Estes Black Star Voyager

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thobin

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It’s time to take a break from all the HPR & MPR rockets I have been building lately and go back to my roots, and build a Estes rocket. My Black Star Voyager came in the mail today and I’m afraid it has to be built now instead of later.

First thing I noticed this package is stuffed, this got me a little worried because some of the tubes are kind of big and they were a bit oval, nothing bad and the centering rings will fix it. As for the decals they may not fare as well, one whole side was wrinkled; so we shall see when it comes time to put them on. I would like to point out that there was no damage at all to the packaging or box that it was shipped in the package is just too small for the amount of stuff you get with the rocket.

As for the rest of the contents everything looks in order and well made. The transition and nose cone fit nice and snug and the balsa is a good quality. The nose cone has some ridges to it kind of unique, I’m not sure if you can see them in the picture, but is kinda cool.

Now let’s just hope I remember to take pictures this time. Here are some opening shots.


TA

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May I ask where you got yours? I've had mine on BO from Hobbylinc and was hoping to get it before I went up to the mountains. I am patiently waiting........

I am so looking forward to building this baby.
 
They have been available on fleabay, for a premium price. I'm anxiously awaiting the hobbylinc email as well.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ESTES-7222...356383021?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item5d3719992d

I know, I've seen them for much less, but I was able use my points to get it even cheaper. When I saw that Estes had them in stock, I inquired with Hobbylinc if they were shipping it yet, and they said the end of the month. Hobbylinc does have them in stock now, so now it's just a waiting game.......
 
I know, I've seen them for much less, but I was able use my points to get it even cheaper. When I saw that Estes had them in stock, I inquired with Hobbylinc if they were shipping it yet, and they said the end of the month. Hobbylinc does have them in stock now, so now it's just a waiting game.......

Well look at that... I was supposed to get an email when they were available. I'm ordering one now!
 
Amazon and it was like 25% off or so $29.55 and $5.78 for shipping.

Its quit a bit more 3D than the picture looks. I'll post some build pics soon. I'm already considering an upscale of it now I have crunched a few number already to see how big I want to make it.


TA
 
Amazon and it was like 25% off or so $29.55 and $5.78 for shipping.

Its quit a bit more 3D than the picture looks. I'll post some build pics soon. I'm already considering an upscale of it now I have crunched a few number already to see how big I want to make it.


TA

I look forward to your preview, mine is on the way.
 
Well I got a bunch of parts made up and glued on. Here are a few of the pics so far. One thing I will have to say is the instructions are a bit light for a rocket this complex. It would be nice to have a bit more direction. I guess if the builder understands the term skill level 5 they should do ok.

I got my motor mount done, and all the centering rings set and glued on to their perspective tubs. And attached to the main air frame, using the ribs to get the proper spacing. From the look of the fins this is the easy part.

On to the fins.

TA

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Oh man, I can hardly wait ti get one of my own !!

I`m watching your build !

Paul T
 
Ok I started on the fins and got the bottom parts finished up. The tape method the instructions give don't work to well, you get a far better fit if you measure out the gap it's 3/32 for the best fit. I don't know if you can see it but I missed the wax paper with a drop of the CA and burned a nice hole in my cutting mat. :bangpan: Any way you sand the leading edge flat and add a strip of balsa, it makes for a nice tight edge.

TA

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The next thing to do it fill all the balsa and sand every thing up. Well for the bottom half of the fins that is.

Now on to the top fin! :horse: I hate CA, problem is i'm to dang impatient to wait for regular glue.

TA

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I've been drooling over this one since the preview before they came out. Look's like a nice challenging build too...right up my ally. Can't wait to see it finnished.
 
Great build thread, lots of pics and details !

Like the good closet astronaut mentioned above ,it looks to be a fun ,challenging build....my favorite !


Paul T
 
Looks to be a fun build, I got mine as a replacement from Estes after my E12 CATO...

Thanks for the pics and info, will come in handy!!
 
Those fins are SICK!!!! And you are doing a great job building.

I've noticed Estes is doing a lot of kits that have built up structures and stringers. Getting to be more like balsa airplane builds

But I love the results! Hope they keep it up

Thanks Estes!
 
There is only so much you can do with round body tubes and sheets of balsa, plus I'm a model airplane kind of guy. Wait to you see whats coming next!


John Boren
Estes R&D
 
What the heck its only just released! That's messed up! lousy inside trader deals. Well I still might do it, now I just wont have to post A build. I'm really only toying with the idea anyway. :)

Joe discovered a secret and acquired a new toy a month or so before Red Glare. His BSV flew beautifully.
 
Now that has got my interest up John!!

Time frame maybe? :eyeroll:

There is only so much you can do with round body tubes and sheets of balsa, plus I'm a model airplane kind of guy. Wait to you see whats coming next!


John Boren
Estes R&D
 
There is only so much you can do with round body tubes and sheets of balsa, plus I'm a model airplane kind of guy. Wait to you see whats coming next!


John Boren
Estes R&D

Yea...I'm with Spooks...just what exactly does this mean?
 
I did the top Part of the fins today. I just need to add the filler and and do some sanding. I'll be doing some fitting today, I should get all the fins conformed to the body tube and each other. This is one of the builds you got to get all the fin sanding done before you glue them on, a lot of angles and nooks and crannies. No room for forgetting to sand before you glue here.


TA

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There is only so much you can do with round body tubes and sheets of balsa, plus I'm a model airplane kind of guy. Wait to you see whats coming next!


John Boren
Estes R&D

I can't wait!!!
 
Well now that FLU has finished ravaging my family, I feel good enough to work on some rockets. I marked up the body tube with the 154 lines required.:p

I popped out the fiber fins and started the dreaded task of flooding them with CA, so I can get them sanded smooth, next i'll hit them with some primer, sand them again. It will be the only way to get them sanded and looking nice, once they are glued on there will be no access to them. With nine of them wrapped around a body tube its going to be tight.

As for the fins they are all built, I have decided to use some card stock to cap off the fins. They just seem incompleat to me as they are. Once I finish that off I can get them fitted to the body tubes.


TA

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Hey..good to see you back at it! I've been missing this thread. What perfect timing, I'm giddy with excitement waiting for mine to get here. I'm sure glad you decided to do a build thread on it, let's me know what I'm in for. I can already imagine it blasting off the launch pad.
 
This is one cool rocket! Can't wait to see the finished build. Gotta sit on my hands to make progress on HPR projects right now, but this one's hard to resist. Estes has definitely got their "A" game on - nice going John!!
 
Hey..good to see you back at it! I've been missing this thread. What perfect timing, I'm giddy with excitement waiting for mine to get here. I'm sure glad you decided to do a build thread on it, let's me know what I'm in for. I can already imagine it blasting off the launch pad.

Pretty much what he said !! I should be getting one when I visit the USA next month ,I`ll order from ACSupply.

Keep up the good work !

Paul T
 
As for the fins they are all built, I have decided to use some card stock to cap off the fins. They just seem incompleat to me as they are. Once I finish that off I can get them fitted to the body tubes.

If you go with the cardstock covers, I'd be interested to hear the results of a dragrace against an uncarded BSV. Let us know if you can make this happen!
 
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