Custom Rockets - Ion Pulsar {Kit} (10028)

Custom Rockets Ion Pulsar

Custom Rockets - Ion Pulsar {Kit} (10028)

Contributed by Kevin Timmins

Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Diameter:	1.33 inches
Length:	17.00 inches
Manufacturer:	Custom Rockets
Skill Level:	1
Style:	Futuristic/Exotic

Brief:

The Custom Rockets Ion Pulsar is a 1:48 scale model designed for B & C engines.

The Kit Included:-

2 x Body Tubes
Engine mount & hook
Motor mount centering rings
Elastic Shock cord
2 sets of Card centering Rings
6 Centering rings (2 for centering tubes - 4 for detail)
12" Plastic Chute & lines
Die Cut Balsa Fins & Dowel
Plastic Nose cone
Water Slide Decals
Comprehensive instructions

Construction:

Construction was straightforward. The centering rings for the motor mount are glued together and inserted over the motor hook and engine mount. I used Yellow Glue for most of the construction, with a little CA for tacking in place.

The motor mount is fitted into the main tube, and after sanding & filling the fins with sanding sealer they are attached & filleted. The dowel is cut into 3 x 2" lengths and attached on the fin edge. I used epoxy for the fillets in this case. Once the upper tube has been measured, the tube centering rings are attached and the 2 tubes fited together very snugly. The other rings are for detail on the upper tube and fitted last. The the shock cord is glued into place.

The Chute was a standard 12" polyethylene chute which just needed the shroud lines attaching.

Finishing:

The paint scheme is simple silver with gold trim on the upper tube rings, and then the decals are applied (There are a lot of them about 70 in all)

Construction Rating: 5

Flight:

The first flight was on a B6-4. No wind that day and the model flew like a dart. Perfect, although the ejection seemed a little early.

Recovery:

The model was recovered really close to the pad about 30 meters or so considering the altitude.

Flight Rating: 5

Overall:

A great kit, simple to build, flies great and looking forward to trying it on a C6 next time.

Overall Rating: 5

Other Reviews

Custom Rockets Ion Pulsar By Dave Amend
The Ion Pulsar, by Custom, is a fairly easy model to build. The model specs. are; length 17", Dia. 1.325", Weight 1.4 oz. with recommended engines B4-4, B6-4, C6-5. The kit comes in a bag that contains two kraft paper body tubes, cardboard paper centering rings, plastic nose cone, die cut balsa fins, plastic 12" chute with elastic shock cord, decals, and the basic motor mount with a ...

Flights

Comments:

C.R. (November 1, 2000)

I finished mine with Metallic Blue spray paint and didn't bother with the decals. I have only had the chance to fly it once. I used an Estes B4-4 and had a picture perfect flight. The dual sized body tubes and doweled fins generate a lot of positive comments on the field. I do find the doweled fins are easily damaged.

M.R. (January 1, 2001)

Decals, decals, decals. It took over 3 hours to apply them all -- it looks nice, but, sheeeeesh! I had a large number left over, too. I modified the construction to include a small baffle system as well as mounting the shock cord inside the lower body tube (with thick Kevlar®). Hasn't flown yet, but it looks nice. The dowel fin extensions will definitely snap off at some time.

D.G. (February 1, 2001)

Nice Rocket. I flew it twice. Then I found it on the floor in the garage, and one of the fins was missing. To this date, I never found it. And the decals were fun, but the thin film made it difficult.

unknown (June 1, 2001)

Nice looking model. Bought the kit recently and it may have changed slightly from your review - had to paint the nose cone. Way too many decals. I cut back on those big time but I did add the ovals on the fins and some "rivets". Haven't flown it yet but I plan to soon.

G.M. (September 1, 2001)

The unit looks better with longer dowels on the fins. I extended mine to 2.5" and it makes the rocket look more "sleek". Rustoleum has a Nickel paint that looks nice on this rocket. It's easier to paint the rings before they are glued to the rocket. I like the Ion Pulsar so much that I've 2x upscaled it with 29mm motor mount. It flew for the 1st time at NARAM-43 on a F52-8. Very nice flight, but the parachute 24" was a bit small and I broke all the dowels on landing. I've started a 3x upscale with 38mm mmt.

B.I. (September 1, 2001)

This is a nice rocket. I didnt go through the hassle of all the decals but it looks good any way. I use C6-5 engines on it and they work perfectly.

T.A.P. (December 31, 2001)

Built this kit for my son and was not that hard to build. We did not use the decals. This has been a very good rocket and has about 30 flights on it and have never broken the dowels. This rocket has always flown straight up and every flight has been with a C6-5. I will buy another so that when this one does break we will have another. Great rocket.

K.T. (April 4, 2004)

The decals are a pain. There are just too many of them. Also you need a clearcoat over the top ov them otherwise the very quickly peel.

K.A.C. (June 7, 2005)

love this kit. The only 2 things I did differently was that I put the dowels on so they pointed up. The other thing that I did was paint it bright orange. It really looks good. The dowels pointing up really helps with landing damage.

Chris Gonnerman (October 19, 2023)

If I had it to do over again, I'd have put the dowels pointing up instead of down; much too easy to break off (as one of mine did, so I cut them all down). Curious how the packaging says it's a 1:48 scale model... where is there a 68 foot long rocket like this?

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