VINTAGE ESTES SPACE SHUTTLE #1284 Build Log

[JoeFilgas]

And so it begins! First step making sure all parts are present…check! Onward!

 

[JoeFilgas]

All the plastic parts for the vintage Estes Space Shuttle rocket have been separated, de-flashed, gently washed, dried and put in a clean zip lock bag.

 

[Saluki]

I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on this build. It's been a long time since I have seen anyone do a build thread on this kit.
I have a few of these kits. Your build thread might make me think about building one of them. Thanks for doing this build.

 

[JoeFilgas]

I'm looking forward to keeping an eye on this build. It's been a long time since I have seen anyone do a build thread on this kit.
I have a few of these kits. Your build thread might make me think about building one of them. Thanks for doing this build.

Welcome to the thread! I’ll be posting on the build quite often.

 

[Back_at_it]

Looking forward to this build. I built one of these back when these kits were still on store shelves and it was a fun and complex build. Nothing hard, just a lot of parts and a LOT of sanding an tweaking to get things to fit together. After all, Estes is no Revell or Tamiya model company.

I have another one that I have been staring at for a couple of years now as I thought it would make a great build thread for the forums so thank you for doing this.

Tons of pics please.

 

[ljwilley]

Very excited for this one!

 

[Saluki]

I have looked at both rocket forums and I can not find one complete build thread on this kit.
I can find questions asked on this kit and I see a lot of FOR SALE posts but that's all.
The only complete build for this kit is here. http://waste.org/~knobs/estes_space_shuttle_1284_build.html
It would be nice if ESTES would bring this kit back, But we all know this will never happen and That's why this kit resells so high.
Sometimes you don't know what you got till it's gone.

 

[JoeFilgas]

Looking forward to this build. I built one of these back when these kits were still on store shelves and it was a fun and complex build. Nothing hard, just a lot of parts and a LOT of sanding an tweaking to get things to fit together. After all, Estes is no Revell or Tamiya model company.

I have another one that I have been staring at for a couple of years now as I thought it would make a great build thread for the forums so thank you for doing this.

Tons of pics please.

I anticipate it will take longer than the normal rocket build due to all the parts and finishing required, but I know it will be fun for sure. Glad to have you following along and you can count on a lot of pictures along the way!

 

[NTP2]

it must really be old if it’s white on the box!!

 

[Antares JS]

it must really be old if it’s white on the box!!

One of the older hands can chime in if I'm wrong, but I think this kit actually came out in the late 70's, before the actual shuttle flew.

 

[JoeFilgas]

One of the older hands can chime in if I'm wrong, but I think this kit actually came out in the late 70's, before the actual shuttle flew.

One of the older hands can chime in if I'm wrong, but I think this kit actually came out in the late 70's, before the actual shuttle flew.

It did indeed! The kit was first available in 1976! Unfortunately there are no dates of this kit to be found. The only great clue is that it came with a small red vile containing contact cement. The seller informed me that he thinks this vile was only given out in the first run. It is definitely pre-Enterprise as the OG decal sheet has no Shuttle names.

 

[JoeFilgas]

it must really be old if it’s white on the box!!

Definitely early 80s pre-first flight of the Shuttle and pre-Enterprise. Kit may be from late 70s. Unfortunately there are no dates printed on anything. The only clue is the small red vile of contact cement. The seller thinks Estes may have only included it during the first run (76’).

 

[DaveRKP]

I enjoyed the build of this one.

 

[RobertH3]

I am pretty good at everything EXCEPT blow-molded parts. Did a Sirius Atlantis Refit and actually finished it. I'd call it "OK" but not stunning. Probably need to do 10 more tries at blow-molded plastic assembly to get good at it.
Patience and Practice, kind of like making transitions.
This would be an excellent re-issue for Estes. I would certainly get one.


Cheers / Robert

 

[lr64]

That's pretty cool, but you had me all excited because I thought we were talking about the Orbital Transport, kit K-42, seen in link below on the cover of the catalog:
https://i0.wp.com/makezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/70estf.jpg?w=446&ssl=1

It's hard for me to think of anything after around 1980 as "vintage". ;-)

 

[JoeFilgas]

I enjoyed the build of this one.

Wow beautiful job!

 

[JoeFilgas]

Today the build officially started! This is PART 1 of the pictures. I made it through step 16. Everything went pretty smooth. The pictures are all in sequence. I used my Estes cutting guides in a number of places including drawing full circumference circles and pushing those small paper rings down the length of the SRBs. Found it interesting that there is no motor block, but just the motor hook that protrudes internally. I probably should have modified the mount to utilize a Kevlar shock cord, but went past the point of no return before I thought about it.

 

[JoeFilgas]

Today’s build log PART 2 more pics!

 

[JoeFilgas]

Today’s build log PART 3: more pictures.

 

[JoeFilgas]

Today’s build log PART 4. Last of the pictures for today.

 

[B_RadB]

I built one of these when it was first released in late 70's. Flew it several times, always fun. Have recently acquired one of these kits that is now sitting in my build pile. Following your build brings back memories and gets me thinking about breaking out the kit I have. Following with interest!

 

[JPalmer621]

I have built a few over the years. Some kits, some scratch. Ran a thin piece of tape down the side of the SRB and ET so I can glue them after painting.

 

[DaveRKP]

I have built a few over the years. Some kits, some scratch. Ran a thin piece of tape down the side of the SRB and ET so I can glue them after painting.

What a collection!

 

[JoeFilgas]

I have built a few over the years. Some kits, some scratch. Ran a thin piece of tape down the side of the SRB and ET so I can glue them after painting.

Glad to hear that you did strips of tape and painted before gluing the SRBs on! That’s my plan for this too!

 

[JoeFilgas]

I have built a few over the years. Some kits, some scratch. Ran a thin piece of tape down the side of the SRB and ET so I can glue them after painting.

Glad to hear that you did strips of tape and painted before gluing the SRBs on! That’s my plan for this too!

I built one of these when it was first released in late 70's. Flew it several times, always fun. Have recently acquired one of these kits that is now sitting in my build pile. Following your build brings back memories and gets me thinking about breaking out the kit I have. Following with interest!

Awesome thank you! Definitely you should build yours too!

 

[ljwilley]

Looking great so far!

 

[JoeFilgas]

Looking great so far!

Thank you!

 

[burkefj]

Mine flew great many times. I never realized how oversized the orbiter wings were, I don't feel so bad about cheating with my R/C orbiter wings now. Nice to see a build thread on this.

 

[JoeFilgas]

Mine flew great many times. I never realized how oversized the orbiter wings were, I don't feel so bad about cheating with my R/C orbiter wings now. Nice to see a build thread on this.

Thank you I’ve always wanted to do a rocket powered RC version, but never did. This is at least rocket powered.

 

[JoeFilgas]

PART 1 of 2 for today. The Estes Space Shuttle Model Rocket #1284 build log: today started off with adhering the embossed paper main External Tank wrap. Before gluing some details were added to/through the back of the wrap including the piece of string. I don’t think thin CA was around in the late 70s to early 80s when this kit came out so the instructions used the wood glue. Fast forward 40 years and we now have thin CA glue which is perfect for adhering these wraps. I took quite a bit of time getting the wrap in its proper place before taping down in order to draw the reference marks around it on to the ET. NOTE OF CAUTION: the instructions did not say to tape the wrap down. Using yellow and blue masking tape was necessary as it would be very difficult if not impossible to hold the wrap down securely while drawing the lines. The note here is that the embossed paper wrap is very delicate and even the blue tape lifted some paper (albeit in a spot you really won’t be able to see later.). So remove the tape very carefully is the moral. Once the lines were drawn on the ET it was back to taping the wrap into its final position. Then I used thin CA in the open areas while gently pressing down on the wrap. Once secured I removed the tape and went back in with more thin CA to cover those areas. The embossed detail line also was secured to the ET using the same technique. A small 1/6” cut was made at the bottom of the ET for the string detail to be secured. I used thin CA for this as well. Once the bottom end of the string was secured I went over the entire string with thin CA to permanently attach it to the ET. Then it was on to adding the 1/8” dowel that is the LOX line. I did sand the bottom flat so it would adhere to the ET better. Two plastic supports were then glued in place near the base of the ET. Next the upper Orbiter launch rail was installed along with two paper stand off launch lugs adjacent to the LOX line on the ET. I’m going to skip ahead now on the build since I’m going to paint both SRBs and the Exernal Tank separately prior to gluing them all together. I did extend the 1 and1/8” reference line for the SRB tube top onto the paper wrap as I’ll need to see where this is when mounting the SRBs later. Next I glued in the plastic SRB tops with plastic model cement. The two SRB display nozzle pieces were then glued together and temporarily fit into the bottom of the SRBs. The ET nose cone halves were then glued together. Finally I had to temporarily tape the SRBs to the ET and add the ET nosecone to see what it all looks like together at this point. Yep it’s looking like the Shuttle launch system by golly!