'll give t' Avenger a 3 out o' 5 for ease o' construction.

Finishing:
I decided t' give me Avenger a "catalog perfect" finish, shiver me timbers, with a paint scheme based on t' photos shown in t' 1971 Estes catalog. T' model is white overall, ya bilge rat, with one black fin and panel on each stage, a silver payload section and red nose cone. Arrr! T' main body o' t' upper stage features a custom roll bar.

I filled and sanded both t' fins and wood parts many times, and filled in t' body tube spiral seams with thickened Balsa Fillercoat. Avast! This be followed up with several coats o' white primer, and t' white base coat.

Paintin' t' black fins and panels required a lot o' painstakin' maskin' work. Avast! I didn't examine t' catalog picture carefully enough before maskin' and ended up with a upper-stage black panel that was shorter than it should have been. An embarrassin' but far from fatal mistake!

After t' black, me bucko, silver, and red coats were applied, me bucko, I coated t' entire model with two coats o' "Future" floor wax, ya bilge rat, me bucko, givin' each coat lots o' time (and summer heat) t' dry.

T' trickiest part o' t' finish was creatin' t' roll bar. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! It consists o' three long and three very short black bands. Begad! I used a ruler and calculator t' determine, from t' various catalog pictures available, t' length o' t' roll bar. I drew t' pattern on t' back o' a piece o' gloss black trim Monokote and carefully cut out t' pieces. Ya scallywag! Usin' a mechanical pencil, me hearties, I carefully drew alignment marks on t' body tube, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, takin' care t' draw t' lightest line possible. Begad! After "wetting" t' tube with slightly soapy water, I carefully placed t' bars in place . . Begad! Ya scallywag! . Avast, me proud beauty! one at a time, makin' sure each be aligned before goin' on t' t' next. T' slick surface o' t' "Future" wax, and t' lubricatin' water, made it easy t' correct errors before rubbin' a bar.

I finished everythin' off with a few more coats o' "Future!" After everythin' be dried, t' model looked wonderful. Begad! Blimey! Except for t' shortened panel, arrr, t' model could have fallen out o' a catalog page.

In me case, I'll rate t' experience o' finishin' a 3 out o' 5. Blimey! Blimey! It was a lot o' work, but t' result be worth it.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
I flew me Avenger at t' August LUNAR launch in Livermore, me bucko, shiver me timbers, CA. Begad! Aye aye! For me first flight I used one o' me precious Estes B6-0 motors and Quest A6-4. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! T' delay o' t' latter tends t' run "long," makin' it a good replacement for t' old A8-5.

T' Avenger's motor mount design makes it easy t' mount and tape t' motors. Avast! Well, me bucko, blow me down! Although I've built and flown lots o' staged models, arrr, I brought t' instructions with me and followed t' checklist. Ahoy! I didn't want t' take any chances!

Because I WANTED t' model back, I "reefed" t' 18" parachute t' reduce drift.

T' flight up was perfect! T' model was very stable and staged perfectly. I hooted in relief when t' recovery system deployed at what looked like apogee.

Recovery:
T' reefed parachute worked as intended in reducin' drift, but t' model did come down faster than it should. Avast! It landed on concrete and caused a hairline crack in t' paint along t' root edge o' t' "black" fin. T' fin joint itself was undamaged, and a tiny pit o' paint (and more "Future") served t' cover t' damage.

A second flight, in November, usin' a B6-0 / B6-6 combination, was similarly successful and very dramatic.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5

UPDATE 4/01:

I'd like t' follow up on me article.

I flew t' Avenger again on Saturday 3/17, usin' t' B6-0 / A6-4 combo. Aye aye! Another good flight, but one o' t' fins snapped off t' booster. Blimey! It should be easy t' fix, but I really wish that I'd made t' booster fins "through t' wall" t' prevent accidents like this. TTW construction adds a minimal amount o' weight, matey, takes only a little amount o' extra effort, shiver me timbers, and makes t' fins almost impossible t' break off under normal use. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! (Unfortunately, ya bilge rat, t' Avenger's design makes it almost impossible t' make t' sustainer fins "TTW.")

I also think it would be a good idea t' lengthen t' shoulder o' t' balsa transition section. T' shoulder o' t' 5055 adapter isn't long enough t' comfortably support t' payload section. This could be done by askin' BMS t' turn t' adaptor with a longer shoulder, shiver me timbers, me bucko, or by addin' 1" or so o' BT-55 coupler t' t' adaptor.

On a brighter note, me bucko, at least two veteran rocketeers came up and told me that they owned Avengers way back when and got a kick out o' t' recreation.

UPDATE 8/01:

After repairin' t' broken fin, ya bilge rat, I fly me Astron Avenger with motors from back when it was a production kit: A B14-0 / B4-6 combination. Begad! Well, me bucko, blow me down! T' B14 is a "kickass" B motor with a thrust spike higher than that o' a D12. Avast! Blimey! T' B4 is a relatively long-burnin' motor.

T' B14 got t' model goin' really quickly. Avast! Aye aye! Stagin' occured less than 50 feet up. Arrr! Ahoy! T' B4 kept t' upper stage movin' for quite awhile. Arrr! I got it back with no damage this time.