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This kit is manufactured in resin, with no sink holes whatsoever. There are twelve pieces altogether,
enough to make two rockets in total, and with a choice of two versions: one with the pointed nose cone, or
one with a blunt head. The point on the cones needs to be sanded to shape and to remove some casting
residue. The blunt head option comes as a separate piece that requires the builder to cut off the pointed
nose along with a portion of the body behind the nose and glue on the optional blunt head.
The fins are well cast and have the
ribs as found on the real rocket.
There are locating slots for them on
the body to aid in their placement.
Some sanding is required to remove a
minor seam along the edges of the
fins.
The rear end of the rocket is completely flat, and the instructions give no information as to how the exhaust
area is configured. A web search revealed that the Tiny Tim had 25 rocket nozzles - one centrally located
main nozzle, around which there is a set of 24 small nozzles - 8 located around the central nozzle plus a
further 16 small nozzles running around the circumference of the body (as shown in the diagram below left).
My first thought was to add all the nozzles by drilling them into the rear of the
body, but I realized the folly of this idea since this plan was a bit beyond my
capability as a modeller. So I looked for an easier way.
My solution was to take the end from a Soviet/Russian rocket launcher tube from
an ESCI Mi-24 kit and glued it to the rear of the rocket and then sand them to
match the rocket's body circumference. The launcher piece has only 16 nozzles plus an additional one
that I drilled myself. I know this isn't completely accurate but it definitely improves the look of the
rockets, eliminating the blank and featureless exhaust area.
The only other change I did was to add suspension lugs to the body, and then the rockets were ready for
painting.
The instructions provide a colouring guide. I wanted to build both versions but I didn't wish to have both
in the same scheme, so I checked the world wide web for some alternate schemes. I found one colour
photo of the blunt headed version as a test shot rocket in overall gloss black with a white band on the
nose, which was quite appealing and so became the choice for my alternate scheme.
Both rockets got a primer coat of Testors Modelmaster light grey enamel for a primer, which was
followed with a coat of Krylon gloss black lacquer. The blunt headed version was left in gloss black and a
white decal stripe was added to the nose. The other rocket received a coat of Alclad Aluminum lacquer
and after this had dried for a couple of days, the nose was masked with Tamiya masking tape and then
painted with a coat of Aeromaster Olive Drab then a coat of Aeromaster acrylic flat.
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Conclusion
This set of Tiny Tim rockets from Kendall Model Company are very well cast and easy to assemble, and
make a perfect set for mounting on an aircraft or displaying on their own.
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