I would stay away from that kit unless you have (or have access to) a set of the original vacu-formed fins. First of all, it would never look right with balsa fins (the vacu-forms had a lot of detail), and secondly, you would probably never get a superior bond between the balsa and the plastic boattail. The original fins are very wide at their base.

Joe

The people in charge of ebay would have to be IDIOT RETARDS to ban the sale of a V2 kit because of cover art.
Of course, I do think they are RETARDS anyway with their thinking they have to be rocket motor shipping police.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Hey thanks for weighing in everyone. I actually wasn't thinking of purchase the kit. When I came accross the listing I was just curious about the fins because I've got the old and new version of the maxi V2 in kit form and I was curious to know if maybe there was an older version with balsa fins that I didn't know about.

It's clear to me now that the seller is trying to sell the kit minus the original vacu-form fins. I guess it might be a good purchase for someone who has the original fins in their posession.

He probably screwed up the vacuum formed fins and wants to get rid of it. They weren't the best material to work with.

I bet that's exactly it!

I've had amazingly good luck with the vacuformed materials for some strange reason. It's the one material that just looks back at you daring you to make that first cut.

My first vacuform project the newer Estes Maxi V2. The cuts were ok if a little far off the actual mark. After a LOT of careful sanding everything came out pretty good. Then I moved on to the Estes Maxi HoJo. My cuts became more confident and after some careful sanding everything came out great on that bird. Then I moved on to the Estes Enterprise and most recently the Estes Klingon Battle Cruiser. Both of those came out far better than I ever expected. I still need to finish paint the KBC but it looks good so far.

I think with the vacuform material you just have to really take your time cutting, and then even more time sanding. I guess if you like sanding it's a big plus when working with that stuff.

There were actually two different smaller V2's that Estes offered at different times.
Both of the smaller ones used balsa fins.
The small BT-55 version was in production until 1977 and was produced concurrently with the first run of the Maxi V2
The mid-sized BT-80 version was produced in the mid 1980's and also used balsa fins; when this one was in production the small BT-55 and Maxi BT-101 were not.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Estes V 2 History


k-22 1222 ................. 1965 - 1977

1267 ................. 1974-1981 ( Maxi)

1904 .............. 2000 (Same as1926 - never in catalog)

1926 ............. 1984 - 1987

1952 .............. 2002 - 2004 (discontinued in fall of 2004) (Maxi D & E powered)

Ooookay. It's the 1904 that I have. I've never bothered with it

__________________
Enjoy life, it has an expiration date.

Hmmm, I've got all 4 of those kits waiting in my build queue.

If you had to do them again and valued the Maxi kits the most, in which order would you build them?

Thanks,
Mike

I would build the two original V 2, meaning the small one and the maxi , then, the newer generation.