Need Info: Estes Thunderbolt #1429

I am trying to find some information on this kit to clone it. Here's what I've got so far (and please correct me if I'm wrong):

Body Tube: BT-55 (18" long)
Nose Cone: BT-55 AC

The fins and the decals are where I am coming up short. The fins look an awful lot like the one's for the Mean Machine, but looks can be deceiving . I had heard that they are identical to the Comet and the Vigilante, but I have some extra MM fins already precut.

The decals are also a big (if not the biggest) hang up. They are listed as Estes PN 37091. I couldn't find them on Tango Papa's site.

If anyone has any info, photos, a scan of the decal sheet , etc., please let me know.

I am trying to get this cloned as Christmas gift. My best friend from childhood, ah heck, the best friend I have EVER had is coming home for the holidays and I haven't seen him in years . We always thought this rocket was so awesome when we were kids. His older brother had one and we knew if we ever touched we were DEAD! I can't wait to see the look on his face when he opens it!

References:
https://forums.rocketshoppe.com/archive/index.php/t-2081.html

https://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-ESTES-Thunderbolt-Flying-MODEL-ROCKET-Range-Box_W0QQitemZ330120417169QQihZ014QQcategoryZ2567QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

Thats it it also uses the Vigilante fins I have the decals at home and will try to get a scan of them up.

duobob said:

Thats it it also uses the Vigilante fins I have the decals at home and will try to get a scan of them up.

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Awesome! Thanks, I would really appreciate a scan of those decals!

duobob said:

Thats it it also uses the Vigilante fins I have the decals at home and will try to get a scan of them up.

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If you haven't already please send a copy of the decal scans to me as well for inclusion on YORP. Thank you!

Here is the decal I can send it to your email in a higher res. let me know.
Scott I will send all of the info on this to you asap at YORF.
Also the rocket is painted blue and the top 10.5" are black (that's including the nose cone)
Hope this helps! Let me know if you need anything else.
Bob

duobob said:

Here is the decal I can send it to your email in a higher res. let me know.
Scott I will send all of the info on this to you asap at YORF.
Also the rocket is painted blue and the top 10.5" are black (that's including the nose cone)
Hope this helps! Let me know if you need anything else.
Bob

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Thanks! I sent you a pm with my email address. Thanks for the painting info too! I think I am going to build a couple of these

duobob said:

Here is the decal I can send it to your email in a higher res. let me know.
Scott I will send all of the info on this to you asap at YORF.
Also the rocket is painted blue and the top 10.5" are black (that's including the nose cone)
Hope this helps! Let me know if you need anything else.
Bob

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Cool. Thanks, Bob. You can file attach the stuff to me at scotth at execpc dot com.

just curious,when was this kit in production?must have been while i was away from the hobby,i would love to see a picture of one.I checked thru ninfinger and had no luck.

D-12 Dave said:

just curious,when was this kit in production?must have been while i was away from the hobby,i would love to see a picture of one.I checked thru ninfinger and had no luck.

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I can't really say for sure when it was in production, but I know for an absolute fact that the first time I ever saw this thing was in 1989. I think my friend's brother either got it for his birthday or through 4H the year before.

For the longest time, I thought this kit was a ghost. I never could find anything in the old catalogs and issues of MRN my science teacher had when I was a kid. Then when I got back into the hobby years later, I never could find anything online.

I wonder how many of these 'ghosts' Estes produced? Anybody else ever stumble up on a kit like this that they couldn't identify?

WOW! This is a very old thread and I'm so happy to read about the Estes Thunderbolt! I was 8 years old back in 1989 launching this kit from my backyard! Now I have a 5 year old boy and I was sad to find out that this model or a version of it wasn't around. Its amazing how this rocket stayed in my memories over the years. I had a few but this one was painted red and the yellow THUNDERBOLT on the side. She could jump off that pad. I remember chasing this thing all over the neighbor. I cant forget the day I lost it either.. lol. Time for a new model to start off my sons hobby!

In the interim since this thread was started the plans and scans were apparently posted on YORP:
https://www.oldrocketplans.com/estes/est1429/est1429.htm
So Sam, it's now easy to clone this bird.

Our friend scigs30 is a master at finding these old kits. You will find the plans and decals here: https://plans.rocketshoppe.com/estes/est1429/est1429.htm

But wait, there's more ! https://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=6052&page=1&pp=10&highlight=thunderbolt

[edit] kuririn and I both like these old rocket Easter Egg hunts !

I really do try and scan my decals and fin patterns. For awhile I did not have a working scanner so some were missed, but most of my builds I do have the scans and some I even cleaned up the decals by drawing them in CorelDraw.

Sorry, double post

I could easily sim this up if I can get the height of the lettering, and upon confirming that the fins are the same as the Vigilante.

[EDIT] Confirmed, the Thunderbolt uses BF-78 (32239), as does the Vigilante. I get that info on the height of the lettering, and I can scale the decals based on that, and have a sim finished in not much time at all.

I posted photos of the 1429 decal with measurements here.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/dimensions-estes-thunderbolt-1429-decals.155683/post-2205615