#1
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Vintage Estes Starship Excalibur Build
I will start this kit later this week, looks like another fun Estes build out of the bag. The bag was sealed but you can see there is some parachute residue left on the decals, I still think they will be fine. This is one of the issues with these old kits, but I am ok with that.
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#2
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I have been busy but was able to break and way and get my Starship ready for painting. I must say for some reason this was a little challenging of a built but sure fun. Part of the challenging part is dealing with old die crunched balsa, warped dowels and die crunched cardboard parts, a little patience goes a long way. I sealed the card stock, paper and balsa with 3 coats of Brodak Sealer and will begin spraying primer tomorrow.
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#3
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You may be able to remove the "parachute residue" from the decal sheet by lightly sanding the decal sheet DRY with 1200 grit sandpaper/sanding film.
I have saved several vintage decal sheets that way.
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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 ! |
#4
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Finally got the camera back from my wife and was able to pull the pictures off the disk of my completed Excalibur. I was able to get her done before we went out of town and should be home Sun or Mon. I am also working on a couple of rockets that I brought with me. After the Brodak balsa sealer and fillets were dried, I applied my gray primer followed by Krylon Acryli-Quik gloss white. The decals were a little challenging but in the end they ended up on the rocket. I was able to remove some of the parachute residue, so I was happy about that. I also hand painted the silver dowels/disks with Testors square bottle silver. Looking at the pictures I see I have to nick off some little fuzzies on the end of the body tube when I get home.
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#5
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Looks great. I've always wanted to build one. Many years ago, (back in the RMR newsgroup days), I asked about plans, and Mark Bundick (former NAR prez) responded and sent me copies in the mail. Hard to remember what it was like to not just Google a rocket name and find plans to download.
I have not thought about those plans in awhile. I need to dig thru the files and find them. Too many projects now, but seems like a good Winter project.
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Lee Reep NAR 55948 Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold! Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp |
#6
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Here's the Excalibur from the Babylon 5 spin-off, Crusade. I always wondered if the ship in the show was an homage to the Estes rocket.
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Friends Don't let Friends Do TRF |
#7
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Quote:
Cool! That's too similar to be a coincidence.
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Lee Reep NAR 55948 Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold! Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp |
#8
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And it's even more similar to the original Design of the Month Starship Excalibur.
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Bernard Cawley NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member SAM 0061 AMA 42160 KG7AIE |
#9
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Quote:
I figured it was a slightly-simplified version of the MRN Excalibur. Cutting tubes and cones isn't easy; not the kind of thing you'd want in a kit.. The balsa runners are an OK substitute..
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NAR #27085 - Oregon Rocketry - SAM |
#10
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I'm not surprised that the Estes kit was simplified from the DoM version. All those nose cones would also make the kit more expensive - eight of them altogether, just like the Trident.
Splitting the one that has to be cut in half and shaping it is still one of the more challenging aspects of building the Semroc rendition of the DoM model. It would be interesting to see if the Crusade ship was intentionally or unintentionally inspired by either one.
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Bernard Cawley NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member SAM 0061 AMA 42160 KG7AIE |
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