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. Avast! When t' plans for t' kit were posted on "JimZ's" wonderful site, arrr, I decided t' have a go at re-creatin' it.

I actually began this project in 1998! Blimey! It languished, unfinished, ya bilge rat, until t' summer o' 2000, me hearties, me bucko, when I completed t' arduous task o' sanding, shiver me timbers, filling, paintin' and detailing.

Construction:
Most o' t' Avenger's parts (body tubes, engine mounts, recovery system) are standard Estes material. Aye aye! Blimey! Because Estes itself makes it rather difficult t' obtain individual parts, arrr, I chose t' order t' parts for t' kit from Rogue Aerospace. Blimey! Blimey! I highly recommend this outfit, arrr, me hearties, 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. Aye aye! 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. T' adapter was a "semi-custom" part; I obtained t' measurements from t' 1970 Estes catalog. Aye aye! I decided almost from t' beginnin' t' use basswood for me Avenger's fins. Blimey! Blimey! Although a bit heavier than balsa, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' Avenger is fairly easy t' build for someone who has had experience puttin' together custom kits. It does require some "lost skills," such as cuttin' fins from un-die-cut wood sheets, 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). Begad! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! I use t' method shown in t' yellow technical section o' t' 1970 Estes catalog. Blimey! Ya scallywag! 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. Well, blow me down! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! T' Avenger uses t' "cellophane tape" stagin' method. Arrr! T' placement o' centerin' rings and engine blocks, and insertion o' t' mounts into t' body tube, shiver me timbers, must be made exactly as shown in t' plans. Begad! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! You should certainly test fit t' (thoroughly dry!) engine mounts into t' tube before gluing. Avast! 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, arrr, creatin' t' appearance o' one large fin. Arrr! It is very difficult t' get an exact match unless you are very careful about gluin' on t' fins. Avast, me proud beauty! (My model's fins line up . Ahoy! 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, with a paint scheme based on t' photos shown in t' 1971 Estes catalog. Arrr! Begad! Blimey! T' model is white overall, me bucko, with one black fin and panel on each stage, a silver payload section and red nose cone. 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. This was 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. Aye aye! I didn't examine t' catalog picture carefully enough before maskin' and ended up with a upper-stage black panel that be shorter than it should have been. Ahoy! An embarrassin' but far from fatal mistake!

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

T' trickiest part o' t' finish was creatin' t' roll bar. It consists o' three long and three very short black bands. Ahoy! I used a ruler and calculator t' determine, from t' various catalog pictures available, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, t' length o' t' roll bar. Avast, me proud beauty! I drew t' pattern on t' back o' a piece o' gloss black trim Monokote and carefully cut out t' pieces. Usin' a mechanical pencil, me bucko, I carefully drew alignment marks on t' body tube, shiver me timbers, takin' care t' draw t' lightest line possible. After "wetting" t' tube with slightly soapy water, me hearties, I carefully placed t' bars in place . . Ahoy! . Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! one at a time, me bucko, me hearties, makin' sure each was aligned before goin' on t' t' next. Arrr! T' slick surface o' t' "Future" wax, me hearties, 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' was dried, matey, t' model looked wonderful. Avast! Ya scallywag! Except for t' shortened panel, shiver me timbers, me hearties, shiver me timbers, t' model could have fallen out o' a catalog page.

In me case, me hearties, I'll rate t' experience o' finishin' a 3 out o' 5. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! It was a lot o' work, me bucko, but t' result was worth it.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
I flew me Avenger at t' August LUNAR launch in Livermore, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, CA. Avast, me proud beauty! For me first flight I used one o' me precious Estes B6-0 motors and Quest A6-4. Ya scallywag! 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. Well, blow me down! Although I've built and flown lots o' staged models, I brought t' instructions with me and followed t' checklist. 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 be perfect! Blimey! T' model be 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, shiver me timbers, arrr, me bucko, but t' model did come down faster than it should. Arrr! Begad! It landed on concrete and caused a hairline crack in t' paint along t' root edge o' t' "black" fin. Blimey! T' fin joint itself was undamaged, me hearties, and a tiny pit o' paint (and more "Future") served t' cover t' damage.

A second flight, matey, in November, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, 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, arrr, matey, usin' t' B6-0 / A6-4 combo. Another good flight, but one o' t' fins snapped off t' booster. Aye aye! 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, me hearties, takes only a little amount o' extra effort, matey, shiver me timbers, and makes t' fins almost impossible t' break off under normal use. (Unfortunately, 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. Well, blow me down! 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, ya bilge rat, or by addin' 1" or so o' BT-55 coupler t' t' adaptor.

On a brighter note, 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, matey, I fly me Astron Avenger with motors from back when it was a production kit: A B14-0 / B4-6 combination. Ya scallywag! T' B14 is a "kickass" B motor with a thrust spike higher than that o' a D12. T' B4 is a relatively long-burnin' motor.

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