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  #1  
Old 03-29-2009, 07:33 PM
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Default Lj Ii 1/45

A partially assembled 1/45 Little Joe II just went for over $200 on eBay. The tower was assembled, but hidden from view in the photos by a piece of paper conviently wrapped around it, most likely on purpose. No telling what it looked like. I would love to have had it anyway, but $200 is way over my head.
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Old 03-29-2009, 08:42 PM
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I have a partially assembled Centuri Little Joe II.

Unfortunately the silver wrap has not fared well over the years having bubbled and warped in spots. That's not easily (if at all) repairable. Similar bubbling has occured in the Command Module stick on wrap. I have seen similar bubbling in most of the Centuri 1/45 kits being sold on eBay (mild imperfections in the silver wrap can be seen in the photo from the auction which just closed, below).

The kit that Mark Mayfield built for his article in the first issue of Launch was beautiful. Unfortunately I have yet to see any of the opened kits on eBay that look as nice.

The major benefit of the Centuri kit is ease of build. But for value for dollar or quality of finished product the Roachwerks 1/38.5 kit is far superior.
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Old 03-29-2009, 09:14 PM
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The silver/chrome wrap on mine has been superb since I bought and built it back in 1971.
It's commonly used as my avatar in many of the forum/blogs I subscribed to . Despite
its' age, the model is very much "active" as far as flight status is concern in my fleet.
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Old 03-29-2009, 09:19 PM
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You should drag race the 'model' in the distance!
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Old 03-29-2009, 09:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 5x7
You should drag race the 'model' in the distance!


I wish, but I don't think JSC would "allow" it for the total impulse the "real" Apollo Little Joe
produces!?
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Old 03-29-2009, 09:33 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dwmzmm
The silver/chrome wrap on mine has been superb since I bought and built it back in 1971.

Dave,

Yours looks great, and that picture is just awesome.

Steve
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Old 03-29-2009, 09:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
A partially assembled 1/45 Little Joe II just went for over $200 on eBay. The tower was assembled, but hidden from view in the photos by a piece of paper conviently wrapped around it, most likely on purpose. No telling what it looked like. I would love to have had it anyway, but $200 is way over my head.

Ya, I was watching that. I had the seller send me pics of everything in the box to make sure it was complete, it was.

Went for way too much, IMHO for an opened, started kit. On the other hand, some of the kits that Danny Sagstteter has sold in the past few weeks went for WAY more than I feel the actual values are. An A-20 Demon of his sold for well over $200 today. That's out of line.
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  #8  
Old 03-29-2009, 09:56 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ltvscout
Ya, I was watching that. I had the seller send me pics of everything in the box to make sure it was complete, it was.

Went for way too much, IMHO for an opened, started kit. On the other hand, some of the kits that Danny Sagstteter has sold in the past few weeks went for WAY more than I feel the actual values are. An A-20 Demon of his sold for well over $200 today. That's out of line.


Oh, so it was Danny that was selling on e-bay?! He was one of those (along with John Pursley) who help start the Challenger 498 NAR Section back in the late 1980's. I tried to
get Danny back on board (in other words, "active" once again) about five years ago, but
for some reason he wasn't interested (someone said he lost his job)......
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Old 03-29-2009, 10:02 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gus
Dave,

Yours looks great, and that picture is just awesome.

Steve


Thanks, Steve. That picture was taken by Warren Benson of the NASA/Houston Rocket Club
(Section # 365). There's a story after that launch: As you know, the Apollo/LES returns
separately from the main body section, and I badly misjudged the distance/location where
the capsule landed. Almost couldn't find it!! With the grass at JSC a little more than knee
high, I had to really look hard for nearly an hour in the high heat Houston is well known for.
Finally found it, much closer to the launch area than I'd thought. I took some pictures of
how the two sections looked where they touched down; maybe if I can find them I'll upload
them shortly and post it . Couldn't imagine what it would be like if I gave up the Apollo/LES
as "lost."
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Last edited by dwmzmm : 03-29-2009 at 11:14 PM.
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  #10  
Old 03-29-2009, 10:14 PM
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I've had a number of dealings with Danny over the last several years and always found him to be remarkably pleasant and helpful. For those new to the forum or to kit collecting it was Danny who produced the Rocketeer Collector's Journal.

My understanding is that Danny now pretty much supports himself selling off what remains of what was once upwards of 3000 items in his collection. The items he offers are usually in pristine condition and fetch premium prices.

To be honest, it doesn't bother me to see Danny occasionally benefit from some wildly inflated price. He paid his dues.

And I feel the same about a few others who frequent this board who similarly invested a lot of effort to build their collections. If anyone "deserves" the occasional windfall, it's them.
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