Brief:
The original Scout was designed by Vern Estes, and was awarded a patent in 1960 for achieving tumble recovery via a shifting CG. The motor slides back via the ejection charge. This became catalog # K-1 and is among the most beloved nostalgic designs.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Model Rocketry, the "rocket doctor" Ken Montanye teamed up with Vern & Gleda Estes and the gang at Semroc to plan a spectacular event. The original plan was to issue a commemorative edition of the Scout, hold a mass launch at NARAM-50, and have the numbered models returned to their builders with a commemorative certificate. The mass launch plan was veto'd, but the efforts to honor the Estes' contribution to the hobby continued. The kit was eventually released as a limited edition (every kit numbered), and the goal is for everyone to build one, paint it gold, and fly it during the month of July (the anniversary month).

When you log your flight record with Semroc, Vern and Gleda will send you an autographed certificate commemorating your flight. This is a fantastic idea, and a great tribute to a couple of the founding giants of our hobby. I strongly recommend EVERYONE in this hobby rush out and buy one of these before they're gone, build it, and paint the sky gold in July. At $10 ($9 if using the NAR member discount), you certainly can't go wrong.

Construction:
Semroc tried their best to faithfully reproduce the original design, though had to make a couple of minor changes. First, the original gauze covering the motor retention wire is gone, replaced by a more modern and rugged Tyvek strip. Second, the parallel wound tube deal fell through at the last minute, so we get spiral wound Euclid tubing. I can almost imagine Carl at Semroc trying to coax Gleda into winding 1500 tubes for old times' sake...

Quality of the parts is the usual excellent, featuring a pre-marked BT-20 tube, balsa nose cone, laser cut fins, lug, metal catch hook, retaining wire, and water-slide decal with limited edition flight number.

The instructions are well written, clearly illustrated, and include plenty of information about the history of the rocket as well as the special celebration. If you're not picky about the finish, you can have it built in about 30 minutes. In my case, I wanted to make this as beautiful a finish as I could, and so dropped about 3 hours into sanding and surface prep.

The nose cone is glued permanently in place at the front of the BT-20 tube. Not only is the tube pre-marked, but there are (3) vent holes already punched as well as a tiny hole for the catch hook.

Next, you need to work the long end of the catch hook into the nose. This takes a little work, and you might need to drill out a little starter hole. Apply a tiny drop of glue, then slide the metal catch hook into place.

To hold the hook in place, the original gauze has been replaced with heavy-duty Tyvek. This works great, and has a cleaner appearance, but is a little tricky to work with. You need to apply a thin layer of glue to the backside of it, then gently rub out any gaps or air as you apply it. It will take a minute or so for the glue to really start to grab, so you'll need to keep rubbing the Tyvek, especially around the hook.

Once the Tyvek is in place, you can tack on the fins. The leading and tip edges are to be rounded, and the trailing edge (and root, obviously) are flat.

Tack a launch lug along one fin joint, and a thin retaining wire along another, and you're ready to paint.

Finishing:
OK, since the kit's name is the Golden Scout, and the celebration plan is called the Sky of Gold, painting this anything other than gold would be sacrilegious. I did the surface prep before assembly, so tube spirals were covered via diluted Fill N Finish, and also was sealed with 3 coats of balsa filler sealer.

After two light coats of primer, I finished it off with Rustoleum Metallic gold. Not exactly the bright gold that I think Semroc was hoping for, but a very nice looking finish nonetheless.

The finishing touch was applying my commemorative flight decal--#0066, not too shabby considering the first 60 were reserved for insiders involved in the original plan/mass launch.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
I'm going to have to owe a flight report via comments/flight logs later, as I'm holding off until the celebration month of July to post the first flight, and wanted to make sure I got the word out via review about this outstanding program.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
Overall, I have nothing but PROs for this--it's a very nice reproduction of one of the all time classic designs, brought back to market with the intention of honoring its designer(s), and by coordinating the Sky of Gold celebration, Semroc gives us all a chance to play a small part in rocketry history.

Why in the world are you still reading at this point? Shoot on over to Semroc and pick up your commemorative kit right now!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
This is a reproduction of the original Scout introduced by Vern Estes back in the 1960s. Back in the day, it sold for a mere 70 cents and introduced millions of people to model rocketry.

Construction:
Parts list:

• 1 balsa nose cone (BNC-30DE)
• 1 body tube (BT-30AP)
• 1 laser-cut fin set
• 1 engine catch hook
• 1 retaining wire
• 1 Tyvek reinforcing strip
• 1 launch lug

The Tyvek reinforcing strip replaces a gauze strip that was provided with the original #K-1 kit.

The quality of Semroc parts is second to none so as always all parts are top notch.

The instructions, as is the case with every Semroc kit I have built, are excellent. They include crisp and clear diagrams to backup the well written steps.

This kit was different than any I have built before. Once I opened the package and began examining the component parts, I felt like I was taken back in time to when Vern and Gleda first introduced this kit. I felt as if I was building something from a time past. It was a very cool feeling to say the least.

The build itself was straightforward but different due to the engine catch hook, retaining wire, and Tyvek reinforcing strip.

Two things to note:

• It's important to take your time when fitting the Tyvek strip over the engine catch hook in order to get a good smooth fit.
• In order to seat the engine retaining wire without it looking like a wire running along the side of the fin, I used a good number of glue fillets over the wire until I got a smooth looking finish.

Finishing:
I found no cons while building this kit. As I said it was straightforward but at the same time a unique build. I really had the sense that I was building something from a time past.

I used wood filler on the nose cone, fins, and nose cone transition to the body tube in order to get a smooth finish.

Painting was relatively easy and quick due to the diminutive size of this rocket. I applied two coats of Rustoleum Painter's Touch Gray wet or dry sandable primer, sanding in between. Then I followed up with two coats of Champion Sprayon 24kt Gold Spray Enamel.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
I will need to submit the flight logs in July. This rocket will be taking flight on July 4, 2008, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Vern and Glenda Estes and all that they have contributed to this wonderful hobby.

If you want to take part in this 50th Anniversary event, just pickup your Golden Scout from Semroc, paint it gold, fly it in July of this year, and register your flight with Semroc. Vern and Glenda will mail you a commemorative certificate celebrating the 50th anniversary and commemorating your flight. It just doesn't get any better than that!

Thanks to Carl, Sheryl and Bruce at Semroc, Ken Montanye "the Rocket Doctor of Ye Olde Rocket Forum", Vern and Glenda Estes, and everyone else who helped to make this event possible!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
This is Semroc's commemorative release for the 50 years of contributions to rocketry from Vernon and Gleda Estes, the founders of Estes model rockets. This was one of the first kits released by Estes. It is a unique design as it tumbles back to earth after flight. Each kit is assigned a unique number and can be registered at Semroc's website. The idea is to fly each of the gold painted kits in July as a tribute and the flier will receive a signed certificate from the Estes'.

Construction:
This is a simple, straightforward build. You get 1 body tube, 3 laser cut fins, balsa nosecone, launch lug, engine catch hook, retaining wire, and a Tyvek strip.

The instructions are clear and the experienced builder can construct this kit without them. Start with the preparation by sealing the nosecone and fins, sanding them smooth, and then rounding the leading edges of the fins. Next, glue the nosecone to the body tube. I used wood glue throughout the build. The engine catch hook bends at 90 degrees at each end, and the longer bend is pushed into the balsa nosecone. It is a good idea to use a strong pin to make a pilot hole. The body tube is pre-marked for alignment of the hook and for the fins. Glue the hook to the body tube, then glue the Tyvek strip over it to secure it. Be careful with the glue, I made a little bit of a mess with it. Next, glue the fins on the alignment lines. After the glue has dried, add the fillets. The last step is to glue the launch lug at the joint of the fin and body tube opposite the hook. The is also a retaining wire to glue to the body tube. It's purpose is to hold the motor in the body tube when the clips are attached to the igniter at launch time. The instructions also suggest adding a 1/32" by 3/16" wide strip of balsa opposite of the hook to prevent the motor from kicking out.

Finishing:
Since this is called the Golden Scout and it is a 50th anniversary commemorative, the natural selection of color is gold. I like to use Duplicolor high build for the primer coat. I applied a second coat after sanding, then sanded the Scout until the finish was smooth. I recently read that black or magenta makes for a good undercoat for gold so I used Krylon Gloss Black. After that coat dried, I finished with Krylon gold and the results were good. There are only two decals, one for the Sky of Gold event and the other being the unique kit number. This kit is #701.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
The design or this rocket is a little different. When the motor's ejection charge fires, it will eject but is held by the engine hook which extends about 1.5" past the bottom of the body tube. This changes the center of gravity to where the Scout will tumble back to earth. It's a small rocket, so keep your eyes on it during flight. I will wait until July to put it skyward.

Flight Rating: NA

Summary:
I applaud Semroc for celebrating 50 years of model rocketry and this is a good way to do it. The Scout is certainly a classic kit and was the right choice for the project.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
While buying some parts and supplies, I decided to go ahead and grab a Golden Scout to commemorate the Vern and Gleda's 50 years of contributions to this educational and fun hobby. Without their efforts, sport rocketry might not even exist today.

There are already several good reviews here on EMRR, so I'll assume you've read them. There's no reason to repeat everything.

Construction:
The parts list:

• 1 balsa nose cone (BNC-30DE)
• 1 body tube (BT-30AP)
• 3 laser-cut fins
• 1 engine catch hook
• 1 retaining wire
• 1 Tyvek reinforcing strip
• 1 launch lug

This is about as easy a kit as you will find. I built mine leisurely in one afternoon, less finishing. The parts are the typical quality you get from Semroc. The fins are perfect, balsa cone's grain is shallow, and the tube is precision marked and pre-punched. The fins are relatively thick for this size kit, which made them really easy to attach (I did all 3 of mine in one step) and should help with recovery. I don't know if the fins on the original were this thick?

The one step that may have proved slightly challenging was the attachment of the Tyvek strip over the motor catch hook. Nope, I found that was simple also.

Finishing:
After hearing the model's flight history (charred fins, broken fins, etc.), I decided not to spend a lot of time on finishing. (I'm sure anyone who knows me is shocked--NOT.) I filled the balsa with one coat of Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish and shot a couple of coats of primer, sanding in between. The Tyvek kept fuzzing up, but I eventually got it smooth. I painted it gold as specified using Testor's Gold. It came with a serialized decal, mine is #0869. That's a lot of gold in this July's skies!

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
I see the deadline for the Super Hit List will come and go before it flies, so this will have to be added later. Here are some preflight observations:

• For a rocket that should be a no-brainer, this kit has generated a surprising amount of discussion. I thought maybe it was just me, but recent discussions on The Rocketry Forum say I'm not alone.
• The BT-30 tube is a little bigger than the standard BT-20 so the motor is quite loose. The instructions recommend that you shim the motor on the side opposite the motor catch hook with 1/32" balsa. This will ensure that the ejected motor will firmly catch on the hook and also not bounce back into the tube. I don't have any thin balsa so I tried a strip of 1/64" ply. This seemed too tight so I tried a strip of thin cardboard. This seemed to work and there should be an ample supply. Whatever is used, the engine needs to slide easily back and forth. This also needs to be checked prior to each flight as residue can build up in the tube.
• Another issue is the length of the body tube. It's longer than an 18mm motor so the motor is recessed into the body by 3/8" during the boost phase. I've heard reports that this can toast the end of the rocket a bit. I understand wanting to be true to the original, but it made me wonder what a thin tape thrust ring wasn't specified on this re-release. It seemed it should be stable given the swept fins. Also, an examination of the RockSim file here on EMRR seemed to confirm that it would.
• I plan on flying mine on an A10-3 using a spent 18mm casing as an adapter. I'm also going to try an A8-3 using a shim and another with a tape thrust ring.

Flight Rating: 2 out of 5

Summary:
I applaud Vern, Gleda for their contributions, the folks a Semroc for releasing the kit, and everyone else involved in the event. As for the kit itself, I say the build is a '5' and the flight rating is probably lower. My final rating is a '5' since I hardly care, I'm just happy to add to the Sky of Gold!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5