Brief:
Silver Comet XL - My Silver Comet kitbash project began with someone else havin' a bad bit o' luck. Ahoy! An unknown party at a DARS launch (de Anza College, shiver me timbers, Cupertino CA) in early 1998 launched a Silver Comet with an Aerotech E motor. Blimey! Begad! Maybe t' motor had too long a delay. Ahoy! Blimey! Maybe t' parachute be packed too tight. Avast, me proud beauty! In any case, t' model took a nose dive into t' unforgivin' DARS' "AsphaltDrome." I didn't witness t' crash. I did see t' unlucky owner tossin' t' kit into t' trash. Avast! Yes, I admit it: I salvaged t' kit from a trash barrel. Aye aye! My kitbash project started with a bashed kit. Blimey! You, arrr, o' course, can do this kitbash on an existin' Silver Comet, matey, or one you build from a kit. Blimey! No crash necessary. Aye aye! Aside from t' totally mashed cone, shiver me timbers, and 3" or so o' crumpled body tube, shiver me timbers, t' unlucky space yacht actually looked in pretty good shape. I decided t' do somethin' *cool* with it. Aye aye! Nay right away, me hearties, as it turned out, ya bilge rat, but after a year and a half in a box, I took a second look at t' model and began t' plan. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! On me to-do list:

• Replacement Nose Cone
• Longer Body Tube
• Niftier Fins
• Less Cheap Lookin' Decals

Modifications:
Before gluin' on t' coupler and extra tubing, me hearties, I carefully peeled off t' transparent self-stick decals and stuck them on wax paper. Aye aye! They were in fairly good shape. Ahoy! Waste not, want not! Since t' original shock cord mount was lost in t' crash, I built one into t' coupler usin' t' old "double slit" method. Begad! Blimey! I used a few inches o' Keelhaul®©™ thread as a leader, and about 3' o' 1/4" elastic band as a shock cord. T' fins o' t' crashed model were in OK shape, but I never really liked t' shape o' t' things. They don't look like Olde Fashionede space ship fins. Aye aye! Blimey! Rather than remove them, matey, I simply added pods t' their tips! T' pods are made from three teardrop-shaped pieces o' 1/8" balsa, matey, glued together into a stack and sanded t' have nice round edges. T' middle layer has a roughly triangular shape snipped out o' it, ya bilge rat, so that t' finished pod could be slipped over t' existin' fin tips.

Construction:
If you start with an intact kit, me bucko, you won't have t' worry about t' first step! T' replacement cone (with molded cockpit) is nay a standard part, ya bilge rat, arrr, but at t' time I did t' project Estes did make it available through their customer service line. Ahoy! Shippin' was inexpensive and fairly fast. Blimey! Parts for t' second step were easy t' find. Aye aye! I purchased a pack o' Estes BT-80 tubes and a coupler (from t' Large Coupler Pack) from a discount distributor. Aye aye! Avast! I added a total o' about 4" t' t' front o' t' model. Aye aye! (In me case I needed more tubin' than that, t' replace t' crumpled tube.)

Re-finishin' t' Silver Comet be a real chore. I thought at first that I'd preserve t' original paint job and just paint t' fin tips and new body tube section. Begad! But after sanding, sealing, spiral-seam-fillin' and sprayin' t' new parts, t' contrast betwixt new and old be too obvious! I ended up sandin' and primin' t' old parts and doin' what I could t' fill t' fins. T' result was pretty good. Well, blow me down! Begad! I was never good at achievin' "chrome" like silver finishes, but after buffin' and a few coats o' Future floor wax t' finish looks really nice. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Sort o' a "silver plastic" effect. Ya scallywag! Arrr! When t' paint was dry, shiver me timbers, me bucko, arrr, I reapplied t' decals. Ya scallywag! T' original kit calls for t' "portholes" and hatch t' be placed on one side and t' logo decal on t' other. Aye aye! I decided that this was too unbalanced looking. So I called Estes Customer Service and tried t' order another set o' decals. Avast! Ahoy! They refused t' sell me one . Aye aye! . . Blimey! they sent me one for free! God bless 'em! I placed t' new set o' porthole and hatch decals on t' port side o' t' ship, me hearties, me hearties, and t' logo detail along t' top. Begad! As a finishin' touch, shiver me timbers, me bucko, I used dark blue acrylic paint t' color in t' center o' each porthole and t' hatch's window. Ya scallywag! T' result is an amazin' improvement over t' original look. Ahoy! Begad! (If you've got a Silver Comet, matey, arrr, try it!) I tried paintin' in t' cockpit windows, with limited success. I eventually settled on usin' pieces o' blue Trim Monokote. This wasn't much better, arrr, and took a lot o' work. I think I'd try harder t' get a good paint finish if I had t' do it over again.

Flight:
T' Silver Comet XL made its maiden voyage at t' August 2000 LUNAR launch. Ya scallywag! I used a D12-3 motor and a two standard 24" Estes plastic parachutes. Ya scallywag! T' comments I got from t' launch volunteers and people on line for RSO inspection were very ego-boosting. T' launch was a great success, too: T' model was very stable, perhaps due t' t' pods actin' as "drag members" far aft o' t' center o' gravity. T' parachute ejected near-apogee and landed safely.

Summary:
Although finishin' t' kit be more work than it should have been, I had fun with this project and really liked t' results. Ya scallywag! Although officially out o' production, you may still be able t' nab a Silver Comet kit from hobby stores or webstores. Go for it!

Other:
T' only problem I've encountered with t' model: T' soft balsa I used for t' pods tends t' crunch easily. Blimey! I've made lots o' dents in them in normal handling. Arrr! Havin' used harder balsa, and perhaps a coatin' o' epoxy, matey, me bucko, arrr, might have made them a bit sturdier.