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Originally Posted by surdumil
Here's the Cylon Fighter from the 1979 Estes Catalog, from the Ninfinger Productions website and the Star Booster from the 1997 Estes Catalog. Would these be the two?
Also, here's a better view of the F117 from the 1996 Estes Catalog.
They're all very nice looking products. It's unfortunate that they didn't meet market.
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Today's 3D printing technology could make these models "come to life," so to speak (more on this below). Thank you for posting those scans--I knew when the Cylon Raider was in an Estes catalog, but I couldn't recall when the F-117 and the Star Booster were. Also:
Buzz Aldrin's Star Booster, which his now-apparently-defunct company, Starcraft Boosters, Inc., designed (see:
https://www.google.com/#q=Buzz+Aldrin+Star+Booster and
https://www.google.com/#q=starcraft+boosters ), went through a few design iterations during the project's lifetime. They also test-launched sub-scale models of the various designs, using large consumer rocket motors for propulsion. The version of the Star Booster that the never-released Estes kit depicted (and possibly the other versions) would have used a Russian Zenit LOX/kerosene-powered first stage, which would have slid into the booster's aluminum airframe. In addition:
There is more information on this Star Booster version--the model kit as well as the full-scale vehicle--*here* (see:
http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=6631 ), and mojo1986's Reply #6 includes the kit's specifications. Knowing these, Aerobotix (see:
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/cesp...0#more-products ) or Boyce Aerospace Hobbies (see:
http://boyceaerospacehobbies.com ) could produce a Star Booster model (using the material on it that's available online). Now:
Such a model, with a thin-walled 3D printed plastic fuselage (plus Zenit display nozzles) and balsa wings and tail surfaces, could be flown as a boost-glider with a rear-ejecting motor pod. The pod could be ballasted up front (as with the Estes Space Shuttle #1467, see:
https://www.estesrockets.com/media/...ACE_SHUTTLE.pdf ) and be parachute-recovered. One or two "auxiliary" fins (made of clear plastic or balsa) could be affixed to the rear end of the Star Booster's motor pod (which would protrude a couple of inches out the back end of the fuselage), to ensure the model's stability about all axes during the rocket-powered and pre-ejection coasting portions of its ascent. I would happily buy several of these Star Booster kits (they would be classified as Concept Scale models) if someone produced them, and I think many other folks would buy them, too.