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