Estes Maxi Brute X-wing part.. can you help??

[dragnink]

Hi guys,

I have been searching for a part for this kit for quite some time. I've been hunting around and so far haven't had any luck finding this kit.

I'm building a Studio-scale AT-ST scout walker from Return of the Jedi. After many months, I've finally after a lot of research found that the original ILM builders used a part from the Maxi Brute X-wing on the back of the walkers heads, which can be seen here:

http://xs135.xs.to/xs135/09024/maxi-1242.jpg

http://xs435.xs.to/xs435/09024/maxi2129.jpg


I was wondering if anyone would be willing to sell, loan, rent(!) or donate one or two of these parts to my project. If need be, I can cast copies in resin and send back the original part(s) but I would prefer it if you might have a busted up model or incomplete kit that you may have laying around. It took about a year, but I've finally uncovered all 30+ model kits that donated parts to the original filming models, The Estes parts are the last ones I need to complete my quest.

Thanks guys!

[Mikus]

Good luck in your hunt. I'd kill for one of those kits myself. :(

[dwmzmm]

Good luck in your hunt. I'd kill for one of those kits myself. :(

Then I better be looking over my shoulder when you're around..... :D

[jadebox]

Do you think parts from an NCR X-Wing fighter will work? I think they used the same plastic parts as the Maxi Brute and I have the remains of two of them (and, fortunately, another one still in the box). I'd be happy to send you whatever part you need. PM me with your address if the NCR parts will work.

http://www.payloadbay.com/gallery/d/14559-2/005_21.JPG (http://www.payloadbay.com/gallery/v/other/CATO/005_21.JPG.html)

-- Roger

[Mikus]

Then I better be looking over my shoulder when you're around..... :D

You have one of those too? "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"

Actually you're already on the hit list with that beautiful Sat V. And the day you come out to fly that new Sat 1B....

Well my friend, I'd be thinking about wearing some Kevlar undies that day if I were you. ;)

[dragnink]

Hi Roger,
Thanks for your offer! I'm sorry to see the X-wing in such a state :( She had a bad day..

I'm not sure about the NCR donating that part, but I have to say it looks really close. I had someone give me an idea of the scale of the parts, here's a picture illustrating the measurements which might help.

http://www.hooverae.com/upload/files/040109/1673677.jpeg

Here's another picture of a guy holding the right Estes Maxi-Brute part:
http://www.bitmeister.com/beaz/xwing/images/maxi_brute_part_01.jpg

If it turns out these are identical, I'd be happy to take a couple of these off of your hands, just let me know how much you want. I'll PM you my address.

Thanks!
Matt



Do you think parts from an NCR X-Wing fighter will work? I think they used the same plastic parts as the Maxi Brute and I have the remains of two of them (and, fortunately, another one still in the box). I'd be happy to send you whatever part you need. PM me with your address if the NCR parts will work.

http://www.payloadbay.com/gallery/d/14559-2/005_21.JPG (http://www.payloadbay.com/gallery/v/other/CATO/005_21.JPG.html)

-- Roger

[dwmzmm]

You have one of those too? "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"

Actually you're already on the hit list with that beautiful Sat V. And the day you come out to fly that new Sat 1B....

Well my friend, I'd be thinking about wearing some Kevlar undies that day if I were you. ;)

Yes I got one; used it for the Science Fiction/Future Scale event at the Gulf Coast Regional
Meet at JSC several years ago (thought I already told you). Anyway, a few pics of that model and flight (pics mostly taken by Richard Benevides of DARS and Warren Benson of NHRC):

[dwmzmm]

Do you think parts from an NCR X-Wing fighter will work? I think they used the same plastic parts as the Maxi Brute and I have the remains of two of them (and, fortunately, another one still in the box). I'd be happy to send you whatever part you need. PM me with your address if the NCR parts will work.

http://www.payloadbay.com/gallery/d/14559-2/005_21.JPG (http://www.payloadbay.com/gallery/v/other/CATO/005_21.JPG.html)

-- Roger

Wow, that picture sure looks like a TIE fighter shot that X-Wing down!!

[Royatl]

I'm not sure about the NCR donating that part, but I have to say it looks really close. I had someone give me an idea of the scale of the parts, here's a picture illustrating the measurements which might help.

Thanks!
Matt


Gimme a couple of hours and I can compare the two as I have both kits. (sorry, I'm keeping both!)


They should be exactly the same scale, but it's possible that the NCR model was not as precise as the Maxi-Brute.

By the way, for trivia's sake, I know that the turbo fans, or jets, or cooling nacelles or whatever they are on each wing of the movie X-Wings were made of the S IV-B stage from either the Monogram or Airfix 1/144 Saturn V plastic kits.

[dragnink]

Yep, you got it. :) The Saturn V donates parts to a number of the models used in the original trilogy including the X-wings. I think during the time the films were shot, Lucasfilm could have probably supported the entire plastic model kit industry single-handedly! Thankfully a lot of the vintage oop kits are still available on eBay.

p.s. Appreciate your trouble!

Gimme a couple of hours and I can compare the two as I have both kits. (sorry, I'm keeping both!)

They should be exactly the same scale, but it's possible that the NCR model was not as precise as the Maxi-Brute.

By the way, for trivia's sake, I know that the turbo fans, or jets, or cooling nacelles or whatever they are on each wing of the movie X-Wings were made of the S IV-B stage from either the Monogram or Airfix 1/144 Saturn V plastic kits.

[dwmzmm]

You have one of those too? "Where does he get those wonderful toys?"

Actually you're already on the hit list with that beautiful Sat V. And the day you come out to fly that new Sat 1B....

Well my friend, I'd be thinking about wearing some Kevlar undies that day if I were you. ;)

I got the Maxi Brute X-Wings years ago at some hobby shop (late 1970's or early 1980's)
that were on sale; got it when I had the money (and desire) but never thought it'd go OOP
(at the time).

BTW, the Saturn 1-B you're thinking about is NOT "new," it had been sitting in my packaging
box for some 20+ years before I decided to get to work on it a few weeks ago. And,

What does Kevlar undies have to do for protection?! :confused: :p

[Peartree]

... And,

What does Kevlar undies have to do for protection?! :confused: :p

Besides the opportunity for a really stout wedgie? :rolleyes:

[dwmzmm]

Besides the opportunity for a really stout wedgie? :rolleyes:

Oh, I see. :D

[Mikus]

Besides the opportunity for a really stout wedgie? :rolleyes:

ROFLOL!

Yeah I may have to rethink that. :chuckle:

[Rocket-Tech Al]

I miss and yearn for the days when people actually built physical instead of digital models. At one of the shops i worked at in L.A. , one of the owners was given the original Nostromo from the movie "Alien". It was in pretty rough shape, having been stored in the previous owners driveway under a poly tarp for about 20 years, but it was still a thing of wonder to look at. It was basically a big 2x4 and plywood base completely sheathed with sheet styrene, then detailed with literally thousands of Plastruct and model kit parts. You could easily identify engine parts from model cars, bits from Space:1999 Eagles, chunks from model tanks, even warmed and bent sprues from model kits. I think that Greg is planning on restoring the ship as best he can, but he has a load of other projects on his hands, so I'm not sure he will ever get to this....


Alan


Yep, you got it. :) The Saturn V donates parts to a number of the models used in the original trilogy including the X-wings. I think during the time the films were shot, Lucasfilm could have probably supported the entire plastic model kit industry single-handedly! Thankfully a lot of the vintage oop kits are still available on eBay.

p.s. Appreciate your trouble!

[Royatl]

The plastic parts sets are the same for both the Maxi-Brute and the NCR kits.

Sorry for the delay. I couldn't remember where I had put the Maxi-Brute kit.

[zog139]

Yes I got one; used it for the Science Fiction/Future Scale event at the Gulf Coast Regional
Meet at JSC several years ago (thought I already told you). Anyway, a few pics of that model and flight (pics mostly taken by Richard Benevides of DARS and Warren Benson of NHRC):


Dave some nice pictures of your nicely done model. I am assuming you had no problems with your flight and recovery ? The more people I've talked to, the more that seem to have a crash story about one of the Maxi-X-wings. What motors did you add in the cluster ? Did you make any other alterations ( I'm assuming nose weight with 4 extra motors )? What was your main motor ?

Jim

[dwmzmm]

Dave some nice pictures of your nicely done model. I am assuming you had no problems with your flight and recovery ? The more people I've talked to, the more that seem to have a crash story about one of the Maxi-X-wings. What motors did you add in the cluster ? Did you make any other alterations ( I'm assuming nose weight with 4 extra motors )? What was your main motor ?

Jim

Jim, thanks. It's best for me to direct you to my EMRR OOP product review I wrote:

http://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews/all/oop_est_maxi_x-wing.shtml

I can say it was a very scary flight, but now that I know what it takes to fly this successfully,
I know I'll be putting it up again sometimes in the future. I DO have another MaxiBrute
X-Wing still "in-the-box." :eek:

[Royatl]

Dave some nice pictures of your nicely done model. I am assuming you had no problems with your flight and recovery ? The more people I've talked to, the more that seem to have a crash story about one of the Maxi-X-wings. What motors did you add in the cluster ? Did you make any other alterations ( I'm assuming nose weight with 4 extra motors )? What was your main motor ?

Jim

I built one back in 1979 and flew it at a public demonstration launch that I did for a craft store chain. A D12-3 just punched it into the air high enough to get the chute open before it hit the ground, so at least I didn't technically crash it. Still hit hard enough to damage the rocket. I planned to fly it later on a ProJet E20, but never got around to it. Don't know what happened to the rocket, but probably my dad gave it away during my last brief vacation from the hobby.

[zog139]

Thanks for the link to your review. That was done well also. The main motor seems to be an issue for these? Of course the E9 would be out fo the question. E15 might me a nice choice, however lighting four A10's at the same time could be a trick not to mention a can of worms to boot !

[dwmzmm]

Thanks for the link to your review. That was done well also. The main motor seems to be an issue for these? Of course the E9 would be out fo the question. E15 might me a nice choice, however lighting four A10's at the same time could be a trick not to mention a can of worms to boot !

Before the build, I did consider the E9's, but rejected it as the D12's have much greater thrust. The four A10-PT's, besides gaining "mission points" for the NAR contest, added additional thrust for liftoff without adding that much extra weight. As mentioned in my
EMRR review, it only took one additional ounce of clay noseweight to keep it stable.

[dragnink]

As someone who worked in CG for quite some time, I now have such a huge appreciation for the original model builders, puppeteers, engineers and camera operators that made all of the ships and characters come to life.

I still think that the original trilogy and other big movies of that era under ILM/Stan Winston employed some of the finest work that's ever been translated to the big screen. Even with the limitations of the day, the ugliest puppet or model still looked 10x more believable than any cg counterpart. The ships also have almost a sort or organic , real-world broken-in quality that is incredibly difficult to reproduce in a digital, pixel-based environment.

Everything looked real, because, well.. essentially it was!! Maybe CG will someday have a renaissance, but in my opinion a lot of the people in the industry rely too heavily on using the latest programs and tools rather than drawing from the practical, real-world experience in traditional mediums that the old-school FX guys brought to the table.

Thanks to Royatl for confirming the part match, and especially Roger (jadebox) for offering to send me the required parts for... free! What a guy!

Thanks all,

Matt


I miss and yearn for the days when people actually built physical instead of digital models. At one of the shops i worked at in L.A. , one of the owners was given the original Nostromo from the movie "Alien". It was in pretty rough shape, having been stored in the previous owners driveway under a poly tarp for about 20 years, but it was still a thing of wonder to look at. It was basically a big 2x4 and plywood base completely sheathed with sheet styrene, then detailed with literally thousands of Plastruct and model kit parts. You could easily identify engine parts from model cars, bits from Space:1999 Eagles, chunks from model tanks, even warmed and bent sprues from model kits. I think that Greg is planning on restoring the ship as best he can, but he has a load of other projects on his hands, so I'm not sure he will ever get to this....


Alan

[snuggles]

I have a junk X Wing in my basement
PM me, I gotta clean house.
Mark T

[jadebox]

Digressing a little ....

At the Sci-Fi convention my wife and I attend once or twice a year, there are usually displays of movie models and props - a few that were actually used for filming but most are replicas like you're building. The most impressive I've seen was a Battlestar Galactica (from the new series) that was about 10- or 12-foot long and very detailed.

When I was young, I saw some original models from the original Star Trek series on display at a museum or science center. I think it was when my family visited Pittsburg so it may have been at the palentarium. This wasn't that long after the series when off the air - about the time it was becoming popular in syndication. 'Course, since then I've seen the Enterprise at the Smithsonian.

Speaking of the Smithsonian ... A member of the Mustang car club we belong to was a model maker for Lockheed Martin for many years. He worked on the Manned Maneuvering Unit model that is at the Smithsonian. He also worked on models of many space probes. The photo album he showed me was very impressive.

-- Roger