I don't have any deep love for the current black designs, but why is there so much widespread hate for it? Is it mainly because folks remember the older styling and are nostalgic for it?

If that's it I can understand... My first rocket was the 1982 Alpha III starter kit, which was a white tube with red cone and fins. I never quite warmed up to the current black/orange, even though it's probably "cooler"...

For the Bertha, I suspect they were trying to make it easy to finish-- simply spray it black and slap on the stick-on decals. They don't even have you put an airfoil on the fins anymore.

Incidentally, my introduction to rocketry was via 3-2-1 Contact Magazine. They talked about how cool rocketry was, and had plans for making your own launch controller and (I think) launch pad, plus you were supposed to buy a Bertha, and cut out the "decals" printed in the magazine and decorate it as a 3-2-1 Contact Rocket. I never did that and decided that the Solar Launch Controller was a whole lot more convenient than the one they were proposing to be built out of a plastic recipe card box (and probably cheaper too). Even as a 12 year old I was overly practical

Bill,

You said it!

A V-2 had the B/W checkerboard along with the Saturn models.

Estes, please update your BB with a better color scheme!

Can you say U-G-L-Y not to mention tasteless!

If they brought back the RANGER would they cover it with an ugly paint job?

My three-cents worth.

BTW, Gentlemen, thank you for your input!

Daniel

Daniel, not tryin to hijack yer thread, but i thought id throw a pic of mine in! I built it somewhere around 1977....sigh, i was a year out of high school! It must have a gazillion flights on it! Now after readin all these posts...i wanna build another one.....maybe D power?? I wonder if it would work? This one,s goin up in about 2 weeks!

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Tasteless? Come on now, let's not get too carried away...

Maybe if they made decals to look like a male anatomy it would be "tasteless". But black, with gray "space" decals does not make it "tasteless". Ugly? That's subjective, I guess.

Again, I'm not defending the scheme. I'm just amused that so many people vehemently hate it yet nobody can say why (see my prior post in this thread...)

I think I just do not like the All black scheme because it replaced the scheme that I met the big bertha when I was first time rocketeer in the 80s. The Big bertha is a classy old rocket and requires something more fun then a sinister all black paint job. That being said, I do not have the imagination to come up with something new.

How about this?

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We here in Colorado like your Broncos-colored Bertha.

Nice!

__________________
Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp

I think it's an awesome look. However, I think it's a bit much to expect for a skill-level 1 builder. If the masking could be simplified and decals created to simplify it further, then it would be a great "new look" for the Bertha.

That is a beautiful job, and a nice scheme!

Awesome!