TRF Members new design

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Not mine, but I thought this one deserved a look. This guy designed and built this rocket, which he calls the Odyssey, because few of what he calls the "Deep Space Fantasy kits" are being produced anymore. Personally I think he nailed it. He's apparently planning to kit this for somewhere in the $40 area.
Wish I had it in me to design something like this. :cool:

[CPMcGraw]

Not mine, but I thought this one deserved a look. This guy designed and built this rocket, which he calls the Odyssey, because few of what he calls the "Deep Space Fantasy kits" are being produced anymore. Personally I think he nailed it. He's apparently planning to kit this for somewhere in the $40 area.
Wish I had it in me to design something like this. :cool:

Bill,

I can see the influences of at least four other kits in this one! Nice work, whoever built it!

For example, I see the Estes Andromeda for the forward "crew" area and "engineering" tube; the EIRP Excalibur for the tall vertical fin and tip pod and the overall arrangement; the Canaroc Antares for the lower "sensor probe"; the USS Hyperion for the ring tail... There are other models deep in there, too...

That's the key to designing really cool models, Bill. You "borrow" ideas from others, and change them with your own improvements, goo-gahs, and what-nots. Great industrial design has always worked that way; incremental steps from one idea to another. When you "try" to design something "different", it often winds up an exercise in frustration. But if you take something that already exists and works, then just "modify" its appearance a little, not altering the flying characteristics too much, then you have something "different, but familiar". After that, you just continue modifying the design into something else, followed by something else, etc...

Hang in there, Bill. Grab a copy of RS8, and play with it (if you haven't already). This is a tool that eliminates a lot of the frustration. It's not perfect, and there are a number of things I wished even now that it could do, but it will give you a "basic" pattern to start with that works and is stable to fly.

Craig McGraw

[Eagle3]

I get a lot of inspiration for my designs by grabbing my stash of old catalogs and thumbing through them. It's like Craig said, usually a unique feature on a kit will make me think of it in a slightly different way.

I hope the above model does get kitted. I'll put an order in for one now!

[Ltvscout]

Not mine, but I thought this one deserved a look. This guy designed and built this rocket, which he calls the Odyssey, because few of what he calls the "Deep Space Fantasy kits" are being produced anymore. Personally I think he nailed it. He's apparently planning to kit this for somewhere in the $40 area.
Wish I had it in me to design something like this. :cool:
My guess is it was Scott Branche (Rokitflite), correct?

Cool design.

[jflis]

My guess is it was Scott Branche (Rokitflite), correct?

Cool design.

BINGO! :) You nailed it, this is from the mind of Scott Branche. He did a fine job and the photo layout he provided carried us through 4 proto types till he got to this final product.

A very nice looking model.

jim

[barone]

Great looking design......Looks to be challenging to build. Love to give it a go. So.....
When can we start looking for a kit or plans? :)

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Great looking design......Looks to be challenging to build. Love to give it a go. So.....
When can we start looking for a kit or plans? :)

http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18036

I don't think he's ready yet, but you can read up on the project and check it out as it progresses on this thread.

[dtomko]

It's a great design, and Scott really tied all those nods to other models together beautifully. I believe this is going to be a limited run, so if you want one, you should email Scott; he's got a list going.
Drew Tomko

[Bob H]

Scott has enough parts to make 50 kits. The last message he had was that 16 were spoken for (including me). If they sell out quickly he might kit up another batch, but if you want one, you should let him know.

[Ltvscout]

Well, I put in an order for one. I see that Eagle3 did as well.

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Jeez, I should get a finders fee. Or at least a free kit. :rolleyes:

[JRThro]

Jeez, I should get a finders fee. Or at least a free kit. :rolleyes:
Talk to Scott, Bill! :)

[JRThro]

Scott has enough parts to make 50 kits. The last message he had was that 16 were spoken for (including me). If they sell out quickly he might kit up another batch, but if you want one, you should let him know.
I simultaneously can't wait to build mine, and hope like he** that I can do it justice.

[rokitflite]

Bill,

I can see the influences of at least four other kits in this one! Nice work, whoever built it!

For example, I see the Estes Andromeda for the forward "crew" area and "engineering" tube; the EIRP Excalibur for the tall vertical fin and tip pod and the overall arrangement; the Canaroc Antares for the lower "sensor probe"; the USS Hyperion for the ring tail... There are other models deep in there, too...


Craig McGraw


Hi Guys!
Just saw this thread and I thank you for all of the kind words! Hey Craig, you got 2 of the four right; the Andromeda and the Excalibur. The Canaroc Antares was not responsible for the radar dish, it was actually the Estes USS Atlantis, and the ring with all of its details was from the Centuri SSV Scorpion or Estes Starlab :D

I REALLY hope this, my first kit, is to everybodys liking. I made this kit for the fans of the old sci-fi kits and I want it to be every bit worth the money! I expect the beta kits to go out next week (if my stupid Alps printer will hurry up) and depending on how many changes have to be made, the finished kits will go out a couple weeks later.

I will make sure to post any further news here as well. Thanks again!

[Eagle3]

Hey Scott, Welcome! We don't have all the traffic that TRF has, but it's a little easier to keep up with. *LOL*

Nice futuristic kits are hard to come by these days. Flis Kits is about the one catering to that genre.

[rokitflite]

I don't care about traffic as long as the few who do view (tounge twister) share my passion! I took the Odyssey kit mock-up and directions to the NARHAMS club meeting tonight, July 2, and nobody had anything bad to say about it. The beta testers will get the kit this week and will help me to fine tune the instructions. After that the kit will ship! I do hope it sells well without too many glitches because I have a couple more designs that I would like to see out there!

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Scott apparently wanted the opinion of the common man and asked me to be a beta tester. :D I thought you guys might like a look at things as I go along.
First stop, the packaging, which measures up to anything else available out there. If presentation counts for anything, this kit racks up points right out of the box. :cool:

Despite the initial feeling of intimidation, the build hasn't been anything terribly complicated. I expect that once I get into the detail work, things will get quite a bit toothier, but as of now things have gone smoothly. I've had a couple of problems due to glue grab and my own inability to follow directions, but these weren't kit problems. "It's just the normal noise in here." :o Anyway, like I said on TRF, it would take a sharp eye to see either of my errors. :D

This is as far as I've progressed this morning. I'll be back later with another update. ;)

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Still no major problems. Everything fits and everything looks good once fitted. I'm amazed at how quickly the basic shape of the rocket reveals itself.