Vintage Estes Scissor Wing Transport

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SCIGS30

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After the Crusader build I decided to build a vintage Scissor Wing Transport out of the bag. This is an old kit but everything in this kit is in great condition and ready for a build. I will keep it light by using Brodak balsa sealer and weighing the balsa parts after each sanding to make sure the weight does not increase by much. I will then skip the primer and just go with white. I built the new version 10 years ago but I have always wanted to build the original even though it looks more challenging.

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Your re-issue looks good, SCIGS30! You should have no problem with building the original.

Built an original in middle school, 74-75 maybe, that never flew except to be hand tossed. Have a re-issue that I opened to take photos for K'Tesh, maybe one day soon I'll get it built. Want to get my skills up to a level the kits deserves before I attempt it.

You might check with K'tesh and see if he would like photos of an original, or at least the swivel parts.
 
I built the re-issue...gosh, I guess it's been almost ten years ago. I lost the pop pod on the first flight - in the middle of a large, empty parking lot. I just never rebuilt one, and the glider's been sitting in the pile of lonely and forgotten rockets since. I should build another pod - I think I have all the parts and the plans. The glider, when balanced correctly, is a great flier!
 
I have wondered, is that wing number "06" or "90" ... ?

Nice build, as always, and a good pairing with the Crusader.
 
I built six of those back in the days of the original kit. One for my own fleet and the other 5 side by side for Estes' "Build-Up" program. For those of you who don't know what that was.... back in the mid-seventies, Estes Industries would invite rocket club / NAR section members to participate in building up kits that they would take around for display at trade shows and other events. The only stipulation is that the models had to be built to "Catalog Quality", meaning flawless finishes. It was all about appearance. I seem to recall that a small number of some models wanted for this usage didn't have to be built with all flight components in place (engine mounts, shock cords, etc.) because they were earmarked for static display only. The SWTs were full builds, however. I remember a lot of hours filling and sanding fins and body tubes. Back then, we didn't have CWF, so things were done with Aerogloss Balsa Filler or Sanding Sealer. I seem to remember the club I belonged to getting somewhere around $10 - $25 in Estes merchandise certificates per bird, depending on complexity of build. It was a great way to stock up on kits for the club to use to fly at public demos and for competition meet prizes.
I have a Scissorwing Transport clone on my near-future BAR - build project list. Looking forward to that one!
-Ed
 
I rebuilt my original Swt shortly after becoming a bar w/a bt50 tube from my 35yr old stash. Didn't get it balanced right and eventually creased the tube. Someday I'll get it rebuilt w/a heavy wall Semroc T9
 
I have been busy at work but had sometime to work on my SWT and get it ready for the paint shop tomorrow. The longest part of the build is cleaning up the die crunched balsa and matching up the correct parts and measurements. I don't want to complain about die crushed parts since that is what most of us grew up with and built rockets just fine. I did not take pictures of the build since I just built per the plans with no modifications. Also I am a simple builder, if you like to see cool tricks and other modifications head on over to Chris's rocket blog, great builder. Once again I just used white glue and used all the parts in the kit including the old self adhesive paper, still had a lot of adhesive for a good bond. I wanted to keep the weight down but still ended up with 4 coats of Brodak sealer, I was careful to weigh the balsa between coats and I did gain 5 grams of weight. As shown she glides great, with the glider coming in at 39 grams all sealed and ready for paint. The package has the glider listed at 51 grams so I think I am doing well. I will not spray any primer, just the top coat of old Krylon paint. With the pod added the weight is 57 grams and package has the weight at 71 grams. I will say this is a builders kit and at the end of the day she looks pretty sweet unpainted. I was trying to use the face card and catalog pictures for reference and soon noticed some differences from the kit. First the center mechanism is not shown in the pictures, looks like they just glued the wing to the body tube and took pictures. Also the center plywood disk that is glued into the wing is thinner than the balsa used for the wing. I just left it as is because the bottom portion of the plywood has to be flushed with the bottom of the wing for everything to work. If I am not happy with the recessed look when she is all painted I may just paint the recessed part black as shown on the face card. When Estes came out with the newer Swing Wing, the face card does show this older version and not the new version with plastic parts. I still have another round of glue fillets and hopefully get her painted tomorrow.

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I finished the Scissor Wing today, and I must say this was a fun vintage build. The decals are old but they went on pretty well considering the age. I do not put anything on my vintage decals because I had some unpredictable results in the past. The thing with old decals is once they are in place it is best to leave them alone, you are not going to get many chances of moving the decals without breaking them. Since the face card picture is not the exact built, I used the new version face card for decal placement. The new released kit face card picture is actually the old model and not the newer version with plastic parts. As you can see the Brodak did a great job filling the grain, no fillers or primer was used on this build. I painted with light coats of old Krylon white doing my best to keep the weight down. In the end the final weight without pod is 1.7oz, with pod 2.2oz. The new version I built comes in at 2.1 oz without pod and 2.6 oz with pod. The vintage version was more of a challenge to build but well worth it in the end.

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Really great.

Does the wing have any camber to it, or is it perfectly symmetrical front to back when in deployed position?
 
Nice Job!

If that flies nearly as good as it looks, you're in for some loooooonnnnnnggggggg walks...
 
Nice Job!

If that flies nearly as good as it looks, you're in for some loooooonnnnnnggggggg walks...

No long walks on this one. It IS a very nice rocket glider! But plan on a shallow 30-45 sec glide on this one on a C motor. I have two and plan to build one.

Kooch
 
Excellent job and a really beautiful model.

I keep thinking I should do an RC RG swing wing upscale, but then whenever I do, I do a tradeoff between the weight of the mechanism required and wing stiffness required to support it, versus the altitude gain and flight time, compared to a fixed wing, versus higher wing loading, it just doesn't make sense...I wish it did:)

Frank




More pictures
 
I remember this kit from when I was a kid in the 70's poring over the catalog, and always wondered how it worked. Having just finished a vintage swing-wing Crusader, I recognize the same ejectable propulsion pod and swing mechanism (not surprising).

Thanks for posting the build photos. It looks great.
 
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