Interceptors and siblings: Sirius Mid-sized Interrogator
 

I built the Interrogator from Sirius a bit ago, which has the 18mm motor mount. Along with that rocket, Sirius also has the mid-sized Interrogator, with a 24mm motor mount, and the Interrogator G, with a 29mm engine mount.

This is the mid-sized Interrogator.

I built it almost stock. A small change I made was to swap the motor mount tube with a heavy walled 24mm motor mount tube. Mainly, it was to fit a 3.75" motor mount instead of the stock 2.75" motor mount. Since I was swapping it, I use heavy walled 24mm mount tube, since I have plenty of that stuff.

I'm not too worried about the balance, since the nose is resin cast, and on its own pulls the CoG forward of the fins.

The main impact on the build was that I had to pull a thin layer of the centering ring off to make the thicker engine mount tube fit.

edit: 18mm not 13mm

The fins were made of 1/8" balsa. Almost all fins have a strake attached, much like the fins on the old Estes Interceptor.

The main fins - the wings - are glued against a dowel fastened to the edge of the body tube. This gives a strong bond without needing to bevel the edges of the fins.

Before attaching the fins to the rocket, they are all covered with self-adhesive paper. This makes the fins really strong. The edges are then sealed with thin CA glue.

I'll note that after I assembled the rocket, I noticed some delamination of the adhesive paper from the balsa. I'm not sure if I press the paper hard enough, or maybe didn't sand the balsa smooth enough and maybe left some fuzz on the balsa. But, it's a small blem that one must look for, so I'll mention it never again.

I also added some red putty to fill the joints before priming and painting. There's no need to show that stuff get sanded, however.

After putting on the detail work - more dowels and body tubes to represent booster engines, I primed and painted it.

I went with a pearl automotive paint.

I must say that I really like the decals on this rocket. They have lots of nice details. The decal material is really nice to work with - the edges blend in so well that they are almost invisible. Kudos to Sirius for how nice their decals look.

Finally, a family photo.

On the left is the old Interceptor. On the right is the 18mm Interrogator. In the middle, is the mid-sized 24mm Interrogator

The Interceptor needs the following added to the line:
Aggressor
Instigator
Aggravator
Mutilator
Irritator
Antagonizor
Ruinator
Manglor
Busticator
And of course, AGITATOR.

Nice looking family. Sirius has mighty fine kits, the pearl paint looks great on them! Dupli-Color?

Thanks for asking. I double-checked my build records, and saw that I misremembered a bit.

The Interrogator, regular sized, was painted with Duplicolor Perfect Match White Pearl.

The Interrogator mid-sized, this build, was a two-part paint scheme. The base paint was DupliColor Perfect Match SuperWhite II. The pearl effect was an after-effect, applied with Rustoleum Pearl Mist. I like the effect of the pearl mist, since it works over other paints, and only needs a light dusting.

I'm going to have to try that Pearl Mist, sounds neat, and sure looks good. Thanks.

The Sirius Interrogator is one of my favorite builds.
Mine was the 18mm version. A very well engineered kit.

Don't forget the often overlooked, but equally menacing ANNIHILATOR.