Ye Olde Rocket Forum

Go Back   Ye Olde Rocket Forum > The Golden Age of Model Rocketry > Model Rocket History
User Name
Password
Auctions Register FAQ Members List Calendar Today's Posts Search Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 02-03-2017, 05:20 PM
BEC's Avatar
BEC BEC is offline
Master Modeler
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Auburn, Washington
Posts: 3,643
Default Golden Anniversary of the second-longest running model rocket kit

Estes' K-25 - the Astron Alpha - first appeared in the 1967 catalog, so it has been in production for 50 years this year. Perhaps we should all build an Alpha with some kind of golden livery.

No, Estes Industries isn't doing a commemorative kit/livery - I already asked 'em.

Hmmmmmm......maybe we should have an Alpha gathering at NSL along with the already-planned V-2 mass launch.

Thoughts?


(Oh, of course the Big Bertha is the one that has been in production longer than the Alpha, in case anyone here didn't know that. It first appeared in the 1966 catalog, and was an MRN design before that.)
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:  Screen Shot 2017-02-03 at 3.18.08 PM.png
Views: 87
Size:  314.8 KB  
__________________
Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 02-03-2017, 05:40 PM
Scott6060842 Scott6060842 is offline
Master Modeler
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: NW Pennsylvania
Posts: 665
Default

Good old Alpha. I'll have to pull out a vintage kit from my stash for the occasion.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 02-03-2017, 08:06 PM
hcmbanjo's Avatar
hcmbanjo hcmbanjo is offline
When Pigs Fly!
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 1,102
Default

I did a build of the 1969 catalog Alpha a few years ago:
http://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot...alog-alpha.html
Lots of home print decals on it.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:  Alpha 1969 1.JPG
Views: 112
Size:  137.3 KB  
__________________
Hans "Chris" Michielssen
Old/New NAR # 19086 SR

www.oddlrockets.com
www.modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com
http://www.nar.org/educational-reso...ing-techniques/
Your results may vary
"Nose cones roll, be careful with that."
Every spaceman needs a ray gun.
Look out - I'm the Meister Shyster!
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 02-03-2017, 09:08 PM
stefanj stefanj is offline
Master Modeler
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Hillsboro, OR
Posts: 2,847
Default

The Alpha was probably the first kit I built, or TRIED to build. My friends and I were able to buy motors from a couple of hobby shops, but didn't have the scratch to get rockets too. So we cobbled rocket-shaped things together and shoved motors in them. They often flew straight, surprisingly.

Eventually I mail-ordered the $2.25 "Here's a rocket, motors, and literature, go build your own launcher" outfit. I really horribly messed up gluing on the fins. I remember gluing on gauze reinforcement, having seen this in the technical manual, but that ended up making the crookedly placed fins impossible to remove. Poor first Alpha! I suppose I threw you away eventually, but your cone kicked around my parts box for a while. ( If my father had spent a an hour with me helping maybe it would have been flyable, but he was a neglectful jerk and I had to learn things on my own.)

I should build an original Alpha to commemorate the anniversary. I think eRockets has a all-balsa clone.

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/no...a/70est008.html
__________________
NAR #27085 - Oregon Rocketry - SAM
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 02-03-2017, 10:01 PM
tbzep's Avatar
tbzep tbzep is offline
Dazed and Confused
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: TN
Posts: 11,610
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by hcmbanjo
I did a build of the 1969 catalog Alpha a few years ago:
http://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot...alog-alpha.html
Lots of home print decals on it.

I did mine based on an old Boy's Life ad about 10 years ago.

__________________
I love sanding.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 02-03-2017, 10:29 PM
Jerry Irvine's Avatar
Jerry Irvine Jerry Irvine is offline
Freeform rocketry advocate.
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Claremont, CA "The intellectual capitol of the world."-WSJ
Posts: 3,780
Default

My first model rocket. B6-4.

Should have used B6-6.

1966.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 02-05-2017, 12:05 AM
LeeR's Avatar
LeeR LeeR is offline
Retired with Way Too Many Kits
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Colorado
Posts: 3,222
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
I did mine based on an old Boy's Life ad about 10 years ago.


Nice! I'm assuming those are homemade decals?

I keep thinking it is time to buy another inkjet printer. I have not had one for a long time. I've got a color laser printer, but it is useless for decals, and photos...
__________________
Lee Reep
NAR 55948

Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor
In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold!
Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 02-05-2017, 06:51 AM
tbzep's Avatar
tbzep tbzep is offline
Dazed and Confused
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: TN
Posts: 11,610
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by LeeR
Nice! I'm assuming those are homemade decals?

I keep thinking it is time to buy another inkjet printer. I have not had one for a long time. I've got a color laser printer, but it is useless for decals, and photos...

Yes. MicroMark decal paper and HP 6940 printer. Don't forget to set your printer to high or print quality. They look better in person than the old pic shows.
__________________
I love sanding.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 02-05-2017, 08:37 AM
hcmbanjo's Avatar
hcmbanjo hcmbanjo is offline
When Pigs Fly!
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 1,102
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
I did mine based on an old Boy's Life ad about 10 years ago.



That is beautiful work!
I think your blue trim might be more accurate than my black and red stripes.
__________________
Hans "Chris" Michielssen
Old/New NAR # 19086 SR

www.oddlrockets.com
www.modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com
http://www.nar.org/educational-reso...ing-techniques/
Your results may vary
"Nose cones roll, be careful with that."
Every spaceman needs a ray gun.
Look out - I'm the Meister Shyster!
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 02-05-2017, 08:46 AM
tbzep's Avatar
tbzep tbzep is offline
Dazed and Confused
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: TN
Posts: 11,610
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by hcmbanjo
That is beautiful work!
I think your blue trim might be more accurate than my black and red stripes.

Thanks. I like the spacing you used around the Stars-n-Bars, and wanted to do mine that way, but decided to try to make it look as much like the Boys' Life ad as possible. I have no idea what color the ad represented, but figured blue would go better with USAF. IIRC, there is an Alpha two tone drawing in one of the early catalogs that used blue and white for the entire model, but for me, an Alpha nose cone has to be red!
__________________
I love sanding.
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:31 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.0.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe © 1998-2024