New Falcon 9 and Fairing kit from SpaceX?

[Odo]

https://shop.spacex.com/accessories/falcon-9-and-fairing-flying-model-rocket-kit.html


Was wondering if anybody here had purchased this kit, Ive noticed a very strange lack of information on it anywhere and it makes me kind of hesitant to buy it, the most info Ive found on it is its diameter and motor specs, but nothing else! Im wondering if the fairing is possibly functional too? Also cant find anywhere if its pre-painted like its predeccesor was.

Thanks for any responses, Id love to see some pictures of it built.

 

[EXPjawa]

I've got one of these, but haven't opened it. One of the other guys in our club has flow his; as I recall it required very little in the way of cosmetic finishing. Also, I think that someone did a build thread here for this kit.

 

[Odo]

I've got one of these, but haven't opened it. One of the other guys in our club has flow his; as I recall it required very little in the way of cosmetic finishing. Also, I think that someone did a build thread here for this kit.

Ive looked around the forums for awhile and couldnt seem to find the build thread you were talking about, any idea what the post was called? Simply searching for "Falcon 9" didnt yield any good results.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[iqsy59]

I have the kit. It is unbuilt, but opened. The body tube is pre-printed. It is a very basic kit with plastic parts. It is nothing special, but I had to have one because of this historical significance of the real thing!

Boyce Aerospace Hobbies sells aftermarket landing legs and grid fins that add a nice touch of detail.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[kyle]

I built and flew mine. Simple build, takes about half an hour if you use 5 minute epoxy. Only painting to be done is on the fairing. Stick with BP 24mm motors or low thrust AP. Tore a fin off with a single use F-something, hard to fix since it's clear plastic and would look horrible. So I got another that's yet to be built.

 

[cvanc]

Boyce Aerospace Hobbies sells aftermarket landing legs and grid fins that add a nice touch of detail.

Cool! Is Boyce still around? Got a URL for them?

(cvanc thinks holiday giftgiving thoughts)

 

[iqsy59]

Cool! Is Boyce still around? Got a URL for them?

(cvanc thinks holiday giftgiving thoughts)

They're back!!! Mostly 3D printed stuff for now, but the have some very interesting offerings. I'm about to place my first order with them.

https://boyceaerospacehobbies.com

Cheers,
Michael

 

[rharshberger]

Cool! Is Boyce still around? Got a URL for them?

(cvanc thinks holiday giftgiving thoughts)

Boyces do excellent work, I just received a 1/17.5 Mercury Redstone capsule and a custom 1/22 Mercury Atlas capsule with adapter.

 

[Danomite45]

The Space X Falcon 9 is truly a great kit, and an attention getter at the range. The first time I showed up with it at the club launch It confused the RO that the kit was made by SpaceX. RO: " Who manufactured the kit?", Me: " SpaceX". RO " not the rocket, but the kit?". You could just imagine.
An engineer friend of mine put the kit together, and did not line up the launch lugs correctly, so pay attention to the instructions.

This kit is a real slow launcher, and a crowd pleaser. It's sweet spot is on a E9-4 which lofts it to right at 900 feet.

I reinforced the fin roots with epoxy, and made the dragon capsule enclose the parachute. Also, the stick on landing legs are the least attractive part of the kit. Plastic or balsa ones would have been nicer.

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[milehigh]

This is all good stuff to know...
I have a project that I have proposed here at the place I work that will involve a SpaceX Falcon 9 kit.

I work for EchoStar, which not only does R&D prototyping of all of DishNetwork's products, but also designs, builds, and contracts rocket companies to loft the DishNetwork satellites into orbit.

There is a new Dish satellite launch slated for later this year, though it has been delayed until SpaceX works out the Falcon 9 bugs following the recent pad explosion.

I have proposed building the Falcon9 kit and flying it as a company event on the same day as the real full-size launch. I hope to be able to write to the EchoStar satellite division to get overall dimensions of the payload, and the basic markings and logo, so that I can render a reasonable model of those components.

Still waiting to hear if this is gets a green light from management.

 

[rstaff3]

I want a model of the BFR

 

[Danomite45]

Wouldn't it be cool to have a EchoStar/ DishNetwork model kit for sale??

This is all good stuff to know...
I have a project that I have proposed here at the place I work that will involve a SpaceX Falcon 9 kit.

I work for EchoStar, which not only does R&D prototyping of all of DishNetwork's products, but also designs, builds, and contracts rocket companies to loft the DishNetwork satellites into orbit.

There is a new Dish satellite launch slated for later this year, though it has been delayed until SpaceX works out the Falcon 9 bugs following the recent pad explosion.

I have proposed building the Falcon9 kit and flying it as a company event on the same day as the real full-size launch. I hope to be able to write to the EchoStar satellite division to get overall dimensions of the payload, and the basic markings and logo, so that I can render a reasonable model of those components.

Still waiting to hear if this is gets a green light from management.

 

[vcp]

There's a pretty decent printable CAD model of the Falcon 9 now on Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1693135

And there's a few first attempts at the MCT. Most of the SpaceX stuff on Thingiverse is in my SpaceX collection:
https://www.thingiverse.com/garyacrowellsr/collections/spacex

Haven't mentioned it here before, but I'm looking for employment, or retirement, however it works out. On a whim, I'd applied to SpaceX, totally not expecting anything. To my amazement, I had a telephone prelim screening interview last week. After beating myself up thinking about "What I Should Have Said", I thought that was the end of that. But they came back and asked for a portfolio. Still a way long shot, but maybe they need a token old guy.

 

[Nytrunner]

But they came back and asked for a portfolio.

That's actually a really good sign for them. That's what happened when I got my internship there.

On topic: Also during that internship, myself and two other interns got 3 discounted Falcon 9 models, 3D printed couplers for them and made our own Falcon heavy. Unfortunately we knew nothing about reliably igniting 3 motors at once, so that was an.....eventful......flight in the field behind the engine test stands.

The F9 is a very well made kit. I've flown mine 3 times so far. And its custom printed parachute is a good collectible too.

 

[ewg1967]

I've ordered the grid fins and landing legs from https://boyceaerospacehobbies.com/. I have not installed them yet but once I do I'll post a photo of the finished results. I built my Falcon 9 several months ago so I'll have to gently pull off the stick on landing legs.

 

[dhbarr]

I've ordered the grid fins and landing legs from https://boyceaerospacehobbies.com/. I have not installed them yet but once I do I'll post a photo of the finished results. I built my Falcon 9 several months ago so I'll have to gently pull off the stick on landing legs.

View attachment 303583

It's too bad the landing legs aren't available in their extended configuration ; seems like it would be an excellent spot to hide some clear fins.