"War in Space" new designs?
 

Hello All,

Model rocketeers above "a certain age" will remember Centuri's "War in Space" series of kits, which they introduced in 1980, just three years before Centuri's demise. Semroc is planning "Retro-Repro" kits of both of them, the Satellite Killer (see: http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts...s.asp?SKU=KV-73 ) and the Red-Eye (see: http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts...s.asp?SKU=KV-72 ). They also bring an interesting question to mind:

The Red-Eye's instructions (see: http://www.semroc.com/Documents/pdf/Red-Eye.pdf ) say: "Since these were done in the final days of Centuri as a separate company from Estes Industries, there were no later entries [in the 'War in Space' series]." Were there any additional, proposed-but-never-produced "War in Space" kit designs? If so, and if any documentation on them (concept drawings, or perhaps even prototype kit plans) survives, Semroc could possibly create "Retro-New?" kits of such un-produced designs to go along with the Satellite Killer and Red-Eye kits.

Your best bet would be to talk to Grant Boyd about that. However, I doubt it myself. It appeared that Centuri was not getting much money for new designs during the last few years of its existence as a separate company. Estes was introducing news at a crazy rate (15+ kits/yr) from 1979-89, whereas Centuri was only introducing 3-7 kits/yr during the 1979-83 period. Further, most new Centuri kits in 1981 and all kits in 1982 and 1983 used Estes parts. If there any additional War in Space designs, they probably only made it to the drawing board and not taken any further.

I decided to find out if there were any more Centuri "War In Space" products designed or developed.

I sent off an e-mail to Bill Stine asking about "War In Space" products and if any more had been planned or developed. Bill had designed kits for Centuri from the late 1970s until Centuri closed up shop.

Bill responded that nothing else was developed for the line.

There you have it.

I thank you both for your replies. While I'm a little sad that the "War in Space" series never went any further (Bill Stine's word is definitive, as he was there at the time), it also means that this entire series--consisting of just two kits--is easy to collect and/or clone. The latter will be even easier when Semroc's "Retro-Repro" kits of the Satellite Killer and the Red-Eye come out, and:

Since the Red-Eye uses the same fins and antennas as the Satellite 62SL, that kit too would be "half-cloned" already... Sirius Rocketry has resin duplicates of the '62SL's hemispherical nose cone (as well as the Red-Eye's conical nose), and Semroc may already offer a balsa version of the Satellite 62SL nose cone.