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ghrocketman
10-24-2007, 12:54 PM
RD,
Wondering if you or anyone else could explain the background of what happened with the two following kits that were never released by Estes:

1) Black Hole Cygnus Probe Ship, #1351 in 1980 Estes Catalog
and
2) Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider, #1313 in 1979 Estes Catalog

The Cygnus Probe Ship had a supposed available date of June 1980 (but never was delivered), The Cylon Raider had no available date, my 1979 catalog at time of printing stated "do not order at this time, available at a later date."

Any info would be appreciated such as were protos made, were there any photos so they could be attempted to be "pseudo-cloned", why they were cancelled, etc.

Shreadvector
10-24-2007, 03:01 PM
I was told they could not get the cylon to fly stable, even with a Star Trek Enterprise-like "atmospheric probe".

tbzep
10-24-2007, 03:14 PM
I was told they could not get the cylon to fly stable, even with a Star Trek Enterprise-like "atmospheric probe".

That's also what I heard on the raider. It's been a while so I don't remember where the info came from.

I'm just speculating, but they may have axed the Black Hole rocket out because the movie was a flop. They stood a chance of losing a lot of money because they would have had to pay for the franchising regardless of sales numbers.

Another speculation...The drawing in the catalog looked coo,IIRC, but maybe they had trouble making prototypes look that good and still be light enough and stable enough for good flights.

ghrocketman
10-25-2007, 09:18 AM
I always liked the "Artist rendering" of the Cygnus Probe Ship in the Catalog and would like to see even a pic of a prototype.
That design seemed to make the Mars Lander seem like a skill level 2 kit.

HenryMac
01-23-2022, 07:06 PM
RD,
Wondering if you or anyone else could explain the background of what happened with the two following kits that were never released by Estes:

1) Black Hole Cygnus Probe Ship, #1351 in 1980 Estes Catalog......
https://www.oldrocketforum.com/showpost.php?p=67594&postcount=77