Estes Magician Extra Fin Parts?

My wife and I both have Estes Magicians. We are currently building them side by side. We have noticed that our laser cut fin sheets are different. Mine has 4 additional, trapezoidal shaped pieces that hers does not. Nowhere are they shown in the instructions. Has anyone else noticed this? What are they intended for? Thanks.

Got any Pics'???

If I'm not mistaken they are part of a cradle for fin alignment that Estes included with the kit. Mine didn't didn't seem to align the fins very well, and I've since started downloading and making fin alignment guides from Payloadbay to make sure my fins are at the correct angles.

I'll post a pic tomorrow. Already hit the bed.

It's not the alignment cradle. We both have those.

The instructions list one balsa sheet with the fins and cradle. Perhaps you got the Guangzhou kit packers bonus.

That's what is on my instructions. That's what was in my wife's kit. Mine is different but the fins and cradle are the same. Was mostly just wondering "wtf". I'll get the pic posted as soon as I get home. Are there any other known Estes kits that use the same fins? Perhaps it's from another kit. Although, how many kits have you seen with a cradle? It's a mystery. Someone should call Shaggy and Scooby.

Ok. Made it home. Here's a pic of my fins uncut next to my wife's find already cut out. What do you make of it?

They almost look like standoffs for launch lugs.

I was thinking the same thing. But none are required for this rocket. I'm not sure why, but there is a difference. That's why I was wondering if perhaps they crossed over to another rocket now.

Feet for the craddle I'd say, to fit the notches in the cradle. 4 notches, 4 feet, keeps them upright.

Neither one of my kits had that either, but I will say , thats one heck of a fun rocket to fly.

If I had that and wanted to use them, I would glue one to each side of each Launch Lug, as a reinforcement.

I looked over the instrucions carefully.
I would say the extra pieces are a later addition for launch lug supports for eace side of both lugs.
Looks like a neat kit, I'll have to get one.

Maybe the Magician can make these parts magically appear and disappear. Now you see them. Now you Don't!

ThirstyBarbarian said:

Maybe the Magician can make these parts magically appear and disappear. Now you see them. Now you Don't!

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Now I've got to go and check my Wizard's balsa parts :wink:

I got those in my Magician Kit as well. I used them for the launch lugs.

And BTW, this rocket flies great if you mod the motor mount and use the Estes BP 29mms The F15-8 is a perfect motor for it.

I bought one a few weeks ago and it doesn't have these extra parts.

I stayed 24mm MMT but added a retainer ring. RMS and composite SU are our friends.

swatkat said:

And BTW, this rocket flies great if you mod the motor mount and use the Estes BP 29mms The F15-8 is a perfect motor for it.

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:eyepop: i bet thats a hoot.......

Andy Greene said:

:eyepop: i bet thats a hoot.......

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It is, There's Youtube video of it, but unfortunately, Youtube corrupts my 808 keychain cam vids so that they become glorified slide shows.

Kruegon said:

I stayed 24mm MMT but added a retainer ring. RMS and composite SU are our friends.

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I have some F44-8's I'm worried about the rapid acceleration that motor creates though. The F32's may be a better (and higher) bet.

swatkat said:

It is, There's Youtube video of it, but unfortunately, Youtube corrupts my 808 keychain cam vids so that they become glorified slide shows.

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I have 2 808 Cams. One will upload to my computer just fine, but then I get what you describe as a glorified slideshow when I upload it to Youtube. The second 808 cam works fine and the Video to Youtube does not experience that problem.

swatkat said:

It is, There's Youtube video of it, but unfortunately, Youtube corrupts my 808 keychain cam vids so that they become glorified slide shows.

Click to expand...

Have you flown it with an altimeter or run a sim- wonder what altitude its seeing with that motor ??

swatkat said:

And BTW, this rocket flies great if you mod the motor mount and use the Estes BP 29mms The F15-8 is a perfect motor for it.

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I flew mine on an E9 and it absolutely screamed, can't imagine an F15 in such a light and small rocket.:y:

I've got an E30 that I'm hoping to load it with next weekend. First flight will be an E-9. I only have 2 E30s and I have to decide. I have the Vagabond. Definitely an E30. I also have the Big Daddy and the Canadian Arrow. Three rockets, one extra E30. Decisions, decisions.

The Magician would make a great addition to my fleet for night launching at the ROCstock event coming up next month. They require that all rockets launched at night have some way of being seen for safety and recovery. The clear tube would make a great payload bay for a blue light to match the decals. An animated light for that magician flair would be cool.

I don't think any of the local clubs do night launches here. I was looking at some glow in the dark paint yesterday for a night launch. I'd love to do one.

Glow in the dark paint. Flashing led light. Oscillating audible speaker. Easy recovery that way. I'm trying to locate a clear glow in the dark but no luck so far.

Kruegon said:

I don't think any of the local clubs do night launches here. I was looking at some glow in the dark paint yesterday for a night launch. I'd love to do one.

Glow in the dark paint. Flashing led light. Oscillating audible speaker. Easy recovery that way. I'm trying to locate a clear glow in the dark but no luck so far.

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So far, all the glow in the dark paints that I've seen available to the market are pretty lame. There are ads that show bicycles riding through streets at night that are glowing in the dark that look really good. However to get those results, they needed a black light spotlight to enhance the output of the paints used.

For my money, I'd use Orcal's retroreflective films. This is the same kind of stuff you see on traffic signs. Hit it with a flashlight or a spot light and 70% of the light will return back to the source. I use this stuff on my bicycles to make me visible at night. I'm getting it for less than $16/24"x36" piece.

Here's a shot showing my bicycle using Avery's similar product (no longer carried by multicraft plastics due to its higher price ($25/24"x36")).



The film was applied to the frame, forks, and wheel rims.

BTW, Orcal's black film appears nearly white when a light is shined on it (instead of Avery's muted bronze color seen on the fork of the bike above).