Brief:
Considered by many t' be one o' t' legendary Centuri kits, t' Taurus enjoyed a ten year run in t' Centuri catalogs before inexplicably disappearin' in 1981, me hearties, arrr, followed by t' whole company a short two years later. Arrr! T' Taurus was always a favorite o' mine, but for some reason I always considered it too challengin' t' be a clonin' project and as a result never gave it a serious look. Ahoy! That all changed when I stumbled across some pictures o' a newly completed Taurus clone on T' Rocketry Forum. In it's unpainted state it was obvious that it be in fact a fairly straightforward build--one I thought I might be able t' handle and I immediately went t' Mike Schmidt's Moldin' Oldies site t' pick up t' cones and transitions I would need t' begin construction. Begad! Blimey!

Construction:
T' parts list:

• Centuri Taurus cone and transition pack from Moldin' Oldies (4 cones, 2 transitions)
• Centuri Taurus plans and patterns from JimZ
• 2.25" Semroc ST-13 upper body tube
• 5.75" Semroc ST-8 middle body tube
• 8" Semroc ST-13 lower body tube
• 3 - 4" Estes BT-5 pod tubes
• 24mm engine mount kit
• 36" sewin' elastic shock cord
• 24" Keelhaul®©™® shock cord
• 18" parachute
• Taurus decals from Buzz Nau

Buzz Nau has cleaned up t' original Taurus decals and gone t' t' trouble of addin' t' roll pattern decal for t' top body tube. Arrr! This makes things infinitely simpler when comes time t' paint and decal t' Taurus. Begad! Consider yourself forever in his debt.

My first impression upon receivin' t' parts from Moldin' Oldies be that t' Taurus was a surprisingly compact rocket, shiver me timbers, nay t' behemoth that I had always expected it to be. (I had somehow managed t' come up with a vision o' t' Taurus as a rocket on par with t' Centuri Super Kits from a size standpoint.) A dry fit of the parts confirmed this suspicion but that didn't stop me from installin' a 24mm engine mount as t' first step in t' project, shiver me timbers, along with t' obligatory 30" Keelhaul®©™® shock cord glued in betwixt t' centerin' rin' and motor tube. Aye aye! T' Moldin' Oldies parts are a very impressive set and needed only minimal sandin' t' fit perfectly into t' Semroc and Estes tubes that I had cut for t' project. Ya scallywag! Begad! As with all o' me recent projects, me hearties, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, I first sprayed t' body tubes with a coat of primer t' toughen them and make any sandin' later in t' build less stressful. This was followed by a coat o' Fill 'n' Finish on t' body tubes, a thorough sanding, then a repeat o' t' process. Ahoy!

With t' body tubes finished I turned me attention t' t' cones and transitions. Begad! They all needed only slight sandin' t' remove some mold seams and some putty t' fill some pinholes. Well, blow me down! Arrr! This was where I made a mistake. Begad! Caught up in a bout o' t' dreaded "build fever", matey, arrr, I put t' whole superstructure together securely with epoxy despite havin' been told well before that the paintin' is much easier if done before puttin' everythin' together. Ya scallywag! Arrr! (I made a similar mistake on the Vector V. Must be genetic.) Realizin' me screw up put a damper on t' project for me and I put it aside for several weeks so as t' more effectively sulk about my stupidity. Ahoy! As it turned out, ya bilge rat, this didn't turn out t' be quite t' horrible mistake that I had mistakenly mistaken it for. Once I had recovered from my bout o' cloner's remorse, t' build progressed quickly. Aye aye! Begad!

While nay an ordinary in looks, shiver me timbers, t' Taurus is pretty much a 6FNC when buildin' time comes 'round. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Havin' hand picked t' hardest piece o' 3/32" balsa that Johnny's Toys stocked, I cut t' fins out, me hearties, stacked them, arrr, and sanded them into as close an approximation o' each other as possible. Begad! I left all o' t' fins crisply squared off t' better retain some o' t' rocket's almost regal bearing, then attached t' fins usin' LocTite gel CA. (I've found this t' be somewhat more forgivin' when it comes t' repositionin' fins.) Each fin was allowed t' dry, filleted with Elmer's Wood Glue, then filleted again. Ahoy! At t' end o' this process t' fins felt rock solid and I attached t' pod mounts t' same way. Begad! Avast, matey, me proud beauty!

From this point it was a simple matter o' attachin' t' nose cone t' the shock cord and parachute. Blimey! I wasn't sure which method o' attachment I was going to use with t' hollow resin cone. Well, blow me down! I thought about drillin' two holes in the resin and loopin' a piece o' Keelhaul®©™® cord through, but I was afraid that t' resin would be too brittle t' handle the force o' t' ejection charge. Avast! In t' end I decided t' grind off t' back end o' t' cone with me Dremel tool and then epoxy a balsa plug in place. Begad! (Use a mask durin' this process. I've heard that resin dust can cause extremely unpleasant allergic reactions if inhaled.) I made t' plug by pushin' the ground out end o' t' cone against a block o' balsa that I bought long ago with projects like this in mind. Arrr! After freein' t' plug from t' block, shiver me timbers, I epoxied it into place so that it be almost flush with t' end o' t' cone. When this was dry I spread another coat o' epoxy on t' back o' t' plug, matey, inserted and removed a screw eye, filled t' hole with epoxy, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, then reinserted t' screw eye. When this was dry I was convinced that I had a nose cone that would stand up to the shock o' an ejection charge.

Finishing:
I had planned t' start paintin' before attachin' t' pods, shiver me timbers, but Taurus guru Adam Palmer suggested a different strategy. Begad! Adam had sprayed t' entire rocket gloss white, matey, then masked off t' necessary parts before proceedin' with t' gloss black, me bucko, orange and silver. Begad! Bowin' t' t' voice o' experience and wantin' white pods for me Taurus also, me hearties, me bucko, I decided t' try doin' mine in t' same way. Ahoy! Begad! This turned out t' me somethin' o' a mistake. Well, blow me down! Turns out I'm nay that flexible when it comes t' workin' me fingers into t' tight spaces t' mask t' pod tubes and as a result, me pods need quite a bit o' touch-up. Ya scallywag! It's nay terribly noticeable but enough so that were I t' do it again, I'd either do it t' way I had originally intended or t' all black way like Buzz Nau's version. Ahoy!

Whatever t' case, matey, this be t' painting/maskin' schedule I'd suggest if clonin' t' Taurus and paintin' it in t' Admiralty color scheme.

1. Full body (minus pod tubes and nose cones) in gloss white.
2. Middle section in silver metallic.
3. Gloss black over t' masked areas.
4. Glue on white pods.
5. Nose and pod cones in gloss orange.

As usual, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, all paintin' was done usin' Valspar paints, me hearties, shiver me timbers, which I've found t' be incredibly compatible with each other. Avast, me proud beauty! (Your results may vary, matey, but thar be a Lowe's five minutes from me house.)

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
With t' holidays approachin' I knew that I would have t' seize any opportunity to fly or run t' risk o' seein' t' Taurus gather dust until 2005. T' day I chose dawned cold, cloudy and wet, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and despite wakin' up early, a sinus infection made me feel like doin' almost anythin' except flyin' rockets on a cold, me hearties, muddy field. Begad! Arrr! I hung around t' house puttin' finishin' touches on the Taurus until 2:00, ya bilge rat, took enough cold medicine t' float a battleship, matey, matey, and headed for Johnny's t' buy some motors. Avast! (I didn't want t' get t' t' field and find that I had run out o' me stash o' C11-5's.) This side trip meant that I didn't arrive at VOA until 3:00, but I be surprised t' find a decent crowd still hangin' around and flying. Avast, me proud beauty! T' Taurus caused a fair amount o' excitement as I carried it t' t' pad. Well, blow me down! Begad! (A lot o' this excitement was because I had killed the previous two clones that I had flown there.) Before I could get signed in and hooked up, I be presented with t' remains o' one o' these sacrifices, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, the upscale Groove Tube that had disappeared on me last trip t' VOA.

Hopin' that this was a GOOD omen for a change, arrr, I loaded t' Taurus with a C11-5 and made t' announcement. Ya scallywag! T' first flight was everythin' I had hoped it would be. T' C11 made for a slow lift off with a slight hiccup just after ignition. From here t' Taurus cruised back over t' flight line t' somewhere near t' 500' mark, arrr, tippin' over slightly before t' ejection charge fired. Begad! Ya scallywag! The chute unfurled nicely and t' rocket was recovered without incident on the other side o' t' swamp. Ahoy! T' second flight, ya bilge rat, also on a C11-5, matey, was almost a carbon copy o' t' first but landed amid t' thistles o' t' swamp. I considered callin' it a day after t' second flight as it was gettin' dark but decided t' give it a try on a D12-5 instead. As usual, me hearties, matey, me hearties, this turned out t' be a mistake. Begad! I angled t' rod slightly into t' breeze, hopin' that it would allow recovery somewhere on t' field instead o' in t' swamp and I was dead right. T' Taurus arced out over t' trees t' t' west, me bucko, tippin' over just before ejection as on t' two previous flights, then rode t' breeze back t' the soccer field where it recovered only a few hundred feet from t' pad. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! The flight had been somewhat higher than t' previous two but had nay been high enough t' make me consider flyin' it on t' D12 on a regular basis.

I didn't notice that anythin' unusual at first because I was busy refoldin' t' chute and shock cord t' place it back into t' rocket, but when I went t' take out the expended motor casing, ya bilge rat, t' damage became obvious. Well, blow me down! Apparently t' D12 ejection charge packed more o' a punch than t' C11 had because t' engine hook had ripped down about 3/4" through t' motor tube. Arrr! This left a jagged gouge in t' side o' t' motor tube that I couldn't possibly repair without rippin' t' whole motor assembly from t' body tube. Even flyin' it as a friction fit bird in t' future would seem like a risk, as t' ejection gases would at least partially escape into t' cavity betwixt t' motor tube and the main body tube, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, me hearties, where they would eventually burn. Blimey! Unfortunately at this point it looks like t' Taurus is probably destined t' become a display only rocket, which is too bad because it turned out lookin' and flyin' very nice. Blimey!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I'd have t' say that this was a very enjoyable project. T' Moldin' Oldies parts make it a very easy project from a construction standpoint and while paintin' t' Taurus in it's "Admiralty" scheme isn't easy, ya bilge rat, it's definitely within t' realm o' most cloners. Ahoy! Flights were impressive with comparatively slow lift offs leadin' t' very cool low level flights. Ya scallywag! Avast!

PROs: Another Centuri legend takes t' t' skies. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Relative ease of construction. Arrr! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Overall sense o' accomplishment at t' end o' t' project.

CONs: Admiralty paint scheme is somewhat o' a pain, me hearties, shiver me timbers, but worth it in the end. Estes 44 Magnum ejection charges.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5