Building FSI Clones
 

This is a continuation of a discussion that began in the "Free decals" thread of the Vendors subforum.

TO RECAP: Fred Talasco of Excelsior Rocketry had started the thread with an announcement that he was working on producing reproductions of decals for the OOP FSI kits, and was looking for volunteers to Beta test his decals, before he was ready to add them to his catalog of decals for sale.

Several people responded to his post, and they included descriptions and pictures of various FSI clones that they had recently built, cloning projects that they had underway, descriptions of actual FSI kits that they had built in the past, or discussed unbuilt FSI kits that they possessed.

In short order, this discussion hijacked the original "free decals" thread, at which point it was recognized that the discussion of cloning and requests for cloning information was no longer pertinent to Excelsior's vendor thread, and needed to be moved to its own thread.

So, here we are. :) If you have built clones of FSI models in the past, and would like to share some of your experiences, we'd like to hear from you.

If you are currently involved in a cloning project of an FSI model, or are considering starting such a project, please tell the rest of us all about it; you are sure to find a receptive and interested group of fellow rocketeeers who are also fascinated by these uniquely designed rockets. I certainly do hope that this will be a good place to ask and answer specific questions related to cloning FSI kits.

Finally, if you have built any actual FSI kits in the past, and would like to share your thoughts about the up-and-down quality of the company's kit components over the years :rolleyes: , you are certainly welcome to do so here.

The primary purpose of the thread, though, is to discuss ongoing FSI cloning projects, as well as cloning projects that have recently been completed, and to share information, tips and techniques with others who wish to reproduce these kits.

Oh, and please include pictures of your projects, in whatever stage that they are in - we do like pictures (yes, we do! ;) )

Mark Kulka

FSI Kit Info and Parts for Cloning
 

To tag on to what Mark said, and to help those of you wishing to clone some really great kits with some really great parts, this link will take you to the most comprehensive collection of FSI plans found anywhere on the internet.....

http://www.oldrocketplans.com/fsi.htm

Also, the above link has a link in it to take you to the most comprehensive collection of parts to build your clones with...(yep, I'm talking about SEMROC). Oh heck, let's make it really easy. Here's the link.....

http://www.semroc.com/Store/Scripts...asp?company=FSI

And, just to get things started, here's a picture of one of my FSI creations.

Viking II
 

Don,

The FSI Viking II that you built from the kit appears to be significantly taller than my just-completed clone. This highlights a dilemma that I faced when I was building mine: do I use the body tube lengths described in the kit instructions (9" for the main BT and 4" for the payload section) or do I use the lengths listed in the addendum that was appended to the plans (12" for the main BT, and 8" for the payload section)?

The first set of numbers yields a model that is much closer to the length stated in all of the FSI catalogs (16"), yet the model you built from the actual kit appears to have used the longer tubes. :eek:

Do you think that it's possible that both sets of tube lengths are right, and that they simply represent different versions of the Viking II (such as an "early" and a "late" model, like FSI had for the Orbit and the Sprint, for example), and furthermore, that they changed the dimensions without ever updating either their kit instructions or their catalog copy? (I also think that my version more closely resembles the picture in the '79 catalog, et. al. But that doesn't resolve anything :confused: ; after all, yours was built from an actual kit!)

Finally, my clone is actually approx. 17.375" tall (but when you omit the tube fin "sweep" from the measurement, it is indeed about 16" tall). How tall is your model?

Mark

Mark,

The main BT is 12" and the payload BT is 8". Overall length is about 24.25" tall (add 2.75" for the nose cone and 1.5" for the tube fin overhang). The '93 catalog lists the length as 23". My model was built from the newer kit version. I do have the earlier kit version around somewhere. When I find it, I'll compare the two and see what the difference is.

FWIW, anyone wishing to clone these fine kits, I can provide dimensions for you if you can't find them in the plans or want to verify them before you start to build.

Don's Viking IV
 

Wow, you really were into your pistachio period then, weren't you! :p

Still, it's a beautifully finished model, and a source of inspiration to this modeler! :cool:

Mark

FSI Viking II, Kit No. MRK X
 

Okay Mark.....I've found the difference. When they went from the MRK X (your 1986 catalog) to the 1010 (1990 catalog), the lengths changed. The MRK X kit has an 8" main BT (I measured it twice to make sure it wasn't 9") and a 4" payload BT. The tube fins are also shorter in the MRK X kit, 4.25" as compared to 5" in the 1010 kit.

Yep....my plan was to have the entire Viking series in the same general paint scheme. Unfortunately, I never got them all completed. Can you imagine how hard it's going to be to match that paint? ;) My first Viking kit was the Viking V. I loved flying it on the FSI F7 motor (really slow lift off but reallllllyyyyyy long burn time). But, the motors CATOed more than flew so I was constantly rebuilding it. The last time, I used the tube from a roll of aluminum foil for the main BT. Worked like a charm. Needless to say, I didn't want to paint it since I kept blowing it up. So, it sits with a base coat of white :( .

Great! Now I will need to add another model to my project! :rolleyes: :D To catch everyone up, I had previously announced that I have embarked on a project to built, within the year, reproductions of every model ever offered by FSI. (More on that in another post.)


Don contributed the kit instructions, or added vital information to the instructions submitted by others, for almost all of the kit plans in YORP's online FSI archive. IOW, he has very authoritative information on nearly all of their kits. (You are only missing the Nike-Tomahawk, right?)

FWIW?!? It's worth plenty to me, for one!

Mark

Oh, shoot! :eek: I made the tube fins on mine 5"! :( I guess we can call it a hybrid clone, then. :rolleyes:

Mark

I remeasured the Viking II that I had built, and found that it is 17.75" tall (I had previously misstated the length as being 17.375"). If I take off 1" from the body tube (using an 8" vs. a 9" main tube) and make the tube fins 4.25" long (vs. 5"), taking off 0.75" from them, then the length of my corrected Viking II (MRK-X version) will be 16", exactly as reported in the FSI catalog. For my model, I can keep the existing payload section, and will just need to rebuild the lower section and tube fins to reflect the correct dimensions. I hope to have this version completed by this evening.

Mark