Centuri Micron Build

While waiting to get replacement parts for the Little Joe II, I decided to work on getting a couple of skill level 1 rockets completed. The first one I wanted to work on is very special to me in that it was the very first rocket I ever bought.

When my friend Jeff Brewer and I were in the 5th grade we read everything we could get our hands on about the U.S. Manned Space Program. Jeff's older brother Jimmy had been into model rocketry when he was younger and had a few rockets he had kept and shown to Jeff. I remember going over to Jeff's house one day after school and Jeff showing me a box with some of Jimmy's old rockets in it. Specifically I remember seeing a small Honest John, a Mars Lander, and one of his own designs he called the "Feces" (go figure). Anyway, it was enough to get us both hooked. Soon after Jeff showed me the first kit he bought which was a Centuri Lil' Hercules. I don't recall exactly how long it took, but I eventually talked my Mom into driving to the local hobby shop (an awesome place called "Mini City" in La Mesa, CA) where I purchased my very first Model Rocket - The Centurin Micron...

This is the identical kit to the one I bought back in 1975. I didn't want to open this kit since it is still sealed so I purchased a SEMROC clone kit. SEMROC kits are speced to be nearly identical in every way to the original kit.

The first step was to fill the spiral seems in the body tube. I used Elmer's wood filler for this and worked quite well.

After filling the body tube, the fins were next. SEMROC typically gives you laser-cut fins so there was no cutting necessary. Just sand and fill. In the above picture, the fins have been filled and are ready to be glued on.

From it's introduction in the mid 1960s most Micron kits came with a balsa nose cone. At some point in the mid 1970s, Centuri substituted a plastic nose cone. The SEMROC clone kit came with the original balsa nose and so this must be filled just like the fins.

After attaching the fins, a thick sandable primer coat was applied. This will be sanded and fine sanded and will end up being the base for the color coat

Here is the rocket after the the body has recieved it's gloss white color coat. The nose will be painted gloss black.

Finally, here is the completed Micron with paint and decals applied. I did this kit in the scheme presented on the kit panel above. Gordy at Excelsior decals was kind enough to work up a special roll pattern decal with the orange strips in between the black (thanks Gordy!). The original Micron decal didn't have those.

All in all, this was a fun quick and easy kit to complete and it fills a significant spot in my collection as the rocket that started it all for me...