The Crayon

The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

Recently I had an adventure recovering a "Crayon Bank" rocket which offered some challenges.
Giant Crayon Bank 36 Inch Asst Colors (1/Pkg) Pkg/3 - Walmart.com ...
But it brought the topic back to mind once again.
Amazon.com: Universal Affect - Large Crayon Coin Savings Bank ...
Apparently, for a number of years, the cylindrical shape of a wax crayola crayon bank caught the eye of rocketeers.  It has been sold in a number of toy stores over the years.

In fact, it was considered a rite-of-passage at some point to pick one up for a couple of bucks while shopping for your kid's birthday or Xmas presents, and then modify it for yourself.
36 inch Giant Crayon Bank - Pink - Walmart.com - Walmart.com

The construction has varied just a bit over the years, but  it is currently a blown-plastic shape of a 3 foot giant crayon with a slot cut in the top along the side of what would have been the wax tip or cone of the crayon.  The cardboard sides of the crayon simply state "CRAYON" in the familiar Crayola logo, and the bottom is a blown plastic cup... meaning there is no way to remove the coins from your bank, once they are deposited...short of cutting it open!

But recently, I have been told that there was a version of the crayon bank that had some form of base that unscrewed.  You could remove the bottom at one time.

This means, a rocketeer had to:
  1.  remove and fashion the nosecone from the tip, 
  2. attach a parachute and shock cord.... 
  3. attach at least 3 fins of his own design to the base of the body tube.... 
  4. and fashion a motor mount and centering rings for the engine, either cutting a hole in the plastic cup or doing away with the bottom all-together.

I have the impression that the design varied a great deal, although the finished product was essentially the same size, and capacity for a motor to lift the plastic crayon and payload chute and shock cord.

Almost every one that I have seen had nothing more than masking tape over the slot in the plastic nosecone, but I imagine someone with hot glue or an eye toward crafts could find a more permanent method to seal up this slot.
Crayon Coin Banks | Kids Love Stickers from MediBadge
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there was an adapting kit sold by some enterprising Rocket-interest, though I don't know this for sure.

What do you know of the history of this home-brew rocket?  What was the cheapest version possible?

Anyone got an horror tale to share?

The Thrifty Rocketeer wants to know...

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