Inappropriate Rocket?

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

Well just tonight, after receiving some bad news, I was on-line with an older Rocketeer.  It was a zoom call and I could see the rocket kit he was working on.





Something about the lines looked familiar, and I swear that I have seen or handled one of the support parts in my hand, though I swear I have never ordered nor possessed the kit.  There's just something about that kit that bugs me.

Now, I suspect that I have written about this in the past, so I'm likely to be covering familiar ground here.

It was a Jihad rocket kit, produced by Semroc, and part of at least three "goonies" that were made tongue-in-cheek, with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

The one that I DID have and built, was a Kamikaze goonie, complete with a Japanese pilot decal and a rising sun flag for the fins.  I thought it might be in a little bad taste when I bought it, but it was nothing compared to the Jihad.

Now the Jihad looks a lot like my Japanese version, except the decals are slightly different.  And the pilot is a caricature of a middle eastern Arab, complete with turban, flying this goonie complete with a missile to drop. (No, it doesn't really drop off, but it is on the underside, and counterbalances the fins.)

Anyway, I have always found the Jihad to be over-the-line and offensive to me... but the Kamikaze not so much for some reason.

Tonight, I recognized the missile hanging down below the kit.  And as we chatted, the man broke out some fire engine red Tamiya Hobby and Model Paint and started painting the missile.  The penny dropped and I recognized the kit.

He confirmed that he had an unbuilt Jihad kit in the build pile and had decided that as a Persian Gulf Vet, he had the right to build it proudly.

Now, I don't consider this man an "Elmer" of mine, but I respect his years of experience in the hobby and would never think to contradict him openly.  So I kept my tongue.  But it gave me another topic to wax eloquent on tonight.

What are some of the rocket kits that you have bought and wished that you hadn't?  Any that you thought were in bad taste?  Or am I alone in this?

The Thrifty Rocketeer would like to know.

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