Brief:
This is a re-issue of an out of production Quest(ARF) Saucer Odd-Roc. I ordered two sets of these from Quest during their recent 40% off Christmas sale. One saucer kit and three C6-0 engines were part of the combo deal for $9.00. Quite a good price, a fun rocket for a little more than the price of the three engines. As the Quest website explains a supply of saucer tops was found in a mis-marked crate at the Quest facility. Quest's president Bill Stine redesigned it using some existing parts to fashion this S.P.E.V. kit. SPEV stands for “Spare Parts Elimination Vehicle”. The name S.P.E.V. actually goes back to an old Estes kit. It was sold with the subtitle - SPace Exploration Vehicle. Quest also included a “Freebie” MicroMaxx Mini saucer in each kit bag. It is a scaled down copy of the big saucer. A nice surprise, even though I’ve heard it doesn’t fly very high, I’d always wanted one.

Construction:
The parts are few:

• Plastic Saucer Top
• (3) Laser Cut Black Fiber Fins
• White Plastic Launch Lug, 1.5" long
• Yellow Motor Mount Tube, BT-20 diameter 2 11/16" long
• Sheet of 8.5" X 11" Avery Self-Adhesive Paperr®
• (You print your own saucer decor from the Quest Website)
• Pictorial Instruction Sheet

I cleaned off the saucer of any molding release agents with light soapy water and a paper towel. I wanted to be sure that later on that the self adhesive “decals” would stick well.

The launch lug was molded white plastic, thick and contoured to fit against the BT-20 sized motor mount tube. I knew I had seen a lug like this before. I put it next to my old MPC Nike Patriot, it’s the same style molded lug that Harry Stine designed for MPC thirty years ago.

The fins were laser cut from thick black fiberboard stock. I had to wipe off the burnt edges with a paper towel. There was black ash marks from the fins on the yellow motor mount tube. There are no wire landing leg “antennas”.

The instructions were printed in black and white on one side of an 8 1/2" x 11' sheet. Photo illustrations accompanied the directions.

• Step 1: You glue the thick plastic launch lug to the inside of the saucer top. It lines up with the molded hole in the top of the saucer. I sanded the ends of the lug to clean up the molding flash. The lug’s formed side contour doesn’t quite match the diameter of the molded motor mount housing. It was made for a MPC body tube, approx. 1 3/8" diameter.
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• Step 2: I decided to replace the supplied yellow motor mount tube with a thicker BT-20 tube. I felt the Quest motor mount tubing was too thin. I glued the blue thrust ring in the replacement tube.
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• Step 3: The instructions say to use plastic cement to glue the motor mount tube into the saucer. I used thick (slower dry) super glue. I ran a bead of the thick CA around the top thrust ring and another ring around the upper body. When I slid the motor tube into place, the thick glue helped fill in the slight gap between the plastic top “tube” and the BT-20 replacement.
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• Step 4: The model is a simpler take on the older all plastic design. The root ends of the Fiber Fins attach to the cardboard motor mount tube with wood glue. Instead of wood glue, I set the fins in place, lined them up, then ran a line of thin super glue down the root edge. The other end of the fins have a tab that fits into cutout circles in the saucer top. I touched the tab/circle contact points with super glue. There is no plastic fins and the plastic tabs won’t be breaking off the saucer top like the original version. The fins were a great design, adapting well to the existing saucer top. The saucer stands on the fins and on it’s own when built.
  No engine hook. Also missing are the wire landing legs. Not a problem. The saucer top is molded from a strong, flexible plastic. Landings shouldn’t be a concern. When all assembled the saucer is very sturdy.
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• Step 5: Glue the two remaining fins into position. That's it!

Finishing:
Go to the Quest website and download the decal. You can choose from four different decals. I chose Decal Sheet 3, the one with the “Bewildered” Aliens. The yellow Alien skin color reminded me of the old “GLOW-In-The-Dark” toys of the 1960's. Being this model is an Odd-Ball, I went for the most outrageous pattern.

Be sure to spray and seal the printed “decals” with a shot of clear coat to prevent smearing. All four of the decals have a suggested color for the saucer. I was reluctant to spray the saucer, I was concerned the paint wouldn’t adhere well on the slick surface of the saucer top. My saucer was molded in a medium metallic grey color. You are directed to use a hobby knife to cut out the “decal” images. I cut mine with scissors. Cutting out the decals is the most time consuming part of the build. It took 20 minutes to cut all 12 pieces. Placement was not a problem except for the highest center ring decal stickers. It’s a full ring, made-up of three arc shaped pieces. I had to place the pieces higher than the centerline of the highest plastic “cone” to get all the edges to match up.

The finished saucer looks great! It was a fun and easy build. It was interesting to see the original design improved using fewer parts and updated graphics. The black fins, white engine tube, white lug and (original color plastic) grey saucer all compliment each other well.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
Quest recommends a B6-0 or C6-0 engines. Previous EMRR reviews say the B6-0 is too underpowered for this saucer. The original instructions (from 1998) say to use a C6-0 engine only. I will fly it with the C6-0s that came with the sale combo package.

I was flying alone today, I wanted to get this review in quickly, our next R.O.C.K. NAR section launch wasn’t for another two weeks. I packed up my (20 year old) Estes yellow Porta-Pad launcher. This launcher had the pre-lightning bolt legs. After some continuity problems, I scraped off some battery corrosion and got a light.

Prep was simple, friction fit the engine with a little masking tape and install the igniter. There was no engine hook and of course, no wadding.

Countdown and launch! The engine really had to work to get it airborne. It started arcing over half way up. This wasn’t a vertical flight, I had a slight wind to content with. Being a C6-0 engine, the propellant “wall” broke through just before it turned over. It landed on it’s top, 50 feet from the launcher. I picked it up quickly, the lawn was a little wet and I didn’t want to ruin the paper stick-on decals. (Another reason to clear coat after printing.) While I am terrible at guessing altitudes, it may have got to 125 feet.

I followed up with the (Freebie) Micro Maxx saucer. The retaining ring on the plastic engine mount was a little tricky, There are tiny arrows to show you which way to lock the ring. I didn’t want to lose the ring, I added two small tape strips on the ring and engine mount tube.

As the reviews before had said, not much altitudem I would guess 40 feet. Still, a lot of fun. I’m an Odd-Roc fan, I know both saucers will be favorites.

Recovery:
I was curious to see if there was any burn marks at the plastic area above the top of the engine. There was none!

• Engines: When I got home, it was interesting to peel off the Quest label. The outer Quest color wrapper said Quest a Division of Toy Biz, Inc. Made in the U.S.A. Under the peeled label, the engine was German made and labeled: RAKETEN MOTOR. The printing was RED, designating a booster engine, but the printed power was C6-3! The was a booster engine, there was clearly no delay or ejection charge in the tops of the fresh motors. The production date was 1996. Not a big deal, just interesting. The engines were packed in a sealed, airtight bag. The engine performed well.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
Bill Stine did a great job using the existing materials to put a fresh, improved spin on an existing platform. The model lost a point for the lug that didn't fit the 3/4" diameter engine tubing contour. And the supplied engine tube was flimsy. Neither original supplied parts would effect flight though. The fiber fins were well cut and strong.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Brief:
Back in the fall of 2008, Quest Aerospace found a stack of 10 year old saucer tops for their 1998 vintage fly saucer RTF rocket. The top plates were the only pieces left from the kit. Rather than discarding them, Bill Stine added an 18 mm motor mount tube, a motor block, a plastic straw, and 3 specially cut black fiberboard supports/fins. One section of the fiberboard supports slips into 3 of the 6 glue holes that were originally used to hold the lower saucer plate. The other end of the supports are glued to the motor mount.

The instructions with illustrations are printed on one paper sheet. For decals, the kit includes one 8.5" by 11" Avery brand sticker paper. You can go to a link on the Quest web site to get 4 different decal pattern sets. You choose one and download it and print it using a laser printer (preferably color). Cut the decals out and stick them onto the Saucer plate.

Construction was simple and done in 15 minutes. The builder has to use both Tube type plastic cement to glue the motor mount to the plastic plate as well as the launch lug. The remaining paper components are glued on using white or yellow glue.

Modifications:

Construction:
Like other saucers built by other companies, it is unconventional. The Area 51 Saucer SPEV does not even have a motor hook ! It is lighter than the original saucer--1.6 oz vs 2.7 oz.

This rocket kit is very simple to assemble. The finished product is very sturdy once the glues dries.

Finishing:
Pro: if you have extra adhesive back paper, you can download more than one design and mix and match to create a unique saucer.

Con: Decals quality is handicapped by the fact that the builder uses paper cutouts. Not every builder has access to a color laser printer. I used a black and white laser printer and pick the best artwork for grayscale. Most color printers are water based ink jets. This ink can wash out when the saucer comes into contact with wet grass. A layer of clear coat would be useful to protect the decal finish.

To be fair to Quest, The kit is a spare parts elimination vehicle (SPEV) It was built on the fly with parts on hand.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
The Quest Area 51 saucer can be ordered with 3 C6-0 motors. Based on 3 flights, B6-0s can also be used. The motors provided were of German manufacture and do not quite have the lift of either an Estes or the new Chinese made Quest motors. In spite of this, the flights were quite nice under the German /Quest C motors. The saucer begins to arc over as the moment of burnout and, if launched vertically, lands within 50 feet of the launch pad.

Recovery:
Recovery was gentle and there was no flight damage.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
IF quest decided to order another set of top plates, they would have a popular kit in their inventory. They would also eliminated the one CON in terms of finishing--ad-hoc paper decals.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
Although this resembles Quest's original Area-51 saucer, it varies slightly from the original. This is a SPEV (spare parts elimination vehicle) kit based on a crate of saucer tops that Quest found lying around. The bottom section is redesigned since the original parts were missing. Thus, although really simple to build, it is not RTF. It also doesn't have the wire 'legs' and is not pre-decorated.

Construction:
The following parts are provided:

• molded plastic body
• plastic launch lug
• cardboard motor tube
• cardboard motor block
• three fiberboard fins
• one 8-½" x 11" sheet of white label stock

The instructions are provided a single sheet and the build requires a hobby knife, plastic cement (tube type), and white (or wood) glue. You start by attaching the plastic lug to the body with plastic cement. The motor block is attached using wood glue. The motor tube is inserted and glued into a tube that is integral to the plastic body. This version doesn't have positive retention so a bit of masking tape will be required. The fins are glued to the motor tube with wood glue and have a tab that fits into holed in the body. How these fit should be evident in the attached photo. Th...th-that's all folks!

Finishing:
Quest provides four recommended color schemes and provides graphics for these on their web site. You can print your choice, or one of your own design, on the provided full page label. The saucer's native color is dark gray and I merely picked the decals that I though looked the best with this raw color.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
The recommended motors include the B6-0 and C6-0. I didn't have either so I went with one of Quest's new 'long burn' C6-3s. I friction fit the motor and lit it with the provided Q2G2 igniter. The throat of the motor seems deeper than the Estes C6 and the Q2G2 fit nicely and was held in place using the provided protective sleeve. The flight was fine but was fairly low in altitude.

Recovery:
The C6-3 ejected on the ground--this is not optimal. Plus, this makes me think that a B6 wouldn't be the best choice for this rocket, although I'm sure it would go up and come back down.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
Functionally, this is your basic saucer design. I like saucers! Although it's a 'SPEV', I can't believe the original was any better. I personally liked the decoration options and it would be easy to come up with your own. I should mention that it also came with a Micro-Maxx saucer as a bonus. (A bonus that will probably make you want to but some of those motors if ya don't already have a stash.)

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out of 5