Enerjet Athena Plans
 

Hi, Folks,
Does anyone know where I might find plans for an Enerjet Athena? I've looked here, but they are not there. Any help would be greatly appreciated. One just sold on Ebay for an astronomical amount of money :eek: :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...em=130241998222

I have no intention of spending that much cash, but would sure like to build one. It looks a lot like Centuri's Orion.

Allen

Astronomical? Really? I thought it was pretty cheap considering how rare that kit is. I didn't even bid on it because I thought it would go over $400.

The fact that you can't find a complete set of instructions is evidence of how scarce Athena kits are.

Jimz has some partial plans:

http://www.dars.org/jimz/ke-5.htm

ghrocketman has a clone in the making, perhasp you could conatct him for more data:

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/show...ighlight=athena

terry dean

You are right, of course! Cost is a relative thing, indeed. Since I never owned an original, cloning one will be my shot at having one. I do have an extra set of Orion vacuum-forms....hmmmm :rolleyes:

Thanks, Terry, for the links. That helps me a lot! It really is Orion's 'big sister,' to quote one of the old posts here you gave me. I'll get in contact with ghrocketman.

Allen

The bagged Enerjet Athena that JUST sold on ebay for $272 was a bargain seeing as the boxed one that was on ebay earlier this year sold for just under $500 !!!

The only parts that are difficult to obtain for the build are the wraps, which are made from 1/100 scale Centuri/Estes Saturn 1B wraps.

With those wraps, you cut them to fit the Athena clone; the kit came with the wraps correctly trimmed.

I cloned mine using the dimensions out of the '72 Enerjet Catalog along with a copy of the Athena instructions.

I have the decals on mine now, but some of the striping has yet to be done.
I'd say it is 90% complete, and it has flown several times.
I can't recall all the engines I have used in it, but I know it has went up on an Estes SU BP D12-3, an Aerotech RMS24 D15-4T, and an Aerotech RMS24 E28T.
I don't think it has went up on anything in the "F" class yet and seem to recall I loaded an RMS24 F24-7W for it but used the reload in my Enerjet AeroDart instead.

I actually have an Enerjet "working smoke" Nike-Smoke in the bag awaiting build.
About 2-3 years ago I paid like $80 for the opened-but-complete kit on ebay with intent of building it but have not done so. I may be one of the last people that actually intends to BUILD an Enerjet kit instead of hoarding it.
All of the collectible kits that I have bought I intend to build, much to the chagrin of collectors. I really enjoy cloning, but there just is something magical about building the vintage originals that motivates me to do my best....in fact building original kits is about the ONLY time I fill in tube-spirals.

Thanks, GH!
What fin thickness did you use? What size tubes did you use for the 4 smaller 'booster' tubes? Nose cones? I'll use Semroc to get whatever I do not already have. I have the pieces necessary to make an Orion already; I ended up buying a kit from Jim Neubauer when he had them kitted up. :rolleyes: Do you have a fin pattern you think is reasonably accurate? I could wing it if necessary, doing the overall measurements as you did, looking at the drawing from the catalogue as a guide and JimZ's posted instructions (can't get that last page to print, however).
I sure do appreciate your help! :D
Allen

I believe SEMROC already has the fins available laser cut. Search the laser cut balsa page under Athena. I don't think they include the 4 pod standoffs, which, I believe, are the same as for the Orion. Pod tubes are 3" long series 7 (ST-730) with 1" long conical balsa cones (BC-710). The lower body tube is series 16, 18 inches long (ST-16180). The upper tube is series 20, 9.8 inches long (ST-2098). It uses a balsa adaptor 16 to 20, 1.5 inches long (BR-1620). Add a Orion shaped balsa cone (BC-2032) and you almost have it all. The lug was glued on the larger 20 series tube with another one glued in alignment on one fin. Just add a 24mm, or larger, engine mount, wraps and decals. Hope this helps.

Semroc laser cut the fins for me before they actually calalogued them.
I have another two Athena clone kits in boxes for future builds; they are 1/8" thick and are the same exact pattern as the Semroc/Centuri Centurion but in 1/8" instead of 3/32".
The Athena pods are NOT on standoffs; they mount directly to the main tube.

See step #13 in attachment below.

A 29mm mount is "stock" on the original Athena as well as in ALL original Enerjet kits.

Click on the following link below to Semroc's page on the Athena to order all the correct parts.

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts...arts.asp?ID=561

The nose and transition adapter on the original were plastic, the Semroc parts list substitutes balsa parts. Moldin Oldies used to make the original nose cones with panel lines but they have since went out of business.

Still waiting on word from Sirius Rocketry about old Moldin Oldies parts. They were planning on re-introducing them this year, but the web site has only one mention of it, pointing to an empty page :(

Amazing! Moldin' Oldies is who sold me the plastic pieces for the Orion I was going to build; I just never got any further than gathering the necessary parts together. You know, now that I remember, I ordered the balsa parts from Semroc (just the NC's). Later. I read somewhere about Moldin' Oldies' pieces and ordered up another set of NC's for this Orion and some Interceptor pods, NC, and tail cone. He is a very nice guy, as I remember; great service.
Anyway, I had no idea Semroc had such luxury as laser-cut fins for an Athena. :rolleyes:
Sheesh! I could have saved you folks all this trouble and just called Carl! I'll need the transition and the tubing, for sure. Might need the little NC's, as well. Mounting the boosters to the main BT directly is also nice to know. That'll make it easy! ;)
You reckon Phred does these decals, too?
I sure do appreciate all your help. So will Carl! :D
Allen

NOBODY does decals for the Athena; I had to piece them together from several sheets of Centuri ones I had.
I have all the proper decals EXCEPT the "Athena" name one in the correct font that goes on the payload section.

Nobody has a scan of the original Athena decal sheet that I have found either. They are REALLY rare.

The "United States" decal is the same one as used for the Nike-Smoke.

At one time Estes produced a simple 3FNC rocket called the Athena, but was not the same as the Enerjet one. It did however include an "Athena" decal in the same font and size as the Enerjet one for the body tube. One could be pirated from one of those kits.

Yes, the Athena by Estes is here:

http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/rock...ia/90est14.html

I reckon I'll need to piece them together, as you did. Maybe I could use the 'United States' decals from my Saturn 1B, etc. The striping will be easy enough, though. Some of the panel decals may be only problematic :rolleyes: .
Allen

I saved the attached photo from the Ebay auction a while back, maybe it will help.

GHRocketman was right: the 'Athena' decal here is the same as the athena decal font from the Estes' kit from 1990. Too bad the picture shows a partial look at the decal sheet. But it sure helps! The striping is a little more involved than I at first thought.
I got a look at my nose cones; I have all I need. I'm going to order the rest of the pieces today.
Phred, what do you think?
Allen

If there is anyway to reach the winner of this auction, and get a scan of the decals, I sure would be glad to draw them!!

Phred

I'll give it a try...........



Done. I've purchased from this nice gentleman before. I hope be takes kindly to shameless begging............

If you get a response, post the scan here. Phred and I can duel it out as to who gets the redraw done first ;)

Or we can split it and take half the time!! :D

Ph

No problem. Apart from the word "Athena" itself, that looks pretty easy.

Man that later Estes kit was sure forgettable! I like the line "AS BEAUTIFUL AS THE GREEK GODDESS OF WISDOM FOR WHICH IT'S NAMED".

Sure, sure...

I started getting the parts together to clone this after I saw the auction on ebay, I thought is was cool looking. Decals were a problem, but then I saw this thread. I thought I'd try to redraw the decal from the image you posted and combining elements from other decals. It's not done, and I still need to tweak the length of the bands. I know there is no way my drawing is accurate, but it's going to be close enough for me unless someone can get scans of the real decals. I also think the Enerjet Nike-Smoke (KE-3) Decal on YORP for the "United States" is the right style, but maybe too small at 4.5" long??? Assuming the Athena directions stating the large stripes are 6.5" long is correct.

I don't want to represent the attached image as a clone or copy of the Athena decal, it is my interpretation of the decal from the image Bluegrass Rocket posted. And is NOT final, it's low res, not tested, the stripes are not 100% on size, and I'm not sure of some of the elements above the "United States" graphic. I'm fairly sure of the word Payload, I'm unsure of the USA and very unsure of the "Vent", total guesses. Correct sizing aside, I'm looking for feedback on what I've done so far.

Thanks!

I think they look great and I hope I can use your final version for my Athena build. I saved that photo from the Ebay auction hoping someone could use it to do exactly what you are doing. You get a big thanks from me.

Thanks, I have no problem with sharing the end result.

Thanks! When you're ready can you post a vector format? EPS or AI is good, and/or a PDF. Or an older version of Corel Draw if that is what you are using.

The decals you created look fantastic! Once you get the lengths of the striping down, they will be perfect!
I received all the BT's and the fins, CR's, and Kevlar from Semroc last Fridayfor my Athena clone; already have the NC's. Sheryl and Carl even threw in some wraps! Ordered this stuff on a Wed. along with some xkits and a GeeHod! Fabulous service, as always!! :D
I should be able to start my clone when I get home from vacation---last hurraw before the kids' school starts, you know!
Don't think I'll get it done by the Freedom Launch in Orangeburg, SC, though, at the end of this month! :( Maybe............
Allen

Those decals look great !
Now the question becomes, will someone produce them so I can order a set or three ?

I am following up on a lead for an original scan of this decal.... I will let you know more. Keep your fingers crossed....


Phred

Anything new on this yet Phred ?
Anxiously awaiting the ability to order a couple of sets for my Athena Clones.

Hi Guys,

I did follow a lead to someone who has this kit. Unfortunately, it is sealed, and the owner is understandably unwilling to open it. Sorry guys, I will let you know if I hear anything else....

Ph

I know ya'll heard all that air go out of my balloon :(

They are coming!

Sirius Rocketry is still pretty much a one-person operation (don't let my wife hear me say that), and the plans were to have the Moldin' Oldies parts up earlier this year, a run of them was done for NARCON, and quickly sold out there. In the meantime, some of the molds have had to be redone (a slow process) because the originals were worn out, and mold materials are also quite expensive these days! The cones are coming, but please understand that each cone takes from 12-15 minutes to make, and each mold takes at least a day or two to make as well, and there are other obligations on a daily basis.

They are coming, just hang in there.

Dave

I haven't built my Athena clone yet, but I think I have the decal redraw about as close as I can get it. The shortest bands should be ok, they don't need to go all the way around the pod tubes as far as I can tell. I believe I have the length right for the medium and long bands to go around ST-16 and ST-20 tubes, but someone should check me. So here is a 300dpi JPG. Again, these are not from a scan, they are my interpretation from a photo of the real decals.

Edit 11/1/08: Removed attachment because I found a minor mistake to conserve YORF space. See later post for corrected version.

Fantastic! Many Thanks for all your efforts, Tim!
I have my Athena to the point where I'm adding the wraps now. Everything has been primered, sealed and sanded. I'll post some pics as soon as I can recover the camera from my daughter :rolleyes: . I never got to build one in my ealy years of the hobby.

GH, thanks for all your help and input; I think you will see it was well worth it! I think these decals Tim has so graciously offered should work great.

I'll let you know how they do, Tim. Again, Thanks!
Alllen

Allen,

I just noticed I had chopped off the front of the first "a" in athena. I've corrected it and uploaded a new file here. It's still a 300dpi jpg. I've incorporated a version number in the image at 1.1. Sorry about the error, hope you haven't made decals yet.

Thanks for that heads up! I did not even notice (you cut it off---barely) :rolleyes: I was just so excited with them I did not see it at first. So far, all I've done is print out the set on paper , so I can check the measurements (will those stripes go all the way around, etc.). They look fantastic. I'm still hip-deep in my garage mess, but I do see light at the end of that torrid tunnel :D . Whereupon, I can finish this bird. I guess I need to post a pic or two, eh? It looks pretty! Soon to be prettier, thanks to your efforts, Tim. Many, many thanks!
I bet Phred and GH will love them!
Allen

Ok,
I have finished the build. Fins are filleted and everything is filled and sealed and sanded. Waiting on all-over primer to dry now (Krylon). A couple of these are a little glarey. I'll do better next time! See what you think so far. :D

Allen

Looks great! Did I miss any posts about the wraps? Just wondering how you came up with them.

Someone on Ebay seems to come up with a set of these wraps every few months or so. I won a set about 2 years ago with the intention of cloning an Orion, until I discovered the Athena design. I think I paid about $20-25 for 'em :eek: Besides, Mr. Neubauer makes two sizes of the Orion, both of which I now have in the pile. He makes very nice kits (I'm nearly finished with his Mega Sky-Dagger). I used all of the pieces I trimmed off for the payload section.
I now have a coat of Krylon (old formula) on the Athena and will add one more today, since the weather is so nice here in Columbia, SC.
Hope this helps!
Allen

Looking really good!

I am in the process of putting the stripes and decals on my Athena, finally! :D
Now, a question for any of the few who might know. Some of the stripes in this picture are red. Looks like one is on the lower BT just above that wrap, and the others are on the payload section. Are all the circumferential wraps red up there? It does appear the diagonally run ones are black; the lower red stripe looks to have part of the segmented black stripe overlaid onto it, but it is so hard to tell. Also, the engine tube looks to have a segmented stripe on it.
The instructions give recommended placements, but it looks like liberal interpretation is necessary with all the others.
Thanks, again, Tim, for your decal rendition. I printed a set off, and they look fabulous! :D
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
One other note: the instructions suggest painting the NC silver. :eek: I've already painted mine white, like the pic, but might change it over to silver. What do you all think? :rolleyes:
Allen

I've seen the image you've attached. All the red stripes in the picture seem to have some black shading in them. I think the band that is segmented black and white is the one above the United States decal just below the upper wrap on the lower body tube. All I can say is the photo of the Athena decal from the ebay auction I worked from was all black. None the less, here is a version with red for the stripes that appear to be red in the image, I hope. :)