Brief:
Silver Comet XL - My Silver Comet kitbash project began with someone else havin' a bad bit o' luck. Aye aye! An unknown party at a DARS launch (de Anza College, matey, Cupertino CA) in early 1998 launched a Silver Comet with an Aerotech E motor. Ya scallywag! Begad! Maybe t' motor had too long a delay. Maybe t' parachute be packed too tight. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! In any case, t' model took a nose dive into t' unforgivin' DARS' "AsphaltDrome." I didn't witness t' crash. Arrr! Well, blow me down! I did see t' unlucky owner tossin' t' kit into t' trash. Ya scallywag! Yes, ya bilge rat, I admit it: I salvaged t' kit from a trash barrel. Arrr! My kitbash project started with a bashed kit. Aye aye! You, me hearties, o' course, can do this kitbash on an existin' Silver Comet, or one you build from a kit. Ahoy! Arrr! No crash necessary. Avast, me proud beauty! Aside from t' totally mashed cone, shiver me timbers, and 3" or so o' crumpled body tube, me hearties, matey, t' unlucky space yacht actually looked in pretty good shape. Ya scallywag! I decided t' do somethin' *cool* with it. Begad! Blimey! Nay right away, arrr, as it turned out, me hearties, shiver me timbers, but after a year and a half in a box, arrr, I took a second look at t' model and began t' plan. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! On me to-do list:

• Replacement Nose Cone
• Longer Body Tube
• Niftier Fins
• Less Cheap Lookin' Decals

Modifications:
Before gluin' on t' coupler and extra tubing, ya bilge rat, I carefully peeled off t' transparent self-stick decals and stuck them on wax paper. They were in fairly good shape. Aye aye! Waste not, want not! Since t' original shock cord mount be lost in t' crash, me hearties, I built one into t' coupler usin' t' old "double slit" method. Arrr! Begad! I used a few inches o' Keelhaul®©™ thread as a leader, and about 3' o' 1/4" elastic band as a shock cord. T' fins o' t' crashed model were in OK shape, but I never really liked t' shape o' t' things. Ya scallywag! They don't look like Olde Fashionede space ship fins. Rather than remove them, I simply added pods t' their tips! T' pods are made from three teardrop-shaped pieces o' 1/8" balsa, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, glued together into a stack and sanded t' have nice round edges. Avast, me proud beauty! T' middle layer has a roughly triangular shape snipped out o' it, so that t' finished pod could be slipped over t' existin' fin tips.

Construction:
If you start with an intact kit, you won't have t' worry about t' first step! T' replacement cone (with molded cockpit) is nay a standard part, arrr, ya bilge rat, but at t' time I did t' project Estes did make it available through their customer service line. Ya scallywag! Shippin' was inexpensive and fairly fast. Well, arrr, blow me down! Parts for t' second step were easy t' find. Avast, me proud beauty! I purchased a pack o' Estes BT-80 tubes and a coupler (from t' Large Coupler Pack) from a discount distributor. Avast! Begad! I added a total o' about 4" t' t' front o' t' model. Begad! (In me case I needed more tubin' than that, t' replace t' crumpled tube.)

Re-finishin' t' Silver Comet was a real chore. I thought at first that I'd preserve t' original paint job and just paint t' fin tips and new body tube section. Begad! Blimey! But after sanding, shiver me timbers, arrr, sealing, me hearties, spiral-seam-fillin' and sprayin' t' new parts, t' contrast betwixt new and old be too obvious! Blimey! I ended up sandin' and primin' t' old parts and doin' what I could t' fill t' fins. Arrr! Blimey! T' result was pretty good. I was never good at achievin' "chrome" like silver finishes, but after buffin' and a few coats o' Future floor wax t' finish looks really nice. Sort o' a "silver plastic" effect. Ya scallywag! Blimey! When t' paint was dry, matey, me bucko, I reapplied t' decals. Begad! Blimey! T' original kit calls for t' "portholes" and hatch t' be placed on one side and t' logo decal on t' other. Aye aye! Blimey! I decided that this was too unbalanced looking. Blimey! Blimey! So I called Estes Customer Service and tried t' order another set o' decals. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! They refused t' sell me one . Begad! Blimey! . Ya scallywag! Blimey! . Begad! Blimey! they sent me one for free! Blimey! God bless 'em! Blimey! I placed t' new set o' porthole and hatch decals on t' port side o' t' ship, and t' logo detail along t' top. Begad! Blimey! As a finishin' touch, I used dark blue acrylic paint t' color in t' center o' each porthole and t' hatch's window. T' result is an amazin' improvement over t' original look. (If you've got a Silver Comet, try it!) I tried paintin' in t' cockpit windows, shiver me timbers, with limited success. I eventually settled on usin' pieces o' blue Trim Monokote. Arrr! Blimey! This wasn't much better, and took a lot o' work. Avast! Blimey! I think I'd try harder t' get a good paint finish if I had t' do it over again.

Flight:
T' Silver Comet XL made its maiden voyage at t' August 2000 LUNAR launch. Well, blow me down! I used a D12-3 motor and a two standard 24" Estes plastic parachutes. Ahoy! Begad! T' comments I got from t' launch volunteers and people on line for RSO inspection were very ego-boosting. Arrr! Begad! T' launch be a great success, too: T' model be very stable, me hearties, perhaps due t' t' pods actin' as "drag members" far aft o' t' center o' gravity. T' parachute ejected near-apogee and landed safely.

Summary:
Although finishin' t' kit be more work than it should have been, I had fun with this project and really liked t' results. Avast, me proud beauty! Although officially out o' production, you may still be able t' nab a Silver Comet kit from hobby stores or webstores. Arrr! Arrr! Go for it!

Other:
T' only problem I've encountered with t' model: T' soft balsa I used for t' pods tends t' crunch easily. Ya scallywag! I've made lots o' dents in them in normal handling. Havin' used harder balsa, and perhaps a coatin' o' epoxy, might have made them a bit sturdier.