Buck Rogers Starfighter
 

It hasn't arrived yet, but a friend of mine is sending me his Centuri Buck Rogers Starfighter kit to build for him because he's had permanent injuries to his hands. Have any of you built one of these? Is this from the TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century? (Erin Gray--yummy!) Is this similar to the Estes Blackhawk? Does anybody have a photo of one? Thank you. Jeff

Jeff,
Though I have not built one yet ( I have both the Marauder and the Starfighter kits in a bin), they are both made with that wonderful card stock instead of balsa. Centuri used this setup for the UFO Invader and S.S.V. Scorpion Superkits. I imagine they used it in others, as well, to 'save weight.' Only problem is/was they heavy cardstock is not very forgiving to any rough activity (hard landings, hangar rash, etc). It will bend and not break, but in-so-doing, creases get left behind.
When I rebuilt my UFO Invader, I used 3/32 balsa for the wings instead of the cardstock. I used cardstock for the vertical stabilizers, though.
Hope this helps a little!

Allen

Here are the two kits on Ebay...

http://cgi.ebay.com/CENTURI-Earth-F...=item2304291a67

http://cgi.ebay.com/CENTURI-Draconi...=item2304291809

Basswood would be good for this.

Thank you. That's very helpful! Jeff

Yep... I built one of these and the Draconian Marauder back about 20 years ago... The Estes Blackhawk looked to be an identical kit just 'rebranded' and sold with new decals so they didn't have to pay royalties most likely... They were modeled after the "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" TV show, with the gorgeous Erin Gray and stunning Pamela Hensley as sexy bad girl Princess Ardala... ah the good old days... that show was a TOTAL unapologetic babe-fest... they just don't make good TV like that anymore...

Back on topic...

These were Centuri kits and uses fiberboard for the fins. This was like centering ring material or thick cereal box material-- not particularly strong or durable, but acceptable. I think I'd probably try to strengthen it with CA nowdays, because if it flexes too far it gets a REALLY ugly wrinkle in the surface of it (and doesn't hold up well to the rigors of landing very well).

I mainly got mine for display models, since they never offered plastic kits of the Buck Rogers ships, unlike the old Battlestar kits (I just picked up the Viper, Cylon Raider, and Cylon Base Star kits at HL with the 40% coupons awhile back, since they've been reissued)

I never flew them, but they're pretty neat looking kits, even if they're not 'strictly identical' to the prototypes... but then again, neither was the BSG Viper Estes put out really identical to the prototype TV Vipers either...

Good luck and enjoy, and post build threads! OL JR :)

It's the same kit as the Blackhawk. I can shoot a pic of the one I built back around 1980.

I'd love to see a photo! Jeff

Ok. Just remember I was a kid and had kid skills...or lack thereof. Looks like I didn't know what sandpaper was either. :eek: I pulled the model out and shot the pics as is. It's dusty as heck, and one of the nosecones has popped loose. The wooden stand is vintage 1980 also.

Thanks for the photos! It looks like the canopy work is probably a factor 10 on the "swear-o-meter". Jeff

I was in high school when I built mine, and I don't recall the canopy being any big deal... I think it was pretty much embossed onto a piece of cardstock with a cutting pattern printed on it, cut along the solid lines, fold along the dotted lines, glue the tabs kinda thing... IIRC...

So how did she fly?? I see the shock cord and chute in there... I never installed mine because I wanted them mainly for display-- I never got around to painting them or putting the decals on either. I finished building them and then set them aside waiting for my painting skills and decal installation skills to somehow magically improve-- which has taken about 20 years... :)

I also hacked up an old Apache helicopter plastic kit and used it to make the cockpit of one of the other space fighters seen in Buck Rogers-- the Scorpion Fighter which played prominently in the "Planet of the Slave Girls" two part episode... http://www.universalhartland.com/code/buck101s.shtml

I thought that one was really the coolest looking fighter in all the Buck Roger's episodes... It kinda reminds me of what might happen if a Russian Hind helicopter and an A-10 Warthog had an illegitimate love child... Those cool winglets with the F-14 Tomcat jet intakes underneath, with the big honking rocket pods on the ends, that massive chin cannon, and the twin tails with the slab stabilizers like an A-10 or B-25 Mitchell or B-24 Liberator... and the big twin jet/rocket ship engines on top...

I made mine out of sheet balsa and Saran Wrap tubes cut into a curved front intake, and used old ink pens for the rocket pods on the wingtips and installed a Gatling gun made out of a pen barrell and 6 toothpicks under the chin of mine... of course when I made it Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet, so I had to go by drawings I did from watching the show on TV.... it was built strictly as a display model, though I toyed with the idea of making it rocket powered...

I had a "Blue Thunder" helicopter model I chopped for the crew cabin of a 'sorta Star Trek Bird of Prey' that I made out of balsa sheet and paper towel tubes as well... that one I'm pretty sure would fly... :) OL JR :)