With the holidays fast approaching I've had little time to devote to rocket building activities lately.
One model that is nearing completion is my scratchbuilt, old school Mars Snooper.

I had the shrouds ands instructions printed out and knew I could nick one together from scraps.
Seven nose cones were provided from my jar of used and bulk kit components.
Tubes are all cut-offs from other projects, and I got the balsa for free from a colleague at work.
Paint colors are metallic silver, metallic black, and gloss black.

Upgrades include an engine hook, fin glue joints inside the pods, an extra launch lug, a slotted shroud
that allows fin attachment to both the main tube and forward ring, and a double wall main tube lining.

A few decals, some clearcoat, and a shock cord will complete the job.

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I've been gathering components for the Thunderbird 1.
Some odd centering rings had to be made - BT60 to BT80.
I also had to work out the spacing on 22 cooling vanes with slots to accommodate the wings.
Two large 'X' shapes need to be made and then motor mount assembly can start.
The fins are very small so it will likely fly with wings extended for stability.
There is little room for recovery gear so the nose will remain hollow.

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My new Centurion will have a 4 x 18 cluster for power.
I made some heavy wall motor mount tubes by wrapping some BT20's with kraft paper.
A forward centering ring was made and spacers are used aft to promote cooling.
The tube has been slotted and the fins will be bevelled to attach between the engines.
A 6-32 machine screw epoxied between the tubes provides retention.

I plan to redraw the decals and install a baffle.
Recovery via two parachutes, just like the original.

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I've moved the Centurion to the front of the build queue since it requires the least amount of work to complete.
The fins were attached simultaneously with a cardboard jig to keep everything organized while glue dried.
Launch lugs with thin standoffs were added and the baffle is ready to be installed.
Some sealer and a little sanding should make it ready for paint soon.

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A few more details to address on the Centurion.

I noticed while fitting the nose that my heavyweight body tube is wider than the cone profile.
I had to build up the area just above the shoulder to make everything even.
A 1/8" strip of paperboard was glued on to create a sharp edge and filler added above it.
The shoulder length was a little short for my preference so a 1/4" thick basswood disc was attached to the bottom.
This disc will also provide a solid anchor for the screw eye and add a little weight to the nose.
After sanding smooth the nose was sealed and primed.

I nearly forgot to add the small curved sections at the base of the fin root.
These are a trademark of the Centurion's fin profile and were made from balsa scrap.
It's easier to cut out the fins with a steel straight edge if these are omitted until later.
The fins received two coats of sealer followed by white primer.

The Semroc baffle I had intended to use was set aside in favor of a stronger version.
Although the Semroc unit is a great design, I wasn't convinced it could handle the repeated blast from four engines.
I made a new baffle from a 4" long coupler and plywood. A 9" steel cable was attached at the top.
The first coat of white paint went on yesterday and I'm still working out decal designs.

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This is always aggravating when the cone is the same size as the BT ! I built this original Estes Honest John from an opened kit years ago. The shoulder was so short it would barely stay in place in the BT. So I simply glued a NB-50 Nose Block to it.
Presto !

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ENGINE COSTS ARE " OUT OF SIGHT " .....

I was going to do something like that by carving it from a 2" x 2" balsa block.
I decided that a disc would suffice and I'll save the block to turn a full nose on the lathe.

While waiting for paint to cure on the Centurion, I moved on to the Thunderbird One.
Cross shaped internal supports were needed so I made them from large popsicle sticks.
These were sandwiched between centering rings and cut down with a Dremel tool.
Attempts to make them from a single sheet of wood failed. The built up versions are stronger than they look.
BT50/55 rings were also stacked along the motor mount to match the photos I'm working from.
16 were needed but I only had 12. I managed to copy them convincingly from cardboard.
Mine are a few thousandths thicker than the eRockets fiber rings, but they're mostly covered anyway.

The launch rod will pass through one of the inboard jet motors.
These were made from BT-5 tube and will remain open to reduce drag.
The fins appear fragile in the photos. I might try to make them from polycarbonate.
It's going together more smoothly than I anticipated.
I have stacks of photos from the TV show and a Corgi die cast model for reference.
Apparently there were five versions of the model used during filming.
This explains why the Corgi doesn't match the photos, and they don't match each other.
I'm going to try a weathered paint scheme to make it more authentic.

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Very nice. Is this your design or from a Sci Fi model etc ? I know you’re enjoying this build. 5055 rings are not very common, if you have them, cut from 5060 rings….

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ENGINE COSTS ARE " OUT OF SIGHT " .....

Well, after skimming this, I’ll never feel bad about all the Alpha minutiae I know…..

https://thunderbirds.fandom.com/wik...f_Thunderbird_1

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Bernard Cawley
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