A positive thread on what people believe Estes should produce

BABAR said:

Been said here before but would like bulk packs of Nose Cones. Rather than the mix and match, I'd like to see 4 or 8 packs of single size and shape.

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Totally agree and would definitely buy the same. Look at it this way: if you're already getting a container of nose cones from China for the mix and match bags you're already selling, why not just add some more?

I just finished reveiwing the 2015 online catelog.
It seams to me, there are way too far many E2X kits and launch sets verses building kits.
Back in the day, the RTF and E2X didn't exist. You bought a level 1, built, flew, likes or dislikes and either moved on or dropped it.
I bought a RTF rocket once back in the 80's. Would never buy another one nor would I recommend one.
I would massivily support the bring back the acheivment cards and EAC kits with the Viper!
Model Rocketery is just that. A model you build and fly. There is no insentive to those that just buy and push a button.
But then again, there were a lot more kids back in the day that were mechanically inclinded. Not button pushing snivilling little brats.
Still, way too many E2X kits vx build kits as far as I'm concerned. Limit the market of "Too Easy" and get the kids off the game machines and using their hands.

Woody's Workshop said:

I just finished reveiwing the 2015 online catelog.
It seams to me, there are way too far many E2X kits and launch sets verses building kits.
Back in the day, the RTF and E2X didn't exist. You bought a level 1, built, flew, likes or dislikes and either moved on or dropped it.
I bought a RTF rocket once back in the 80's. Would never buy another one nor would I recommend one.
I would massivily support the bring back the acheivment cards and EAC kits with the Viper!
Model Rocketery is just that. A model you build and fly. There is no insentive to those that just buy and push a button.
But then again, there were a lot more kids back in the day that were mechanically inclinded. Not button pushing snivilling little brats.
Still, way too many E2X kits vx build kits as far as I'm concerned. Limit the market of "Too Easy" and get the kids off the game machines and using their hands.

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And go out of business.

FC

If you can't beat them, join them. How about some designs base on video games? Halo assault vehicles etc.

For the folks requesting things like Star Wars, Halo, BSG, understand there are licensing issues. And it may not be cheap. Bad enough Estes can't even use official military symbology / lettering on rockets now.

FC

I'd love to see Estes partner with NASA and or Space X and have the Estes Chute design show up on the chute for one of their recovery vehicles. I mean how cool would it have been to see the Orion Capsule come down on three chutes that look like Estes chutes?

Pro series upscales would be great. The MDRM is a fantastic kit. Especially ones difficult to scratch build, like you did with the Interceptor-E. Hmm, an Interceptor-F, essentially the same kit released with a 29 mm mount would fly great on the E16 and F15.

As far as motors, I think the current Estes selection is great, perhaps the best it's ever been. I use just about all of them, and particularly appreciate the wide booster selection, using A10-0, A8-0 and C11-0 often. The new 29 BP motors are great too, I've flown at least a dozen. While it would certainly be a niche motor, I like the idea of a 24mm B booster, taking the tail off a C11 would probably make something like a B15!

JumpJet said:

By the way posting positive stuff on the Estes Face Book page is the best way to maybe get more of what your looking for since more Corporate people will see these posts then just I who visit the forums.

I would also ask that you leave reviews on the Estes web site on the products we sale. The New Conquest I designed has yet to have a single comment posted and it.


John Boren

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I'm not on Facebook, but I did go to the web site and posted several reviews. Not sure if Noobie reviews really help, but one does what one can.

The Conquest looks extremely cool, but beyond my skill level at the moment.

How about the USS Enterprise from The Next Generation? And Klingon, Fereni & Romulan ships to complement the original Kingon & Enterprise Ships?

A side note to John:

I forget to mention that I do really like Conquest. Picked one up recently and I have to confess that I am cloning a version of it as well as building one stock. The semi clone is a boost glider version with the wing slightly enlarged and moved forward a little bit and with a larger horizontal tail.

Thanks for keeping some interesting kits in the mix.

How about putting all the kits in boxes and charging the $1 extra to us?

Above all else I want Estes to produce a profit.

No wait, that’s the wrong spelling; I want Estes to produce a Prophet so he/she can foresee what we will all want years enough ahead of time to actually provide it promptly when the time actually arrives.

Just so long as Estes’ Prophet doesn’t spawn some screwball religion along the lines of, “The Church of the Risen Rocket”, or some such.

I am a rocket junkie; I’m out to see how high I can get.

More 13mm options (B-impulse would be nice. There's plenty of room in the cases for a little more powder). A AP 13mm motor would be really neat-O!


More delay options in their AP motors (the motors themselves are fine and work great, but a 6 second delay only kinda....well.....sucks). A few more selections would be nice.

I agree, another mini motor with some more UMPFT, like for the mini fat boy on a single stage. Similar to an A8-3.
And some GD awasome booster engines for 2 stagers, and the mini comanchee-3.
And maybe go to a B4-0 on the 1st Booster of the Copmanchee-3.
Easily don't, but a kit would be even niceer.

How about a dual motor (one in each engine) swing glider of the NX-74205 Defiant from DS9? The first true Battle Ship of the Federation of Plants from the Planet Earth! Massive engines, cloaking, mega Tazers, quad Torpedos, etc.

Tonimus said:

How about putting all the kits in boxes and charging the $1 extra to us?

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Only a very few Estes kits require boxes, for the rest boxes would just be additional packaging costs, and require additional space in shipping/storage/store display.

The one advantage I can really see would be a probably marginal decrease in kit damages, which cannot be a serious problem (if it were and Estes was paying out a lot of money on damaged kit returns, they'd do it on their own initiative).


As far as practical new products, it's been explained numerous times that a core-burning BP motor such as the legendary B14 or such theoretical cousins as A12, C18 or D20 families are not very likely to happen. But it's still fun to dream.

Bump...

I'd like to see 20 people agree to this statement..

Estes should reproduce the Omega (K-52P) rocket. With the addition of the body tube decal that was seen in the 1971 catalog.



Can I get anyone to back this up?

I would buy one. That may not equate to a business case endorsement but it's a nice model!

GDJ said:

More 13mm options (B-impulse would be nice. There's plenty of room in the cases for a little more powder). A AP 13mm motor would be really neat-O!


More delay options in their AP motors (the motors themselves are fine and work great, but a 6 second delay only kinda....well.....sucks). A few more selections would be nice.

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I second that!!! A 13mm B would be most satisfying!

I'm a grandfather now. My eyes aren't what they used to be, and neither are my knees. I like big rockets that are easy to see, and fly low and slow so I don't have to walk so far to recover them. I would like to see a Silver Comet style rocket again. The original Fat Boy would be another good one. Something that I can fly at the local park without loosing. Quick and straight forward to build, but with lots of options for detailing. Perhaps include two or three paint schemes in the package, with one being simple, and the others being more complex.

The grand-kids are all toddlers now, and a RTF rocket that they can call their own is a good thing, as long as it looks good and is fairly rugged. In a couple of years they'll, hopefully, want to build their own, and an ARF will get them started, then on to a Level 1, etc.

On the subject of motors, how about colored tracking and ejection smoke?

K'Tesh said:

Bump...

I'd like to see 20 people agree to this statement..

Estes should reproduce the Omega (K-52P) rocket. With the addition of the body tube decal that was seen in the 1971 catalog.

Can I get anyone to back this up?

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I'm definitely in. I had an Omega back in 1974 (sadly w/o the Cineroc). It was one of my all time favorites.

Business cases aside, I (and others, I'm sure...) have such nostalgia for certain catalog pages, and indeed, entire catalogs (Before Internet for all you young'uns)... Here is my fantasy, totally ignoring costs, market, profitability, and all that other stuff that makes things actually happen...

I would LOVE to see ENTIRE CATALOGS re-released. Yes, I would fall all over myself if, for a certain length of time (a year?), I could order anything I wanted out of a given catalog. :w:

Of course, 3D printing is supposed to bring us this :flyingpig:

I'll reiterate that I'd love to see Estes introduce a new kit that brings the PNC-50SP nose cone back. I don't really care what kind of rocket it is, as long as its available so that I buy one or two for the cones. Then, if it was back production, they could add it to the sci-fi nose cone assortment. PNC-50SP, as shown on my Argosy:

EXPjawa said:

I'll reiterate that I'd love to see Estes introduce a new kit that brings the PNC-50SP nose cone back. I don't really care what kind of rocket it is, as long as its available so that I buy one or two for the cones. Then, if it was back production, they could add it to the sci-fi nose cone assortment.

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Isn't it part of the Science Fiction Nosecone Assortment? I thought it was the 2nd one down from the top.

https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/accessories/nose-cones/003173-sci-fi-nose-cone-assortment-5-pk

Nope. The one that kind of resembles it is larger - its the BT55 cone for an Interceptor. There is a different BT50 cone with a cockpit there, but its an ogive shape with a more rounded canopy. The -50SP was conical with a short straight base segment. Its basically a -50BB cone, like in the Crossfire, with narrow canopy added to it. I've been buying either the standard BT50 cone assortment or extra Crossfire kits to pirate the cone, then a paper canopy can be make and glued on that looks passably like the original -50SP. But I much rather have the original. As I stated in my Sci-Fi Spaceplane thread, there are a bunch of OOP kits that used that cone, and to clone them proper, it would be nice to a source for the right one. One option is the 3D printed nylon version that's on Shapeways, but that's 2X the cost of a Crossfire kit...

Make a plaster cast of the canopy 1/2.
Heat the nose cone in that area with a heat gun,
Hold it over the plaster casting and put a little air pressure in the hole in the end.

EXPjawa said:

I'll reiterate that I'd love to see Estes introduce a new kit that brings the PNC-50SP nose cone back. I don't really care what kind of rocket it is, as long as its available so that I buy one or two for the cones. Then, if it was back production, they could add it to the sci-fi nose cone assortment. PNC-50SP, as shown on my Argosy:

View attachment 261644

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The PNC-50SP is the same nose cone as the PNC-50BB, but with the canopy added. The cheapest way to get one is to buy one of the Skywriter No2 (pencil) rocket and sand all the paint off the nose. A number of years past I posted a canopy for the 50SP over on YORS: https://www.rocketshoppe.com/info/PNC50SP.pdf

The easiest way to make it is to print that page on 110# cardstock (be sure to turn shrink page to fit to OFF), cut out and assemble the canopy and CA it to the nose cone. If you then soak some CA into the cardstock, let dry, sand and paint, you won't be able to tell the difference.

I realize that, since I said the same thing already. But it would be nice if the actual -50SP was available, that was my whole point. I don't want to further derail this thread. The other thing I'd like to see Estes do is update their original Pro Series as PS2 kits.

Wouldn't it be great if Estes would make a broader range of "plugged motors"?

tmacklin said:

Wouldn't it be great if Estes would make a broader range of "plugged motors"?

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Well, yeah, but that's a pretty specific 'boutique motor' market and my guess is the demand is pretty limited. On the other hand I would guess demand would go up if a wider variety of plugged motors was available.


I suspect it might not be all that hard or labor-intensive to re-set the nozzle-making machinery to insert a ceramic plug on the top of certain XX-0 type booster motors.