Clone of the Month - Mini Bomarc

[lessgravity]

Whipee!
A new Clone of the Month! I just placed my order for the Mini Bomarc
http://www.balsamachining.com/Mini_Bomarc.htm

[tbzep]

Whipee!
A new Clone of the Month! I just placed my order for the Mini Bomarc
http://www.balsamachining.com/Mini_Bomarc.htm

I've got my son checking our inventory of tubes and stuff so I can place my order in the next couple of days. :cool:

[foose4string]

I've got my son checking our inventory of tubes and stuff so I can place my order in the next couple of days. :cool:

I need to check my inventory also...absorb some of that shipping cost.

[barone]

Man....I've been wanting to do one of those.....

Between Carl and Bill, all my dreams are getting fulfilled......okay....make that all my rocketry dreams.........ok......how about all my rocketry dreams concerning kit building...........ok........how about all my dreams about kit building that don't involve kits from Hot Rockets....... :o

[tbzep]

Man....I've been wanting to do one of those.....

Between Carl and Bill, all my dreams are getting fulfilled......okay....make that all my rocketry dreams.........ok......how about all my rocketry dreams concerning kit building...........ok........how about all my dreams about kit building that don't involve kits from Hot Rockets....... :o

I've got an original. I just don't want to open it. :cool:

Nice save on the Hot Rockets dream. :D

[FooBag]

Anyone know what size motor mount this will have? Not that I really care, as I've already bought one. :D

[tbzep]

Anyone know what size motor mount this will have? Not that I really care, as I've already bought one. :D

It's supposed to be a clone, so it will have a 13mm mount.

[dwmzmm]

I have an original "still in the bag," but with this coming out, I really don't want to open
it (besides, the decals probably are no good after all these years). Now, if Bill can just come
out with a new vintage/retro kit like this every single month, SEMROC may have to start looking over its' shoulders..... :D :eek:

[Mark II]

The Estes #0805/TK-5 Mini-Bomarc was a "Mini-Brute," meaning that it flew on Estes' "T" line of mini-engines (13mm dia. x 45mm long). Note: an easy way to find Estes Mini-Brutes is to consult this list (http://www.rocketshoppe.com/info/estes_expanded_kit_list.htm), and scroll down to the kits that start with the numbers "08." All of the Mini-Brutes had (and have) kit numbers between 0801 and 0899. As you scan the list, you will no doubt note that Estes has re-used some kit numbers in the series, just as they have elsewhere in their product line.

Estes created the term "Mini-Brutes" in 1971 to describe kits especially designed to take advantage of their then-new line of 13mm diameter engines. The first three kits introduced in 1971 were the celebrated Mosquito, the Screamer and the Mini Bertha. Estes originally used the prefix "TK" to catalog these kits, which suggests that they were in development well before the sale of the company to Damon. They were designated as TK-1, TK-2 and TK-3, respectively, and Estes had to issue a new version of their 1971 catalog in the Fall of that year to include them. In 1972, they added the TK-4 Hornet and the TK-5 Mini Bomarc, and then later in the year added the TK-31 Star Blazer, the TK-40 Midget, the TK-44 Birdie and the TK-45 Beta.

Late in 1972, the Damon-owned Estes Industries switched to all-numerical cataloging system, and the Mini-Brutes were all given numbers starting with the 0801 Mosquito, establishing the now-familiar 0800-series. Note that the final four "TK" kits were mini-engine (or "T") versions of existing K-numbered kits, hence the designation of "TK." The TK-40 Midget and the TK-44 Birdie only lasted one year, and so they never acquired 0800-series kit numbers. And, just to keep things interesting and confusing, Damon-Estes introduced a completely new kit in 1972 and called it the #0831 Star Blazer, yet they kept the TK-31 Star Blazer in their catalog (without updating the kit's catalog number) until 1977. (The #0831 kit also ran from 1972 to 1977.) Two Mini-Brute kits named Star Blazer, with nearly identical kit numbers, but with very different designs, running simultaneously in the same years - yeah, no potential for confusion there! :p

The Damon-era Estes Industries used the term "Mini-Brutes" in their advertising and catalogs through the 1970's, and off and on well into the 1980's. Although Estes-Cox seldom uses the term now, the line of kits continues. The most recent additions to the line were the (#0810) 220 Swift, introduced in 2003, and the (#0803) Bandito, (#0804) Firehawk, (#0806) Firestreak SST, (#0809) X-Prize Gauchito and the (#0807) X-Prize Lucky Seven, all introduced in 2004.

Trivia question: What was the largest kit that Estes ever made in the 0800 Mini-Brute series? (Hint: It was only produced for one year.)

Mark \\.

[hcmbanjo]

The only one I can think of is the Mini Mean Machine, but I know it was in production for longer than a year.

Hans "Chris" Michielssen
www.howtobuildmodelrockets.20m.com

[foose4string]

Trivia question: What was the largest kit that Estes ever made in the 0800 Mini-Brute series? (Hint: It was only produced for one year.)

Mark \\.


Define largest. :)

[hcmbanjo]

That would be the "Prime Number Explorer" #0891.
How'd I do?

Hans"Chris" Michielssen
www.howtobuildmodelrockets.20m.com

[jadebox]

That would be the "Prime Number Explorer" #0891.


They blew it when they picked the model number for that kit!

-- Roger

[Mark II]

That would be the "Prime Number Explorer" #0891.
How'd I do?

Hans"Chris" Michielssen
www.howtobuildmodelrockets.20m.com (http://www.howtobuildmodelrockets.20m.com)
Bingo!

You know your Mini-Brutes.

Firdt I thought the Goonies were the biggest; after all, they were all BT-60 sized. But they were only 8" long. Then I thought that it must be the #0889 NASA X-15, BT-60 based, 12.75" long, with a weight of 1.71 oz., it was certainly up there. But the #0891 Prime Number Explorer had it beat. A little smaller in diameter, the BT-55 PNE was 18.75" long and weighed 1.9 oz. before adding the engine. Yet it had the A3-4T as one of the recommended motors, along with the expected A10-3T. The X-15 had the A10-3T as the only recommended engine.

I realize that my definition of "largest" is somewhat subjective and arbitrary. One could very easily argue that the NASA X-15 kit was the largest Mini-Brute. The Mini Mean Machine, Skinny Mini and Big Yank were all considerably longer, but were nowhere near as heavy. I cannot find weights for the Goonybirds in any of the Estes catalogs, so I don't know how they stacked up in the GLOW category. AFAIK, the only Mini-Brutes that weighed appreciably more than one ounce were the PNE, the X-15, and the love-it-or-hate-it (un)Lucky Seven.

Chris, for your correct answer, you win all of the prime numbers that you can calculate. :D

Now, back to BMS's COTM Mini-Bomarc! I haven't ordered the kit (yet), but I have had all the parts to clone one for over a year now. Those BT-5 sized ramjet intakes, BNC-5BA, are exquisite! (My parts are from Semroc, BTW.) I do not have a fin set, because I plan to cut them myself, and I do not have a decal set yet. The BMS clone kit includes all of that, and it looks to be quite the deal! :)

I never build any of the "real" classic Mini-Brutes from the 1970's. How did the Mini-Bomarc do when it was launched? What engine gave it the best flight?

Mark \\.

[tbzep]

That's like the classic "biggest river in the world" argument.

Nile is the longest, Mississippi is the widest, Amazon flows the most water. It's subjective as to which is "biggest". :cool: PNE is fine for "biggest" Mini-Brute as far as I'm concerned. :)

I have never thought about it or read any arguments, but I'd guess that most would consider the Amazon as "biggest".

[tbzep]

BTW, do we call all mini motor powered rockets "Mini-Brutes" or just the ones on the Mini-Brute page....or just the ones that came with the little lady bug Mini-Brute decal? Hmmm....I won't sleep for weeks thinking about it. :D

[PaulK]

I'll be interested to see what the ramjet cones look like. His BT-50 ramjet cones are 2 piece cones; Semroc's BNC-5BA cones are one piece, and have a different shape (the tip is much wider). My original mini-bomarc lost its ramjets somewhere along the way, so I don't have a reference for the original's shape, though the catalog pics would seem to have them more pointed than the semroc cones. In any case, my order is in. :)

[stefanj]

A little more Mini Brute trivia.

I was aware of the concept of mini-motors from MPC advertisements, mostly likely in Boy's Life.

I remember getting a slick flyer for the Mini Brutes. I remember it being an 8.5 x 11 sheet, but I could be wrong about that.

I do remember something interesting. The description of the motor packs had a line that was obscured by a black hash pattern. Barely readable underneath: "recovery wadding." So, they made some changes in their plans before the eventual release.

I remember a Model Rocket News that showed some Estes design guys poking at a Mini Bomarc with a pair of dividers.

[Mark II]

BTW, do we call all mini motor powered rockets "Mini-Brutes" or just the ones on the Mini-Brute page....or just the ones that came with the little lady bug Mini-Brute decal? Hmmm....I won't sleep for weeks thinking about it. :D
No! For instance, mini-motor powered plastic RTF's are NOT Mini-Brutes. I'm not sure that having the ladybug decal was required for a kit to be called a Mini-Brute, either now or in the past.

I may be totally ahistorical about this, and may have too little information to justify it, but I would call any Estes model with a kit number between 0800 and 0899 a member of the Mini-Brute family.

Mark \\.

[tbzep]

No! For instance, mini-motor powered plastic RTF's are NOT Mini-Brutes. I'm not sure that having the ladybug decal was required for a kit to be called a Mini-Brute, either now or in the past.

I may be totally ahistorical about this, and may have too little information to justify it, but I would call any Estes model with a kit number between 0800 and 0899 a member of the Mini-Brute family.

Mark \\.

I should have said, "Do we call all the classic mini-motor powered rockets Mini-Brutes?" I just can't make myself call a Goony a Mini-Brute, so I'd only give that title to the kits on the pages titled Mini-Brutes. Goonybirds had their own page title.....same Genus, different species? :p

[Mark II]

I should have said, "Do we call all the classic mini-motor powered rockets Mini-Brutes?" I just can't make myself call a Goony a Mini-Brute, so I'd only give that title to the kits on the pages titled Mini-Brutes. Goonybirds had their own page title.....same Genus, different species? :p
My classification is, well...tentative <shrug>, but it is also very inclusive. Maybe too much so. I didn't want to miss anyone, and it just seemed to me that the 800-series of kits was where Estes was putting all of its mini-engine powered kits (not RTFs, though). It just seemed logical to me to call Estes' 800-series of kits their "Mini-Brute line." But then, there's the problem of the Goonies. I was seeing the Goonybirds as a special category of M-B, but you are probably right; they were sui generis and should be in a category of their own.

You make a good argument for your scheme. There is no doubt that the classic mini-engine powered kits that appeared on the "Mini-Brute" pages in the Estes catalogs of the '70's and '80's were, in fact, Mini-Brutes! You can't go wrong if you use that standard! :chuckle:

There is no doubt about BMS's COTM Mini-Bomarc, though; it is a reproduction of a real classic Mini-Brute, one of the very first. :)

I wonder if these earliest Mini-Brutes (certainly the first three, and perhaps through TK-5 - the Mini-Bomarc) were designed and approved before the sale of the company to Damon? I don't know why, but to me, they just seem to be a little...different. But maybe it's just me. I am aware that almost all of the staff who were working for Vern Estes continued on to work for Damon, so the design team didn't change very much after the transition.

Mark \\.

[Initiator001]

[QUOTE=stefanj]A little more Mini Brute trivia.


I remember getting a slick flyer for the Mini Brutes. I remember it being an 8.5 x 11 sheet, but I could be wrong about that.

I do remember something interesting. The description of the motor packs had a line that was obscured by a black hash pattern. Barely readable underneath: "recovery wadding." So, they made some changes in their plans before the eventual release.

[QUOTE]


Like this? ;)

Bob

[FooBag]

USPS just delivered my mini Bomarc! The kit looks quite nice. Now I just need to find time to build it. :)

[Initiator001]

I received two Mini-Bomarc models from BMS via USPS today.

The kits look very nice. :)

Bob

[LeeR]

Dittos. I was surprised to see the package so soon. Oh wait, it is the 3rd week of February. :)

I am anxious to build it, but I could say that about all the stuff I've ordered over the past year ...

[pantherjon]

Still awaiting mine..Maybe they will show up today :)

[Mikus]

I received two Mini-Bomarc models from BMS via USPS today.

The kits look very nice. :)


Ditto. Very cool.

[ga1ba2]

Received mine today, boxed nicely!

[moonzero2]

I received my two on Friday. Awesome! Thanks BMS. :D

[pantherjon]

My 3:eek: arrived Friday! Thanks Bill!

I put one together over the weekend..Nice build..I papered the wings and pod stand offs..Here it is next to the 30+ year old 'original'..The BMS clone is the one with the white tubes..

[lessgravity]

Just finished mine. That was a fun build.