Dating an Astron Phantom kit...?

[BEC]

I paid too much on eBay a couple of weeks ago for a Phantom kit which was unopened but, it turned out, had a fin broken off the can and a rusty screw eye. I didn't buy it for a collector's item but rather to use for it's intended purpose - a classroom illustration - so it's usable anyway and I'm putting it together.

I am curious as to how old it is, though. It has an orange/white parachute with a blue center with the contemporary Estes logo, and the shock cord is elastic rather than rubber.

Any ideas, those of you who are into all the variants of kits?

BTW, I'm going to substitute a longer BT cut from an 18 inch tube from Semroc so it'll be the same size as an Alpha III (rather than shorter) and I have put a kevlar shock cord anchor in it (as I did on my recently built Alpha III as well) so to show a "modern" construction approach. I'm also using RC56 rather than paper strips and white glue to assemble it, again so its just like my Alpha III.

[ScaleNut]

yeah I once dated an astron phantom..but she left me cold after our second date

actually I had the same thing but couldn't date it , It also had a broken fin but I glued it with weldbond can hardly tell at all !

[blackshire]

All I can offer (not being familiar with the Phantom's part variations) is that the rusty screw eye is not *necessarily* indicative of great age. When I sold Estes and Quest model rocket kits from a canopy-equipped outdoor stall at the 1998 "Golden Days" festival in downtown Fairbanks, I noticed that the moisture inside the kits' plastic bags and blister packages condensed in droplets when kits that had been in sunlight were moved into shade. If your Phantom kit was displayed in a store near a window that let direct sunlight hit it, multiple illumination/condensation cycles could have oxidized the screw eye much sooner than it would have rusted otherwise.

[tbzep]

Gerry has it listed on his guide, but only 1 purchased and it went over $40. I have two but I don't remember the exact price. I know it was less than $20 each.

[BEC]

I paid $32 plus shipping and then another went for $26 a few days later. I'm really just curious how old this one is - it's no big deal. In the end it'll be a "ghostly Alpha III" or something since I've modified it a bit already with the Kevlar installation and will cut the longer BT when my Oddl Rockets tube cutter gets here (so I can do a neater job than I'd otherwise have done with masking tape and a X-acto razor saw).

[Der Red Max]

Dating an Astron Phantom kit...? Try dating women.
They might be a little more expensive but thoroughly more fulfilling.
DRM

[BEC]

Try dating women.
They might be a little more expensive but thoroughly more fulfilling.
DRM

I've been happily married for nearly 32 years.....

[johnnwwa]

At one time maybe 2004 I had four paid $7.99 for local hobby shop long gone now. Assembled one for our 4-h club still have one in the bag somewhere :( sold the other two.

I have some holes in my Estes catalog collection but the 1975 catalog has the Phantom#1207 listed on page# 37 at $2.95. Hope that helps.

John

[blackshire]

I paid $32 plus shipping and then another went for $26 a few days later. I'm really just curious how old this one is - it's no big deal. In the end it'll be a "ghostly Alpha III" or something since I've modified it a bit already with the Kevlar installation and will cut the longer BT when my Oddl Rockets tube cutter gets here (so I can do a neater job than I'd otherwise have done with masking tape and a X-acto razor saw).A nice variation on this kit (since you're building it to mimic the Alpha III) would be to make the body tube half clear plastic and half kraft paper, using lengthwise-cut halves of each type of tube carefully glued together. Also, you could paint only the broken-off-and-repaired fin, to both hide the glue joint and demonstrate what a normally-opaque plastic fin looks like.

The finished model would look just like a 3-Dimensional version of a cut-away or "partially transparent" drawing of a model rocket, such as can be found in books and educational posters. Also, a half-kraft paper body tube could be used (in a second Phantom) to illustrate how an Estes tri-fold card stock shock cord anchor (or a Stine "Shock Lock" anchor) is made and installed in the model.

[BEC]

That half-transparent idea is indeed interesting. I have enough materials to hand that I could try it and if not so successful I could still revert to the original plan of just using a 5.5 inch piece of PST-50 rather than the 4 incher that came in the kit for the BT. Hmmmmmmmmmm.......

[blackshire]

That half-transparent idea is indeed interesting. I have enough materials to hand that I could try it and if not so successful I could still revert to the original plan of just using a 5.5 inch piece of PST-50 rather than the 4 incher that came in the kit for the BT. Hmmmmmmmmmm.......Thank you. As long as you have good airflow across your work bench or table, CA glue shouldn't fog up the PST-50 half of the body tube while the two halves are being glued together. Epoxy or polyurethane glue (or even contact cement) should also bond them well.

[raohara]

I paid too much on eBay a couple of weeks ago for a Phantom kit which was unopened but, it turned out, had a fin broken off the can and a rusty screw eye. I didn't buy it for a collector's item but rather to use for it's intended purpose - a classroom illustration - so it's usable anyway and I'm putting it together.
Sheesh, I wish I knew you wanted a Phantom. I could have made you a really good deal on one given 1) You wanted it for educational purposes, and 2) You are local.

[BEC]

Rich,

Well.... even though I've put the other one together (except for installing a 'chute) I might still be interested in another and either way I'd like to be in touch with more rocketry enthusiasts in the area. PM me, please.

Bernard