Death of an SSV Scorpion
 

I started this project several years back after winning the carcass of a Centuri SSV Scorpion in an Ebay auction. For my $20 I got what most would consider a basket case, a rocket so badly damaged that the only thing it was good for was a handful of parts. I shored it up as best I could, then gave it a final flight at a Quark launch in October, 2005. Lately it has become uncovered in my shop, and I started looking very seriously at parting it out. Well, this weekend I did it.
The idea of building another SSV Scorpion was tempting, but after looking over the plans, I think I'll pass on that for the time being. Luckily there was another Super Kit that used the same nose cone and tube connector; the UFO Invader. I spent the weekend cutting the balsa and tubes for the project, and began construction with new Semroc replacement cones. I've been taking pictures, but they're still in the camera. For now you'll have to be content with the "BEFORE" pics.

I say rebuild the SSV Scorpion, which was perhaps the best looking of all the so-called "super" kits.....I founs the only thing "super" about them was the super-huge amount of cardboard contained in them.

On the other hand, I find the UFO Invader to be the HANDS-DOWN UGLIEST of the Super Kits.

Nah, the ESS Raven and USS America were the two best looking. I thought the SSV Scorpion was the ugliest. All those "satellites" made it look like it needed a dermabrasion. The "floatation pods" on the UFO were the part I thought was the coolest. The were also what I was most concerned with screwing up when I was putting them together this weekend, but they came out looking great. :cool:

Same here. I thought the ESS Raven was hands down the best looking and I never understood the Scorpion :(

Those "fibre" fins, though :mad: I had the Raven all finished in my basement and it fell over with a few other rocktes. The fins got creased and I could never get them straight again. They also didn't respond well to temperature change. Ask me how I learned not to stand rockets too close to baseboard radiators :(

Drew

Just a little off topic.....I don't care for the fiber fins either.....I've got the Buck Rogers kits and plan on using balsa instead (using the fiber as templates) just to see how they come out. Sure, there's a little more finishing involved but I think the final product may be better. I don't know.......I guess I'll find out.

Ah yes, the famous "fibre" fins.....I say fibre PHOOEY !
Cardboard by any other "marketing gimmick" name is still JUST CARDBOARD !
That's the exact reason why I never bought any of the original kits when they were "new".
back in the day it seemed like a very high price for just a bunch of cardboard.
I did like the LOOKS of the ESS Raven almost as much as the SSV Scorpion.
I find the USS America to be almost as Gawd-Awful UGLY as the UFO Invader.

I'll take fibre over foam any day. ;)

I would take fibre over foam also any day for rocket fins....that is not saying much though.
The only thing I like foam for is the ply/balsa sheeted wing cores on my R/C "pattern" and "pylon" type airplanes !

I would actually like to see Semroc re-issue the SSV Scorpion and the ESS Raven, but ONLY if they replace the "fibre" fin components with Balsa or Basswood. I don't have a problem using "fibre" for detail pieces such as scoops, and etc, I just HATE it for fin/structural material other than for one part: THE BODY TUBE !

Man, those are hard pictures to see....

My brother had an SSV Scorpion and an ESS Raven back in the day, and to my then eight-year old eyes, they were the ultimate in cool-beyond-cool rockets. The SSV is still the first rocket that comes to my mind's eye when anyone says "Centuri".

I would love to see these re-issued, but with the aforementioned substitution of balsa-for-fibre fins.

Later,
EV

One of the guys I started flying with finished his rocketry career by treeing his ESS Raven on an ill-advised flight from his backyard in our none-too-large neighborhood. We had an all hands emergency trying to get it out of the tree before his dad came home, complete with lookouts, but we failed. He pulled into the driveway, took one look at Jeff's $9.00 investment swinging 20 feet up, and said "Jeffery Allen" in a perfectly even voice that chilled me to the bone. I knew that Jeff's rocketry days were done right there. I eventually got everything but the nose cone back, but it had withstood a few weeks of November rain by then. Not much left. Needless to say, building the Raven has always been a far off dream of mine. I've got a cone from Mike at Moldin' Oldies, and I've got all the fibre cut for fins, but I think I'll eventually go with basswood.

Not much time to do any work on it today. (Battery issues with my van.) These are the fins with the pods.

Looking Forward Eagarly!
 

I am glad that you have decided to stick with the UFO Invader Bill, and I am looking forward to this built thread. I have never seen an UFO Invader except for the catalog shot. Don't forget to post lots and lots of photo's :D .

James Pierson
NAR# 77907

Larry Zeilmann cloned all of the super kits a few years ago, then disappeared before filing flights. http://www.rocketreviews.com/review...fo_invader.html His other reviews are also cool.

Well, you could always make a 33% downscale Mini Raven from cardstock.

I posted a review on EMRR and the cardstock parts can be linked to from the article:

ESS Raven review

Replacing fibre fins with "covered" balsa
 

Remember, basswood weighs 3 times as much as balsa, so you'd be looking at some *major* stability issues. :eek: :mad:

However, since I built David J. Miller of Sirius Rocketry's "Interrogator"
(my reviews are posted on EMRR and TRF), I've made it a point to use his handy-dandy "computer label paper" method to cover balsa fins. You seal the edges with thin CA, and you have to remember to rub it down with a Sharpie pen cap to make sure the paper sticks and doesn't "bubble" when you paint it, but it looks a *lot* better. :D

I decided last summer if *I* built a UFO Invader, I'd use 1/16" balsa, cover it with the label paper, and not *have* to worry about the old-school "Fiber or Traditional Balsa" debate. :eek: :cool:

YMMV.


And while I *had* a USS America, I *really* wanted the UFO Invader because of its cool decals... but the local drug store had the "America" in stock, *so*... :rolleyes:

BTW, cool build, Bill. ;)


Cheers,

I like label paper method also, but if I had it to do over again, I would have cut away the paper where the rudders attached to the fins. Every flight of my Interrogator has resulted in the shock cord getting tangled on the wing tip dowels and ripping the rudders off.

I haven't had the stones to try the label paper trick, just like I haven't had the stones to try the fiber(re) fin trick. :rolleyes: One o' these days.





The decals on JimZ's site look like a pretty nice scan. If mine come out okay I'll print you off a set if you want. (BTW, I'd consider the America to be a pretty good consolation prize.)
As for the build, I should manage some progress if school gets cancelled tomorrow. I decided to build the fins as a single unit, then attach them to the body, (which needs only final sanding to be ready for primer, btw.)

Don't feel bad.

I started my Raven back in 1982 and I haven't touched it ever since :o

Some thanks to know about the Super Kits, The body tube for the Scorpion and the UFO Invader are BT-56, when I built my clone of the UFO Invader I purchased the tubing from Sunward Aerospace for at that time it was the only place that had that size tubing. For the fiberboard I used Bristol board I purchased at Hobby Lobby.

I can not say for sure but I suspect the reason way Centuri used fiberboard is because it is lighter and needs no sanding sealer that adds weight. Also I suspect that Fiberboard lends itself more to complex shapes were balsa would not work as will and would be difficult to work with.

By the way the USS America was the only one to use balsa fins.

A few years ago I built the SSV Scorpion that I had purchased off ebay, and I would say that it would be almost impossible to clone, there are just to many small hard to cut little pieces, and a lot of internal cuts.

Here is my suggestion on using fiberboard take it or leave it, on all the exposed edges I use about three coats of sanding sealer to fill the layers of paper, It not only seals but makes for a nice look on the edges when painted.

Here is my SSV Scorpion!

Here is what I am talking about!

http://www.dars.org/jimz/centuri/cen5307i.tif

http://www.dars.org/jimz/centuri/cen5307j.tif

http://www.dars.org/jimz/centuri/cen5307k.tif

Resurection...
 

Bill: I am building a clone of the SSV Scorpion. do you still have this one? Can you take close up pictures of the connector and post them? This is one part I am trying to recreate but I cannot find any good pictures of the plastic connector except for the one on JIMZ site. Looking to clearly see how the connector/coupler looks and how the raised details are. Thanks.

- RPR

Sure, I'll look in the morning.
Did you know that Moldin' Oldies makes this piece in resin? :cool: I plan to pick one up when the urge to clone an SSV Scorpion hits me. :rolleyes:

Connector pics
 

left side

top

right side

bottom

Thanks Bill!

Seems like I can replicate that conector with a piece of ST-13, some string to simulate the thin edge, cardstock to simulate the hatches, and small pieces of rounded ends of a dowel. Challenging but cheaper that forking $14 for the connector and the NC at MoldinOldies. I already have the NC. The scan on the instructions from JIMZ show them but I could not figure out if the edge was thick (to the end of the conector) or thin.

Did you know that there is no build thread on the SSV Scorpion? I did the fins with 1/16 basswood and laminated them with 110 cardstock. Probably overdone but only had 4" wide sheet of basswood so I had to make the fins from two pieces. Maybe I should start a thread...

Looks like these were from your UFO Invader? That is next on my list.

- RPR

Larry Zeilmann did a review on each of the Super Kits years ago, but no one has done anything like a build thread. :cool:
http://www.rocketreviews.com/centur...y-zeilmann.html
The UFO Invader needs to be redone. I rushed it when I built it and the metallic paint shows every mistake. I think it will wind up being grey instead of silver when I redo it. :o

Trying to finish up some old projects. :)

Very nice Gus!

A few years back I came across the trick of applying a base coat of black paint between the primer and silver coats. The black paint fills in the gaps that silver alone makes stand out like a sore thumb.

You might even want to try *two* coats of black paint before applying the silver.