Actually I honestly forgot about that.
Estes kits produced in China now vs. US production.

Still $80 seems huge for a kit that size.

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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, and HAVOC !

I agree, and balk at the price just like you do.

There's good data for this bird on the JimZ site. Getting access to printers and learning enough graphic arts skills to clone the decals is not a huge barrier. The decals don't look particularly difficult to reproduce to me. The rocket is painted all white and dolled up with red, blue, green, and black decals. The tubes and other stuff are fairly easy to very easy to source. Turning the right size/shape nose cones (3 of them are available for about $23 plus S&H) may be a challenge, and least for me it would be. Then there are fussy little "ramjet" nose and tail cones to fabricate unless you just buy them from Sirius Rocketry $8 plus S&H. This rocket is a scratch-builder's dream come true. You might even save a lot of money over the kit price by scratch building - if that is your goal in this hobby - to save a lot of money...

Unless scratch building is your thing, it might be worthwhile to just pay Randy the $80. You are likely not going to have an original kit land in your lap for less than that.
-W

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-Wolfram v. Kiparski
NAR 28643 - TRA 15520
MTMA Section #606 President

A reminder that while many parts of Estes kits are made in China and have been, really, for ~20 years now, they still contain US-made body tubes, in spite of the changes at and issues from the US paper tube maker that Bob described in post #7 above.

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Bernard Cawley
NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member
SAM 0061
AMA 42160
KG7AIE

The market has spoken, out of stock.

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Paul
If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane - Jimmy Buffett
NAR #87246 www.wooshrocketry.org

I gotta weigh in here... Thank you for the information, this puts things into perspective. I've wanted to build a Saturn-5 since I left the womb. I've been eying the Estes version, and NO, not the RTF, the one you have to build from scratch... almost. Anyhoo, it's the only one that's affordable, as Apogee has a nice kit at like $350, and Sirius is a mere $499.95! I mean, it's just paper/cardboard tubes, balsa/bass/ply wood and plastic, right? With prices like this, I'd imagine they contain precious metals or something...

With 3D printers widely available, and other advancements in manufacturing, why can't someone produce a decent 5-footer version of a Saturn-5 for around $150. I'd JUMP at that price, and probably buy 2!

A very depressed Shaggeh!

Not sure if anyone noticed but one of these kits is on eFEE for $200. I offered the seller $80 and he countered with $240.

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Gone crazy after returning
Build floor: Estes Pro Series Jayhawk, Estes Vigilante

In paint:

Ready for 1st flight: Custom Rockets Bullet, Semroc/Centuri Renegade, Semroc Laser X, Estes Beta Launch Vehicle, MPC Flare Patriot, Estes Nimbus, Estes SR-71, Estes Nebulon Warrior, Semroc Ruskie, Estes Nike -X, Estes Mini-Shuttle Clone. Estes Renegade, Estes Big Red Max, Estes Phoenix, Fliskits Shadowlord, Custom Rockets SAM-X, thanks Texas Winds and rain.
Austin TX

Hello everyone,
I have a nose cone that I cannot identify the history of: https://www.erockets.biz/semroc-bal...-sem-bnc-60gmr/
It is the Semroc Balsa Nose Cone for a BT-60 with the letters GMR, I was thinking it was a Gemini Cone but with a Mercury Redstone top. Did Estes make a kit with this cone as a pseudo Spacecraft? Any help is greatly appreciated.

First, you should have started a new thread for this because it has nothing to do with the Semroc USS America that is the topic of this thread.
However, my guess is that it's a boilerplate version of the Mercury capsule used in the Mercury Little Joe flights.
EDIT: Reading the description on the erockets webpage: It is a GOONY version of a Mercury Redstone capsule.

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I like the unusual, the off beat, the avant-garde. No 3/4 FNC for me!

Hi Randy,

GMR stands for Goony Mercury Redstone.

http://web.archive.org/web/20190707...?idproduct=2638

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Scott D. Hansen
Ye Olde Rocket Shoppe - Your One Stop BAR Shoppe!
Ye Olde Rocket Plans - OOP Rocket Plans From 38 Companies!
Ye Olde Rocket Forum
WOOSH NAR Section #558

The next version of the USS America will include 3D printed engine pods. For many years we have been depending on Jeff Graham to make resin cast parts for us to produce this kit. I approved a few months ago the new 3D printed parts, today we finished making our first batches of the new part with our SLA printer. The new parts are impressive and I feel the rocketry community will enjoy using them. Look for them in our next run of USS America.